How to improve 2017 Ford 350 head light output? See Update.

[Chuck___]

Update 1-23-20 I wasn't trying to start a battle here by not respecting other drivers. I am 63 and have good eyesight. I don't get a rush or laughs by blinding oncoming traffic. Just thought of getting well aligned head lights with better lighting for country back roads while driving at night. This 2017 F-350 dually truck does have automatic dimmer sense for high beams and works very well and fast, sensing far down the road, for oncoming traffic to low beam. If I wanted to a inconsiderate fool I would put on my truck Air Craft Landing Lights at 1 million candle watt power. I don't plan on using this truck for The Baja One Thousand off road racing at daytime or at night.

I have a Ford 2017 350 dually and the headlights and truck at night are not all that great. I am retired 63 and don't do a lot of long night traveling anymore but would like to have better lighting a night. Some of the older LED head light bulbs like "Life Time LED's" cost a lot $150.00 and really do not put out the greatest patter or down the road light. Bought a set of the above brand several years ago and was very disappointed for my 99 dodge 2500.

Think of trying those high output replacement bulb Sylvania Silverstar Ultra at the auto parts store for around $50.00.
Heard that they are 100 percent brighter but have a much shorter life span.

Just maybe they are making newer LED replacement bulbs much better and low cost now days.

[drsteve]

https://www.xenonpro.com/45-watts-led-headlights-kit

[ShinerBock]

dodge guy wrote:

ShinerBock wrote:

dodge guy wrote:

ShinerBock wrote:
LED or HID in a housing made for halogen lights are illegal in all states, and enforcement is sporadic. If you want to put these kind of lights on your truck and stay legal then you would need to spend the coin and buy housing made for these types of bulbs(i.e. projectors) that do not scatter the beam.

The only thing illegal is not having them aimed properly. LED's or HID's are not illegal unless they are improperly installed. And with that it's not illegal p, just a poor install. As I said and some others. You have to get the proper Bulb for the housing and install it properly. If done this way, no one will ever know what you have in the housing.

This is false. A halogen housing scatters the beam differently than an HID or LED housing. You will never get it to aim properly without this scatter hence the reason why it is illegal per federal standards.

Like I said. You have to get the proper bulb. I don’t believe there is a proper HID kit for a halogen housing (I should’ve stayed that). But there are proper LED bulbs for halogen and projector housings! The difference is the way the LEDs are positioned on the bulb housing.

I have never seen one of these kits that are legal in a halogen housing. Can you please link one.

[Scheinweifferma]

mkirsch wrote:
With the hundreds of products out there, NONE of which have ANY information on them to inform the buyer of proper installation and/or compatibility... "Just plug 'em in!" ...is it any wonder that there are so many jackasses out there on the road?

What products are you talking about?

[dodge_guy]

ShinerBock wrote:

dodge guy wrote:

ShinerBock wrote:
LED or HID in a housing made for halogen lights are illegal in all states, and enforcement is sporadic. If you want to put these kind of lights on your truck and stay legal then you would need to spend the coin and buy housing made for these types of bulbs(i.e. projectors) that do not scatter the beam.

The only thing illegal is not having them aimed properly. LED's or HID's are not illegal unless they are improperly installed. And with that it's not illegal p, just a poor install. As I said and some others. You have to get the proper Bulb for the housing and install it properly. If done this way, no one will ever know what you have in the housing.

This is false. A halogen housing scatters the beam differently than an HID or LED housing. You will never get it to aim properly without this scatter hence the reason why it is illegal per federal standards.

Like I said. You have to get the proper bulb. I don’t believe there is a proper HID kit for a halogen housing (I should’ve stayed that). But there are proper LED bulbs for halogen and projector housings! The difference is the way the LEDs are positioned on the bulb housing.

[mkirsch]

With the hundreds of products out there, NONE of which have ANY information on them to inform the buyer of proper installation and/or compatibility... "Just plug 'em in!" ...is it any wonder that there are so many jackasses out there on the road?

[Learjet]

I wish someone would pull over the trucks running light bars on on the highway and blue fog lights etc....here in Louisiana 😞

[rickeoni]

Do us all a favor and do a proper retrofit,



The cutoff is better for driving as well, as it directs the light where you need it.

[philh]

valhalla360 wrote:
Isn't there something about lack of knowledge about the law is not an excuse...works the same even if the LEOs haven't taken the time to learn the law.

Just because you aren't being flashed doesn't mean you aren't bothering people because you headlights are out of spec.

In MI, it's against the law. One cop bragged on a forum that he drove around with his brights on, just so he'd have an excuse to pull people over. He later got busted for criminal activity.

I still flash my high beams when someone is coming at me with their brights on.

[Scheinweifferma]

BenK wrote:
Haven't looked into headlamps in a while, so asking if the current headlamps (HID, QH, LED, etc) have the DOT aiming tabs ?

Yep, you're right, it's been "a while." Those aiming protrusions have fell out of vogue around the turn of the millenium. They haven't been widely seen for the last 2 decades.

[BenK]

Haven't looked into headlamps in a while, so asking if the current headlamps (HID, QH, LED, etc) have the DOT aiming tabs ?

[Scheinweifferma]

ShinerBock wrote:
This is false. A halogen housing scatters the beam differently than an HID or LED housing. You will never get it to aim properly without this scatter hence the reason why it is illegal per federal standards.

Reaiming a halogen headlamp that's been molested by someone with a LED bulb kink works about as well as stealing someone else's glasses and adjusting the nosepads to better fit your face.

[Scheinweifferma]

drsteve wrote:
Funny... NHTSA says that DOT tests helmets for compliance with the applicable federal standards. As a lifelong rider, I've noticed that the anti-helmet crowd is not especially concerned with accuracy. In this case, their theory is that there are no DOT approved helmets, and indeed DOT asserts that they are not an approval agency, and therefore they can wear whatever headgear they wish and still be following helmet laws, because there's no such thing as a DOT approved helmet. Whatever...

The DOT doesn't go around saying "yay" or "nay" even if you send them a piece of equipment for free with a chocolate bunny and a note asking them to "check" the equipment for compliance with applicable laws.

In the case of lighting, DOT compliant means that the lighting meets section 108 requirements of the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS). These standards regulate all automotive lighting, signaling, and reflective devices.

I wouldn't go as far as saying they regulate "all" automotive lighting devices...fog lamps, for example, are not federally regulated. States are free to decide on whether they even allow fog lamps on their roads, if they wish to go that far. States are also free to regulate the placement, brightness, number, etc. of fog lamps.

[ShinerBock]

dodge guy wrote:

ShinerBock wrote:
LED or HID in a housing made for halogen lights are illegal in all states, and enforcement is sporadic. If you want to put these kind of lights on your truck and stay legal then you would need to spend the coin and buy housing made for these types of bulbs(i.e. projectors) that do not scatter the beam.

The only thing illegal is not having them aimed properly. LED's or HID's are not illegal unless they are improperly installed. And with that it's not illegal p, just a poor install. As I said and some others. You have to get the proper Bulb for the housing and install it properly. If done this way, no one will ever know what you have in the housing.

This is false. A halogen housing scatters the beam differently than an HID or LED housing. You will never get it to aim properly without this scatter hence the reason why it is illegal per federal standards.

[dodge_guy]

ShinerBock wrote:
LED or HID in a housing made for halogen lights are illegal in all states, and enforcement is sporadic. If you want to put these kind of lights on your truck and stay legal then you would need to spend the coin and buy housing made for these types of bulbs(i.e. projectors) that do not scatter the beam.

The only thing illegal is not having them aimed properly. LED's or HID's are not illegal unless they are improperly installed. And with that it's not illegal p, just a poor install. As I said and some others. You have to get the proper Bulb for the housing and install it properly. If done this way, no one will ever know what you have in the housing.

[dodge_guy]

If you have the projector style headlamps (the halogen style, not HID) then you can install LED's and get a normal pattern. Even he standard old school halogen housings can be fitted with LED's, but you need to purchase the proper LED for proper beam pattern. I installed LED's in my wife's 13 Explorer and the light output is amazing. I got both, headlights and fog lamps for $60 off Amazon.