I have a 2001 Excursion and I need to replace my headlight assembly. What is the difficulty level of replacement?

Does anybody have a recommended assembly they would suggest that throws out some great light?

 

Easy job. No more than one beer per headlight difficulty level...

The best upgrade is '02-'04 OEM 'clear lens' headlights ($100/pr used) and Hella 100/80watt bulbs with a headlight relay harness. (Get bulbs and harness from www.rallylights.com for about $100).

The bulbs in the '05+ headlights are an epic POS design - don't waste your money...

For under $200, the combo I suggested blows any HID's currently available away AND doesnt annoy oncoming drivers!!

 

Thanks for the info.

I was really looking at purchasing a good projector assembly. I do a lot of night travel and winter travel in snow. I don't mind spending money to get the best replacment. Are you saying this is just as good or better than the projector type?

When you're talking relay harnass I assume it's a conversion plug to what I have now (plug and play), is this correct?

 

So if I were to replace my 02 headlights for the 05+ the performance would be worse? Anyway to use the 05+ headlights with a bulb other than the 9008?

 

YOU can get the 02-04 headlight assembly at rockauto.com .. for 28$ each....

 

Those 80/100w bulbs are illegal in most states for on-road use and they blind the heck out of drivers. Lights of that power need to be projected, IE narrow banded through optics. Throwing your 100W beams like a flashlight at all the lanes is just stupid. My uncle pulls people over that are throwing it like that and does an equipment check. If they're running illegal bulbs they get a fix it ticket. The only way to get more than 55w worth of light is with a properly aimed projector. That's the only safe way to do it on a road.

 

This is simply NOT TRUE and obviously not based on any real-world experience with the set-up I am running!!

NO, they do not blind on-coming drivers. You are describing the scattered-beam problem inherent with all the HID 'retrofit' bulbs on the market. I will be happy to demonstrate my headlights to you in person any time you'd like. What you will find is that my headlights have a very sharp cut-off line just like the stock-wattage bulbs do. They are a bit 'brighter' than the Silverstars I replaced, but they are no more 'annoying'. As such, your uncle's brother or whoever would never stop me in the first place!! In fact, in the 5yrs I have been running this set-up - I have NEVER been 'bright lighted' by an oncoming driver who thought I had my hi-beams on!!!

Good call though, as many miles as I drive at night - I despise obnoxious headlights. I will say my hi-beams are ridiculously brighter than stock and when I throw those bad boys on one of those tuners w/10k HID's - they suffer worse than me, and since they don't have hi-beams, they can't even express they don't like it!!

There are no 'good projector assemblies' that I'm aware of. The china-made crap you'll see on flea-bay is junk. Most can never be properly aimed and they tend to fall apart in short order. No 'upgrade' there.

I have driven in plenty of snow, rain, fog - you name it. I do not ever find myself wanting more from my headlights. That said, I live in the mountains and find those sharp cut-off lines hurt me on the hills - especially looking up the next hill. I will probably add some (HID?) driving lites that I can focus just for these situations.

Yes, the relay harness is a plug and play deal that puts relays near the headlights and provides FULL battery power to the bulbs. The stock configuration uses small gauge wires that run from fuse block up into the steering column/dash and all the way out to lites. This can yield up to a 2v drop at the bulbs!! This mod by itself will produce brighter headlights.

No, stock bulbs to stock bulbs the pattern from the '05+ lenses are a little better. The problem is the 9008/H13 bulbs use tiny little pins for electrical connection and have a propensity to burn up the pigtails - especially if using relay harness. I went thru several pigtails before reluctantly upgrading to HID's from Electrosport (SADLY no longer available - there is nothing else on the market like them...).

 

These are the bulbs I've used.
Susquehanna MotorSports - Auto Performance Product
and
Susquehanna MotorSports - Auto Performance Product

I think they were out of the HELLA's when I ordered them for the Excursion, so I got the Optilux brand. The 100hr rating is ridiculous since I just burned up the 1rst bulb a couple weeks ago (5yrs!). I drive 50-70k miles/year and much of that at nite.

These may not be 'legal' - but they do not say it anywhere. Actually, one of them (HELLA/Optilux) says 'not legal in Europe', of course none of the USA-spec DOT headlights are legal in Europe as far as I know... It doesn't matter though, because nobody is going to question these lights because they aren't obnoxious/annoying!

 

A standard non projector headlight is no better than a flashlight. Its reflector, as carefully as possible, aims an object, or an energy, that cannot inherently been tamed. Can you as accurately as possible reign in the energy yes. But the fact that the light can be seen from anywhere other than straight on is evidence of the fact the beam has separation. The brighter bulbs just amplify the light out in front of you. Meet something that hits that beam level and you will be bothering others. Just the nature of lighting.

 

There is no comparison between a flashlight and ANY modern car headlight... Are you aware that the 'beam' is quite different on the left and right side headlights? There is a TON of engineering that goes into headlight design - thats why the china-made junk is often lacking, they just copy the 'look' of OE lights.

The 'cut-off' lines I described as being crisp with the bulbs I'm running are just PART of that equation. The overall pattern of the beam is controlled by the complicated optics of the lens. USA/DOT specs create a 'P'-shaped pattern on the ground when viewed from above, this is to mitigate glare to oncoming drivers.

What you've said is very intuitive and in some cases may even be accurate - but I have real-world experience (and a little education) that can prove different. If you have an open mind, I would be happy to prove it to YOU!

Anyway, I won't beat this horse anymore - I'll buy you a beer someday and if I cannot convince you then, we can agree to disagree!

 

Love the pissin' contest from all y'all Georgians

I hope the OP gets what he wanted. I know I got some good info on some practical and sweet headlight setups.

heymrdj, SkySkiJason knows his stuff so let's make nice, K?

 

That is pretty cheap.... Do you or anyone else have any experience with them?

 

SkySkiJason and jasonodsky, are you guys long lost cousins or something?

So are all those 05+ headlights on Ebay junk?

 

I meant no disrespect earlier. I am aware of the science behind the reflector. I was simply making the fact of as you said, there's a shape, a beam. A low reflector and high reflector also exist because the different wattages throw a different distance and intensity, this is especially important when mixed with the orientation of the filament.

When you have increased the wattage of your bulb you have also increased the size of your beam. If it did not cross high way lines before, chances are that a slight increase is enough to push it on over the lines. Being in GA like you I'm sure you've seen what happens when lights are improperly amplified. In fact I got flashed just for doing the relay mod to my headlamps (running the high beam off of a relay) and they were a good percentage brighter. Just sayin

 

Don't ya know, we all related down here!! Lol. Truth is, I LIKE anyone who is passionate about NOT annoying other drivers! Its all good.

I have '05+ ebay junk on my F350. Its actually not so bad. The 'projector' and other goofy designs reportedly not so good. I've not used them on PSD, but another application the high beams were waaaay out of alignment when the low beams were aimed properly...