Choosing headlights for the truck camper truck

MN Ben wrote:

Stefonius wrote:

67avion wrote:
Could you share a link to a wiring kit that is recommended for the Ford F350?

I can! There are several places to get these, but the first one I found is here: (Clicky). That's a catalog page from LMC Parts and Truck Accessories. The wiring harness is at the bottom of the page, and if you have composite headlamps (and the pic in your signature suggests that you do), you'll need part #47-3662.

Here's a writeup from another forum detailing exactly what the 'problem' is and how bypassing the factory harness corrects it. (another clicky).

If I install the relay package, will my switch work just the same? For instance, my headlights come on and go off automatically. Will that stay the same?

Yes, your switch will still work the same way as before.

The way it is now, all of the current for the headlights flows through the switch and a whole lot of other wiring on the way to the lights. Voltage drops along the way, which dims your lights. It's a bit like running a space heater on several thin extension cords.

After the new wiring, the switch only flows enough current to operate the relays. The relays are directly wired to the batteries with a short run of heavier gauge wire, so there is no voltage drop between the relays and the headlamps.

Stefonius wrote:

67avion wrote:
Could you share a link to a wiring kit that is recommended for the Ford F350?

I can! There are several places to get these, but the first one I found is here: (Clicky). That's a catalog page from LMC Parts and Truck Accessories. The wiring harness is at the bottom of the page, and if you have composite headlamps (and the pic in your signature suggests that you do), you'll need part #47-3662.

Here's a writeup from another forum detailing exactly what the 'problem' is and how bypassing the factory harness corrects it. (another clicky).

If I install the relay package, will my switch work just the same? For instance, my headlights come on and go off automatically. Will that stay the same?

67avion wrote:
Could you share a link to a wiring kit that is recommended for the Ford F350?

I can! There are several places to get these, but the first one I found is here: (Clicky). That's a catalog page from LMC Parts and Truck Accessories. The wiring harness is at the bottom of the page, and if you have composite headlamps (and the pic in your signature suggests that you do), you'll need part #47-3662.

Here's a writeup from another forum detailing exactly what the 'problem' is and how bypassing the factory harness corrects it. (another clicky).

I installed these headlights about 7 years ago: (pic from install)


In an accident before thanksgiving, they were damaged beyond repair and I've been forced to find new ones. Finally settled on these:

Planning to swing by the body shop today to check progress and see if they've mounted the lights yet.

I'm also upgrading the 6" driving lights in my bumper to PIAA 520's as the Hellas were damaged also.

I recently purchased a set of PIAA bulbs for my 2001 Dodge CTD after doing some research and talking with some truck accessory shops because night vision was getting tougher. I especially noticed as I was driving on the highway that when I was being passed (a common occurrence) I could see clearer and farther in the lane I was being passed with quite a few other vehicles. HUGE difference. The light is bright white. Been running them for a month around here and a couple of round trips to dang near Canadia and have had one oncoming car do the flashy headlight thingy at me which is about normal regarding frequency.

We live in an area with a good number of small deer and raccoons and I have been seeing more of them along the side of the road than I was seeing before and more importantly, farther ahead. A little spendy at a little over $90 for the pair but I sure feel a lot more comfortable with my view of the road and roadside at night now. The packaging says they are within NTB guidelines whatever the heck that means.

Could you share a link to a wiring kit that is recommended for the Ford F350?

steve68steve wrote:
Since I haven't seen it mentioned yet: I have a 2001 F350 which I think is a clone of the OPs (I don't keep track of model year changes). I also have issues with my headlights being dim.

The first time I drove the truck loaded with the camper after dark I was convinced the headlights weren't even turning ON. The roads were extra black with rain and in the middle of nowhere with no street lighting it was pretty unsettling. I pulled over and walked around front to confirm they were working.

I assumed my headlights needed to be re-aimed so started googling for that when we made camp. I found a LOT of complaints from Ford truck peeps driving that vintage - and the standard stuff is thrown around as was here: clear/ clean lenses, different brands and types of bulbs, etc.

Somewhere I saw one quiet post about how the design of the wiring system is such that there's a big voltage drop at the headlights - for reasons unclear, the wiring doesn't supply a full 12V to them - it's a flaw (of wire size/ length). That being the case, the lights are just dim.

The truck is my DD in winter, and I've noticed the headlight aim is better/ different with no load in the bed, but they are still crap.

That's a fairly common complaint with a lot of Ford products from that era. There are wiring kits you can buy (cheaply) that use a much thicker wire to power the headlights directly from the battery. They use the original headlight wiring to energize a relay that controls the flow of electricity to the bulbs. I have yet to install it on my truck, but I've read posts on other forums from people who swear that it made a world of difference.

Since I haven't seen it mentioned yet: I have a 2001 F350 which I think is a clone of the OPs (I don't keep track of model year changes). I also have issues with my headlights being dim.

The first time I drove the truck loaded with the camper after dark I was convinced the headlights weren't even turning ON. The roads were extra black with rain and in the middle of nowhere with no street lighting it was pretty unsettling. I pulled over and walked around front to confirm they were working.

I assumed my headlights needed to be re-aimed so started googling for that when we made camp. I found a LOT of complaints from Ford truck peeps driving that vintage - and the standard stuff is thrown around as was here: clear/ clean lenses, different brands and types of bulbs, etc.

Somewhere I saw one quiet post about how the design of the wiring system is such that there's a big voltage drop at the headlights - for reasons unclear, the wiring doesn't supply a full 12V to them - it's a flaw (of wire size/ length). That being the case, the lights are just dim.

The truck is my DD in winter, and I've noticed the headlight aim is better/ different with no load in the bed, but they are still crap.

"A caveat to this is that lifetime exposure to UV rays (such as years of being outdoors in the sun without proper sunglasses) will cause the clear lens of your eye to darken. This will filter out much of the ambient light available at night and cause "night blindness". It's common in older folks and people with blue eyes as they age."

Well that would be me, blue eyes and all.

Stefonius wrote:

Raften wrote:

Stefonius wrote:

rickeoni wrote:

Raften wrote:
What does PNP in the PNP HID kits stand for?

Plug and play. Cheap rebased bulbs. Totally useless and the cause of blinding oncoming traffic.

Also illegal. You cannot retrofit HID projector lamps onto a vehicle that was not equipped with them from the factory. It's a matter of Federal law, and rightly so.

Can you point me to where I can find out more about the law. Does that mean that the Silver Star types are illegal also? When I talk to people from Europe I hear comments about how the headlights in the US are so dim.

It was covered by Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) 108, which you can read here (Clicky).

Upon further reading, the NHTSA may have reversed their position with regard to the sections covering the light output, but they still have concerns with the fact that true HID lamps generate a lot of heat, and can set fire to the plastics used in OEM lamp housings. Most of the PNP conversion kits are really just bright bulbs with a blue tint to make you feel like you have HID headlights. The blue is still no good for your night vision.

Crappy off-Shore Plug and Play HID Bulbs



Proper HID Projector retrofit.



Silverstar and Nighthawk are the blue tinted bulbs which have reduced output due to the tinting. HID with a 4300K rating are white and not blue.