View Full Version : LED headlight upgrade question
I have a 01 F150 and the headlights suck and one of the lenses is cracked. So I would like to upgrade to LED's. Does anyone have experience with theses and know of a good place to start looking?
Grant H.
03-01-2018, 21:03
https://www.theretrofitsource.com/led-bulbs/head-fog-light-bulbs.html
I've got a set of the H13 in my pickup and I like them.
It doesn't help with your cracked lens, but they are bright and work well.
I just put HIDs in my car, but I'm on projector headlights with an adjustable shutter. I hear the LEDs don't throw as far as far as regular bulbs.
I work at a Ford dealership and so far all the ones I have seen and dealt with are total crap. It could be just because their all the low end ones and they all have issues- that's why I only see the crap ones.
The real good ones I don't see because their still working.
I would say look around and see which ones get the best reviews and stay away from the Ebay junk.
Grant H.
03-01-2018, 21:14
I work at a Ford dealership and so far all the ones I have seen and dealt with are total crap. It could be just because their all the low end ones and they all have issues- that's why I only see the crap ones.
The real good ones I don't see because their still working.
I would say look around and see which ones get the best reviews and stay away from the Ebay junk.
Absolutely true.
I've had mine from TRS for over a year, and they are still going strong, while several of the other guys from the diesel world have bought much cheaper LED bulbs and had to replace them shortly thereafter.
Absolutely true.
I've had mine from TRS for over a year, and they are still going strong, while several of the other guys from the diesel world have bought much cheaper LED bulbs and had to replace them shortly thereafter.
Good to know. I really should do some research so this way when any of my customers ask why theirs keep crapping and what they should get I can confidently steer them in the right direction.
Just saw one of my brackets is broken on my light tonight, so perfect timing.
TRS doesn't make them for my truck.
Grant H.
03-01-2018, 22:03
I texted one of my buddies to find out what he has for 9007's.
Stay away from the cheap options.
zimagold
03-01-2018, 22:12
Consider polishing or having someone recondition the lenses. This significantly improved two older vehicles at night.
I replaced the entire headlight assembly when I converted my jeep to LED. Significantly better beam pattern and sharp cut off to reduce glare to other drivers.
Consider polishing or having someone recondition the lenses. This significantly improved two older vehicles at night.
Sam's club does this. For like $35
cableguy11
03-01-2018, 22:43
I had some LED's for awhile in my truck. I liked them but for some reason they seemed washed out for lack of a better term, when faced with halogens. It is like the lighter lights were stronger than mine. Took awhile to notice but once I did it bothered the hell out of me. I just did an HID retro with my headlights with TRS projectors. They came out pretty good and the light output is awesome.
https://i.imgur.com/AE1RhZp.jpg
I'll echo staying away from the cheapos, they have a tendency to not put off enough heat to keep ice from building up on your lenses during snowy weather.
Best thing to do with a ford that old is take a YouTube video of it actually running, send it to ford and find out how it made it this long.
Honestly. I would buy a good battery and put a set of LED flood lights on that thing and flip them on without other traffic nearby. Much cheaper option that can be done for <$50
I was going to say the exact same thing. If you spend a bit more you can get focused spot beams that aren't as obnoxious to other drivers.
SouthPaw
03-02-2018, 10:49
I have used HID's for a very long time and the el cheapo ones have always lasted years. Sure a bulb or ballast would burn up every now and then but no big deal. On that old a truck, one of the cheapie kits would be more than fine.
Grant H.
03-02-2018, 13:58
I have used HID's for a very long time and the el cheapo ones have always lasted years. Sure a bulb or ballast would burn up every now and then but no big deal. On that old a truck, one of the cheapie kits would be more than fine.
With a projector, HID's rock.
HID's in a halogen reflector are not so great.
SouthPaw
03-02-2018, 15:19
With a projector, HID's rock.
HID's in a halogen reflector are not so great.
As long as you adjust them correctly, I've never had any issues. It's the jackass' that throw them and don't adjust them accordingly.
Get regular headlight housings and upgrade the bulbs. Use the 9012 bulbs, replaces low beam bulb. I think they were OE in vipers and a few others. They require a tab to be filed to fit. Should be easy for you to figure out. I swapped them in the Minivan and it is night and day. Buy the Phillips brand. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00U32DG4C/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Get regular headlight housings and upgrade the bulbs. Use the 9012 bulbs, replaces low beam bulb. I think they were OE in vipers and a few others. They require a tab to be filed to fit. Should be easy for you to figure out. I swapped them in the Minivan and it is night and day. Buy the Phillips brand. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00U32DG4C/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1
At $92 a pair for 9012 Silverstars for my car (takes 9012 OEM), I went HID when the halogen bulbs lasted 8 months.
So I swapped them out with new led lights and housings. Right off the bat I had a turn signal go out on me, put in new led turns signals and had issues with the turn signal relay. Went and bought a led compatible relay and went to install it.
Now I have nothing, the truck won't start, everything seems to be without power. I'm charging the battery up right now to see if that fixes the problem. Everything worked with the lights and old turn signal bulbs when I took it out for a test drive. All I have done is replace the bulbs and relay. Do Fords have some mysterious way to know if the dash is pulled apart to get to the relays????
HELP!!!!
The turn signal bulb is the one I refuse to go LED. For me it just isn't worth the hassle for a bulb that doesn't get used all that much and gets ignored by most people when I use it. Everything else is gradually being replaced with LED as the old bulbs die.
Did you disconnect the battery to do the swap? Power must have been cut somewhere.
Check your fuses. I believe furd was still using those fusible links right off the main batt cables. With the ign on grab the main power cable and wiggle it and listen for relays or components power up, Gould be cables too. Hard to say without seeing it.
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