Peterson has entered the exciting, rapidly developing LED forward lighting market with the introduction of a new USA designed, tooled and manufactured 7-inch round LED headlight.

According to Steve Meagher, Peterson’s VP of Sales, it’s a decision whose time has come. “Peterson Manufacturing is pleased to bring our first forward lighting product to the market. We have been at the forefront of the LED revolution in vehicle lighting since the very beginning, and over the past 18 years, our people have become experts in the design, engineering, tooling and manufacturing of LED vehicle lighting. We engineered and designed this lamp in-house, tooled it at our tooling division, and are manufacturing and assembling it here in the USA. The demand for LED forward lighting will continue to increase for some time to come. That growth makes it the next logical step in our 68-year history of manufacturing vehicle lighting equipment.”

Peterson's new, DOT-legal 701C 7-inch round headlight is a drop-in LED replacement for all PAR56 standard headlights, including popular H6014, H5024 and H6024 halogen sealed beams. It exceeds FMVSS-108 and CMVSS-108 requirements, and its construction and performance conforms to all applicable SAE standards.

The 701C incorporates two OSRAM Opto Semiconductors OSTAR HL Pro LED devices per headlamp (one for low beam, and another for high beam). These LED light sources are much more efficient than halogen lights, drawing only 0.7–1.9 amps, and will last many times longer than a traditional sealed beam. A color temperature range of 5400k ~ 6300k closely simulates the natural daylight. The solid-state multi-volt design is compatible with all 12-volt and 24-volt vehicles.

The heavy-duty cast aluminum housing and hard-coated polycarbonate lens ensure that the lamp assembly will last as long as the diodes. Unlike some competitors' lights, which claim to be direct PAR56 replacements, Peterson's 701C has its standard H4 3-blade terminals integrated directly into the cast alloy housing, not wired onto the light as a separate pigtail.

At the beginning of Peterson’s development process of the LED headlamp, OSRAM Opto Semiconductors provided technical support and collaborated with Peterson in the development of a concept design, including optics support and computer simulated thermal analyses. OSRAM Opto Semiconductors has been a partner on this project from the beginning and has continued to be an excellent resource throughout the development process.