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    Results 1 to 12 of 12
    1. #1
      Join Date
      Sep 2014
      Location
      Tampa, FL
      Posts
      93
      Country Flag: United States

      Dapper lighting rant

      BLUF: Why do I always have to modify dapper lighting housings to fit?

      I love the look and quality of their products, but not a single one has ever been remove and replace ready. The most frustrating part is that it isn't that they don't fit inside the original buckets. It is that they don't fit the same and are always cocked one way or the other (rotated). So you have trim tabs and finagle to get the beam flat.

      I have installed their lights on 2 domestics and one import, and none just go in. We are not talking a 57 Peugeot. We are talking 60s American cars (one Chevy and one Ford,), and a 70s BMW. When you call, they talk about it being the cars fault and manufacturing tolerances and blah blah. But I can go buy a new bulb at autozone for 10 dollars and it will fit. Why doesn't the dapper one?

      Alright, rant over. I guess I'll go get started trimming tabs.



      Disclaimer: Great bright lights, and great customer service. Their engineering guys just need to compare their bulbs to OEM bulbs and make the tabs line up!!!
      67 Ford Galaxie
      5.0 coyote engine, 2650 supercharger, T56 magnum, 9" truetrac
      68 Camaro RS vert
      LS3/T56 magnum, 9 inch, Ridetech F/R, Baer brakes
      74 BMW 2002 Tii


    2. #2
      Join Date
      Jan 2014
      Location
      Austin, TX
      Posts
      636
      Country Flag: United States
      I run them in both my '72 C20 Suburban and my '64 Corvette. In both cases, the stock buckets had to be "clearanced" but it was less than 1/16 of an inch all the way around. After a bit of very careful work with a dremel, and some flat black paint, you'd need a micrometer to tell that anything had been modified from factory, and the lights dropped right in. I never had issues with any of the mounting tabs or aiming. Regardless, I think the quality and performance of the product far outweighs the minor annoyance of having to massage the fit.
      1972 C20 Suburban
      1964 Corvette Coupe

    3. #3
      Join Date
      Jan 2014
      Location
      Portsmouth NH
      Posts
      247
      Country Flag: United States
      I had to modify my buckets for the Dapper HID conversion on my Camaro. It required opening the bucket up a little and cutting out a slot for the LED running light option. I modified them and then had them powder coated in black. They look factory now and hopefully will not rust anytime soon.

      Ps - I do really like the HID's, the light quality is excellent.
      Attached Images Attached Images    
      1969 Camaro (Small Tyre Restomod/mild Protour) 245/40/18 F, 275/35/18 R, stock frame, full Ridetech suspension, LS engine, T56 Mag, Wilwood Brakes. A driver car.

    4. #4
      Join Date
      Mar 2014
      Location
      Las Vegas
      Posts
      10
      Country Flag: United States
      Hey there!
      Engineering has been having meetings about this and the findings have been fairly inconclusive. Could you tell us a little more? What vehicles, which lights? All of them? Just one side?

      I'm guessing you've been installing 575s. The most issues we've had are the 5.75" tabs since they came in a bunch of different variations for high and low. A lot of customers modify and never let us know so it's hard to know if there is actually an issue or not. We know the tab layout for a high is different from a low (by a few degrees). Anything else? (We've tested about 20 buckets only finding the high beam tab issue).

      We've been playing around with adapter rings to add on so you don't need to cut tabs.

      As for the bucket fitment issues, I'm guessing you guys are running V1/V2s. This is why we developed the LED Seven. It has a much slimmer base eliminating the need to open buckets up. It does still run long, so depth may be an issue. We've been wanting to drop the V1/V2 but customers keep asking for them so we decided not to yet.

      We love feedback so I appreciate everyone giving honest opinions. It helps us make a better product. If there's anything we can help with, please feel free to reach out. Remember, fitment modifications doesn't void your warranty!

    5. #5
      Join Date
      Aug 2004
      Location
      San Antonio, Tx
      Posts
      1,190
      Thats a '69 Camaro he posted a picture of so they would be the 7" lights.
      Instagram: CamaroAJ

    6. #6
      Join Date
      Dec 2008
      Location
      Detroit
      Posts
      2,584
      Country Flag: United States
      Quote Originally Posted by dapperlighting View Post
      Hey there!
      Engineering has been having meetings about this and the findings have been fairly inconclusive. Could you tell us a little more? What vehicles, which lights? All of them? Just one side?

      I'm guessing you've been installing 575s. The most issues we've had are the 5.75" tabs since they came in a bunch of different variations for high and low. A lot of customers modify and never let us know so it's hard to know if there is actually an issue or not. We know the tab layout for a high is different from a low (by a few degrees). Anything else? (We've tested about 20 buckets only finding the high beam tab issue).

      We've been playing around with adapter rings to add on so you don't need to cut tabs.

      As for the bucket fitment issues, I'm guessing you guys are running V1/V2s. This is why we developed the LED Seven. It has a much slimmer base eliminating the need to open buckets up. It does still run long, so depth may be an issue. We've been wanting to drop the V1/V2 but customers keep asking for them so we decided not to yet.

      We love feedback so I appreciate everyone giving honest opinions. It helps us make a better product. If there's anything we can help with, please feel free to reach out. Remember, fitment modifications doesn't void your warranty!
      I actually have an issue with an angled cutoff line on my 575 low beams with LED's. Can that be fixed?
      Big dreams, small pockets....

      Chris--
      '72 Cutlass S LSA/T56 Magnum
      Bowler Performance, Rushforth Wheels, ATS, Holley EFI, KORE3, Ridetech

      Project Motor City Madness

    7. #7
      Join Date
      Nov 2008
      Location
      Lawrenceburg, TN
      Posts
      4,083
      Country Flag: United States

    8. #8
      Join Date
      Nov 2006
      Location
      Mountain Springs, Texas
      Posts
      4,488
      Country Flag: United States
      The mantra of companies selling poorly engineered and designed parts that don’t fit....

      Don
      1969 Camaro - LSA 6L90E AME sub/IRS
      1957 Buick Estate Wagon
      1959 El Camino - Ironworks frame
      1956 Cameo - full C5 suspension/drivetrain
      1959 Apache Fleetside

    9. #9
      Join Date
      Sep 2004
      Location
      Arizona
      Posts
      239

      Headlight shopping

      I looked at lots of lights before pulling the trigger..... the Rigid Industries Truck-Lite 7" Round LED Headlamp Kit

      installed without a hitch, no mods required, no relays, just R & R.
      They are DOT approved and put out lots of light.

    10. #10
      Join Date
      Nov 2008
      Location
      Lawrenceburg, TN
      Posts
      4,083
      Country Flag: United States
      Quote Originally Posted by dhutton View Post
      The mantra of companies selling poorly engineered and designed parts that don’t fit....

      Don
      winner 3st place ribbon for you

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    11. #11
      Join Date
      Mar 2014
      Location
      Las Vegas
      Posts
      10
      Country Flag: United States
      Quote Originally Posted by CamaroAJ View Post
      Thats a '69 Camaro he posted a picture of so they would be the 7" lights.
      Ah didn't see the photo for some reason. We've never had tab alignment issues on a 7" lamp. I'd like to know which tab was off if possible. I'll definitely relay it to the engineers.

      Quote Originally Posted by csouth View Post
      I actually have an issue with an angled cutoff line on my 575 low beams with LED's. Can that be fixed?
      Shoot us an email with some photos. We can help figure out what's going on. [email protected]
      Quote Originally Posted by dhutton View Post
      The mantra of companies selling poorly engineered and designed parts that don’t fit....

      Don
      Part of the problem is our cutoff is so sharp and defined, it's easy to see any angle variance. Almost all of the aftermarket headlamps are reflective based so 2-3 degrees rotated won't really be apparent.

    12. #12
      Join Date
      Feb 2018
      Location
      Southern IN
      Posts
      144
      Country Flag: United States
      X2 for the Truck-Lite 27270C. Zero issues on a non-RS Camaro.
      Shane
      #theanchorholds
      68 Camaro build thread:
      http://lateral-g.net/forums/showthread.php?t=56387



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