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Swapped OPT7 to Cyclops LED headlight bulbs

67K views 266 replies 51 participants last post by  GraniteBlue05 
#1 · (Edited)
DISCLAIMER. Your results and or opinions may vary, as all I'm doing here is making an observation out loud

So, I've been running the OPT7 H11 low beams for quite some time. I've also tried Auxbeam, JDM Astar, and ebay lookalike OPT7s in my Colorado. (also, Oracle in the past but not on this vehicle). So far, there's really not any appreciable difference that I can tell. They are all decent and I wouldn't recommend against any them at all. However, I would caution you that my understanding is that the OPT7 is still just a chinese bulb that's marked up as premium when there's nothing special about it. The mass of adapter wiring and the cheap lock ring that lets the bulb rotate inside it when you install it also make it seem cheap. My personal experience is for the money, buy an Auxbeam or equivalent $60 max pair of bulbs.

With my experiences being that the "premium" bulbs aren't really premium at all other than the price, I haven't seen a reason to try another premium bulb in the truck. My awesome experience with Cyclops in my motorcycle got me curious though. Here's a pic of a single H4 Cyclops low beam from my motorcycle, no garage lights on, and my driveway is unlit other than the low beam headlight. You can even see the grass across the street is lit up.






So, I went ahead and pulled the OPT7 bulbs out and installed the Cyclops. I also added high beams just because the color difference of stock high beams bothered me. The OPT7 is brighter in one spot with a nice wide pattern around it that is a little dimmer. The cyclops doesn't have that hot spot, it's the same brightness spread across the entire pattern with the average pattern being brighter than the OPT7.

The big selling point on the Cyclops is the minimal wiring compared to OPT7.

Cyclops bulb plugs into
the igniter box (or whatever it's called) and that plugs into
the truck

OPT7 bulb plugs into
the igniter box that plugs into
the capacitor that plugs into
the adapter harness that plugs into
the truck.

Either way, here's my summary. Most cheap bulbs are close to the same, and are good bulbs. Some expensive bulbs are still just cheap bulbs that are repackaged for more money. Cyclops is the only one I've tried that should be considered premium, and mainly because it's wired to be plug and play with less adapters and other parts to stuff behind your dust cap. Lighting between most of them is the same, although IMO the equal spread of the Cyclops is better and it seems a little brighter overall.

This is low beam down my alley:



Highway low beam shot:



Highway high beam shot:



Dirt road low beam:



Dirt road high beam:

 
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#2 ·
DISCLAIMER. Your results and or opinions may vary, as all I'm doing here is making an observation out loud

So, I've been running the OPT7 H11 low beams for quite some time. I've also tried Auxbeam, JDM Astar, and ebay lookalike OPT7s in my Colorado. (also, Oracle in the past but not on this vehicle). So far, there's really not any appreciable difference that I can tell. They are all decent and I wouldn't recommend against any them at all. However, I would caution you that my understanding is that the OPT7 is still just a chinese bulb that's marked up as premium when there's nothing special about it. The mass of adapter wiring and the cheap lock ring that lets the bulb rotate inside it when you install it also make it seem cheap. My personal experience is for the money, buy an Auxbeam or equivalent $60 max pair of bulbs.

With my experiences being that the "premium" bulbs aren't really premium at all other than the price, I haven't seen a reason to try another premium bulb in the truck. My awesome experience with Cyclops in my motorcycle got me curious though. Here's a pic of a single H4 Cyclops low beam from my motorcycle, no garage lights on, and my driveway is unlit other than the low beam headlight. You can even see the grass across the street is lit up.




So, I went ahead and pulled the OPT7 bulbs out and installed the Cyclops. I also added high beams just because the color difference of stock high beams bothered me. The OPT7 is brighter in one spot with a nice wide pattern around it that is a little dimmer. The cyclops doesn't have that hot spot, it's the same brightness spread across the entire pattern with the average pattern being brighter than the OPT7.

The big selling point on the Cyclops is the minimal wiring compared to OPT7.

Cyclops bulb plugs into
the igniter box (or whatever it's called) and that plugs into
the truck

OPT7 bulb plugs into
the igniter box that plugs into
the capacitor that plugs into
the adapter harness that plugs into
the truck.

Either way, here's my summary. Most cheap bulbs are close to the same, and are good bulbs. Some expensive bulbs are still just cheap bulbs that are repackaged for more money. Cyclops is the only one I've tried that should be considered premium, and mainly because it's wired to be plug and play with less adapters and other parts to stuff behind your dust cap. Lighting between most of them is the same, although IMO the equal spread of the Cyclops is better and it seems a little brighter overall.




Are you using those in stock HID projector housings? Were did you get them from? Look super clear
 
#5 ·
Where did you locate the igniter box? Did you drill out your dust covers or leave them off?
 
#12 ·
I believe you can only install them one way because of the way the tabs on the bulb will line up with the back of the housing.
 
#18 ·
Low beams are H11
 
#21 ·
installed the Cyclops.
Please drive to Wisconsin so we can compare my Morimoto LEDs to your Cyclops LEDs.

See you in about 16 hours. :grin2:
 
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#25 ·
That wouldn't be the longest random trip I've made. In college one summer my friend from Ohio never bought a plane ticket home and I asked him what he was going to do, so he said "wanna give me a ride?" 1 hour of packing and 22 hours of driving later we were in the far northwest corner of Ohio.

How would you compare the 5700k Cyclops color to the 6000k Opt7s?
Is it relatively the same or is there a noticeable difference?
It's close to the same, but slightly noticeable. I've always liked 5000k for the most "visible" light and I can tell these are closer to that but they definitely still aren't there. I would buy these over the OPT7 every single time, but I don't know if most people will appreciate the slight difference enough to justify the change if you already have OPT7s.

Those leds are tempting, but wish they sold matching highs and fogs.

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I bought matching highs from them. They have 9005s. I haven't changed fogs because I don't use them at all, and if it ever hits weather where I need to use them the less white factory fog lights will outperform super bright LEDs. There are a lot of LED fogs out there, but I don't think Cyclops has anything that'll fit in out housings.
 
#31 ·
Actually I take it back. Cyclops leds are sold as each, not pairs, so they are a little pricy. I called them up about their shipping rates and they gave me a promo code of "cyc". It cut the shipping costs in half and also gave a small discount on the order.

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#39 ·
Just poked around a bit under the hood to see what might be involved in this. Drivers side is easy, the headlamp housing access ports are wide open. Passenger side...not so much. There's this odd, black rubber panel that wraps from the core support around onto the passenger side inner fender. Doesn't look like it just pops out easily.
 
#42 ·
Cool. Thanks! I was just looking at it last night in the dark with a small flashlight. I didn't want to muck around with it at all till I got some more information....which you just provided.

Appreciate it.



....I've only upgraded lighting once on a vehicle. An IPF kit for my old XJ (thus far the easiest and best documented vehicle upgrade I've ever done...if they had something for my Canyon, I'd buy it just out of loyalty, but they don't) to upgrade the sealed beam headlamps to H4.

So forgive the simplicity of this but...... between the H11 and 9005...which is the low/high beam?
 
#43 ·
Cool. Thanks! I was just looking at it last night in the dark with a small flashlight. I didn't want to muck around with it at all till I got some more information....which you just provided.



Appreciate it.







....I've only upgraded lighting once on a vehicle. An IPF kit for my old XJ (thus far the easiest and best documented vehicle upgrade I've ever done...if they had something for my Canyon, I'd buy it just out of loyalty, but they don't) to upgrade the sealed beam headlamps to H4.



So forgive the simplicity of this but...... between the H11 and 9005...which is the low/high beam?


H11 low and 9005 high I believe.


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#45 ·
FYI 9005 will just about always be for a high beam and are very popular for that on a lot of different cars. They do not have a 'cap' on the bulb which allows the light to spread 360 and straight out. A 9006 is essentially the same bulb but with a cap that used to popular for low beam. The H11 is similar, capped bulb.
 
#47 ·
Agreed. 9006 low and 9005 high is the most common setup I've ever seen until around 2007 when I started seeing more H11 low and 9005 high vehicles. The H11 lows are IMO superior to all of the older 9006 low setups.

I haven't taken a picture yet, but the Cyclops 9005 LEDs in my high beams are downright outrageous. If you forget to turn off your high beams when someone passes you the other direction you might just x-ray them it's so bright. I've never seen anything like it.
 
#48 ·
Well apparently IPF doesn't make a vehicle specific kit for the Canyon....but apparently it's not as involved a swap as the XJ kit I previously described and doesn't require it.

They have a 9005 analog: ///IPF? 351HLB LED HEAD LAMP CONVERSION KIT

and an H11: ///IPF? LED HEAD LAMP CONVERSION KIT

Any input from those of you with experience with these things would be appreciated. Like I said, I have purchased from them in the past and been really pleased...but if the Cyclops is a superior technology I'll go that route.
 
#52 ·
IPF looks like it's double the cost of the Cyclops, which is insane. I haven't tried them, but there is no way they are double the light or quality. Cyclops is the only one I've found that has proven to be worth a premium over basic Amazon $60 bulbs. IPF might be just as good as Cyclops, but I can't see any reason why any LED bulb would be worth the $195 IPF wants.
 
#53 ·
I just ordered a set of Lumens G7s that came up to about $58 per bulb. 5 yr warranty doesn't sound bad.
I'll see how they do, albeit will be in a reflector lens instead of projector.
 
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