Recon headlights underwhelming

[Unamused-emt]

Anyone else install the lights and found them to be "meh", at best? I mean, they look good but the light output stinks; honestly I'm not too impressed by them. The LED's are barely better than the stock halogen. Even had LED bulbs in my stock halogen housings for a bit and that light output was better.

Also, is this beam pattern normal? I thought it should be a straight horizontal line, mine have these weird curvatures in the "hot spots".

Note: My camera brightens them up, they're not actually this bright in person, and poorly light up the road.

 

[ramButz]

after all these years i see they havent change.they still put out junk

 

[HSKR R/T]

Anyone else install the lights and found them to be "meh", at best? I mean, they look good but the light output stinks; honestly I'm not too impressed by them. The LED's are barely better than the stock halogen. Even had LED bulbs in my stock halogen housings for a bit and that light output was better.

Also, is this beam pattern normal? I thought it should be a straight horizontal line, mine have these weird curvatures in the "hot spots".

Note: My camera brightens them up, they're not actually this bright in person, and poorly light up the road.
View attachment 146376

The beam pattern is correct. There are "steps" in them to be slight lower on drivers side for incoming traffic. Halogen bulbs never have that unless in a projector housing. It's how you can have the increase light output without blinding others.

By that pictures looks like they are aimed too high

 

[Unamused-emt]

The beam pattern is correct. There are "steps" in them to be slight lower on drivers side for incoming traffic. Halogen bulbs never have that unless in a projector housing. It's how you can have the increase light output without blinding others.

By that pictures looks like they are aimed too high

Yeah I hadn't aimed them yet when I took that picture, shortly after I aimed them using the guide on GoRecons website. Illumination is still pretty poor after adjustment, if it weren't for my SS3 fog lights I'm not sure I'd ever see any potholes coming at night because these Recon headlights barely light up the road.

Also, they included a little insert regarding condensation in the headlight, I guess it's normal to some degree but I found this tonight and this is considered acceptable?.....


Tbh, if it weren't for their 20% restocking fee I'd probably return them. On the bright side at least I got them 30% off.......

 

[Darksteel165]

Yeah I hadn't aimed them yet when I took that picture, shortly after I aimed them using the guide on GoRecons website. Illumination is still pretty poor after adjustment, if it weren't for my SS3 fog lights I'm not sure I'd ever see any potholes coming at night because these Recon headlights barely light up the road.

Also, they included a little insert regarding condensation in the headlight, I guess it's normal to some degree but I found this tonight and this is considered acceptable?.....
View attachment 146470

Tbh, if it weren't for their 20% restocking fee I'd probably return them. On the bright side at least I got them 30% off.......

On 15 year old headlights it's acceptable.
Are they not sealed units?

 

[Unamused-emt]

On 15 year old headlights it's acceptable.
Are they not sealed units?

They looked pretty well sealed before I installed them, I looked them over thoroughly. Brand new lights and yet still found all that condensation, and the fact that both do it tells me it's just poor design.

After a week of use, I thought maybe I'd get used to them but 100% would not recommend these to anyone. Just go OEM or use a different brand. I thought I scored getting these 30% off but they're not even worth it discounted. The light output is soooooo poor. They look nice in the daylight but that's the only positive thing I have to say. Considering just going OEM or getting the NOVA lights in the near future.

 

[ramButz]

They looked pretty well sealed before I installed them, I looked them over thoroughly. Brand new lights and yet still found all that condensation, and the fact that both do it tells me it's just poor design.

After a week of use, I thought maybe I'd get used to them but 100% would not recommend these to anyone. Just go OEM or use a different brand. I thought I scored getting these 30% off but they're not even worth it discounted. The light output is soooooo poor. They look nice in the daylight but that's the only positive thing I have to say. Considering just going OEM or getting the NOVA lights in the near future.

i have been doing these"Mods"for almost 20+years.i have done them on vetts,silverado,etc.one thing i have learn about(and the rest of guys)is 2 company to stay away from.its "Oracle"&"Recon".they make real nice stuff..high quality stuff for "poser" or show.they are not meant to be used in everyday "RealWorld"situation.like in the cold,rain,snow,etc.they will not hold up.they are shown that way ,but they will not.i spend a lot on "RealWorld"products that are test proven in extreme conditions.like ridgid,VisionX,etc.you can see them in baja races under extreme condition.in rain..heat,battering,etc.its what i use.i live up in the north.not far from canada.we get extreme tempts.i learn to just pay the money ,cause in the end you will be much happier."Been there done that"

 

[Unamused-emt]

i have been doing these"Mods"for almost 20+years.i have done them on vetts,silverado,etc.one thing i have learn about(and the rest of guys)is 2 company to stay away from.its "Oracle"&"Recon".they make real nice stuff..high quality stuff for "poser" or show.they are not meant to be used in everyday "RealWorld"situation.like in the cold,rain,snow,etc.they will not hold up.they are shown that way ,but they will not.i spend a lot on "RealWorld"products that are test proven in extreme conditions.like ridgid,VisionX,etc.you can see them in baja races under extreme condition.in rain..heat,battering,etc.its what i use.i live up in the north.not far from canada.we get extreme tempts.i learn to just pay the money ,cause in the end you will be much happier."Been there done that"

Yeah, lesson learned with Recon. I originally found them through Instagram and everyone posting about them seemed to be happy with the lights so I figured why not. I'll be stuck with them for awhile then I'm gonna change out to something else when I can. In the meantime thankfully I swapped my fogs for the SS3 pods from Diode Dynamics, so my Recon headlights suck but my fogs are bright as **** at least lol

 

[Darksteel165]

Yeah, lesson learned with Recon. I originally found them through Instagram and everyone posting about them seemed to be happy with the lights so I figured why not.

I found the problem...

 

[GreatWhite]

Damn. Unfortunately you got had with the Recon crap. Sorry man, their stuff is bad and overpriced. Live and learn sometimes! On the bright side, you got some fogs. From diode dynamics! Great company to buy from.

 

[Unamused-emt]

Damn. Unfortunately you got had with the Recon crap. Sorry man, their stuff is bad and overpriced. Live and learn sometimes! On the bright side, you got some fogs. From diode dynamics! Great company to buy from.

Yeah I love these fogs, gonna be getting a couple more pods to compliment.
Just for comparison....

Control image, no lights on.


This is the Recon headlights on by themselves, poor road illumination and they barely light up anything beyond the small hot zone directly in front. I've adjusted them according to Recons guide best I could. At night when I pull up next to other Rams with the factory LED headlights they immediately put the Recon lights to shame. I prefer the halogen housings I had....
(note: the road I took this on has a slight downhill trend so the headlights look aimed a little lower than they actually are)


This is my fogs, by themselves.......
More widespread illumination, better road illumination, and even illuminates the wall in the background which the headlights barely touch.



I have to live with the Recon mistake for now but I hope others find my thread and this guides them in a better direction.

 

[HSKR R/T]

Yeah I love these fogs, gonna be getting a couple more pods to compliment.
Just for comparison....

Control image, no lights on.
View attachment 147257

This is the Recon headlights on by themselves, poor road illumination and they barely light up anything beyond the small hot zone directly in front. I've adjusted them according to Recons guide best I could. At night when I pull up next to other Rams with the factory LED headlights they immediately put the Recon lights to shame. I prefer the halogen housings I had....
(note: the road I took this on has a slight downhill trend so the headlights look aimed a little lower than they actually are)
View attachment 147256

This is my fogs, by themselves.......
More widespread illumination, better road illumination, and even illuminates the wall in the background which the headlights barely touch.
View attachment 147258


I have to live with the Recon mistake for now but I hope others find my thread and this guides them in a better direction.

Not having a flat wall for the lights to shine on, it's really hard to tell the beam pattern and how the adjustment looks. Are the fog light a flood lights or beam light? They are definitely aimed high, and hope you don't drive with them on.

 

[Unamused-emt]

Not having a flat wall for the lights to shine on, it's really hard to tell the beam pattern and how the adjustment looks. Are the fog light a flood lights or beam light? They are definitely aimed high, and hope you don't drive with them on.

The pattern was set using a wall from 25 feet away on a flat surface per the Recon guide: How to Adjust Headlight Aim on Your Truck - RECON - GoRECON
The pic was more to show how dull they are, not so much the pattern.


The fogs are an SAE fog pattern, low and wide with a flat cutoff. DD sells multiple patterns and "Beam" and "Flood" are different than the fog pattern I have, by DD definition. I've never been flashed because of them and I've tested driving against them using my wife's little Sonata, neither of us felt blinded.

 

[HSKR R/T]

The pattern was set using a wall from 25 feet away on a flat surface per the Recon guide: How to Adjust Headlight Aim on Your Truck - RECON - GoRECON
The pic was more to show how dull they are, not so much the pattern.


The fogs are an SAE fog pattern, low and wide with a flat cutoff. DD sells multiple patterns and "Beam" and "Flood" are different than the fog pattern I have, by DD definition. I've never been flashed because of them and I've tested driving against them using my wife's little Sonata, neither of us felt blinded.

Those are crappy instructions that absolutely will not work for all vehicles because different vehicles are different heights.

How to Aim Your Headlights at Home - Haynes Manuals

Keep your vehicle in top shape with tips and tutorials on the Haynes blog. Read our post 'How to Aim Your Headlights at Home' today.

haynes.com

 

[Unamused-emt]

Those are crappy instructions that absolutely will not work for all vehicles because different vehicles are different heights.

How to Aim Your Headlights at Home - Haynes Manuals

Keep your vehicle in top shape with tips and tutorials on the Haynes blog. Read our post 'How to Aim Your Headlights at Home' today.

haynes.com

I'll give this a try when I get a chance, been super busy the last week; honestly sounds a lot more accurate than the Recon guide.

 

[ramman95]

Recon is not a company that manufactures anything. Everything that they sell is low quality mass produced and made in China. Look on eBay and Amazon for other brands such as Spyder, Spec-D Tuning, OEMassive, DT-Moto just to name a few. These are the exact same products being sold for a fraction of the price. Recon has been around for a long time and they used to manufacture and sell quality tail lights. At some point they sold out and now the name is used to market cheap garbage at marked up prices. I don't believe that they have ever manufactured their own headlights. I cringe when I see someone paying $500 to $800 for a set of Recon tail lights or even worse, $800 to $1200 for a set of Recon headlights. At those prices you should be getting a top quality product or professional retrofit.