As our first gen Expeditions rack up miles, their headlights leave much to be desired. Mine are no exception and show their 20 years of age in the normal yellowy dismal fashion. Visits to salvage yards have only yielded stock-style housings in the same poor condition. So with that said, could we get some opinions and/or reviews of the various housing offerings? It would be a massive benefit and also apply to 97-03 F150s too

For consistency, I would like this thread to be focused (lol) on ONLY the headlight housings themselves, not a discussion of what bulb(s) choice is better.

Proper fit and finish are the most important factors, with build quality/materials being a close second. If there are issues with any of these, please make it clear with pictures too. Also, Longevity is crucial too, as nobody wants housings that turn to yellow/cloudy crap in a few months.

 

If headlights are made of plastic, then this yellow fogging can be wetsanded away. Start with 2000 grit, and finish of with 4000 grit. Apply wax with UV-filter, and they will stay nice and clear.

Best result with a polish machine, but lots of elbow grease works very good also. Use painters tape around edges, to avoid damage to paint.

 

Duly noted, but my headlights are FAR beyond saving as they were the original ones the truck came with in January 1997, hence this thread seeking firsthand experience with the different options available.

Here's a sample of what I have in mind for this thread:
Item: https://www.amazon.com/97-03-Ford-F1.../dp/B0085NPF7W
(As I don't have a manufacturer name or part number, let's call this style "Type 3" for easy reference. Otherwise, include manufacturer & part number)

Housing Style: All-in-one Headlight/Turn Signal housing
Optics: Separate Low & High Beam Projectors
Bulbs: H1 Lowbeam, 9005 Highbeam, turn signal is original #3157
Extras: DRL LEDs & Low/High halo rings

Fit: X/10 (10/10 is plug & play, a drop-in replacement for stock)
Finish: X/10
Quality/Materials: X/10
Performance: X/10 (let's give the original lights a 7/10 to be fair)
Longevity: X/10 (AKA resistance to fog/yellowing)
Overall Grade: X/10

Then write a bit about your experience with them, including ease of installation beyond the stock lights, how well they light up the road (before & after pictures are a BIG plus here), how they hold up after 1 month/3 months/6 months/1 year, etc. Be sure to include flaws about the item, such as if moisture entered the housing through any gaps, if things like halo rings or LED strips failed, premature fogging/yellowing, etc. I consider ANY fogging/yellowing before 1 year a flaw, as it shows a lack of foresight in UV protection.

 

It is also just as easy to pop the whole housing assembly out and avoid any risk of damaging the surrounding areas. To each his own I suppose...

 

Since no one has volunteered, I'll begin. I purchased the following:

Spyder Auto
SPYDER AUTO

Part# PRO-YD-FF15097-1P-AM-BK
Product page: Spyder Auto | Ford F150 97-03 / Expedition 97-02 1PC Projector Headlights - ( Will Not Fit Manufacture Date Before 6/1997 ) - LED Halo - Amber Reflector - LED ( Replaceable LEDs ) - Black - High 9005 (Included) - Low H3 (Included)

Housing Style: All-in-one Headlight/Turn Signal housing
Optics: Separate Low & High Beam Projectors
Bulbs: H3 Lowbeam, 9005 Highbeam, turn signal is original #3157
Extras: 6x DRL LEDs & Low/High halo rings

Fit: 9/10 (-1 for PS turn signal connector fit)
Finish: 9/10 (-1 for noticeable/visible adhesive)
Quality/Materials: 9/10 (-1 for difficult installation)
Performance: X/10 (to be determined)
Longevity: X/10 (AKA resistance to fog/yellowing)
Overall Grade: 9/10*

I found these on ebay with minor cosmetic scratches on the outer edges of the lenses, snagged for $45 plus shipping. As I just installed them yesterday, I cannot say anything about their longevity yet, but will update at 1 month/3mo/1yr, etc.

One thing I need to make crystal clear is that ALL 97-02 Expeditions use the same housings, regardless of build date. Spyder Auto claims that these will not fit a truck built before 6/1997, but this is incorrect. There is no difference between a January 1997 build such as mine and a July 1997 build in terms of the headlights or cowl/sheetmetal

Light performance is far better than my old lights, which I highly suspect were the original ones installed in 12/96-1/97. We all know what old yellowed lights look like in the dark. When I get an opportunity, I'll upload pictures of the Spyder lights in action

Despite the eBay ad claiming otherwise, I received Osram bulbs as seen on Spyder Auto's website. The driver side lowbeam (H3 bulb) kept blowing the headlight fuse and wouldn't light up even when jumpered straight to the battery. Impedance testing showed over 200k ohms of resistance on this bulb, but all others were in proper working order. $5 at the parts store resolved it with a generic brand 55w H3. Can't mark off for it as they were an unexpected bonus, but annoying to pin down.

As for fit and finish, the RX7club knows me to be a fair judge with an eye for detail. What I am marking off one point each for is the passenger side turn signal opening and the rather sloppy lens sealing. The originals have the connectors oriented outward on both sides. These have the driver's side like stock, but the passenger side's "hook holes" are machined/molded identical to the driver's side. This make it so the connector points to the inside and makes installation considerably more difficult than it should be. What my friend Matt and I ended up doing was rotating the bulb housing further. I heard something pop (possibly crack) while doing so, but I am not sure what it was. Examining the housing did not reveal any visible cracks however.

With the lens sealing, Butyl adhesive can be seen and felt where the lens meets the housing. Beyond this, they fit well and I am quite pleased so far.

Lighting performance is still to be determined. To make a fair comparison, the initial grading will be stock 9007 halogens (Sylvania 9007 Long Life) vs the H3/9005 halogens (Osram H3/9005 Long Life). I gave them a brief test under a tree and they're nice and crisp. We'll see what the real test shows. Afterwards, they'll get a second test with LED bulbs. I recommend using amber bulbs for the turn signals as the bulbs are plainly visible through the clear lexan lens.

Installation was quite a pain in the butt due to the one-piece design requiring four hands to perform. One person to work the housing and the other adjusts the locking tabs & guide the adjuster screws into place. This is halfway a design flaw in the new housings and half a flaw in the originals. The adjusters are funky to use, requiring one remove the housing to adjust the aim. In stock form, the turn signal is removed first and you can access things from the side. Can't do that with these

One thing I need to mention is to get your original lights aimed properly BEFORE removing them, then measure how far the adjusters are out from the housing and clone those measurements over to the new housings. Otherwise, installation will be difficult as I learned the hard way. 3-4 hours were spent on it due to multiple heavy downpours, the learning curve and diagnosing/replacing the defective bulb.

The six LED lights on the bottom of each housing are replaceable (they look like T10 wedge bulbs, will find out more later), subharnessed in groups of three, while the halo rings are wired individually. The High/Low beam setup is done well with a well made plug and play subharness to convert the stock 9007 wiring to use the H3/9005 bulbs. I have not wired them up yet, but did test them. They work well, are visible in daylight and look good. Either would work well for Daytime Running Lights.

I'm not sure how I want to use the LEDs/Halos yet, but something will come to mind. Maybe alternating with the turn signals or a Knight Rider type 'scanner'? But for now, they're just getting some Metripack connectors to tidy them up.

Overall, I give them a 9/10

Pictures:
Before:


After:

 

Low beam, Halogen H3




High beam, Halogen 9005