Quad Sealed-Beams replaced w/ JW Speaker 8800 Evo2

[Richelieu]

Hello - I tried for two-three months to find another Volvo person who had done this, but did not have much luck. This seems to be the appropriate forum for this, so I am posting here. If not, then let me know (it'd be an honest mistake), and I'll move it. The purpose for posting is in case there is anyone else out there who thinks of doing this in their quad setup Volvo and wants to know what someone else's experience was.

I have a 1984 245 DL 4spd w/OD. The original Wagner quad headlamps are pretty dim - everybody knows that. I wanted to upgrade them without having to mess around (or mess up!) too much with the electrical system or components, so I needed to find some quality, reputable, one piece plug and play 4"x6" quad lights to swap places with the Wagners.

What I did find out in addition to the options that many have explored here and elsewhere:
1.) There are a few different upgrades I could have done with Hella® housings, some that did (others that did not) require different wiring harnesses.
2.) There are a few companies out there who are willing to take lots of my money for "kits" that include cheap, poor quality H4 housings and LED bulbs that one could piece together for themselves, were they so inclined, from what is available through Amazon - for much LESS money than the kits sold by some of these companies.
3.) While there are a variety and plethora of 4"x6" LED one piece units available, only a couple of them come highly recommended by (pretty knowledgable) people with whom I consulted during this process.
4.) There are also sealed beam replacements (Sylvania Silver Star, Philips) which, at least, claim to have a better output than the original Wagners.

So I bit the bullet, so to speak, and purchased what are supposed to be the very best possible 4"x6" LED headlamps available (the preferred lights of long haul truck drivers, or so I was told)- J.W. Speaker 8800 Evolution2 - 2 high beams, 2 low beams. Admittedly, it cost a little bit of money - but what I got was quality, total ease of installation, excellent craftsmanship, superior lighting and excellent beam pattern, and did not have to sacrifice too much aesthetics (although this latter point is totally subjective, and I know some people are not going to like the way they turned out) - but I do......and since it is my car.....well - I also took the downloadable aiming instructions seriously, and they could not have been more precise or helpful. It took about an hour in a hot warehouse to get them aimed correctly, but each step was easy to follow, and the outcome was worth it - so here is what I did.

Thanks for reading.

Before:


After:



Low Beams:


High Beams:

[MasterBlaster]

Originally Posted by Richelieu

superior lighting and excellent beam pattern

Low Beams:


High Beams:

Car's facing the wrong way.
Point it at the wall (about 30 feet away), so we can see the beam patterns.

[Richelieu]

Originally Posted by MasterBlaster

Car's facing the wrong way.
Point it at the wall (about 30 feet away), so we can see the beam patterns.

Ha! You would have thought that idea might have crossed my mind. Thanks for the suggestion. I'll do that and post it tomorrow night.

[Broke4speed]

Hmm, not gonna lie, I've had the same thought. Thanks for taking one for the team . Definitely in for the wall photos!

[Richelieu]

Looks like it's gonna be tomorrow night.
Need to take the photos back at my friend's warehouse where he and I did the setup to show the beam pattern projected against the template we made at 25 feet (per instructions).

[DD Ranch]

I wondered what you were talking about concerning the aesthetics so I had to look them up.

Overview:
The 8800 Evolution 2 provides a high performance 4×6″ LED headlight, available with a SmartHeat® heated lens! This headlight is the industry’s first to meet proposed National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) guidelines for a 5-Star NCAP-compliant low beam headlight.*

So I guess Volvo would have approved.

https://www.jwspeaker.com/products/h...0-evolution-2/

Did you get the heated lenses? Clever stuff but expensive. They look pretty good on the car to me btw.

[Richelieu]

Did you get the heated lenses? Clever stuff but expensive. They look pretty good on the car to me btw.

Nah - I live in North Carolina - couldn't imagine a scenario where I might need the heated lenses (and would also be out and about in my RWD Volvo), but certainly could understand why others from different parts of the world (e.g. Sweden?) might benefit from them.

And thanks for the compliment, by the way. The chrome bezel option I bought is growing on me. If my wagon were black, I may have opted for the black bezel.

I do wonder how these would look on an earlier 7 series.

The image you found is just the low beam. Here is a close-up of the high beam. Its simpler:

[2 old for this]

Is the price for one or two lamps?

[Richelieu]

Originally Posted by 2 old for this

Is the price for one or two lamps?

The price is around $200 per unit - 800 and change for all 4. They aren't cheap, but they're good.

[DD Ranch]

Originally Posted by Richelieu

... The chrome bezel option I bought is growing on me. If my wagon were black, I may have opted for the black bezel.

I think you made the right choice with the chrome.

Also, your marker lights seem very bright. I would like mine to be that bright. What are you using, led's?

[Richelieu]

Originally Posted by DD Ranch

I think you made the right choice with the chrome.

Also, your marker lights seem very bright. I would like mine to be that bright. What are you using, led's?

Interesting. Until I snapped those shots, I never even noticed those side markers, but thought they were easy on the eyes in the photos. Nothing special about them, as far as I know When I bought the car a year and a half ago, no mention was made of LEDs, so I assume they are just stock. It's probably the combo of the chrome bezel lights + the chrome grille shine framed by the lights that looks appealing. Can't figure out any other reason. I had actually been thinking of changing the side markers to newer, whiter versions - or ecodes - but I'm not sure how that would look with these new JW Speakers.

Anyway, I'll be off to my friend's warehouse in a bit to take the beam pattern pictures and post those a little later.

[Richelieu]

Posted the beam pattern shots in a new thread here: http://forums.turbobricks.com/showthread.php?t=349967