I've got a 2001 F150 4x4 Off Road, live in the country, and I think that the factory headlights are pathetic. Fog lights useless...

I've upgraded the low/high beam lamps lamps to higher wattage halogens and it helped some, but the Ford factory set-up can't be compared to the Hella 7" round replacement units that I was able to put into my Jeep Wrangler - those are exceptional.

Anyway - looking for a good solution for the F150. Are there driving type lights that could fit into the factory fog lamp opening and use that wiring / dashboard switch? Seems like that would be the most elegant solution. Replacement headlight units with better reflectors and lamps?

Any suggestions would be extremely appreciated - I'm trying to avoid having a furry, 6-point hood ornament...

 

Welcome to the Forum!

You could do what I've always done in the past.

When ever I get a new vehicle I always try to get a good grill guard or bull bar on the truck (one that can have lights mounted).

Then I go get some pretty good driving lamps, a 30amp relay, and a 10~15 amp (maybe more depending on the lights) fuseable link, and all the necessary wire and zip ties and connections.

I then just hook up the driving lites to be on when my brights are on, and leave out the cab switch. This way I dont have to hack up the firewall and the dash to mount a switch.

When doing something like this you should always solder all connections, and use heat shrink, those crimp connectors alone will give you lots of headaches down the road.

I usually use the crimp connectors, pull the plastic sleves off, crimp the connector and wire and then solder the whole thing.

I've often debated on the importance of the cab switch, but I can't think of a time when I would want the high beams on, and not the driving lights.

Down side is if the relay goes bad, and gets stuck closed, the lights will stay on and run the battery down, been there done that (the relay was 5+ yrs old and pretty corroded).

 

From what I have read here, installing higher wattage bulbs will eventually melt the headlight plug socket.
Have you tried the new SilverStar bulbs? They are supposed to be a whiter, brighter light.

 

And of course, if you've got the money (at least $450), Sylvania Xenarc HID conversions are outstanding.

 

I just bought the Silverstar lamps and they seem like a solid improvement - only used them one nite, but I think they help quite a bit.

The HID's will arrive right after the rich girlfriend shows up...

 

HID's are great, but the cops get on you in some places. especially in colorado. Was up there for a week and got a ticket and a warning.

 

If you chose to fit higher wattage globes, make sure you upgrade you wiring loom as these globes draw higher current than the wiring is designed to handle and you will literally have the wiring overheating and melting. Insalling an additional relay fixes this.

 

Hi superchargedxe and welcome to FTE

Good tip.
On the older trucks you could get away with installing bulbs that drew more amps but not on the newer ones. They melt the connectors pretty fast it seems.

 

Thanks for the welcome Racerguy,

I had an '82 Ford Fairmont back home in Australia that had this very problem. One day my sister (an Auto Electrician) was helping me work on the beast and noticed all these wires melted together She knew what i had done and installed a relay for me. Not only did it fix the wires overheating but it also allowed the higher wattage lights to actually work to their full capacity. I miss my old Ford

 

The SilverStar lamps are 55w low beam and 65 watt high beam - I don't think that they are higher wattage than the standard 9007 lamps, but am not really sure... Does anyone know if they are higher wattage?

I don't have any melted wires yet, so...

How and where would I install a relay? What are the specs that I'd need to go for? the only relays that I've put in before came packaged with aux backup lights for other vehicles, so I'm not sure how to buy / add one in this situation...

Superchargedxe misses his 82 fairmont?? I must have missed something about that model!

 

55 and 65 watts are the same as stock or close to it and shouldn't cause any problems. The problems start when you put in higher wattage, i.e. 100W, bulbs.
I think an Aussie Fairmont is a lot different than an American one.
superchargedxe they still make Fairmonts there dont they?

 

As racerguy said the wattage you have shouldn't cause a problem. I had 55/100's in mine and soon there after a small amount of smoke .

WCL, yeah it's an Aussie Ford based on the Ford Falcon... mine was a wagon with a 302c and a C4, 3'' exhaust, lowered with globlines Mine was a XE model. I'd post a pic of it but im not sure how. The Falcon in Australia has been produced since 1962, then based on the US Falcon... but was a mainly locally designed car from the early 70's. Do a search for a XY Phase 3 GTHO Falcon, at the time it was the fastest production 4 door in the world The car is produced today as the BA model, RWD, powered by and inline 6 or 5.4 Litre V8, and there is a higher performance version called the XR6 Turbo, which boasts 320hp. As the name suggests it's the inline 6 with a Turbo. Some aftermarket tuners are getting 500hp out of this motor. I'd love to see Ford US bring these cars here instead of making the Futura or 500. But thats just me being biased Ford also make a Fairlane (remember that name?) which is a long wheel based luxo Falc. FYI, FPV is as AMG is to mercedes, M Is to BMW etc....

some links for your perusal;

http://www.ford.com.au/showroom/pass...r_Vehicles.asp

http://www.fpv.com.au

http://www.goauto.com.au/mellor/mell...2,f6%20typhoon

Enjoy

 

Thanks for the wattage advice, fellas. I had put some 55/100w lamps in awhile ago, but after reading some FTE comments, I took them out before mine started smoking and melting and that's when I put in the SilverStars. Still wish I could replace the air dam fogs with something useful for less than the $400 HID's...

Sure I remember the Fairlane, and the Falcon too. My dad was a GM guy through and through, and my mom used to really **** him off by buying Fords. Fond memories of my first driving dates in her baby blue [ecchhh] Falcon 4dr...but it didn't bear any resemblance to the descriptions above! I gotta check out your links...

 

FYI... afdter a couple of weeks, I'm very pleased with the SIlverstars. Significantly better lighting, they don't seem to bother approaching drivers... Certainly not HID, but a very good value for $40.

 

Cool.. glad you're happy with the outcome i'll know what to get when i do mine also