Poor performance of headlights

[Parker]

Hi there Tremeror’s
Is anyone else having issues with driving at night. I’m not talking in lit urban streets, but in the mountains and countryside.
Driving last week, in the pitch black, round country roads felt unsafe with the amount and direction of light in dipped and high beam.
Is this normal?
Are there any upgrades I should do to improve this?
Im currently running Halogen
Thanks for any advice

 

[oops]

Yes, the halogens on this vehicle are remarkably bad.

Morimoto LEDs are the best solution.

 

[BlueKilla]

They are terrible.

2 options:

Morimoto xb led headlamps which are a direct replacement for OEM and will set you back $1850 or so.

DIY or pay someone to retrofit HID projectors in your headlamps (not for the faint of heart) $500-2k depending on setup/accessories.

 

[Grabber]

OEM halogen bulbs have been terrible for a lone time. Either got with an aftermarket headlight assembly, such as Bluezilla has suggested or headlight bulb replacement for less money. I have LED bulbs in my work truck for 2 years now without any issues, plug & play.

 

[Parker]

Thanks Grabber.
Which make of LED did you go for?

 

[Cwayaustx]

My 19 f250 xlt work truck halogens we’re garbage. A flashlight would have been better. I ordered some led’s(I think) for about $80 that were night and day difference. Took about an hour to get them in.

 

[greasemonkey3406]

The halogens must be no different than the ones in my 2016 F-350 XL service truck. Like two candles blowing in the wind...

 

[Cwayaustx]

Don’t remember the brand I ordered but they were something like this. Worked great. First thing I’d do if my truck didn’t have upgraded headlights. That was actually one of the most important things on my list when shopping for a truck this time.

 

[Cwayaustx]

The halogens must be no different than the ones in my 2016 F-350 XL service truck. Like two candles blowing in the wind...

No lie, garbage.

 

[Backslider]

It's typically not a good idea to use LED bulbs in reflector bowls. Output may seem brighter, but the two were not meant to work together. The reflector will scatter the LED light and to oncoming traffic it will appear that your high beams are always on.

A retrofit or swap for LED or projector headlights would be the best-case scenario, but not cheap.

 

[Grabber]

Thanks Grabber.
Which make of LED did you go for?

Can't remember off the top of my head, let me look through my paperwork and see if I can find the brand name. I'll get back to youl.

 

[DwnSth]

Hi there Tremeror’s
Is anyone else having issues with driving at night. I’m not talking in lit urban streets, but in the mountains and countryside.
Driving last week, in the pitch black, round country roads felt unsafe with the amount and direction of light in dipped and high beam.
Is this normal?
Are there any upgrades I should do to improve this?
Im currently running Halogen
Thanks for any advice

DO NOT BUY A VEHICLE WITH HALOGEN LIGHTS EVER AGAIN!!
They are worthless and should be illegal!

 

[EsdeeSD]

I think model T headlights probably worked better than the stock halogens on my 17 f150. I ended up doing an hid retrofit and it was 1000% better. I went leds for my 22. The leds on the 22 are better the retrofit on my 17.

 

[thevol]

Most everyone is going to tell you leds in the halogen housing are terrible, unsafe, etc but most of them are far better than the factory bulbs. Do some extensive research and make your own decision.

 

[MT N8IV]

To reiterate what @Backslider said, it really is not a good idea to put LED bulbs in a halogen or filament style bulb reflector headlight housing. The problem with this is that the reflectors are engineered, seriously, to reflect the light put out by the filament and properly focus where it is intended to go. What some do not realize is that the filament style bulb puts off light in an almost 360 degree method where LED "bulbs" put out light in somewhere between a 45 degree to 180 degree method depending on design. When the LED bulbs are put in filament reflectors there will be uncontrolled light hot spots and cold spots. Even on dim the LED bulbs could seem overly bright to oncoming traffic.

It is technically illegal to install bulbs that are not USDOT certified for the housing they are installed in. Realistically, I have never heard of any LEO issuing a ticket for this but others out there may have. To be honest, I am guilty of putting LED bulbs into halogen housings. I had a couple close calls and thankfully did not hurt anyone else or myself. This was on my 2017 F250 Lariat so I can empathize. After the close calls I started reading up on it because I thought there had to be a cheaper and better way than parting with almost $2,000. In the end, on the 17 I went with the Anzo Projectors for $600.00. They were not without their issues though but at the most basic, which is light output, they were better. From what I have seen, those that have bought the Recon's and the Morimoto's like them.

The Super Duty halogen lights are pretty lack luster in terms of perceived output and performance to be sure so I understand the desire to rectify that. Honestly, the best way is to replace the lights with aftermarket solutions. It is pretty piss poor of Ford not to just make the LED headlights standard. If Ford is going for the premium look then offer a different design LED headlight for lower trims and and more upscale design for the higher trims but the actual output and efficiency should not suffer regardless of trim level.

 

[fordguy74656]

DO NOT BUY A VEHICLE WITH HALOGEN LIGHTS EVER AGAIN!!
They are worthless and should be illegal!

Second this.

 

[fordguy74656]

Like @Bluezilla 's truck such a nice truck and a lariat. You'd think ford would put leds in standard. Nope we both were complaining about it lol. I will definitely help him whenever he gets different ones

 

[BlueKilla]

Like @Bluezilla 's truck such a nice truck and a lariat. You'd think ford would put leds in standard. Nope we both were complaining about it lol. I will definitely help him whenever he gets different ones

I would have had better performance from two mag lights.

 

[BroncoHooves]

I would have had better performance from two mag lights.

 

[fordguy74656]

I would have had better performance from two mag lights.

The old school ones the cops used to beat people with.