LED Headlights
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Junior User
Joined: May 2014
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LED Headlights
My Lariat has the LED headlights. They are quite bright and I'm guessing I like them better than oncoming smaller cars do 
Has anyone heard anything about longevity? They came out in what, 2012? I bet they are expensive to replace.
Has anyone heard anything about longevity? They came out in what, 2012? I bet they are expensive to replace.
Fleet Owner
Joined: Jan 2004
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From: Brentwood,CA
They came out in 2015, trucks that have DRL lighting will have a shorter life. So far I don't think anyone on here has had to replace the lights yet. I know the lights are sold as an assembly at around 800.00 each.
Lead Driver
Joined: Dec 2016
Posts: 5,650
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From: GA
Yes, they are quite expensive compared to the halogens and to prolong longevity, I never have my DRL on. Also, to give you an idea of how expensive the LED`s are, if you purchase an ESP from Ford, the LED lighting is not included in the ESP and one has to purchase extra coverage from Ford to cover the LED lighting.
Kind of crazy when you think about it......The cost of an ESP from Ford and depending on which one is purchased, a new pair of LED headlights will exceed the cost of the entire policy or come very close to exceeding it if an 8 year ESP is purchased.
Fleet Mechanic
Joined: Nov 2016
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I'm sure that somewhere there is some random person who got a defective unit that failed...but I've not heard of a single one.
Fleet Mechanic
Joined: Feb 2017
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From: N. Texas
Fleet Mechanic
Joined: Nov 2016
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On a more helpful topic: The halogen headlights are bad. The LED headlights are an improvement over the halogens, but not fantastic by any means.
Have you replaced your bulbs? I saw a thread a while back about some better bulbs for the factory halogen headlights.
Fleet Mechanic
Joined: Feb 2017
Posts: 1,597
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From: N. Texas
That's like saying the 4" radio is better than the 8" screen....but only because it costs less. With that logic, don't go above a base XL.
On a more helpful topic: The halogen headlights are bad. The LED headlights are an improvement over the halogens, but not fantastic by any means.
Have you replaced your bulbs? I saw a thread a while back about some better bulbs for the factory halogen headlights.
On a more helpful topic: The halogen headlights are bad. The LED headlights are an improvement over the halogens, but not fantastic by any means.
Have you replaced your bulbs? I saw a thread a while back about some better bulbs for the factory halogen headlights.
As far as the LED headlights or taillights, from everything I've seen and read, it appears both have to be replaced as a unit. And at roughly 1K each, I'll stick with the halogens.
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Moderator
Joined: May 2005
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From: San Antonio, TX
Excellent point about alignment. I have said it before. The halogen headlights actually quite work very well if you take some time to align them. Ford aims them low.
After I leveled my truck I had to align them in order to keep from blinding others. I drive a lot at night. It took about 3 tries to find the sweet spot, the setting where I no longer got flashed and both beams were even.
I will say this. Aim is crucial. A little too high or a little too low and the performance is drastically reduced. I’m pleased with the light output now. Still using the factory bulbs.
After I leveled my truck I had to align them in order to keep from blinding others. I drive a lot at night. It took about 3 tries to find the sweet spot, the setting where I no longer got flashed and both beams were even.
I will say this. Aim is crucial. A little too high or a little too low and the performance is drastically reduced. I’m pleased with the light output now. Still using the factory bulbs.
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Fleet Mechanic
Joined: Nov 2016
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The factory halogens are objectively fairly poor. If you were to experience properly aimed good or great headlights, you'd agree. That's sort of irrelevant, if you are happy with them, then you are happy with them.
These are regular bulbs, not crummy import LED or HID retrofits.
Hey guys, just thought I'd post an easy bulb upgrade mod for our F150. Our truck uses a H11 bulb for low beam, 9005 for high beam & a 9140 for fogs. Now with a little modifying to the new high & low beam bulbs, you'll have double the light output from OEM replacement bulbs. It goes like this, replace your H11 with a H9 bulb, replace your 9005 with a 9011 & take your 9005 bulbs & put them as your fog light bulbs. Here's why:
Stock H11 = 1,350 Lumens
Replacement H9 = 2,100 Lumens
Stock 9005 = 1,700 Lumens
Replacement 9011 = 2,350 Lumens
Stock 9140 = 600 Lumens
Replace with your 9005 = 1,700 Lumens
These are all basic OEM replacement bulbs by Philips. You can pick them up off of Amazon for about $50-$60. I'm not going into detail, just Google H11 to H9 Mod & 9005 to 9011 Mod. Some might say you could possibly melt your fog light housing using the 9005 bulb, I'll be the test subject since no one has tried this in the new fog light housings yet. You could always upgrade from a 9140 to a 9145 if you wanted for the fogs.
I just wanna say the difference in light output is like day & night literally, & all from stock replacement bulbs. You're going from 3,050 total lumen output on high beam to 4,450.....that's a massive leap up in light output. Low beam output goes from 1,950 to 3,800.....that's more than your old high beam output. You will literally never need high beams again. I've been running mine for about 2 weeks now with no problem. I think the fog light housings can take the 9005 bulbs. The older F150's with the rectangle fog lights could take the 9005 bulbs, when they switched to round fogs they would melt or deform the housing when using 9005 bulbs. Now the housing is rectangular again but so far so good.
Moderator
Joined: May 2005
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From: San Antonio, TX
Thanks for that. While aim is important, crucial in fact, better bulbs can do nothing but make them better. I’ll probably give this a try she nce it”s relatively inexpensive and easy to do.
Lead Driver
Joined: May 2015
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From: Mts. S. of San Francisco
BTW - I think the halogens on our XLT are fantastic. Maybe it's just that I set a low bar?
Elder User
Joined: Jun 2012
Posts: 528
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From: Rochester,NY
Halogen upgrade
Kingofwylietx,Thank You very much for the Info on the H11 toH9 and the 9005 to 9011
The price on Amazon is not bad about 50 bucks to do both they have a higher wattage
and higher Lumens,Looking on here LED are out of my price range this is a Great alternative.
P/S Google did a great how to Video with a slight modification.
The price on Amazon is not bad about 50 bucks to do both they have a higher wattage
and higher Lumens,Looking on here LED are out of my price range this is a Great alternative.
P/S Google did a great how to Video with a slight modification.
Last edited by ecoboost12; Apr 18, 2018 at 05:43 PM. Reason: wasn't done with Thread
Fleet Mechanic
Joined: Feb 2017
Posts: 1,597
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From: N. Texas
There was a post here a while back from a vendor about the effect of just throwing a brighter bulb in the mix. Unless the lens's and reflectors are aimed properly, throwing a brighter light down the road doesn't help anyone. Especially on coming traffic. Headlights are way more complicated than just lumens.
And as Glue Guy said, I think the OEM halogens are more than capable and I will stick with them.
Hint: For those of you that don't think they work worth a damn, try adjusting them as they were meant to be. I think you'll be surprised.
And as Glue Guy said, I think the OEM halogens are more than capable and I will stick with them.
Hint: For those of you that don't think they work worth a damn, try adjusting them as they were meant to be. I think you'll be surprised.
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Junior User
Joined: May 2014
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I'm glad to hear there is no record on this board of the LEDs going out so far. I didn't even realize the 502A package included them until I drove for the first time at night. The 2007 Expedition I traded in on this truck had halogens and I was never very impressed by them. The wife's CRV has halogens and it lit up the road much better. The LEDs in this truck are much better than the Expedition or the Honda.
Fleet Mechanic
Joined: Nov 2016
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There was a post here a while back from a vendor about the effect of just throwing a brighter bulb in the mix. Unless the lens's and reflectors are aimed properly, throwing a brighter light down the road doesn't help anyone. Especially on coming traffic. Headlights are way more complicated than just lumens.
In this case, the bulb filament placement and dimensions are still correct for the factory reflector.