LED Headlamp upgrade w/DRL

[GrantOv]

I am considering boosting my headlamp output and many of the newer LED lamps come with Hi/Lo beam in addition to DRL and Turn Signals. I'm not sure if I'm won over with the turn signal option but DRL may be interesting. Would a person just piggyback on the front facing grill lights? or have others just added switched power with a hidden toggle? I don't think current headlight lamp switch has any contacts for DRL as 1972 may be well before these were typical.

Thoughts?

 

[Sheriff41]

I can't speak to the DRL question but do your homework when selecting your new lights. There are a lot of LED headlights that fit our cars that are pretty much junk. If you find good ones, you will like them. I'm running Cibie glass H4 lights with LEDs in my '72 and the brightness and pattern are very good.
They also maintain the original look. Unfortunately, the Cibies aren't available any longer. Several members have had good success with Hella lights.

Another car I have had Delta Tech glass H4 headlights with LEDs when I bought it and while the brightness was good the pattern was terrible. I ditched the Deltas and went with wired-in relays and Sylvania H6024 Silverstar Halogens. I like this setup, though it's not quite as good as what I have on the '72.

 

[Stanglover]

This is what I did on my car. There has been many post on this subject. IF you decide to go with Hella Vision Plus as I did, I highly recommend adding the water shields I designed. I'm not just trying to sell you something, you will need them due to the fact that water can get in. That's not the fault of the lamps per se, but the fact that the gap between the hood and fender is directly over the lamps. Sealed beam lamps are a one piece design, so not affected. The conversion is two pieces. Also consider running the headlights off relays.
As for running DRL's, that is something I really want to explore further. One other thought I had was to ADD a second LED bulb to grill lamps, but this would only be possible on Mach's.

In the classified section, I have posted the shields for sale. I'll update that as I want to re-promote this idea.

https://7173mustangs.com/threads/headlight-water-shields.44535/

https://7173mustangs.com/threads/led-headlight-conversion-with-direct-fit-water-shields.44079/

 

[raydav]

H4 was about five years ago. The design since then is these.
The unit is multi-element, projector (absolute low beam cut off above the horizon), and the halo is both DRL and turn signal. Just connect to the front parking/turn/DRL light - keep or eliminate the original lights.

And the units are sealed.