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Old 05-08-2017, 05:33 PM   #1
lower50's
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How to swap your sealed 7" to LED

I converted my 7" sealed beam headlights on my '52 GMC to LED bulbs.
I will put links to the parts I used, and pictures on what I had to do.
I have now put the same LED bulbs in 3 different vehicles. My friends '07 Jeep, my '67 Jeep, and my '52 GMC all with great results. I'll just say the bulbs work from 9V-32V so if you have a 6V truck it probably won't work.
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Old 05-08-2017, 05:54 PM   #2
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Re: How to swap your sealed 7" to LED

I will be showing some pictures of my Jeep's lights sometimes but the conversion is the same.
This is the LED bulbs I bought.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Philips-LED-...NZDB8e&vxp=mtr
I also bought new H4 headlight plugs from my parts store they where $6 ea.
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Old 05-08-2017, 06:02 PM   #3
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Re: How to swap your sealed 7" to LED

You will also need a after market headlight lens/reflector. I used different ones in my Jeep and GMC it's really personal preference. Both mine use a H4 bulb. You can also find a lens from a newer Jeep 07-15 should work.
First 2 are my GMC
Second 2 are my Jeep
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1951 MG TD
1967 Jeep CJ5 1.9L TDI 33X13.5X15 Mud Grapplers.
1952 GMC 9700 p/u 7.3L diesel on air, dually
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Old 05-08-2017, 06:17 PM   #4
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Re: How to swap your sealed 7" to LED

As for installing it is really quite easy. The H4 ring comes off the bulb install it into lens.
Then you may have to trim the rubber but push it on.
Click LED back into ring.
1st ready to go, don't worry about the wires they are for my headlight rings
2nd H4 ring installed
3rd rubber pushed on
4th Led bulb clicked back into place.
The last pick is from my Jeep I cut off the red and black you see.
GMC http://www.ebay.ca/itm/7-ROUND-DIAMO...item56993ba35f
Jeep http://www.ebay.ca/itm/86-95-Suzuki-...item4ac7f40961
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1951 MG TD
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1952 GMC 9700 p/u 7.3L diesel on air, dually

Last edited by lower50's; 05-08-2017 at 06:30 PM.
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Old 05-08-2017, 06:25 PM   #5
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Re: How to swap your sealed 7" to LED

After that you should just be able to install like any other stock headlight. Just plug in and go.
This is a low and high beam shot from my GMC
And a low and high beam shot from my Jeep for comparison.
They are so nice and bright white, easy to see everything. Also the street signs glow.
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1951 MG TD
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1952 GMC 9700 p/u 7.3L diesel on air, dually
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Old 05-08-2017, 07:44 PM   #6
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Re: How to swap your sealed 7" to LED

Lower, nice how to on the LED set-up...Jim
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Old 05-08-2017, 07:48 PM   #7
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Re: How to swap your sealed 7" to LED

Nice job there.
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Old 05-09-2017, 12:49 PM   #8
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Re: How to swap your sealed 7" to LED

Good write up. Did you see any difference on your electrical system? Since the LED draws a lower current, did you change your headlight fuse to a lower rating?
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Old 05-09-2017, 03:11 PM   #9
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Re: How to swap your sealed 7" to LED

Quote:
Originally Posted by Hart_Rod View Post
Good write up. Did you see any difference on your electrical system? Since the LED draws a lower current, did you change your headlight fuse to a lower rating?
Ya voltage gauge dropped a bit before now it doesn't move at all. No I left the fuse the same, won't hurt. The fuse will still blow if there is a short.
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1951 MG TD
1967 Jeep CJ5 1.9L TDI 33X13.5X15 Mud Grapplers.
1952 GMC 9700 p/u 7.3L diesel on air, dually
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Old 05-09-2017, 03:53 PM   #10
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Re: How to swap your sealed 7" to LED

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Originally Posted by lower50's View Post
Ya voltage gauge dropped a bit before now it doesn't move at all. No I left the fuse the same, won't hurt. The fuse will still blow if there is a short.
Thanks, good to know. I was thinking about putting in a 15-20 amp fuse, just as a precaution.
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Old 05-09-2017, 04:13 PM   #11
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Re: How to swap your sealed 7" to LED

It's always a good idea to have fused circuits even if is higher amp than the draw.
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1952 GMC 9700 p/u 7.3L diesel on air, dually
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Old 05-10-2017, 03:11 AM   #12
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Re: How to swap your sealed 7" to LED

Any preference ,one over the other ,style you did? Led ring vs, not
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Old 05-10-2017, 08:45 AM   #13
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Re: How to swap your sealed 7" to LED

Quote:
Originally Posted by lower50's View Post
It's always a good idea to have fused circuits even if is higher amp than the draw.
Agree 100% on all your circuits being fused. And just in case I wasn't clear, I didn't mean not to use any fuses, I just mean to drop the standard headlight fuse down from 30A to 20A.

Also, are you worried that the rubber seal around the bulb will get hot and melt? I know the heat sink of the bulbs get pretty hot. Here's a picture of mine installed. Thanks again for all of the info!

Here's the lights I purchased:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/322177905990...AIT&rmvSB=true
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Last edited by Hart_Rod; 05-10-2017 at 09:45 AM.
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Old 05-10-2017, 09:26 AM   #14
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Re: How to swap your sealed 7" to LED

Nice write up. I thought about this on mine as the actual LED complete headlights are super expensive. Mine work great now so I will probably leave them for now as they are.

But these look nice.
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Old 05-10-2017, 03:41 PM   #15
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Re: How to swap your sealed 7" to LED

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Originally Posted by mongocanfly View Post
Any preference ,one over the other ,style you did? Led ring vs, not
Not really...I like the ring on my truck and the clear on the Jeep, both seem to work very well. Comes down to personal preference really.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Hart_Rod View Post
Agree 100% on all your circuits being fused. And just in case I wasn't clear, I didn't mean not to use any fuses, I just mean to drop the standard headlight fuse down from 30A to 20A.

Also, are you worried that the rubber seal around the bulb will get hot and melt? I know the heat sink of the bulbs get pretty hot. Here's a picture of mine installed. Thanks again for all of the info!

Here's the lights I purchased:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/322177905990...AIT&rmvSB=true
Ya I knew what you meant. Making sure for everyone else. The lights you got look nice. As for the heat these don't get to hot, but any LED will be cooler than the original incandescent H4.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Custom 68 View Post
Nice write up. I thought about this on mine as the actual LED complete headlights are super expensive. Mine work great now so I will probably leave them for now as they are.

But these look nice.
Ya man, the complete LED light's are crazy. Nice to know there are options.
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1952 GMC 9700 p/u 7.3L diesel on air, dually
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Old 06-21-2017, 10:23 PM   #16
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Re: How to swap your sealed 7" to LED

Quote:
Originally Posted by lower50's View Post
I converted my 7" sealed beam headlights on my '52 GMC to LED bulbs.
I will put links to the parts I used, and pictures on what I had to do.
I have now put the same LED bulbs in 3 different vehicles. My friends '07 Jeep, my '67 Jeep, and my '52 GMC all with great results. I'll just say the bulbs work from 9V-32V so if you have a 6V truck it probably won't work.
L50's, THANKS SO MUCH for the link to the thread! I wasn't sure I liked what I saw of the lenses until I saw the finished installation on the '72. That looks like exactly what I want.
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Old 06-22-2017, 08:14 PM   #17
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Re: How to swap your sealed 7" to LED

That's why we are all here Dan
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1951 MG TD
1967 Jeep CJ5 1.9L TDI 33X13.5X15 Mud Grapplers.
1952 GMC 9700 p/u 7.3L diesel on air, dually
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Old 06-22-2017, 08:48 PM   #18
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Re: How to swap your sealed 7" to LED

Nice write up Lower. One other nice feature of these LED type bulbs is most of them have a cooling fan in the back of them to keep them cool and to prevent pre mature failure.
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