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I'm finally getting around to upgrading the headlights on my 2001, 2002, and 2005 Excursions.
One has the stock 2 piece. The other 2 came with decent looking one piece headlights. However, all of them suck. They are dim. So dim, I can't see going down the road. Brights are a joke. I've been relying on offroad led light bars, but can't legally use those on public roads.
What is the brightest aftermarket headlight I can get?
IMO the best are XL superduty sealed beam jwspeaker LEDs. Be prepared to drop some coin. Custom retrofits are up there too if you got the budget.
I'm not a fan of drop in led bulbs in housings designed for hallogen and neither is oncoming traffic. You can get cheap superior light output with an upgraded wiring relay harness and hella 100/80w bulbs too. There's a write up on this somewhere I can try to find for you if interested. If your housings are faded, getting a kit to buff those or just investing in new housings will afford you more light down the road.
One of the best mods I did to both our trucks was install a cheap pair of LED bulbs in the stock headlight buckets. If you research the bulbs you'll find they need to mimic the halogens your replacing such that the LED placement should be in a horizontal orientation on each side. The wife's 00 Excursion has the 02+ clear style 2 piece units and my 00 F350 has the Harley style 05+ 1 piece units. There's little difference between the 2 other than hers is 2wd and since the lighting is closer to the ground it has a little bit of an advantage. I also installed the larger 08+ mirrors with the 17+ LED side lights...when I fire up those working lights down a south Texas county road, I can see 180*+ running down the road...
I've also tried several Amazon knockoffs before finding the ones linked above, the Amazon stuff is hit or miss (a lot of more miss than hit actually)
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sadly the factory 2 piece and 1 piece housings are junk for getting bright lights. even running the high end Sylvania bulbs won't get you much. And they burn out fairly often. Of course you can install LED bulbs in those housings...then you will blind oncoming traffic
you need to get a new housing that contains a projector with cutoff. Then run LED bulbs. It's not exactly cheap, $250 for a housing + bulbs seems to be about average. but damn worth it IMO. I'm running these (linked below) on my 2005. It's extremely bright and on par with my 2017/2019 Dodges. And since the housing has a projector/cutoff, I don't blind oncoming traffic. So we all win. The horizontal light cutoff is really nice. Adds new tech to these old rigs
Disclaimer, these particular headlights are made by Spyder. It says Akkon, but they are actually Spyder. They are ok. But it took me a few minutes to get them aimed. And they use an H1 bulb. Vice a normal 9005. Not really a big deal. But worth mentioning.
sadly the factory 2 piece and 1 piece housings are junk for getting bright lights. even running the high end Sylvania bulbs won't get you much. And they burn out fairly often. Of course you can install LED bulbs in those housings...then you will blind oncoming traffic
you need to get a new housing that contains a projector with cutoff. Then run LED bulbs. It's not exactly cheap, $250 for a housing + bulbs seems to be about average. but damn worth it IMO. I'm running these (linked below) on my 2005. It's extremely bright and on par with my 2017/2019 Dodges. And since the housing has a projector/cutoff, I don't blind oncoming traffic. So we all win. The horizontal light cutoff is really nice. Adds new tech to these old rigs
Disclaimer, these particular headlights are made by Spyder. It says Akkon, but they are actually Spyder. They are ok. But it took me a few minutes to get them aimed. And they use an H1 bulb. Vice a normal 9005. Not really a big deal. But worth mentioning. LED Bulbs - on Amazon Headlights - on Amazon
Not true, the OE Ford headlight housings (at least the ones on an 05 Ex Limited) have a shielded bulb (see pic below), so 100% of the light emitted comes off the reflector. LED bulbs can safely be used in OE housing that have this shielded bulb feature without blinding oncoming drivers.
Headlight assemblies without the shielded bulb (like most aftermarket housings) will do weird crap and send light in all kinds of wacky directions.
sadly the factory 2 piece and 1 piece housings are junk for getting bright lights. even running the high end Sylvania bulbs won't get you much. And they burn out fairly often. Of course you can install LED bulbs in those housings...then you will blind oncoming traffic
you need to get a new housing that contains a projector with cutoff. Then run LED bulbs. It's not exactly cheap, $250 for a housing + bulbs seems to be about average. but damn worth it IMO. I'm running these (linked below) on my 2005. It's extremely bright and on par with my 2017/2019 Dodges. And since the housing has a projector/cutoff, I don't blind oncoming traffic. So we all win. The horizontal light cutoff is really nice. Adds new tech to these old rigs
Disclaimer, these particular headlights are made by Spyder. It says Akkon, but they are actually Spyder. They are ok. But it took me a few minutes to get them aimed. And they use an H1 bulb. Vice a normal 9005. Not really a big deal. But worth mentioning. LED Bulbs - on Amazon Headlights - on Amazon
As aforementioned, I installed LED bulbs in both our trucks several years ago. I have yet to have someone flash me the brights signaling they are blinded. The early factory headlamps were horrible relative to putting out light in front of the truck...it got to where I wouldn't even drive it at night because I could tell no difference when I actually turned them off. The later clear headlamp lenses with the LED bulbs arranged in a dual horizontal...one on top of the other on each side...put out fantastic light in front of the trucks. Now the LED work lights in each mirror are the bomb when traveling down a lonely south Texas country road...I can literally see over 180* side to side.
Look at the design of a modern LED bulb versus a halogen light. The shielded tip/cap is utterly useless with led bulbs. Nothing to prevent blinding oncoming drivers. It doesnt even block tip light. Because of placement and side emitting in the LED. Part of the reason LED bulbs are sensitive to placement on horizontal plane .
Just because you had some success, doesn’t mean it’s right. You are blinding oncoming traffic when you use an LED bulb in a reflector housing. There is a reason every single manufacturer uses projector housings with LED and Bi-xenon
Furthermore, the reflector does not have the capacity to aim LED light emitted. They are designed for the light dispersal of halogen bulb.
Look at the design of a modern LED bulb versus a halogen light. The shielded tip/cap is utterly useless with led bulbs. Nothing to prevent blinding oncoming drivers. It doesnt even block tip light. Because of placement and side emitting in the LED. Part of the reason LED bulbs are sensitive to placement on horizontal plane .
Just because you had some success, doesn’t mean it’s right. You are blinding oncoming traffic when you use an LED bulb in a reflector housing. There is a reason every single manufacturer uses projector housings with LED and Bi-xenon
Furthermore, the reflector does not have the capacity to aim LED light emitted. They are designed for the light dispersal of halogen bulb.
Dude, look at the picture, the shield blocks the tip of the bulb, it’s a freaking metal cap, light doesn't just pass through it genius. And the reflectors at the rear of the housing doesn’t know, and doesn't care, what the source of the light is its reflecting, its literally just a shiny surface at precise angles to direct light in a certain direction. If they can be aimed at all (which they can) then they can aim light from an LED (it’s still just light, and it follows all the same laws of physics as light from incandescent bulbs, florescent bulbs, or even fire).
And NO, it doesn't blind oncoming traffic. Can't tell you how many times I've passed my wife driving one of my other vehicles with those same lights going in the opposite direction, looks just like any other car with 6k temp white headlight bulbs.
So basically, you're wrong on all accounts and are just repeating something you've read/ heard. In certain housings (like most Chinese aftermarket ones for example), LED bulls will cause the issues you discuss, however, the OE Ford housings with the bulb shield work just fine and don't cause any blinding of oncoming traffic issues.
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You do you boo. Be the jerk if it makes you feel good. This is similar to those guys who don’t aim their lights after a lift or level
FOR THE OP. regardless of differences in opinion on the reflective qualities discussed above: a reflector unit is a poor substitute to a projector setup. The light output difference is amazing. It focuses the light where you need it, versus wherever it feels like shining. I’ll never go back to reflector housings. You could say it’s a “night and day” difference in light quality
You do you boo. Be the jerk if it makes you feel good. This is similar to those guys who don’t aim their lights after a lift or level
FOR THE OP. regardless of differences in opinion on the reflective qualities discussed above: a reflector unit is a poor substitute to a projector setup. The light output difference is amazing. It focuses the light where you need it, versus wherever it feels like shining. I’ll never go back to reflector housings. You could say it’s a “night and day” difference in light quality
Know it all attitudes like yours are why nukes get a bad rep. I'm a retired M-Div Chief, spent time in Kings Bay as well. Just freaking admit you don’t know what you're talking about and you’re only parroting what you’ve read on the internet already.
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I too have passed my wife in her Excursion and the brighter white 6k temperature light is by no means in your eyes...as they are adjusted to hit the ground in front of the truck. Like I said, I converted these trucks many years back with no issues of blinding on coming traffic...but I did adjust them where they need to be. Glad you brought it up though Tylus as I just yesterday got the 04 18" wheels with 35's installed on my F350, so I'll need to adjust them accordingly so I don't blind on coming traffic...
I too have passed my wife in her Excursion and the brighter white 6k temperature light is by no means in your eyes...as they are adjusted to hit the ground in front of the truck. Like I said, I converted these trucks many years back with no issues of blinding on coming traffic...but I did adjust them where they need to be. Glad you brought it up though Tylus as I just yesterday got the 04 18" wheels with 35's installed on my F350, so I'll need to adjust them accordingly so I don't blind on coming traffic...
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