Vantage Optics headlight swap.

[HIGHCOUNTRYMIKE]

Question: I had Vantage installed 4 or 5 years ago. Are the new LED better??????????
I have a 2003 E350 Sportsmobile. What would the upgrade cost be have
LED's installed by Vantage?
HighCountryMike 2003 Ford E350 Sportsmobile 4X4, 7.3 320,000 miles

[Twoxentrix]

Having had both now, I’m not going to say the LED’s are better - both are excellent upgrades & anyone that installs them will be impressed.
The LED’s are a whiter light, and will not have that slight ‘fade’ in effectiveness as you’ll get from aging HID bulbs. I like the whiter light simply because we do most of our highway travel at night when the majority of the ‘challenged’ drivers aren’t on the road.

[HIGHCOUNTRYMIKE]

Can I ask what you paid for the LED's. Did you install them yourself? I have had an issue with the right side ballast from day one. I liked the no ballast needed. I am older now and would like the best night vision I can get from my headlights. I am like what I have read and leaning towards the LED's.
HIGHCOUNTRYMIKE 2003 E350 Sportsmobile 4X4, 7.3, 320,000 miles

[Twoxentrix]

Scott's LED prices can be found here:
https://www.vantageoptics.com/shop/E...Kit-p519714678

If you change over to LED's, you'll ditch the ballasts...Shop I used did the install for me, but they commented the process was simple. Scott mentioned the same when we discussed the conversion. Reach out to him if you have any questions, he was (and always has been) very helpful & accommodating.

[REDOVAL]

Thanks everyone for the kind words about the Vantage products. After nearly 10 years of building these lights it's wild to see the technology change over time and attempt to keep up with it. The current generation of LED lights are quite impressive compared to even very high end HID setups of years past. Please shoot me an email to vantageoptics@gmail.com with any specific questions you have and I will be glad to talk through any details or concerns you may have. This is still a side gig to my main engineering manager position at Garrett turbochargers so my availability before 3pm pst is semi-limited.

Thanks again and hope everyone has a great year!

Scott Thompson
Vantage Optics
424-250-0270
Vantageoptics@gmail.com
https://www.vantageoptics.com/shop

[b. rock]

How's the durability of the LEDs? I remember stories of the earlier gen LED bulbs dying on off road vehicles from the vibrations, but wasn't sure if the newer gen fixed that?

[REDOVAL]

Originally Posted by b. rock

How's the durability of the LEDs? I remember stories of the earlier gen LED bulbs dying on off road vehicles from the vibrations, but wasn't sure if the newer gen fixed that?

The LED units have been very reliable so far and are very widely used in the retrofit community. I am not aware of any failures resulting from product quality issues.

Scott Thompson
Vantage Optics
424-250-0270
Vantageoptics@gmail.com
https://www.vantageoptics.com/shop

[PDXDave]

Well they're in and holy hell, what a difference....
I'm super impressed with Scott's build quality and attention to detail.
My only complaint is the adjusters that come on his new housings are not as tight as the ford adjusters and they really put up a fight trying to get them installed. As a result, I just swapped over the old adjusters from my original headlights and boom, they practically self installed.
With the original headlights, my Baja Design SS3 Pro fog lamps were substantially brighter and saved my ass on dark, wet roads. Now, they're almost completely washed out by the new headlights.
I can't recommend this upgrade enough.

[Greyswann]

I bought Scotts lights for my E350 and the difference between ford "candles" and these is amazing. I had a problem in that one of the plastic shrouds around the bulb came loose and dropped in front of the bulb. I was a few months out of the warranty and didnt want to wait on having Scott do it so I did it myself. The shrouds are a push on design and there was no additional adhesive to hold them on. I added some during the repair. It took a lot of time to separate the case as Scott uses a rubber seal that does not want to give in to separation. But patience wins out in these things. That said, I have the Aluminess front bumper with the recess for running lights and I have older Hella's in there now. What is anyones suggestion for an LED replacement? I would only use them on highway for daylight running lights, particularly as I have just learned from y'all about the time-use-fade aspect of Scotts technology.

[Twoxentrix]

Originally Posted by Greyswann

…as I have just learned from y'all about the time-use-fade aspect of Scotts technology.

The ‘fade’ has nothing to with Scott and the quality of his product - it’s just something that develops with all HID bulbs.

As far as replacing the Hella’s, suggest something that may come in handy when needed…do you encounter fog much? If not, you may want to consider a set of Spot’s since you already have a great pair of Vantage headlights. I like my PIAA’s, but whatever you decide I suggest they are SAE compliant so you can use them while on the road.