Meet GheyRay: Lower, Wider, Lighter!

[Kracka]

QFT - I just bought some bulk pack of LED's off amazon.

I will have to try some other ones I think. But hard to know what the good brands are and what the bad brands are. But something like Philips yeah probably a safe bet if they put their name on it. But if there was like one site that was a known really good LED place, that'd be nice. Like the FP of LED's or something. That Diode Dynamics place you named, are they a known good LED place or just another random site that sells random LED's?
The brand I purchased is pretty well-regarded, both on the forums and Amazon reviews. I actually heard from one guy that tried both the kind I bought and the Philips, and found the Philips to run hotter. Those ones Goodhart linked to sound pretty legit too with the proper heat management properties, and seemed to be priced accordingly.

[goodhart]

That Diode Dynamics place you named, are they a known good LED place or just another random site that sells random LED's?

They use known quality brands like Philips. They also have different options for light output and temperature and explain the different quality levels.

[Goat Blower]

Same assumption I made :)

It's unanimous. :D

[Goat Blower]

I'm surprised you guys are seeing temp issues from LED's, they're not supposed to put out any heat. My garage lights are cool to the touch and they are hella bright.

[A//// Guy]

The LED bulbs I have inside my house get very hot, the heatsink near the base does at last.

[goodhart]

What I've learned (basically just from reading on that diode dynamics site) is that when buying a higher quality LED you are basically paying for a bulb with better heat dissipation qualities than a cheaper one. That and higher sometimes light output.

[bramagedained]

The LED bulbs I have inside my house get very hot, the heatsink near the base does at last.


That's at least partially due to having to convert 120v AC to probably <5V DC in the footprint of the socket.

What I've learned (basically just from reading on that diode dynamics site) is that when buying a higher quality LED you are basically paying for a bulb with better heat dissipation qualities than a cheaper one. That and higher sometimes light output.

When I was digging through this stuff before I made that lightbar for the Raptor I learned that there is only a handful of companies that actually make the chips themselves.

Even then, on a given run of chips from a brand name like CREE, they are split into luminosity "bins" based on color temperature and lumen output.

A lot of the LED bulbs(for cars) have some kind of load resistor in their base to drop the voltage, which along with the size of the LED die itself gives you a more concentrated heat source than a tungsten filament which then makes the glass bulb itself hot.

[Kracka]

Hotchkis swaybar set unboxing day:

http://www.mitsustyle.com/photopost/data/686/medium/0111162137.jpg

Note the Coke can for size reference:
http://www.mitsustyle.com/photopost/data/686/medium/0111162140a.jpg

Welded stays:
http://www.mitsustyle.com/photopost/data/686/medium/0111162138b.jpg

3-way adjustable in the rear:
http://www.mitsustyle.com/photopost/data/686/medium/0111162138a.jpg

http://www.mitsustyle.com/photopost/data/686/medium/0111161706.jpg

http://www.mitsustyle.com/photopost/data/686/medium/0111161715.jpg

Initial impressions are positive, the bars appear to be very quality with a nice black powdercoat. They remind me quite a bit of the Eibachs I had for my Evo X to replace the Whitelines. The welded stays are a nice touch, and I appreciate the fact their bushings retain the stock mounts/hardware. The instructions are basic, but at least include pictures. My guess is Energy is their bushing and bushing grease supplier (this is a good thing). These are some of the hardest swaybar bushings I've seen, my only concern is that I hope they don't squeak. One final comment, I find it odd their instructions list the stock Z51 bars being stiffer than the stock Z06 bars, this goes against all the other info out on the market since it is known that the Z51 w/magnetic ride control uses the same swaybars as both the Z06 and Z06 w/Z07 package. I suspect they mixed up the data and under what they have listed as the Z06 are actually referring to the base Stingray front bar and base Z51 rear bar (non-mag ride). This is just a hunch though, I have nothing to confirm or back that up!

I'll get them installed in the coming weeks (probably early February) and will report back with installation and initial driving impressions!

[scheides]

Just yank on the bars with your hands while they're both off the car and see the difference. Science.

Actually, you could do this....rig up a contraption for sway bar testing and put a torque wrench on the end of it and test how much torque it takes to deflect a certain distance. Yee haw :D

[Kracka]

Clear markers installed! Near OEM in quality and fitment.

http://www.mitsustyle.com/photopost/data/686/medium/0115161610_HDR.jpg

http://www.mitsustyle.com/photopost/data/686/medium/0115161615.jpg

http://www.mitsustyle.com/photopost/data/686/medium/0117161601_HDR.jpg

Front badge in Carbon Flash on to complete the removal of chrome badging!

http://www.mitsustyle.com/photopost/data/686/medium/0115161604.jpg

Next up will be the Z06 grille sometime over the next few weeks.