Can-Am Commander Forum banner

Defender LED Headlight Bulbs

76K views 44 replies 13 participants last post by  germy 
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
I just wanted to start a thread on the Defender LED headlight swap. I have been trying to research this but could not find too much info on changing to led bulbs. I just changed mine in my defender to LED. It was really simple to do. It took me about 20 minutes. The hardest part was finding a good spot to zip-tie the extra wire. The LED's come with a little extra wire with a little box on the wire that will have to be Zip tied up out of the way. Other than that it was just plug-and-play. I did notice on two of them that they were not working at first. All I did was unplug the bulb and spin the connector and plugged them back in and they worked perfectly. The connectors can plug in two ways so if it's wrong the first time just turn it and re-plug it together. Lights I got it from Amazon. They are Qcheye H11 LED Headlight Bulbs. They seemed to be very well made. I am happy with them. The defender has H8 stock bulbs. H8s are the same as H9 and H11. The H11 fit just fine in the housing. They seem to be very bright but I have not used them at night yet. There is no warm-up time with LED. I have some pictures to show the difference.
 

Attachments

See less See more
4
#3 ·
LED Bulbs

Your stock headlights are all the same. They are H8 and 35W. So the kit I ordered comes with two bulbs. I just ordered two kits to receive 4 bulbs. All you do is take out the stock bulb and put in the new bulb. It is that simple. The only thing is the new LED bulbs come with a wire off of them with a little box on them that you have to stow somewhere. I just zip tied them to the frame.
 
#4 ·
Your stock headlights are all the same. They are H8 and 35W. So the kit I ordered comes with two bulbs. I just ordered two kits to receive 4 bulbs. All you do is take out the stock bulb and put in the new bulb. It is that simple. The only thing is the new LED bulbs come with a wire off of them with a little box on them that you have to stow somewhere. I just zip tied them to the frame.
Sweet thank you. The pictures look great, big improvement from stock
 
#7 ·
Kuker21,
I cut-n-pasted your description over to Amazon, but several different options came up. Are they the ones for $29.99? Can you post a link?


Tia!
Swilly
 
#8 ·
Kuker actually got these I believe (correct me if I'm wrong Kuker)


I actually just ordered a set tonight as well but I went with
[ame]https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06XHDYTGL/ref=ppx_od_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1[/ame]
I chose the Beamtech because I've read good reviews from other SXS owners using them especially in Can Am units. And they are half the price. They probably aren't as bright as Kuker's but that's what I have a 42" light bar for. The headlights are honestly probably going to get completely washed out by the light bar anyways and it was probably a stupid purchase on my part but at least now the color of the lights will match. I probably won't upgrade the high beams as they will definitely get washed out by the light bar and would be completely pointless as I don't use the high beams at all anymore.
 
#10 ·
Schloop, you didn't go wrong with both the light bar and the LED headlights. I have the LED light bar and both high and low beams on my defender. If you ride at night on the roads your light bar is way too bright for any oncoming traffic so you have to rely on your headlights. I seldom use my light bar when riding at night, I use it mainly for plowing as the plow covers the stock headlights when raised up.
 
#12 ·
So I went for a little night ride last night and the new led bulbs are very bright. I never drove it at night with the stock bulbs so I can't compare them. But these bulbs are very bright. I went into an alley with no street lights and the lit up the whole alley. I could see all the way to the end with the brights on. I am very happy with these lights. I know they are brighter than my stock can am commander's were. Hope this helps
 
#13 · (Edited)
I got my Beamtech's in today. Installed them in the Defender, pretty easy. Turned them on and they are at least 10x brighter than stock.

As you can see in the HD5 it's one set of lights for low beam and the other set of lights for high beam. You don't get both beams together like the other models of the defender. I installed the LEDs in the low beam position. So right in front of me is lit up like the sun, and the lightbar is pointed out so everything else is super lit up by the lightbar. And now the color of the lights match, at least as long as I don't turn on the high beams.

I'm very happy with the lights so far. If I was going slow I don't think I would even need or turn on the lightbar. But when I'm going fast I like to be able to see way ahead of me.

P.S. Installed the Beamtech's in my Navigator as well and I'm very happy with those as well. But now I feel like I have to change out the fog lights, turn lights, back up lights, etc.
 

Attachments

#14 ·
Thanks for the heads-up on this, guys!


I use the buggy for work sometimes, which means running around on roads between parcels, so I'm ordering up the Beamtech's tonight. The stockers weren't worth a crap on the highway, and the Sheriff gets a little pissy when I'm running highs plus 2 light bars and 2 pods thru town....:devil
 
#18 ·
Yep LED headlights are a great up grade I just got my led bulbs in there actually unbranded on a name pretty much just a description of them on ebay from a U.S seller instead of 1 of the thousands that has to be shipped from China....... there a imitation beam tech just like schloop installed (honestly probably built in same factory they are identical) 8000lm 6500k 25watts per bulb I got all 4 lights for 33 bucks installed them last night and so far impressed dont seem to bright to blind cars on the blacktop and definitely brighter than stock very pleased with them .... heres a before and after
 

Attachments

#20 ·
After the little research I did into LED headlights it's not about how many LEDs it has or how cool it looks a 6 side LED is not necessarily better than a two sided LED .... what ur looking for is an LED headlight that is as closely mimicked to the filament in a halogen bulb as possible as in as how close both sides of the LEDs are and how far up the shank of the light the LEDs are located ... because the reflective housing of the headlight lense is designed for optimal light output for the placement of a stock halogen filament a big fat or multiple sided LED dosent use the stock reflective housing as it should ... the LED CSP style lights that schloop and I purchased are a very good less expensive LED route that closely resembles halogen filament placement ... for me I just typed in H8 CSP LED headlight into ebay and chose the ones that I liked best ( cheapest and coming from U.S not china ) and they work great the beamtechs schloop purchased are an excellent choice and will be one of the first that pop up .... keep in mind an H8 is the same as and compatible with H9 and H11 most of them will say H11 ... other plus is the LEDs draw less watts than the halogen stockers... about 10 watts less each bulb
 
#26 ·
I will definitely post some pictures and feedback on installation. I’m installing them this Sunday. I have seen the doors installed on a unit just like mine and they’re very nice addition and I like the ease of opening and closing. Position of the handle is forward portion of door so it’s easy to get in and out of seat. Seeing them installed definitely convinced me to purchase mine.
 
#27 ·
Back to schloop it's funny u say that cause I did tilt the big light bar up not long after the photos ... I wasnt sure where I wanted it at first so when I installed it I ran an level vertically down the face of it making it perfectly level all the way across... and to those that are planning on mounting a big light bar like that on theres run a level vertically along the face on each side and in the middle because there good metal built lights but ud be surprised the twist u can get out of a 50 or 52 inch light bar and not even realize it ...l just recently I ran a level along mine and reset it a quarter of a bubble past level and really like where its placed now
 
#28 ·
I just wanted to share a little update. Last weekend I brought my defender over to my buddy's shop to install a light bar on the front and back up lights. when I pulled my defender in I noticed on the back wall that my right led lights looked different on the wall then my left headlights. The left looked much dimmer and lower on the wall then the right side. I never noticed this in my garage because my defenders proximity to the wall in my garage is too close and you can't tell a difference. I also did not notice a difference driving at night or looking at it from the front. So needless to say this bugged me that I had noticed this at his shop. After looking at the headlights I noticed the right bulbs were facing up and down with the led light shining out to the sides. The left ones were set where the light was shining out up and down. I adjusted all of them so they were all the same direction shining out to the sides instead of up and down. It took some playing around to get them all to fit in the housing unit the same direction. Now they shine all the same on the wall and seem to be even brighter.
 
#30 ·
I started installing my doors last week and I quickly realized driver side door hardware was MIA! I am waiting for dealer to contact Can am to get me missing hardware. Pretty disappointed with shipment missing hardware but doors are nice fit and pretty simple to install after figuring out hardware placement.
 

Attachments

This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top