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Quadratec LED headlight review (compared to Trucklite and KC)

53K views 84 replies 42 participants last post by  bmurphy710 
#1 ·
Hello All,

Let me start out with I am new to this forum but i mainly hang out on the JKowners forum mostly under the same user name. I have been meaning to join here for a little bit and figured this would be a great first post over here.

So over the past 4 months or so I have been in a LED headlight search for what I feel is the best option. So far i started of with the KC/Peterson LED headlights, then moved to the trucklites, and now I ended up with the Quadratec units. I was up in the air on this last purchase maily because I was tired of swaping out LED headlights, and was torn between the JW's or the Quadratecs. The price of the JW's was just not in the cards for me right now or even ever really. With my circumstances I cannot justify the price of the JW's. Some can but not me. I will explain my experience with these brands of LED headlights...

KC/Peterson - I purchased these units about 4 months ago. Brand new from Amazon (I am a prime member so the sameday shipping enticed me) Let me start off by saying these are built great and have a 23 year warranty. From my understanding Peterson supplied LED headlights to motorcoaches and big rigs. Install was easy as all headlight assembly swaps are but I was less than impressed with the anti flicker harness. It was very stiff and I felt like i could easily snap it in half if I was not careful. The lag from going from low to high beam was by far the worst I tested. It was on about 4 to 5 seconds to go from low to high. To me i felt unsafe taking that long and it just irked me. The light quality itself was not as great and I was not happy at all. There was a lot of unlit areas that were in front of my vehicle that should have been lit up. The worst part of the headlights were I could actually see the lines off the reflector projected in front of me on the road or on a wall/car.The cut off was non existant as the headlight seem to throw light in every direction. There was no real focus on anything in front of you. The high beams seem to be pretty decent but still I could see the lines of the reflector. For the price I wanted them to be perfect and they were not. Good thing is Amazon Prime has no hassle returns, So they were returned.

Trucklite LED - These were purchased from a vendor on here as part as a Christmas special with the anti flicker harness. This headlight was even worse than the KC/Peterson. Light was scattered everywhere, no focus, no cut off, and this headlight had the "yy" artifact that drove me bonkers at times. I found myself staring at the 'yy" while driving and it was very distracting. The unlit areas were very pronounced with the trucklites compared to the KC's I had prior. The high beam was pretty good with this unit and I found myself using it more than I should have just to not see the artifacts and "yy" pattern that the headlight through out in front of the jeep. The cut off was so wavy that these headlights were near impossible to align compared to the KC's. At least the KC's had a small flat spot to use when aligning. The anti flicker harness was much better than the KC. The switching from high beam to low beam was quick and I did like that but I ended up removing these and selling them to a forum member for only a little bit less than what i bought them for so I was not to bent out of shape about it.

Quadratec LED - So I was hesitant to try these because these are made by Anzo (over seas company) but there were really little to no negative comments about them when i google searched them. I actually was thingking about these or the JWs but like I said price was a factor. I figured why the hell not and try the quads. I am glad I did. The anti fliker harness is nice and quick when going from low to high much like the TL unit. The low beam was nice and bright, and while the high beam was nit that much brighter, It was angled enough to light up what was far far far ahead of me and not to far up where I was lighting up the top of trees and above highway signs. on overpass's. The cut off beam rivals that off OEM HID's that you would find on a high end car today. There are no and i repeat no artifacts that are visible and no annoying "yy" pattern like the TL units. I see no reflector lines projected in front of me like the KC's had. I just wished I bought these first! I highly recommend These to anyone wanting to go LED.

I hope this review helps making your choice. This review was based of my experience. I know plenty of people love their Trucklites and Peterson/KC LED headlights. This review was just based on my opinion. I wish I had pictures from my TL and KC experience but I do not. I do have pictures of my Quad units though. Forgive my crappy Cell Phone pics but you will get the idea.

Low beam


High beam


Low Beam


High Beam
 
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#2 ·
for the record before the LEDs i tried the Hella Ecode h4 conversion with SMS harness which was nice but short bulb life is no fun with the SMS harness. I saw 15v+ at the H4 connection on cold starts and 14v+ at idle/driving. I went through a set of h4 bulbs in 2 months with that setup.
 
#3 ·
Your review flies in the face of the lighting guru's at candlepower forums. They say the Qtecs are from a cheap China manufacturer and an underperforming headlight. I'm interested in hearing more as the inevitable questions are posted.
 
#5 ·
Candle power was the site i stumbled upon when looking into the h4 ecode conversion. Lots of great info. The h4 setup was great but without that sms harness and just h13 to h4 pigtails, the difference was noticeable. The SMS harness made most of the difference. The pigtails only with the h4 e-codes made a difference compared to stock but still lacked that power the sms harness provided. It only took 2 months to pop a h4 hella +30 long life bulb.

i would compare the Quad LED to the e-code h4 setup with sms harness in the terms of distance of light thrown and objects i can now see in the distance. Only complaint i had with the hella e-codes are the high beam was aimed to high. if i brought down the beam it would make the low beam to low.

The quadratec units seem to be just as top quality physically as the trucklites and kc's. I would not lump them in the cheap category even though that seems to be the norm with made in china products. Angry Offroad now imports JW knockoffs and the reviews on them seem to be pretty good as well. they say they are well made and offer higher wattage LED chips.

when it comes to made in china stuff i look at it this way. Everything is just components, There is good and bad components coming out of china. If good ones are used and the importer does their homework and makes an effort to QC the items, you will be able to get a decent product. One thing to note is that Taiwan is now a large player in manufacturing items that china is known for. Taiwan uses better QC standards with their items and are really stepping the game up for items such as this. ANZO makes Quads LED headlights and I think they are made in Taiwan. ANZO has a pretty good reputation in the auto lighting world.

I still prefer made in good ole USA. But these look the best in terms of output to me. The biggest issue with LED headlights is at the end of the day they are still a universal 7 inch assembly. They are not made specifically for jeeps, Jeeps have headlight assemblies that are close together so getting a setup that is perfect for a jeep is not the easiest but the Quad LEDs worked out better for me than the made in USA units that I tired.
 
#6 ·
Amazon does not sell knock off items, Besides I do not know anyone who even knockoff's the Peterson/KC units. Again, i know others out there like these units, I am just telling everyone about my experience with them. My Quads blew away the KC's i tried out. Your shop could install all the KC's they want and i hope it works out for them. And as far as the anti flicker harness and switching, This has been talked about ALOT. if you do a google search on the KC anti flicker harness you will come accross alot of people posting about it. Just sayin.
 
#9 ·
I think they are actually made by Maxxima and Anzo is another private label like Q-tec. No matter, it's been confirmed that the Q-tec has a different LED emitter than the others and it has a higher lumen output because of it.

I know the guys at candlepower know their stuff, but they immediately classified the Q-tec's as non performers and continue to do so based only on opinion. Expert or not, opinions aren't facts. Being in the lighting industry myself, I know how quickly things change. If it was good 6 months ago, it's nearly obsolete today.
 
#11 ·
good to know. Thanks for the info. I just looked at maxxima's website, they list the manufacture of these LED assemblies as a company called Panor. People can down play the Quads all they want, I think the pictures I posted do some justice to my claim. I never go by what he/she said claims, i like to try things out for myself which is why i tried out these three LED assemblies.

and for the record, I am not knocking the KC or trucklites, Both are great headlights still, just not for me.
 
#10 ·
I have had my Peterson's for 6 months +. I love em! Once I properly aimed them there is no switching to any other lights. As for the the low to high delay, I have none. Instant switching. And the flicker harness fit nicely behind the light. Cant complain, even with a 23 yr warranty..

:iamhappy:
 
#12 ·
Hey there,

Thanks for trying our headlights and for the great review! Our headlights are not made by Anzo. After we designed our headlights Anzo came out with a similar product that does not perform up to our same standards. This goes for lighting output and beam pattern, as well as lumens output and other specs.

Our headlights are made in Taiwan. However, as you all know this is much better in terms of quality than lights from China. We are very happy with our current Quadratec LED Headlights and the Stealth Quadratec LED Headlights.

Thanks again for your purchase and review. Have a great rest of your weekend!

-Rick
 
#14 ·
Well put Rick! And PC as usual... :beerdrinking:

I like WF because I don't always have to be PC... :whacky:
 
#17 ·
Never tried them but I have yet to read one bad review of them. The price tag just isn't in my budget. The headlights themselves are in my opinion are not the greatest looking. for that price I think I would check out the recon headlights as those are better looking and still a projector setup. I think its the two side led units in the housing that bother me most.
 
#16 ·
I've had the Quadratecs for about two months and tho I was hesitant of them because they were suspiciously affordable I'm really happy with them.

I didn't try any others but going from stock to the quadratec stealths is a night and day difference. They're decently bright and the cut off on the low beams is great. Install I assume is pretty much the same for them all.
 
#22 ·
Trucklite LED - These were purchased from a vendor on here as part as a Christmas special with the anti flicker harness. This headlight was even worse than the KC/Peterson. Light was scattered everywhere, no focus, no cut off, and this headlight had the "yy" artifact that drove me bonkers at times. I found myself staring at the 'yy" while driving and it was very distracting. The unlit areas were very pronounced with the trucklites compared to the KC's I had prior. The high beam was pretty good with this unit and I found myself using it more than I should have just to not see the artifacts and "yy" pattern that the headlight through out in front of the jeep. The cut off was so wavy that these headlights were near impossible to align compared to the KC's. At least the KC's had a small flat spot to use when aligning. The anti flicker harness was much better than the KC. The switching from high beam to low beam was quick and I did like that but I ended up removing these and selling them to a forum member for only a little bit less than what i bought them for so I was not to bent out of shape about it.

The artifacts you mention aren't the fault of the Truck Lites, it's the cross-eyed factory headlight alignment....
 
#28 ·
Thank you for the great review. I find the opinion of someone who has tried multiple options much more valuable than one of a person who has only had OEM and 1 aftermarket.

If my TL's don't satisfy me I will try the Qtecs. (my TL's come in today).
 
#29 ·
Great review, I have truck light ones and you are right the yy pattern can be annoying but I think the light output isn't bad, these are my first led headlights so it's def a improvement from stock
 
#30 ·
I have the H4 conversion at the moment, and blow a bulb every 4-6 months. its very frustrating. I have been thinking about going the LED route, and this thread makes me think the Quadratec units a good option.

My concern is the lack of heat put off by them. That is to say, when driving in snow/slush/ice, do they cake over? Anyone have experience with this?

Thanks
 
#37 ·
Don't know about anyone else (vendors), but I got an email from Northridge4x4 the other day saying they have a new heated version of the TL's that heats the lens below a certain temperature threshold.
 
#48 ·
But are you happy with the KC's? Did you have to reprogram for DRL's?
 
#49 ·
For the record, The KC/Peterson's (Peterson makes the KC light) Do not have a built in anti flicker, I know this for a fact. I tried the KC h13 to h4 adaptor (i had it when I had my e-codes) first with the KC and i saw lots of flicker, Then i used the included anti flicker harness and the flicker went away.

I have a set of windshield mounted KC LZR 24 watt LEDs on KC mounts (which i love) and i wanted the KCs to match them so i really wanted to like the KCs but i just could not. Not focused enough and light was scattered. I am not saying KC or TL LEDs are terrible so please do not think that. I am sure there are others out there who love them and I am glad you guys do and glad that they work out for you. For me, they did not so i ended up trying a few LED headlights out. I am lucky that I never rally lost any money going through each set. If i had another JK or even TJ I would def go quad again and again just from my experience. I am not saying that everyone should sell their LEDs and get the quads because there is no need for that. I am just telling everyone what worked for me and why.

For the record i did install the horizontal adjusters when i did the KC LEDs and aligned them as best I could. (not my first rodeo with aiming headlights) I even had my buddy do it as the stealership with a headlight aiming machine when we installed the lights.

I really hope people are not offended or think i am putting down all other LEDs because i am really not and i do not want it to come off that way.
 
#52 ·
crippled, I was reading sour grapes in some of those pro KC posts because your review did not favor their favorite... it happens. Just disappointed that they went so far as to try to call you out as a fake.

Frankly, no other LED light can claim the lack of negative feedback that the Quadratec can, although it's still somewhat in its infancy. As you stated, that's not to say that the other lights are bad. Personally, I would gladly sport any of them except the TL's and maybe those would be ok if the aiming is truly the fix. Although I have not seen a pair that didn't have the artifacts that are quite distracting to me.
 
#56 ·
Yep....were are 80 cents on your dollar, shipping and customs fees kill the deal. Better off buying a set used from a member and having them declare a cheaper value.
 
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