2001 Headlights
 

As I am getting older and my eyes get dimmer, I am having more and more trouble seeing with the headlight s in my 2001 F-350. :-banghead I put in the Silverstar Ultras and it is slghtly better, but in snowy or rainy weather they are about usless. I have thought about polishing the lenses. Has anybody tried this?

Also, I was looking at all of the lighting options on E-Bay. Does anybody have experience with any of these? XR Team Projectors?, Headlight Depot 1 piece euro's?, GT RAcers LED 1 piece? :confused:

Any imput would be appreciated.

Polishing the lenses will help... Make sure you use a protective coating after wards though otherwise they will be just as bad as they were within a week or so...

As far as the HID lights go. You need to spend some $ to make sure you get good quality. Im not sure about the ones your talking about but you may want to do some in depth research to make sure they are quality

Hey wispsd, I think you PM'd me, but I accidently?? :eek: deleted it. Could you please send it again?

Headlight depot is where I got my 05 style headlights and yes they make a heck of differance. The Silverstars you have will do better if you add the wiring harness upgrade. The OEM harness is just to light to handle the brighter lights. The polishing does help, but for my .02 worth. save your money and invest in better, newer lights and a heavy duty harness.

Montana350 - More Light
 

Montana,

Re-sent PM earlier, with additional contact info. If you choose to go this route, I guarantee you will be amazed at the increase in illumination. It really is as if its daylight in front of the truck.

Jay

I would highly recommend getting some 02-04 headlights that someone has upgraded to they are a simple bolt on where the 05 lights requires alot of trimming to get them to fit along with some silverstars.


Stay away from projectors from what I have heard.

As suggested by jdecker88, first replace the 01 (obscured - frosted) headlamps with the clear 02-04 style. Use OEM, some folks trying the Asian knock-offs had various quality issues. Next suggestion is to up grade the harness (see GOSPerformance.com). Next upgrade to Hella or LUKS bulbs, or (and most effective) install a good quality hi/low HID kit in the 02-04 clear headlamps (see Retro-Solutions.com).

Thanks for the input guys. I polished my lenses today with the Crystal View kit. It made a big difference over what I had. I'll have to see how it works the next time the roads are snowy or wet. I think the 02-04 headlights and the harness may be the way to go. More research ahead for me!

BTW, how hard is it to remove the headlights anyway? I see two clips up top, but what holds the bottom in?

Removing the 2001 Headlamp
 

Montana,

The bottom of the headlamp is secured into the header panel via a pushpin and can be troublesome to pull out. I've used a socket (9/16 or 10mm, I think) to collapse the two wings of the push pin, allowing it to be pulled straight out. Also; be careful with the two top clips. These can be tough to spread (un-clip) without breaking and a dealer will charge about $5.00 each for replacement clips.

Lastly, my experience with Silverstar bulbs left alot to be desired, in that these bulbs (although a little brighter) don't last very long. Therefore, suggest you consider either Hella or LUKS bulbs. But, the bottom line is, if you want maximum illumination on the road install a good HID kit.

Best of luck.

Our lights are CRAP. I am waiting for someone to do a change out to see if I can buy the 02' to 04'. I tried the polish thing, but still not good.

I posted these links in another thread. I was looking around at headlights myself. The last link is for the upgraded harness. It is a good deal IMO it will cost you close to that just to buy the parts to make your own harness.

Ford headlights - taillights, wholesale replacements

eBay Store - headlightsdepot: FORD LIGHTS, GM CHEVY LIGHTS, DODGE CHRYSLER LIGHTS

Upgraded Headlight Harness for 94 to 04 Ford with 9007 Bulbs

Thanks for the links Jim. I saved them so I can look at them later. :-drink

I tell ya what Rick, if you can get me some of those cheap 05 lights I will give you my 02s and silverstars ;).

I agree with whoever said the China lights are crap. I bought a set for my Dodge work truck and you couldn't even adjust them. If I wasn't so lazy I was going to shim them with washers to try and point them down. The way they were people kept flashing their brights at me...annoying!

Don't forget if you have fog lamps you can run the jumper wire so the fogs stay on with the brights. This is illegal in most states, but I think you will be alright... Name the last time you drove past a cop with your brights on...like I said...you'll be alright

The other thing you can do if you really want to go nuts is run brights in your fog lights. I have done it and it did make a difference. People DID NOT like this in town so I took them out. It also has mixed reviews bc some people say it will burn up your harness, but there are 0 reports of this on FTE.

As for me...I'm thinking Harley headlights would look SWEEEEET on the black truck :D

EDIT - Do you need more than this "20-6699-90 6C3Z13008CB 2005 Ford F250 Heavy Duty (With Harley Package) Headlight Lens and Housing RH (passenger's side) " and the conversion wiring harness to make this happen? If not why the heck haven't I done this yet!?! What is $200 to a guy like me :D Somebody has to keep buying stuff!

Just get the 02 headlights and put your silverstars in them and you should be set. The clear 02 lights are much better than the ones that came on the 99-01. If you break those top clips, you should be able to get some at an auto parts store.