Lasfit vs Diode Dyanamics

[twolane]

I have both. Picked up and tried Lasfit after reading reviews here.
I had my first one die 13 months after I installed, just outside the warranty period. I won't be buying them again.
Yes, they're less expensive, but I don't want to be swapping bulbs every year or so. I'd rather run DD or VLEDs and know I'm good for years and years.
Oh, and just FYI Lasfit does seem to embellish their lumen output.

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[pfarticus]

I have both. Picked up and tried Lasfit after reading reviews here.
I had my first one die 13 months after I installed, just outside the warranty period. I won't be buying them again.
Yes, they're less expensive, but I don't want to be swapping bulbs every year or so. I'd rather run DD or VLEDs and know I'm good for years and years.
Oh, and just FYI Lasfit does seem to embellish their lumen output.

Thanks for that. I just bought their switchbacks and come to find out, they have a newer version that was just released within the last week or so.

 

[Montana]

The only thing I would buy DD's for and have in the past, is fog's and ditch. The rest, I see no reason to overspend. Even then it's questionable. They make the entire housings so that is the main reason but there are plenty of other options now days too, like Baja Designs. I'd never pay for just their bulbs alone.

If anyone is looking for a set of Lasfit switchbacks, I have some for sale here

 

[OTACORB]

If bulb longevity turn out to be very short 1-2 years, I will report back on this.

18 months and mine are still going strong. I am not installing resistors so I can over pay for DD's, not happening!

 

[mdl20813]

In the last 4 weeks, I've had 3/4 of my Lasfit rear tailight bulbs go out. All of them are 15 months old.

 

[EchoPear]

Going to chime in here with my EE background

I have to say with a 3 year warranty on the DD bulbs, pretty sure we know which ones are built better. I’m guessing LASFIT doesn’t do as much longevity testing and that’s why they aren’t making it past 1 year. The DD also have an (optional) external resistor which will be better for heat dissipation. LASFIT is probably constrained as to what size resistor they can fit inside the tiny bulb housing. Aka both might have the same resistance but the LF resistors might only be .3 W and DD might be 1W (for example, I don’t own either of these products but also going to buy some new bulbs once my truck comes in). Higher wattage resistors withstand heat better (and are larger in footprint/size) and I assume that’s why the LASFIT bulbs overheat quickly (on top of being in an enclosed housing with other heat generating devices: LEDs)

DD $90 with hyper flash resistors 3yr warranty
LASFIT $50 “built in” resistor 1yr warranty

If your LASFIT bulbs burn out once within 3 years you are already saving money going with DD.

 

[ejouie]

What about for the rear of the vehicle? DD doesn't require resistors for backup or brake lights.

 

[realshelby]

Going to chime in here with my EE background

I have to say with a 3 year warranty on the DD bulbs, pretty sure we know which ones are built better. I’m guessing LASFIT doesn’t do as much longevity testing and that’s why they aren’t making it past 1 year. The DD also have an (optional) external resistor which will be better for heat dissipation. LASFIT is probably constrained as to what size resistor they can fit inside the tiny bulb housing. Aka both might have the same resistance but the LF resistors might only be .3 W and DD might be 1W (for example, I don’t own either of these products but also going to buy some new bulbs once my truck comes in). Higher wattage resistors withstand heat better (and are larger in footprint/size) and I assume that’s why the LASFIT bulbs overheat quickly (on top of being in an enclosed housing with other heat generating devices: LEDs)

DD $90 with hyper flash resistors 3yr warranty
LASFIT $50 “built in” resistor 1yr warranty

If your LASFIT bulbs burn out once within 3 years you are already saving money going with DD.

While the resistors could lower bulb operating temperature due to lower current going through them.....
The resistors are not there to make the bulb happy. They are there to fool the Ford CanBus ( or whatever they call this generation) into thinking there is the right current going THROUGH the bulb to prove it is on and operating. If that current is out of range, it will shut down that circuit.
That is where a LOT of these LED replacement bulbs are a pain to get figured out.

 

[EchoPear]

What about for the rear of the vehicle? DD doesn't require resistors for backup or brake lights.

Eh not sure. Was trying to take a guess at why people are having LF bulbs die after the 1 year warranty and why DD bulbs are more expensive.

 

[mdl20813]

What about for the rear of the vehicle? DD doesn't require resistors for backup or brake lights.

this was DD reply when I asked why they didn’t list resistors as required for the rear lights (which, incidentally they don’t on the Maverick specific page but if you just search for that same bulb in general, they DO say you need resistors like bc of what they say below):


“Due to the low power draw LEDs can cause, this may cause the vehicle CANBUS system to think there is a bulb out which will result in bulb-out warnings and hyperflashing. How selective the CANBUS system can be will vary from vehicle to vehicle. We have noticed Mopar (Dodge, Chrysler, RAM, Jeep, Fiat) seems to have the most selective CANBUS systems. Most of the time it is for just turn signals when it will cause bulb out but we have also seen it happen with reverse lights and brake lights.

Due to the CANBUS systems varying from vehicle to vehicle, we can not guarantee resistors will not be needed. We do offer a 30-day return policy to return for a refund if they end up not working out for you.”

 

[EchoPear]

While the resistors could lower bulb operating temperature due to lower current going through them.....
The resistors are not there to make the bulb happy. They are there to fool the Ford CanBus ( or whatever they call this generation) into thinking there is the right current going THROUGH the bulb to prove it is on and operating. If that current is out of range, it will shut down that circuit.
That is where a LOT of these LED replacement bulbs are a pain to get figured out.

That is correct. I don’t know how much current a typical halogen bulb draws, or what the threshold for the current monitor is. But what I do know is if a large enough current is sinking across a resistor placed in front of the LED to trick the truck but the resistor is too low wattage, it could change the resistor’s properties and cause problems.

It’s pretty simple for someone to take the stock bulb out of the truck and measure the resistance and then slap the same ohm resistor onto an LED bulb. But if someone doesn’t take the time to figure out how many watts of heat the resistor will need to dissipate…

I’ve never tried designing an LED replacement bulb but halogens get pretty hot. Whether the truck is expecting the same current draw from an LED or the cutoff is some marginal current above zero, I do not know

 

[mdl20813]

I will say, I left a review on the LASFIT site about 3/4 of my taillights dying shortly outside of the warranty period. They promptly emailed me and sent me 2 new pairs, even though I had gotten them as gifts and couldn't provide them with an order number. Kudos to them from a customer service standpoint. Interestingly, the new set they sent me had tabs on the sides of the socket that I had to file down to get them to fit the connector. My original Lasfit set did not have these but I know DD mentioned that theirs do as well.

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