Its time for new headlights/lamps, there are SOO many options I don't know where to begin, a quick search on EBay brought up tons of pages. Anybody have any advice? HID or LED or just get new bulbs and call it a day.

The reason I am wishing to replace them is the old ones are just dull and not very bright and I fell like it can be a lot better at night especially off road.

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

 

If you go on youtube, look up GTR lighting. There's guy who has a video where he goes through all of that. My 03 is going to be changed. I already have new LED headlights bulbs which I'm exchanging for the 9007 ours take. The housing is the big deal. HIDs work with projector lenses. IMHO, you would not want to put them in a reflector housing as they fire out light in all directions and will blind fellow motorists. I had them on my Explorer and really liked them. If you have a grill guard, look at the pattern on a wall and see if the guard creates shadows or dead spots. Also, LED lights may not work in a projector housing as it has to do with the bulb position relative to the lens.
The Morimoto Two Stoke LED headlights seem to be the best ones out there at the moment and are on line with HID's.. Since I have the LED's already, that's what I'm going to try.
If you go HID be sure to get the highest rated ballast you can. They usually have 35 watts standard but the 55 watt makes a big difference.
You will also need to decide what color you want. Most recommend 5000 to 6000k with the 6000k being more to the white end of the spectrum. I tried 5000K HID's and didn't like them. Exchanged for the 6000k and really liked them

I'm still scratching my head on the housings. You can get crystal clear headlights. No offense to anyone but the aftermarket projector lense types look rather dorky to me.
I'll probably put them in the factory housing first just to see what the beam pattern looks like. If you get a crappy beam pattern you will not be able to see as well as you can now with Halogens.

 

In deciding what direction to go, keep in mind that you've really got just 3 options.

A) Replace the bulbs. The factory lenses will be 15 to 20 years old by now, and probably in serious need of "conditioning". If you can bring them back to near-original condition this gets you out the cheapest.
2) Replace the lenses with factory style lenses. If you want to maintain an "original" look you'll go here. That's what I did and was amazed at how much better the modern lens technology is over the factor lenses.
D) Replace the assembly with LED. A lot of guys go this way. My best friend did. But I hate looking at LED headlights coming at me and chose new lenses instead.

It's your Ex and your choice!

 

There is also the option of setting up or purchasing a relay kit and wiring up direct voltage from the battery. The stock wiring caused quite a bit of voltage drop to the bulbs. With full voltage, even stock bulbs are a ton better.

Of course you will want to replace the housing as well so the lens won't be cloudy.

When I got my '01 I was looking for a quick plug-n-play fix since my headlights were terrible. I got some new housings and threw in some LED bulbs. The bulbs I got were setup so you could rotate them in the housing to adjust the beam pattern. Probably not as good as a higher end housing and the relay mod, but it was super fast and probably got me 80% of the way there.

 

We've been really happy with my F350 and the wife's Excursion headlight output since I upgraded to the LED bulbs several years ago. Huge difference in light output! The wife's Excursion has the stock style clear 03-04 headlight lenses while my F350 was upgraded to the 05 units. I have only been light checked by an oncoming vehicle in my truck a couple of times, but I think it's because of being a 4x4 whereas the wife's Excursion is 2wd and never gets it.


The wife's Excursion.


My F350.

 

There is also the option of new OE housings/reflectors, and an HID conversion. A conversion I do not regret.

 

I purchased the smoked housings and added GTR Ultra 2 bulbs. I'm finishing the install and aiming (hopefully tonight) and can give a full review. I purchased them on Amazon but they are available elsewhere. I would say the quality is close to the original housings, maybe a bit lighter.

 

Did these install into the stock locations or did they require some cutting of the header panel?

 

Given his is a 2005, there should be no modifications for the 05 and up headlight unit. On 2004 down trucks, you will either have to cut the header panel...like I had to do on my 00 with the same lens he used...or install a header panel from a 2005 truck.

 

No Modifications at all for my '05

They are a tad darker than I thought.

 

What HID kit did you use? SO the HID worked ok with the factory reflectors?

 

I'm currently running the new Morimoto 2 stroke kit and it is just slightly dimmer than HID 55 watt systems, but without the extreme heat and 24 watts versus 35/55 from the hid kits. It looks and performs great and after aiming I only got flashed when I had a full load of people and suitcases and a full tank of diesel...everyone would get flashed in that instance. These are great! I recommend! Got mine at headlight revolution.

 

I went with the GTR Ultra Series 2 for the LED headlights and Fog lights. No issues with the housings but you will have to adjust the orientation of the bulb so it is perfectly "left to right" in the housing or it will lose its cutoff and appear muddled. There is a good video on alignment from Headlight Revolution, but it involves the world's smallest allen key (included) I upgraded from very bright HID's in the housings to the LED's so the light wasn't astonishingly brighter but I was very impressed with the output from the fog lights compared to stock bulbs. My only complaint is the sound the fans make They are pricey but worth it IMO

The Morimoto's would have been my second choice, I also got mine from Headlight revolution. HR recommended the GTR over the Morimoto if cost wasn't an issue.