Thanks for the insight Brother!

 

I could not justify spending $350 on OEM headlight lenses. When my original 1999 ones went yellow cloudy I opted to do the 2007 upgrade.


Allow a small rant please...I've always been a 'buy American' kind of guy. When my Cobra needed coil packs of course the call went to Tousley for OEM replacements. Imagine my surprise when the new ones came, the bags were stamped 'MADE IN CHINA' in letters bigger than the Ford emblem!


The only parts I buy from Ford are the ones I cant get elsewhere. When I did my 2007 facelift I put on Depot lenses from Certifit. They've been on there for over three years no leaks, fading, nothing. I am even running the bulbs that came with them! For a quarter of the price of OEM I'm happy.


I'm doing the 2008-10 conversion now....

 

I would remove them, clean the area up and get the '04 up ones that go on the doors.....

 

Lot's of great input here !! It is nice to see what works for others.
Yea it a E99 thing and actually mine is a Lariat. Them badges throw alot of people off until I start it up.

Chief I too always appreciate it when someone posts up what doesn't work in hopes that the next guy can learn from what doesn't work. That is where what we learn here at FTE is so helpful. I am glad you started this thread it is very helpful. One way or another I will figure out a way to make these lights work for me. Because other than getting moisture in them they are a improvement over stock. Like I said I'll be doing the 80/100 Hella's and a off road LED light bar to keep my old butt between the ditches and so I can return the favor to the guy that is running the HID's.

 

I've always liked the 05-07 badges the best. If you're looking for emblems I recommend here:

Ford Emblems | F150, F250, F350, F450, F550, Mustang, Power Stroke, Ranger, Ovals, Badges

 

Wow! They're proud of a few of those emblems!

 

I don't remember which exact bulbs I used on these, whatever they came with, and they were quite a bit brighter than my cheapie projection lights, and WAY brighter than stock. These are Eagle Eye's from Rock Auto

 

The replacement lights on Rock Auto now only say "various mfr" so I have would have no idea if they were Eagle Eyes or not unfortunately. They have a Dorman set but, as much as I've used their stuff in the past, I've not had good luck on the few items I've tried to use on my truck (I would not recommend the coolant overflow bottle and cap to anyone...you'll just end up getting an OEM one anyway in the end).

The 05-07 aftermarket lights available on Rock Auto are made by TYC:

https://www.rockauto.com/catalog/mor...395&cc=1430816

Bear with me on this next part. A little research shows that TYC is the North American distributor for TYC Genera, which is a subsidiary of TYC Brother Industrial Co., Ltd. (yes, they are in Taiwan), which says they make OEM headlight assemblies for many automotive manufacturers INCLUDING Ford (Visteon).

The reason I mention this is that these aftermarket assemblies are about 1/2 the price of purchasing the OEM replacements (and these come with bulbs too). Could these TYC units be the OEM units for a fraction of the cost or am I going too far into the Taiwanese conspiracy theory?

These are also an option from 1A Auto:

2005 Ford F250 Super Duty Truck Headlight Pair at 1A Auto.com

Has anyone had any experience with TYC or the 1A Auto headlights?

I'm fairly certain I'm going to go the 05 headlight route now and am down Rock Auto (TYC), 1A Auto or an OEM set from Clay at Riffraff. Am I being a fool for trying to save $150 when my last OEMs lasted over 12 years? Fiscally speaking that $150 would buy a new driver's side visor that I've needed for years...

The TYC pair is about $150 (with bulbs), the 1A Auto pair is about $120 (no bulbs) and Clay's OEM pair is about $300 (with bulbs). All would need the $30 conversion harness (from Clay of course).

If it were you, would you roll the dice and hope an aftermarket pair hold up to the test of time and finally get a new driver's visor or play it safe with the OEM pair and keep living with the broken visor?

 

Have you checked Craigslist for headlights? I've seen several pairs of OEM 05-07 lights for sale in the last year in my area (Reno to Sacramento). I purchased a pair for $60 and did the Harley paint thing, hated it, repainted them body color (better), then realized I really like the look of the chrome best (oops). So I found another pair with a perfect 07 Lariat grille for $100!
Both pair came with all the bulbs and no broken tabs. Just food for thought...
By the way, the reflector and bulb difference is a huge upgrade. My stock lenses were totally clear, but these have way better light overall!
Good luck.

 

Thanks for confirming the better light output.

Craigslist didn't even cross my mind. I will keep a lookout until I am ready to pull the trigger to see if I can score some like you did. Thanks for the idea!

 

I've seen some at Pick n Pull also, but they've been scratched up or had broken mounting tabs (seems to be a common issue. Some on Craigslist had broken tabs, too). Salvage yards would be another place I'd check.
I really like OEM and I'm cheap!

 

I hear you. Out here it's you pick and they pull. You don't save as much as you'd think with salvage yards out here. Back in the day (and when I was on the East Coast) you could go in with your tools and bring out what you want, they'd make up an arbitrary number, you would give them the cash and walk out with your stuff. Usually they didn't know how much the dealership charged for a new one so you could walk out of there for pennies on the dollar. Those days are long gone. At least they are for out here.