Jonathan.... I started this thread and I have to tell you I have not found a remedy either. I had originally bought the Britebox which gives a bit more light at night when the highbeams are turned on but that is about it. If the road is wet I may as well be holding a candle and trying to see the road. I almost went the HID route but I wanted to drive around in my brothers pickup first as well as a good friends pickup (as they both had HID's) and each of them had the same problems that I did not like..... probably 30-50% of the time when they turn their headlights on only one bulb will ignite.... meaning you have to turn them off and turn them on again and hope they both go on (sometimes it took 2 attempts). My friends HID's also had another problem.... the HID's work on a solenoid that moves the bulb to give the effect of a lowbeam/highbeam and in my friends case the solenoid on one side would stick from time to time so the lights would appear to have 1 high and 1 low. I chose to stick with the Britebox and suck it up for the time being until HID technology improves somewhat. My wife uses Silverstar Ultras and man those things are bright! They only last about a year though and at the time they did not make them in an H13 bulb.... If they do in fact make them now in an H13 bulb I would highly recommend you try them out. Incredible light output.

 

I too switched to HID lights. My first were installed by a local shop. Nothing but headaches. Melting ballasts, blown fuses, burned out bulbs. I think the brand was called Xenon. The shop replaced bad components for about a year before they could not do it any longer. BTW, When they worked right, they were great.

I just installed Phillips Bi-xenon HIDs. The components appear to be higher end than what I thru in the trash. They are supposed to be the Hi/Lo beam set. I can tell you, and the seller confirmed, Hi-beam is not one bit brighter than low, it is just aimed higher. They do illuminate better than stock.

Now I have one bulb that is not flipping to the hi setting.....here we go again.

Bottom line, when they work they are an improvement. Keeping them working is another story.

I have an 06' and I don't like the look of the projector lens set up so If I can't work this out, I am going back to stock.

 

Any recommendations on projector kit brands for the Ford F-250? If you have experience with one that has done you well I'd like to follow suit. My aftermarket purchases seem to be hit-or-miss!

I just noticed the other posts. I don't understand why the headlights on these trucks are so sub-par. My Dad has an '05 Chevy Silverado and his lights do a fantastic job of illuminating the roadway. With my stock lights, I can drive around all night long with my lights on high and never, ever get flashed. Same with low beams. It's annoying when I'm driving on an interstate at night and see cars going by me. They are illuminating the road much better than I am when they're in the other lane 75-100 feet behind me. It's just inexcusable.

AS for projector lights, I don't mind the look of them *except* for the "angel eyes" look. WHY do they have to put those on there? I don't have an Audi R8, so why do I want to look like I have its headlights? I love the look of the stock F-250... I don't want to look like a "pimp my ride" customer! I just want brighter headlights.

Is there some wattage limit based on current capacity of the truck? Legal limits? Similar to spotlights for a house. You can go anywhere from 100w to 500w and above. Can they not make higher-wattage H13 bulbs?

I do like the idea of projector lights because they have two separate bulbs--one for high and one for low--each aimed and focused differently. I'm sure with some modifications you can set it up to keep both high and low beams on simultaneously (if they don't already come that way). The look is okay, minus the "angel eyes" thing. If I could find a set that didn't have the "angel eyes" look it would be perfect.

 

My 05 has great stock lights.... I've never even checked to see what they are they are so good!

 

BPofMD--you mentioned that I would love projector headlights... if your '05 has great stock headlights, what model/version vehicle do you have with projectors? Any brand, etc., that you like?

 

High Intensity Discharge lamps in an industrial setting are
expensive, and sensitive to temperature, voltage, vibration
and all the other things we know and love about cars.

in an auto situation, ick.

incandescent lighting is affected adversely by voltage drop.
severely.

if i were looking for a problem, i'd start the truck up and with
it idling, i'd measure the voltage at the lamp socket, with the
lamp unplugged. obviously, you should get your system voltage.

then, i'd plug it in, and see what voltage you get at the lamp socket
with the load of the light on it. with a clamp on ammeter, measure
the current flow, and multiply it by the working voltage. it should
match the rated lamp output in watts.

if it doesn't, you are consuming power thru high resistance somewhere
besides the light filament.

now, you could go on an easter egg hunt looking for it, but i'm lazy,
so i'd do it this way:

put a inline fuse holder with a fuse serving two ice cube relays,
one for high and one for low beam.

use the power leads from the factory loom to control the relays.
use #10 gauge wire to power the lights from the output of the
relays.

put new headlights in, and use good ones. that is as bright as
it's gonna get.

funny thing is, i've never had a problem with the lights on
the van.......

 

It's not a short or a drainage or a wiring glitch.... It's poor design. Every F250/350 I've been in with the same style headlight has been less then stellar. If the road is wet from rain or snow it's even worse. It's pretty bad when you can see the headlights from the vehicle behind you outshine your own headlights on a wet road. If the road is dry on a clear night it's not bad but they still do not compare to other manufacturers OEM headlights.

 

And you're sure your headlights are aimed properly?

I do not have any issues with the headlights in either my old 2005 or my current 2006 F250.

I do wear contacts and occasionally wear glasses and there is a difference between the 2 in how I "see" things at night. But either way I think the lighting is more than adequate.

Josh

 

No, the headlights are aimed perfectly fine. Unless the mild tint on the Harley headlamps causes this much of a difference but I doubt it. It's been this way since new. It's fine at night on dry roads but wet roads are almost impossible to see the lines sometimes. Both, on dry or wet roads I can see a lot of the newer vehicles headlights from right behind me outshine my headlamps. My brother has a new Dodge and that thing has awesome headlights!

I had my eyes examined and lasered years ago and I have excellent eye sight.... it really is just the design I think. Maybe match yours up side by side to a Dodge or Chevy or a newer Ford and you will see the difference between them and your 2005. I know I did!

 

ok... so it's just poor reflector and lens design.... i've never owned a
F series... didn't know.

this may do it.....

=====================
The SunSpot 64 offers brightness of over 17,000 lumens,
drawing 224 watts. This not only lights up the airport on
final approach, but also allows the aircraft to be visible
from 10 miles away, day and night.
=====================

i'd say one, mounted center grill will be enough.
8" diameter, 2" thick. however, if you used two of them,
you could do a direct replacement for the headlights,
and remove any doubt as to the need for more light,
along with the corneas of the people in oncoming cars.

AEROLEDS SUNSPOT 64 from Aircraft Spruce

 

Nahh..... I will stick to my 2 - 10" Lighforce Blitz lights for driving at night with no traffic. I refuse to hit another "costly" little Bambi!

 

those as good as the reviews i read about them?

 

just a quick heads up. almost all cars and trucks have minimum wiring to headlites from factory if you do a volt drop test on the wiring you will almost always find volt drop beyond .1v and this is unacceptable .as acure you can run a new wire parralel to original or use a solenoid activated by headlite switch and power from battery . if upgrading to higher amp bulbs etc then you definetly need to upgrade wiring or use solenoid

 

They work great but if you want some real show-stopper lights get the HID version Lightforce sells in the 10". My brother has them on his Chevy and they are bright!

 

Berick
Sylvania does make a H13 Silverstar, i have them in my 2006 KingRanch which has Harley headlamps & IMO they work great.
We are happy w/the light output they produce

P.S....For "wet" roads or Snow we use Yellow Xenon gas charged bulbs in the bottom Fog/Driving Lamps, these are installed in all our vehicles.
My wife was skeptical at first until i put them in her 09' Flex & now they must be installed in every vehicle we have.

Link to seller i bought from for my 2006 SuperDuty w/Factory Fog Lamps:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/NOKYA-H10-91...46a2e1&vxp=mtr