I did this with just the two grille inserts out. Remove them, then remove the old head light, then the bucket. The ring on the bucket is still what holds the lights in. The trimming on the bucket was just to get the lights to drop in and seat properly in the buckets. Once the buckets were trimmed I put them back on the truck and set the lights back in to see what needed trimming, and figured the best bet was to just cut a hole so the whole back of the light would go through. Once I finish trimming and getting the fit I want, I'd say only about 1/8-1/2 of the housing will be inside the fender well. The adjustment of the lights is still basically the same as before though. You'll have to losen the ring and rotate the housing to get the beam level. then the up and down adjustments are done by the top screw, on the bucket, and left and right is done with the side screw.

 

Thanks Tyler I appreciate the input

 

No problem, I'll post some better pics of everything together once I get it all in and working 100%

 

... wait, you're saying that a back window out of a 95-96 ford actually fits on our trucks? If they do, I guess I have a solution for mine, were I live Its super hard to find good parts for these trucks..

 

Rear window 73-96 (97 in F-250+)

Bench seats bolt on the factory rails same year range.

 

Nice work! I was pleased with my old halogens until this.

Do you think a filler panel on the back side of the core support is necessary to protect the light assembly?

I briefly looked at the link to TRS so I may have missed it. Is there an option for the 78-79 trucks with the rectangle headlights?

 

Correct, it's a direct swap, and looks so much better, without the aluminum frame
I don't think it will be necessary, they'll be shielded by the fender liners once I reinstall them. They do not currently have a square bucket kit, however, they are developing one right now, and the last tentative release I heard was the first of the year.

 

Right on, and thanks for the heads up...I got time to save my pennies!

In your earlier pics, with the different colors, were those just the LED's for the halo's or is it possible for the entire "lens" to have that glow? Aftermarket headlights are very new to me. lol

 

That was with an LED strip inside the shroud to shine in the projector bucket. Unfortunately with the way they'd need to be mounted, I didn't think they'd last long. I figured the heat would kill them, or the angle of the wires would have ripped lose.

 

Plans changed and I was able to come home this weekend, so I'll have you guys some night shots tonight!

 

They're aimed waaaay low, gotta finish my cutting and fitting so they'll seat all the way and I can adjust them. But I'm most definitely not disappointed. The pics don't do them any justice, the old halogens on it would barely light up the tree line on camera, and now it's bright. The passenger high beam isn't working, but I'm pretty sure the pin in the plug just backed out, so no big deal there.


Looks pretty menacing now in the dark, that's just halos, but they're so bright white the phone camera won't focus.


Low beams at 25yd under the cutoff


Low beams, super sharp cutoff, but the lines are wonky from the light angles


Highs, pics don't do them any justice, there's a fence line about 75 yd down there that I couldn't see with the old lights, and I could see the posts tonight.

 

This coming along well Tyler Thanks for the update and pics

 

I tried taking pics of the output from the Hella H4 headlights I'm running and couldn't really get it to work with the camera.

The light output from yours is very clear-white light, something I would expect more from an LED than an HID. Very nice!

 

Thanks!
Well the projector is what makes them so sharp and focused, as opposed to what you're used to seeing when people run them in reflector type housings. Also, color wise, they're a 6000K color temp, which is the same as a regular white LED. I chose that color of bulb because I'm planning to run an LED bar(or 5) when I build a bumper lol so I want them to all match.

 

Copied an idea I saw on here for painting the grille inserts. Quite pleased with it.