New eBay Bronco light maker...anyone have experience?

[Cordycord]

https://ebay.us/m/5ssGaH

I'm in the market and when nice looking part comes along at what looks like a deep discount, the cheap-o in me takes notice.

Anyone have experience or have seen a Youtube about t by ese lights?

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[CalvinT]

I tend to avoid anything that's cheap if that's the only appeal. Too often it ends up costing me more, either in time or money.

 

[tractorcrusher]

I tend to avoid anything that's cheap if that's the only appeal. Too often it ends up costing me more, either in time or money.

The lifecycle of cheap aftermarket vehicle lighting-
Person buys cheap LED light
Person installs cheap LED light
It works fine
Person sells their OEM light
Cheap LED light then dies or part of it dies and looks like crap forever, or it fills with moisture on the inside and looks like crap forever

 

[Brian_B]

The lifecycle of cheap aftermarket vehicle lighting-
Person buys cheap LED light
Person installs cheap LED light
It works fine
Person sells their OEM light
Cheap LED light then dies or part of it dies and looks like crap forever, or it fills with moisture on the inside and looks like crap forever

I've seen people get away with cheap fog lights or ditch lights, because they don't get used full time - or at least when they do get used, it's usually in conjunction with the headlights, so issues get softened.

Headlights though.... a lot of issues with either the fitment not being right (usually shaky while driving), the headlamp not working correctly (turn signal stops, DRLs quit on one side), or yeah - moisture never clearing out and eventually killing the light. And you definitely notice when something goes wrong with the headlights. And so does everyone else out on the road.

So if you try them.. don't get rid of your factory lights. You'll probably need them.

The Morimoto XBs (an actual name brand, although that doesn't necessarily indicate they are any better quality - just that they will actually exist and process a warranty claim if you needed it) were one sale not too long ago for almost this price, but they appear to have gone back up now. Just have to keep your eyes peeled.

 

[Cordycord]

Yeah, it’s my Achilles heel…

I tend to avoid anything that's cheap if that's the only appeal. Too often it ends up costing me more, either in time or money.

 

[CalvinT]

It takes a lot more resources for a company to make a good set of headlights than it does auxiliary lights. For auxiliary lights they just need a housing, lens, light source and connector. But to make headlights, they also have to fit properly and meet DOT requirements.

Headlights can't fail. They have to be more reliable that auxiliary lights, yet they're more complicated. The high beam is controlled by the LIN BUS. Power is always present and the high beam is told to turn on. It's not like the old days where you just needed a connector with three wires.

So ask yourself. How can someone make cheap headlights that are reliable both mechanically and electrically? There's only two ways. Be more efficient than the Ford OEM (Hella) or cut corners.

Hella sells replacement LED headlights for a Camry starting at $540.65 each and going up from there depending on model. I don't know if they use a data bus or not.

 

[Brian_B]

here's only two ways. Be more efficient than the Ford OEM (Hella) or cut corners.

Well, I would say most of these companies are able to cut a big corner because they just use the engineering from one of the big companies that happen to contract to make their parts in a Chinese factory.

Soon as you do that - your plans become public Chinese property and ripe for public domain use.

So they very well could be the exact same housing, parts and/or electronics as Hella, or Form, or AlphaRex, or Morimoto, or anyone else. But when you don't have R&D costs to foot, and someone else already paid to set up the production line, you save an awful lot on overhead...

I mean, I'm here talking down about it, and I hate the practice and abhor that it happens. But I'd be a liar if I didn't also say I've taken advantage of it as well... I feel bad about it, but my pocketbook congratulates me for winning the Cheap Chinese lottery.

 

[TheShark]

The lifecycle of cheap aftermarket vehicle lighting-
Person buys cheap LED light
Person installs cheap LED light
It works fine
Person sells their OEM light
Cheap LED light then dies or part of it dies and looks like crap forever, or it fills with moisture on the inside and looks like crap forever

Sound advice. I bought the flush mount taillights from Oracle several years ago which I really like the look and Oracle is a fairly respectable company but the drivers side taillight started to fail, they sent me a replacement to their credit and now that one is starting to fail, back goes the OEM taillights. Not messing with that anymore.

 

[bastardsonofelvis]

If you have 500 bucks you won’t miss and time to install headlights multiple times then go for it. Like was mentioned, Chinese rip offs are some times near the quality of the name brand.

But definitely keep your OEM lights or be ready to order legit aftermarket lights. And don’t expect any warranty support.

 

[4x4TruckLEDs.com]

https://ebay.us/m/5ssGaH

I'm in the market and when nice looking part comes along at what looks like a deep discount, the cheap ate in me takes notice.

Anyone have experience or have seen a Youtube about t by ese lights?

You get what you pay for. I would never trust some unknown overseas company selling lighting products at a huge discount. You're just begging for trouble.

Stick to the well known brands so that you get a warranty and a quality product: https://www.4x4truckleds.com/vehicle-specific/ford/ford-bronco/headlights/

 

[Returntothefog]

Sound advice. I bought the flush mount taillights from Oracle several years ago which I really like the look and Oracle is a fairly respectable company but the drivers side taillight started to fail, they sent me a replacement to their credit and now that one is starting to fail, back goes the OEM taillights. Not messing with that anymore.

Yea… I really like the style of their style (headlight, flush tail etc) but heard enough horror story on here to know better…

 

[4x4TruckLEDs.com]

Sound advice. I bought the flush mount taillights from Oracle several years ago which I really like the look and Oracle is a fairly respectable company but the drivers side taillight started to fail, they sent me a replacement to their credit and now that one is starting to fail, back goes the OEM taillights. Not messing with that anymore.

Try the Form Lighting ones. They work well: https://www.4x4truckleds.com/form-lighting-led-tail-lights-for-2021-ford-bronco/

 

[3People1Body]

Send them a note to increase the price by $300, then all the cheap LED comments go away?

 

[bastardsonofelvis]

I’ve had problems with Morimoto and Form headlights. Both instances it was the DRL rings. I guess you’re paying extra for warranty. Morimoto made me remove and return the lights before they would send me a new pair, which I thought was utter garbage. So I decided Id just sell the new pair when they arrived and bought Form.

Then one of the Form lights had holes in the DRL ring. They sent me a new light and didn’t even want the old one back.

It’s really too bad that Ford can’t just put decent headlights in the Bronco. In my experience, even the “name brand” third party lights are destined to fail, but at least they stand by them. Those cheap lights will very likely fail and then you’ll be hosed. To be fair, both failures I experienced were cosmetic in nature.

 

[HighVelocity]

Might as well buy 2 flashlights and zip-tie them to the trail sights.

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