[Vwdiesel] OFFTOPIC: LED lighting

[Val Christian]

This is off topic, but diesel...

I have a compact diesel tractor, which lives outside.  The rain, the snow, 
the bird poop.  Every 6 or 7 years I have to replace my lighting, because
the rubber fixtures holding sealed beams rot out.  The fender mounted lights
are not quite as helpful as I have a loader on the tractor.  The most the 
lighting is used is in the winter, and while I sometimes use the loader
for clearing snow, 95% of the time, I am pushing with a blade reversed.
So the most critical lighting is for backup, and since I am working in 
snow, the illumination level can be rather low.

So looking for more permanent lighting, I have come up with a hodge-podge 
of partial solutions:

-27W LED floods, intended for the front
-10W LED floods, small size, intended for the rear
-low wattage strip lights for marking the fenders when on the road (red)
-low wattage strip lights for the front (low illumination, for snow work)

The 27W LED floods subjectively put out more light than a halogen headlight.
The color temp of all the lights is about 6000K, and does not shift with 
voltage.
The lighting draw less than half of the previous lighting, and the lumen
output will be much higher.  (eg the four 27W floods are 2010 lumens each)
All fixtures are IP67 waterproofing.  All the gaskets are silicone rubber.
Some of the internal power modulators need retrofit.  They are encased in 
a transparent packing tape, and on a high vibration platform like a tractor,
I think they are likely to wear through, and short/fail.

Has anyone else done this on their equipment/car?  It seems to me that LEDs
are getting close to the point where they could replace HID lighting, with 
equivalent performance, and no warm-up times.

Has anyone using LED lights encountered systemic problems, like them 
inductive spike failures?  I have heard that a welder had problems with
them on his welding truck.

Long post, sorry, but I welcome any observation or ideas.