Hi all, just picked up a 95 F-250 and the headlights are horrible. I know I can just get new stock housings and bulbs, but I've seen a few of these trucks with very bright lights. I'm not sure if they were LED's or not, but that's what I'm thinking.

Has anyone here done an LED conversion, or at least some kind of headlight upgrade? I'm not interested in getting a light bar or anything and would light to keep a "stock" look.

Thanx,
Nick

 

No way they are as bad as the headlights in my van which has a 35w low beam, I just ordered a conversion kit that takes a replacable bulb with options to go up to an 80/100w halogen or an LED but I'm gonna start with a 55/60w halogen for now. You have options too, your truck appears to take a 9007 bulb so find out what is in there now and upgrade to a more powerful halogen or an LED.

 

Go stock. If you can't see with new stock headlights, GET YOUR EYES CHECKED.

 

New to this platform, but have been dealing with crappy headlights on older vehicles for years. Do these trucks have relays on the headlight circuit? If not, then that is the best place to start. Typically there is 2-4 volts dropped by the time the power gets to the headlights (battery to fuse panel to headlight switch to headlights). AMPS x VOLTS = WATTS. Typical vehicle operates at 14.4 volts. 35 watt bulb is going to draw 2.43 amps. If voltage drops to 10 volts amp draw will remain the same, meaning those 35 watt bulbs are only outputting 24.3 watts. That's no bueno.

There are adapter harnesses that plug into the stock headlight harness, a power lead goes to the battery, and you're done. Typically run $20 or so, and improve the lights significantly. Also, if you are going to go to high amp draw aftermarket lights you will burn up the stock wiring quick.

If these trucks have relays on the headlight circuit already, disregard the above.

 

You're CRAZY! There is always room for improvement.

I will say there is a reasonable max for headlight brightness. There comes a point you are a public nuisance. Also, there are many aftermarket bulbs out there that are not aimed/focused very well and throw all of that new light you have into oncoming traffic's eyes.

 

My current pet peeve... the trend with lifted pickups to be nose high which invariably results in headlights that are aimed much too high. I might give it a pass if I was driving a small car but when I'm perched up in the drivers seat of one of these HD vans you know those lights are way off.

On the topic if wiring I don't think it is a problem here with any headlight up to about 60w, I say this because the stock sealed beams many of these vans use(including mine) have 60w high beams and those work reasonably well.. they don't appear to be yellowish which would suggest operating at lower voltage. Certainly if one was to go to an 80/100w halogen bulb then some wiring upgrades would be in order but I think an LED conversion would be the better move in that case as those consume much less current. My only concern with LED is if they will work with the daytime running lights these trucks have, I may order some LEDs from china at some point to try out but for now I'm gonna stick with halogens.

 

No relays. All power through the switch...

Which burn up on a regular basis running just a REGULAR draw on stock bulbs.

Popular mod is to buy or build a relay kit.

This is mine I built from stuffing my pockets at the junk yard, noticeable improvement:

 

Another option would be to go with an HID conversion, here's a build thread from another forum, Full Size Bronco
Can be aimed so they don't blind anybody and I think you can buy bulbs that are close to the stock bulb color.
Only appearance difference from stock is the clear housing.

 

There is some good info here. https://www.ford-trucks.com/articles...ghter-brights/

 

I'll +1 on this and add some info;

Get FACTORY Ford headlight assemblies. Don't bother with anything from Enzo or the like because you'll not be happy with the results. And, don't buy cheap headlight pods from fleaBay, Amazon or Alexipress either. Most of the Enzo pods can't be aligned and the optics from the cheap pods are the pits. Personal experience with the TYC Capa-certified units. Cr@pt@stic light distribution.

Buy some good bulbs for your new factory headlight assemblies. Philips X-treme Vision or Vosla +100 bulbs. Do not waste time (and money) with Sylvania bulbs or any that are blue-coated. Sylvania bulbs are just so-so bulbs and the blue tint actually decreases light output. Vosla +100 bulbs are stupidly bright compared to the premium Sylvania ExtraVision bulbs. There is even a Vosla +120 that's even brighter but it has a reduced life span.

Now, a relay harness, either bought or built, good housings and good bulbs, all aligned properly will give you more than enough light on the road.

Just my $0.02 USD worth. YMMV.

 

Talking headlights, mine are awfully yellow. Do they make a glass set? I have seen a few cars that were sold in Europe, the land of glass headlights. That means OEM glass headlights. Is there such an animal for these trucks?

 

I know a guy who recently bought the TYC lights from Rockauto and he's happy with them. They are $20 each. At that price you can buy a new set every few years if you need to. I drove the truck at night and could see just fine. I'm an old guy. You can probably see better than me.

https://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog/...assembly,10762

 

I probably do not see better than you at night; I'm not a young fart anymore and most importantly, I am profoundly night blind. When we go camping, I carry a flashlight wherever I go at night.

New Ford headlight assemblies are $73 from an AutoNation dealer so why scrimp?

I'm sure a few Aussie conversions were done to the Aero Nose Gen 9 trucks but unless you're lucky enough to be able to obtain a full set of conversion parts, you're kind of out of luck. I'm not sure you would want them, anyway. The conversion would use the 6" X 7" rectangular lamps, the same ones in the '00 bodystyle E series vans. I drive a '00 E250 and my partner drives a '99 E250 for work. The light spread from these lamps are abysmal. I suppose you could use parts cobbled from a van to do your own conversion but you would need Hella brand lamp housings that have superior light distribution.

 

I also have TYC assemblies on mine to replace the original yellowed ones. They are not bad for the price, but the light distribution is not very even(mine have a few "hot spots"). So I'm sure a brand new factory set would be even better.

 

You want better headlights?

How about you fix what is wrong.
From the factory these trucks only see about 10volts to the headlight bulbs. They should of used a battery direct harness and relays instead of going thru the already overloaded headlight switch.

Then you can get some OE headlight housings. 20 years of haz is doing you no favors on top of the reflector is not doing so good.

THEN you can upgrade the bulbs. No point in putting in better bulbs in a hazy going that is only getting 10 volts

Here is proof of how well the harness and relays work
This is JUST the harness with stock bulbs and 20 year old housings

Before


after