Headlights...

sponge8bob

sponge8bob

Test Drive
Location
New York
Hey folks, I was wondering, if any of you can tell me something good or bad about the aftermarket lights for the Xterra? Do they focus fine? Because I've seen the prices for the replacement OE lights, and I am not ready to pay $900 for one headlight, which I have to replace (it was broken in an accident).
Now, non-OEs are around $200 for pair, and some shipping on top of that, which is way less.
So I was wondering about the quality, as they say lights are made overseas....
That's why I doubt whether I should give them a try or no.
Thanks
 
Prime

Prime

Shut up Baby, I know it!
Admin
Location
Denver Adjacent
TYC and Depo make most of the OE headlights for most manufacturers. So while it may not be branded as a Nissan headlight, it's likely made by the same company. When you get into the crazy headlights like the projector / LED / blacked out aftermarket ones that in no way resemble the OE lights, those are usually crap.

Other option is to buy an OE headlight on ebay. I paid about $80 for a gently used OE headlight about 8 months ago.
 
Prime

Prime

Shut up Baby, I know it!
Admin
Location
Denver Adjacent
I wouldn't buy them. I don't care for the look and I bet the build quality is sub-par. Depending on your state and if you have inspections, they may be illegal.
 
Fromfrontier2Xterra

Fromfrontier2Xterra

I bought a Taco
Super Moderator
Supporting Member
Location
All over PA
KC!

KC!

Bought an X
Some people on TNX have tried some 9007 LED offerings in the X, but I never saw definitive pics or a consistent finding like on CF. I’m considering buying the Katana series or Nineo series with proper installation and orientation of the LED, and will test and post findings. I am not too fond of the OEM halogens other than I haven’t had to change them lol. Also, will probably look into new options for fog lights. I would appreciate opinions/observations anyone else has
 
Prime

Prime

Shut up Baby, I know it!
Admin
Location
Denver Adjacent
KC! said:
Some people on TNX have tried some 9007 LED offerings in the X, but I never saw definitive pics or a consistent finding like on CF. I’m considering buying the Katana series or Nineo series with proper installation and orientation of the LED, and will test and post findings. I am not too fond of the OEM halogens other than I haven’t had to change them lol. Also, will probably look into new options for fog lights. I would appreciate opinions/observations anyone else has
Click to expand...
In my experience, it's been HID retrofit or GTFO.
 
Prime

Prime

Shut up Baby, I know it!
Admin
Location
Denver Adjacent
KC! said:
What’d you try/buy?
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I've seen some LED drop ins in jeeps and a few of Xs. But never spent money on them. I've built a few HID retrofits, that and the over the counter retrofits (such as @Fromfrontier2Xterra has) have always blown the LEDs out of the water. Which makes me sad. Because I love LEDs. I just haven't seen a LED headlight that can hold a candle to an HID.

I will say that I have JW Speaker LED headlights (high and low beam) in my roof boobs. And yes, they're brighter than the halogens that come in the roof boobs. But they're not "off road led" bright. In fact if they were my headlights I don't know that I'd be happy with them.
 
KC!

KC!

Bought an X
Prime said:
I've seen some LED drop ins in jeeps and a few of Xs. But never spent money on them. I've built a few HID retrofits, that and the over the counter retrofits (such as @Fromfrontier2Xterra has) have always blown the LEDs out of the water. Which makes me sad. Because I love LEDs. I just haven't seen a LED headlight that can hold a candle to an HID.

I will say that I have JW Speaker LED headlights (high and low beam) in my roof boobs. And yes, they're brighter than the halogens that come in the roof boobs. But they're not "off road led" bright. In fact if they were my headlights I don't know that I'd be happy with them.
Click to expand...

Ahh I gotcha, I mean I’m going to experiment with the LEDs, I know CF members have had success (based on their standards), but their housings look different on sight. If I’m not sold on them I could return them. I like the extensive how-to on CF for how to orient/adjust the LED. I’ll use that process as a resource and try to adjust that LED. I’ll test accordingly and see what happens! But I also feel like HID projector retrofit is superior but not really trying to drop cash on that haha! We’ll see how this goes, I ended up purchasing katana 9007 LEDs
 
Xterrorista

Xterrorista

Charcoal Briquette
Supporting Member
Location
Denton, TX
KC! said:
I ended up purchasing katana 9007 LEDs
Click to expand...

I ended up getting some 9007s from BEAMTECH that were fanless. Although I'd read where some had got them to work, I could not. Couldn't ever get them to seat into the housing without a lot of mod so I never got to the adjusting part. It was a simple return so I just sent them back before hacking my housing up to find out I didn't like them anyway. Curious to see how you fare.
 
KC!

KC!

Bought an X
Xterrorista said:
I ended up getting some 9007s from BEAMTECH that were fanless. Although I'd read where some had got them to work, I could not. Couldn't ever get them to seat into the housing without a lot of mod so I never got to the adjusting part. It was a simple return so I just sent them back before hacking my housing up to find out I didn't like them anyway. Curious to see how you fare.
Click to expand...
Some people are running Nineo 9007 with personal success so you could try those. I’ll let you know how it goes with the Katanas and my thoughts once they’re installed
 
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meisanerd

meisanerd

Need Bigger Tires
Location
Edmonton, AB, Canada
@KC! did you get a chance to try these out? I am looking at a cheap, mild light upgrade for mine (I hate budgets, why can't I just be a billionaire???) over the stock halogens, and was wondering how these went.
 
KC!

KC!

Bought an X
meisanerd said:
@KC! did you get a chance to try these out? I am looking at a cheap, mild light upgrade for mine (I hate budgets, why can't I just be a billionaire???) over the stock halogens, and was wondering how these went.
Click to expand...
I ended up installing the Katana 9007’s I can post some pictures and I’ve been pretty happy with them so far. I can take some pics tonight too. I have never been flashed while driving either
 
KC!

KC!

Bought an X
Xterrorista said:
Did you have to do any modding to the housing to get them in? Much adjustment needed?
Thx
Click to expand...
I didn’t, but I did have to push the fan housing of the bulb very firmly up against the plastic retainer to be able to lock the retainer in to place, just to keep it flush up against the retainer.
 
meisanerd

meisanerd

Need Bigger Tires
Location
Edmonton, AB, Canada
Might give the Nineo's a shot as I can actually get them here in Canada without too much effort. On the upside, swapping headlights in the Xterra is a lot easier than my sister's Jetta, with the stupid "lets hide it right behind the battery box and under the fender, and don't bother giving the headlights a keying system so you can get the orientation correct" garbage. Took half and hour to try to screw the stupid bulb in blind...
 
Zerksy

Zerksy

Test Drive
KC! said:
I didn’t, but I did have to push the fan housing of the bulb very firmly up against the plastic retainer to be able to lock the retainer in to place, just to keep it flush up against the retainer.
Click to expand...
will definitely keep this in mind, browsing current led replacement bulbs myself. any problem with led flicker might i ask?
 
KC!

KC!

Bought an X
Zerksy said:
Not sure, see some people say they have flickering issues and need decoders or capacitors. Just trying to cover my bases
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No I have steady light output, I did a lot of my research on club frontier and I purchased the most used Katana 9007 Led bulbs.
 
Zerksy

Zerksy

Test Drive
KC! said:
No I have steady light output, I did a lot of my research on club frontier and I purchased the most used Katana 9007 Led bulbs.
Click to expand...
Awesome. I greatly appreciate the input. Gonna snag me a pair of these tonight. Did you get that 10k lm or the 12k lm ones?
 
Zerksy

Zerksy

Test Drive
KC! said:
No problem, lmk how install goes. Also, for the passenger side, it's easier to just take out the battery than trying to finagle your hand in there.
Click to expand...
Good to know. Its a tight in there. Will try to remember to get before and after photos/video
 
meisanerd

meisanerd

Need Bigger Tires
Location
Edmonton, AB, Canada
I think the flickering issue for the headlights is due to the daytime running lights, which if memory serves, the American Xterras do not have. For Canadian ones, it should be simple enough to just remove the relay that controls those (not 100% sure, I don't think my DRL even work at this point anyway).
 
Zerksy

Zerksy

Test Drive
Before
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After
P8Z0Jyi.jpg

20191122_170114_zpskesv9wdn.jpg
P8Z0Jyi.jpg

Phenomenal Difference. Insane difference at night. Didn't get night time comparison because I was too excited to install them. Thanks for the advice KC!
 
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