Lightforce Genesis AliExpress LED Upgrade

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DaveT

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While I had my Genesis lights mocked up in the basement (I'm building a custom light bar and my garage isn't heated), I decided I'd experiment/gamble with an AliExpress order. For $32 CDN, I had 4 LED 9005 bulbs (including shipping) to my door in 10 days. They were advertised as 4000 lumens each. The reviews were good and the price was one of the lowest I could find.

The lights were a direct fit. The Xenophot bulb holders (and the HID upgrade lights you can buy from Lightforce are indeed 9005...I guessed at the socket and was right.

The lights did NOT however clear the back of the housing thanks to a cooling fan integrated into the bulb. A quick hit later with a hammer and punch and the fans were in the bin...problem solved. I figure if the housings can handle 100W of incandescent bulb, the 40ish watts of LED shouldn't be an issue. And if the lights fail, well they were cheap.

They most certainly are not 4000 lumens but I knew they wouldn't be. They are brighter than the 100W Lightforce bulbs. The LED bulbs have two COB elements; one on each side. This style of bulb is famous for dim spots and uneven coverage. This isn't an issue when you have a mirrored 8" reflector around it. The beam pattern is just as full as the original bulb.





Will they stay lit once they bounce down the road or will they fail prematurely? Who knows. I'd never put such a cheap bulb in for a headlight but for an aux beam, why not? I like the results. The color is perfect and they're plenty bright. If one does fail on a trip, I have two others...then I'll replace it with something more reliable. Until then I have to think I got the deal of the century compared to the hundreds of dollars for a Lightforce HID upgrade kit.
 

Tim

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I'd considered doing something similar with my LightForce 240's but ended up selling them and buying an LED light bar to replace it. I could have easily bought a cheap light bar for the price I sold the lights but ended up going for a brand name so paid a bit more.
My only concern with your plan is the fan was there to cool the LED not the fitting... will be interested to see how they work long term. The optics were always good on my LightForce lamps for chucking a serious amount of light down the track.
 

DaveT

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Thanks Tim. I didn't take any pictures (though I still can. I bought 4 bulbs) but the heat sink is very robust. My money is on the fan being there just in case as most headlight bulbs are in tight spaces and/or inside a hot engine bay. There are plenty of 'low profile' led bulbs available which have a compact heatsink and no fan...and quadruple the price.

It will be an interesting experiment for sure. If they don't last, I won't be all that shocked. If I have to use the 4th bulb, I may try relocating the fan to the side of the heatsink or replacing it with something which will fit.
 
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