LED headlight swap
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KETCHAM
501 Club
JohnMihevic
Well-known member
My Cub is a 1948, so, I don't know about the sealed beams on your Cub. These bulbs are far superior to a sealed beam headlight.
The posts on this Forum about the new LED super bright bulbs are for use in the Cub. They are unbelievable -- super bright white light. Nothing is needed to install these LED bulbs--a new lens is not needed, nothing additional is needed. All you do is, remove you old 6V bulb. Install the new LED bulb in its place. With its size, it fits perfectly. Here's the link for purchase:
6v LED Light Bulb for HONDA TURN SIGNAL 34905-053-000 6 volt 17w single contact | eBay
It is brighter, lasts longer, and uses less watts (but is 10x brighter per watt). It is non-polarity and will work with a positive gound system. This bulb is intended for a 6-volt DC system.It can function as low as 6-volts and as high as 32-volts DC.
www.ebay.com
Buy it -- you will not be disappointed.
DonMountain
Well-known member
My 1958 Cub LoBoy also has the sealed beam lights on it that have screw connections for the feed wire eyelets, hence no socket that these LED Honda lights might fit into. And it appears like the depth of the pancake light housing may not accommodate an additional light bulb socket and the length of the LED bulb itself. So, I personally don't believe these will fit without a lot of rebuilding of the entire light housing to fit. And you would still be missing the glass front cover of the light housing. You would see the exposed bulb and the surrounding gap around it? Or are all of these other people just proposing the purchase of the entire Honda 4-Wheeler light housing and socket and figuring out how to mount it in place of the original Pancake housings on the Cub?
That is my experience too. Some of the cubs have just a replaceable bulb instead of a sealed beam. I have ordered some 6volt positive ground led sealed beam bulbs and I’m sure if they will work but I’m willing to try.
JohnMihevic
Well-known member
You could buy this teardrop from TM Tractor and then replace the bulb with the LED that I mentioned above. Here's the link to the tear drop.
DonMountain
Well-known member
So, I don't actually see a report from someone that has purchased one of these teardrop lights from TM Tractor for $47.50 plus probably $10 shipping, then purchased the LED bulbs from the eBay seller for $13.49 plus $4.79 for shipping, then was able to purchase and install the proper light bulb socket to fit the LED bulb because headlight bulbs never use the old fashioned low power car turn signal sockets. And came up with a reasonable solution? For the minimum cost of $75.78?
JohnMihevic
Well-known member
The LED bulb fits perfectly into the base, no need to do any type of socket conversion. Check out this link. Check out the bulb base and you will see, it will fit:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/166078933996?_trkparms=amclksrc=ITM&aid=777008&algo=PERSONAL.TOPIC&ao=1&asc=20250324084321&meid=d4f2fdedc3574904b5037f7ec16119af&pid=101949&rk=1&rkt=1&itm=166078933996&pmt=1&noa=1&pg=4375194&algv=RecentlyViewedItemsV2WithMLRPboosterAndUpdatedFeatures_BP&_trksid=p4375194.c101949.m162918&_trkparms=parentrq:7218d38b1980a47f8f09527cfffcc20a|pageci:fd59bd3e-70ba-11f0-80f3-1e154b4b7b03|iid:1|vlpname:vlp_homepage
Be sure to order the 6V tear drop head light from TM Tractor. Here's the link:
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Hi Don,
The lights at TM Tractor Parts they are talking about above are like the lights used on Farmall Cubs from 1947 - about 1953. They used a light bulb with a base like car or truck backup lights use, 1 contact in the middle of the base. The bulbs at Ebay above fit that base.
Below is a listing at TM Tractor Parts showing a replacement reflector and socket for the 1st style of light, you can look at the pictures and see the socket some.
https://www.tmtractor.com/new/el/949fp.htm
The flat back light, with a sealed beam, was used from about 1953 - mid 1958 on Cubs, and 1955 - mid 1958 on LoBoys.
There is also the newer style of light with a 4511 sealed beam unit in it, IH used those from mid 1958 on, on the Cubs and LoBoys.
The 1st style of light they are talking about above is an older style than LoBoys had.
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DonMountain
Well-known member
Hello Glen,
Thank you for the information. I have 4511 sealed beam lights in my 1959 Cub Loboy. And I am not real clear now with what I would actually need to purchase to convert my Cub to these LED's. And have you actually converted one of these Cubs recently? Or did you purchase all new light fixtures , bulbs and/or sockets? My headlight teardrop housings look squashed or less depth than the ones in the TM Tractor pictures? Mine have almost a flat back diameter of about 3" on them.
Thank you for the information. I have 4511 sealed beam lights in my 1959 Cub Loboy. And I am not real clear now with what I would actually need to purchase to convert my Cub to these LED's. And have you actually converted one of these Cubs recently? Or did you purchase all new light fixtures , bulbs and/or sockets? My headlight teardrop housings look squashed or less depth than the ones in the TM Tractor pictures? Mine have almost a flat back diameter of about 3" on them.
Darn. I wrote this about 4 hours ago then neglected to hit "post". It is mostly redundant now. But maybe it adds something useful:
The teardrop lights from TM are reproduction lamps that match the originals on a '47 to '53 or so tractor. The 6-volt bulbs JohnMihevic is talking about fit the sockets of the original teardrop lamps. There is no reason the bulbs should not fit the TM repros lamps, no socket problem. The problem comes in with the '53-58 flat style lamps. There is no drop-in LED (bulb or sealed beam unit) that I am aware of. In '58 IH switched to the round style lamps that take a PAR-36 sealed beam unit. PAR-36 LED sealed beam units are available and reasonably priced. If you are just looking for a functional LED replacement for the '53-'58 type lamp, there are aftermarket lamps that are similar to the round style lights and take PAR-36 units. You may have to buy the 6-volt units separately and install them in the lamps. PAR-36 units have 2 lugs for attaching the wires so can be used with either + or - ground.
The teardrop lights from TM are reproduction lamps that match the originals on a '47 to '53 or so tractor. The 6-volt bulbs JohnMihevic is talking about fit the sockets of the original teardrop lamps. There is no reason the bulbs should not fit the TM repros lamps, no socket problem. The problem comes in with the '53-58 flat style lamps. There is no drop-in LED (bulb or sealed beam unit) that I am aware of. In '58 IH switched to the round style lamps that take a PAR-36 sealed beam unit. PAR-36 LED sealed beam units are available and reasonably priced. If you are just looking for a functional LED replacement for the '53-'58 type lamp, there are aftermarket lamps that are similar to the round style lights and take PAR-36 units. You may have to buy the 6-volt units separately and install them in the lamps. PAR-36 units have 2 lugs for attaching the wires so can be used with either + or - ground.
I see. The lights using the 4511 sealed beams are brighter than the older original lights were.
I don't think there are parts to convert them to use LEDs, but I'm not an expert about them.
I haven't converted them.
You haven't said the serial number of your LoBoy.
Below is a picture from TM Tractor Parts of the 1st style of light that uses the sealed beam unit.
It is the flatback light. The sealed beam unit sticks out the rear of it, and the wire end is held on with a screw.
Below is a listing there for a new light that uses the 4511 sealed beam unit. They look almost the same as the IH light.
Attachments
JohnMihevic
Well-known member
I converted both tear drop head lights to LED's on my 1948 Cub a month ago. In addition to the LED's, what I ordered, from TM Tractor was 2 reflectors and 2 lenses, as mine were dull after 77 years. The new ones are bright and shiny. These LED's are much brighter than the sealed beam units.
Here is the sealed beam LED for the pancake lights https://www.steinertractor.com/IHS3698-12-Volt-LED-Lamp-w-Flood-Beam-Pattern It is 12 V
IHS3698 says, "Will work on 6 volt if the tractor is converted to negative ground (must repolarize regulator)"
For the round housings, I use PAR 36 lights from Larsen https://www.larsenlights.com/par-36-led-lights
IHS3698 says, "Will work on 6 volt if the tractor is converted to negative ground (must repolarize regulator)"
For the round housings, I use PAR 36 lights from Larsen https://www.larsenlights.com/par-36-led-lights
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I did find some from Amazon that fit the pancake style seed beam. When hooked directly to the battery they work great. When hooked to the wiring (yes they work with the original incandescent bulbs) they don’t light up. The original on one side will light but the led will not. Any suggestions? I’m thinking of wiring up simple switch and lighting it that way if I can’t find an easy solution.
Your LED is probably mounted with the wrong polarity. Without a picture or a link to the Amazon listing, we are just guessing.
Il
l see if I can find it. It was stated it was for 6 cold “vintage” tractors and took a stab in the dark if it was negative ground compatible. I got to thinking after I cleaned up that it is probably negative ground and when I connected it to the battery it made it so it didn’t matter since it was looped directly to the battery. I still may put in a fused wired with a switch. It’s quite dark on my road and cars/snow plows roll by at 55-65mph all day.
https://a.co/d/gDEwosd Forgot to add the link.