I'm going to eat crow... from this post; https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/8...ml#post9609819

And suggest, you work on the "projector mod" for your headlights.

I've had my Excursion done this way, for sometime now (2 years or so) and love it. So much so, that I have recently done my Tundra and my Jeep (as well as other's Jeeps in the family). I do keep my projectors aimed super low, because any rise in the road and your instantly blinding others. I'll test, and test, until I find the lowest needed point to not blind anyone (I'm talking about on low beam, and not allowing my beam cutoff to get into other drivers eyes).

It's not easy, but the outcome is far beyond any offering of what's out there. So much so, I myself quit ordering direct from China with my dual HID bulbs and have solely gone to HID projectors.

(you can click on any picture to make it larger)

Here's a shot of my Excursion's headlight;


I don't have current beam shots of the Excursion headlight output... but, I do of my Tundra and some from the Jeep (they both use the same projectors).

Tundra, low beam


Tundra, high beam


And... video of switching from low beam, to high beam;
https://www.dropbox.com/s/s1165r04zt...54.34.mp4?dl=0

In the above Tundra pictures/video... I adjust my headlights pretty low. Due to this, the low beam looks like it's "in the weeds", when in reality it's closer to a sedan's trunk line or at the license plate when 10' behind.

Jeep's low beams on garage door (tilted due to Jeep in the street, and not level);


Here's some of the process, and what makes most cringe. All in all, it's easy if you just follow some easy direction;

7" Jeep lights taken apart from the oven;


Tundra light in the oven;


For some lights (7" round pictured), you have to make room for the projector. However, with some vehicles this isn't necessary and you can use the halogen bulbs socket mounting for the HID Projector base and it'll still clear the lights clear protective cover;


With a PVC cap epoxied to the 7" housing, it gives you a new mounting point for the projector;


With juuuust enough room, to put back on the exterior plastic cover;



My ultimate point is...
No more running "quad hid" or the need to. High beams from a projector using 55W ballasts is amazing. Similar to most off-road lights. I'm a firm believer in them now and won't ever go backwards. And they do put out more light down the road then anything LED. are they deemed "highway legal", No... but neither is changing your halogen bulb to HID.

I was very much so against using projectors in a lifted vehicle. But, I took more time (with a more open mind) to testing them and limiting their height at low beam. Sure, it's almost too low for freeway speeds and you often feel your trying to look into darkness or beyond the cutoff point. Sometimes very frustrating. But I won't aim them higher... any higher, and that low beam is god awful when it hits other driver's eyes. I've come to the conclusion, that the trade-off is worth it. And the high-beam is to die for... oh man! Bright!

Also to note; I do carry the necessary tool (in each vehicle with projectors) to align the lights down/up if/when I'm towing a load and my airbags (if so equipped) aren't enough to level out the vehicle. As yes, when a load is placed on the vehicle and the back end squats down, it'll point your lights higher then what I'd deem safe. Remember, I aim them at what I feel is max height for never blinding. Even when bumps/dips/rises in the road may cause my lights to rise into other's eyes, they are aimed below that height. So anytime I add weight in the rear, or tow a load... it's pushing that limit. Hence, my two trucks have air bags. However, my Jeep does not. Headlight aiming tools are carried in each vehicle with projectors.

If your more interested...
Send me a PM and I'll give you the full scoop on how it's done, and what parts I bought to make it happen. I'd be happy to help out.

Let's help get those using HID bulbs in OEM Halogen housings into using projectors. I'm overly tired of being blinded by POORLY aligned HID headlights or those with problematic glare.

 

I agree with everything JohnnyAirtime stated! No need for 'quad' HID if you install projectors into existing housings. This is easily the best upgrade I've done to both of my vehicles!

My original housings had non-clear lenses, so I had to order new housings with clear lenses and reflectors only (plastic lenses with no lines to obfuscate the beam). The Retrofit Source kit is not super cheap, but includes everything needed and you can install it through the existing H7 bulb mounting hole. You just need to align the rotation (roll) of the beams, then use the factory capsule adjustment for up/down left/right. I cannot recommend TRS enough: they have great customer service, advice, and their products are extremely well thought-out and high quality.

Below is what I purchased for this project. Nothing else was needed except tools to R&R the headlamps and cut open the capsules. If you want to be cautious, buy a couple of the metal clips (Dorman 42190) that retain the capsule to the header panel. All wiring for this is plug & play. You might use some screws or zip ties & double stick tape to mount the ballasts.
- The Retrofit Source kit below (it's $270 now): - Ford Super Duty/Excursion Without Boundaries Package Headlight Driver/Passeng... Sold by: HEADLIGHTS DEPOT ($52 for a pair at the time)
- 3M 08621 Butyl sealer for re-sealing lenses to capsules ($13 at the time)


I found after trying to separate the clear lens from the capsule plastic that it is MUCH easier to just cut through the housing plastic next to the clear (so that a small part of the housing is still bonded to the clear). Then just seal it back up with butyl. it looks slightly less professional, but it's under the hood and takes about 1/8 of the time and effort.

I'm not sure if the Mini H1 kit could handle 55 watt HIDs very well, but I'm sure the capsules would be fine if you went the epoxied in a larger projector like JohnnyAirtime did. There is lots of room in there, and the capsules I bought have decent sized gore-tex style membrane vents.


I wanted some more long-distance throw for long night drives from Seattle to Quincy, so I found that Hella 700FF fit behind the stock grill well. I converted mine to 55 watt HID, but it was a PITA, beam pattern suffered and probably not worth the hassle again.

LMK if I can help any more.

 

I'm using Mini H1 Projectors with 55W ballasts, and no issues. Even in the 7" round housings in the Jeeps. No problems whatsoever.

Remember, I bake the lights at 290° to get the butyl soft again, to re-install the clear plastic lens. This is with everything installed. They can take quite a bit of heat.

And, I retrofit Hella's Rallye 4000 off-road lights to HID. Being they use an H1 bulb, they are easy to do. On my Excursion, I have 4 of them using 75W HID Ballasts. Yes... they are bright!

 

If your truck came with Halogen headlights the only way to do it legally, and safely for other drivers, is to replace the complete assembly. At least that's the opinion of the office of legal consul at NHTSA. The people who write the FMVSS.
Ignore all the claims on the internet "I did xyz and have a perfect pattern". There's a lot more that goes in to headlight design than sitting behind the wheel and seeing what the lights look like.

 

Der.... Of course if you can bake them to 290° then they can handle 55w of light+heat! I can't brain good today I guess.


I am jealous of your lights!! I just have the stock bumper and I don't think the Rallye 400os will fit behind my grille . How is the beam pattern on them? My 700FFs are a sort of chicken foot with 3 toes up and one down because the HIDs moved the focal point. Not ideal, but it's so much light that they are still ok.

 

Actually... that is incorrect, or lacking intel.

If you buy some ebay headlight, or non OEM headlight assembly... your right back in the SAME if not worse "case scenario" of having a horrible resolution to an inadequate headlight.

To say "there's a lot more that goes in to headlight design...." is kind of stating the obvious. Sure there is. They are mandated to follow strict guidelines and processes put in place by DOT and similar.

Take this for example;
You buy a new bulb for your OEM headlight. Is the OEM headlight going to take the new bulb and make the same beam pattern? Not necessarily... Every bulb is made to a spec, and that spec has tolerances. If the new bulb is within tolerance, it still doesn't mean that it's safe... or, any safer then what the manufacturer designed. The beam patter can be similar, and can be aligned by a certified shop... but, does that too make it right? Not necessarily, it only means your abiding by the law. Now imagine your new bulbs are out of tolerance... oh boy. Now your possibly glaring others... and deemed unsafe. How about those, who put in Sylvania Silverstars and rewire the loom to "get more power"? They are within' the law, but now pushing more light. More wattage? No... again, not necessarily. But guaranteed, the other drivers are seeing more light... which could mean more glare, and therefore unsafe.

SO... why is it so bad, that we modify our lights to better suit US as drivers AND those who are driving around us?! I bet... I could drive up behind you or towards you (speaking to you Rovernut) ... in any of my retrofitted vehicles, and you'd be hard pressed to find ANY unsafe glare or brightness. In fact, I bet you'd be more annoyed by my OEM lights then my retrofits!

 

hahaha... don't be. I only get to use them in the middle of BFE... or, basically in Baja (Mexico) when there's not a single soul on the road. OR... out in the desert. But the Excursion isn't my "desert" play vehicle.

The Hellas are spot beams. And, reach out to the beyond. No chicken feet, no odd patterns... just a big'ol spot (up close) and a bunch of light WAAAAY down the road.

The LEDs in the bumper (160watts of LED) are on my fog light switch. They too are bright, but for here... not way out there (down the road). I use'em for reading street signs or similar when the high beams just don't cut it.

 

Haha, I use all my forward lighting anytime there aren't other vehicles in front of me. That's many night drives on I-90 in eastern Washington, so guess it's the desert.

I did a little less polished and put a dual LED strip to the factory chrome bumper because I couldn't read street signs in the city because my projector cutoff is too sharp (and of course below the side mirror level of other cars).

 

Hey Johnny, glad you saw the light (pun intended) and got into retrofitting! Looks like you have done some real nice work! Ironic this post came to my email today, as I am a day away from getting a new retrofit in my truck! Unfortunately, I haven't had the time to do it myself... but I left it up to a great company who I trust. JB at Blackflame Customs is awesome to deal with.

I am pretty particular in what I wanted. I was looking for one of the best bixenons on the market. The retrofit source recommended the Murano Bi-Xenon. I upgraded to clear lens and had TRS tune everthing. I then sent away to BFC to have them do the retrofit.

Here is the link for the lights.
2013 Ford F350 Superduty Chrome Bi-Xenon HID Projector Headlamps | BlackFlameCustoms.com

Let me know what you think.

 

while this MAY be true in SOME applications, I think that by making such a blanket statement, you're giving out false information regarding each and every situation...

I've got the complete hid kits in both my headlights & fog lights & have a definite & distinct "cut-off" line that can be clearly seen when aimed at a wall...all in my factory housings.

please don't tell me what my lights do or don't do unless you've actively participated in a "damn those lights blind me" drive-by

 

It's not a matter of opinion. It's physics.
HID and halogen bulbs create differently shaped light sources. The lenses have to be designed for the shape of the light.
That's why it's illegal to retrofit HID bulbs to a halogen housing.

 

I don't think anyone is disputing that filament and arc discharge light sources are differently shaped. Changing from filament to arc (HID) or point (LED) source definitely changes the geometry of where the photons end up down the road.
I agree with 14SD4Jeffro not because of my opinion, but because of my empirical experience in installing a few dozen HID kit into factory housings: In my limited experience, uusually light from HIDs does not bleed upward from the original halogen cutoff line. In a couple of VWs, I've removed the HIDs right away because there was a noticeable light bleed upward that could potentially have a negative effect on other drivers.

The reasons for the laws regarding this are more complicated than most of us care to investigate, so maybe we can stick to the practicality and safety?

 

And that's why HID bulbs should never be installed behind halogen lenses.


I'm sure a lot of people don't have the patience to investigate, but I did. And it comes down to safety of other drivers, so yeah, sticking to safety.

I realize I'm not going to change the mind of anyone who's convinced themselves that there's nothing wrong with retrofitting HID's.
The point of my posts is to inform people who may be on the fence about it and people who want to keep their trucks legal.

 

I disagree about never, as I stated in my next paragraph that from observation, the difference is often insignificant.

I completely agree that safety should be the top priority. I value other drivers' safety just as much as mine, but I don't care about being legal, so I'm not your target audience and I'll leave it at that.

 

So if there's a single element, how does it switch from low to high and back again?