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.

[Scheinweifferma]

dodge guy wrote:

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.

There are no legal LED kits for halogen headlights.


aapexshow.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/NHTSA-Regulations-HID-LED-Kits.pdf

Doesn't matter if the seller claims it's "street legal" or whatever. What are they going to say, that it's illegal? Plus, "street legal" isn't a term found in the federal law books. It's actually just a made up term to make you feel good about your purchase. No different from the guy on the corner selling some pills and telling you it's "DEA legal." The only difference is that the DEA takes its mission seriously, while the NHTSA seems to be a little uninterested, likely due to a lack of funding and the fact that headlight bulbs aren't as sexy of an issue as DRUGS.

ShinerBock wrote:

I don't think some of here know how a halogen housing works. The reason why it is scattered the way it is in a halogen housing is due to the low light output of a halogen bulb therefore it is able to reflect upward without blinding people. If you put a brighter bulb ,such as an HID or LED bulb, then the reflector in the housing that are pointing upward will cause the light to scatter upward blinding oncoming drivers. It has nothing to do with the beam pattern of the bulb because it is the beam pattern of the reflectors in the halogen housing that cause this issue. Hence the reason why it is illegal to put a brighter bulb such as an HID or LED bulb in a halogen housing.

This is completely off-base.

The reflector and light source work together intimately. A 1 millimeter offset in, say, the position of the filament relative to the reflector can result in a headlamp range loss of 100 feet. This same 1 millimeter offset can result in excessive glare.







You don't put HID in a halogen headlamp because a filament looks totally different than a HID arc. For one, headlamp bulb filaments are straight. HID bulbs have arcs. An arc is not a straight line. And this relates to what I said about a mere 1 millimeter difference making a 100 feet difference.

You don't put LED in a halogen headlamp…yet…because the chips on a LED bulb don't match the characteristics of a filament. The issue with LED chips is they don't emit light very well off-axis, and they require a lot of cooling to match a halogen bulb’s output and sustain it. Fortunately, these are all solvable problems, and one day we'll have legal LEDs to put in halogen lamps.

[wnjj]

rickeoni wrote:
Actually they are, but it is the NHTSA's fault , not the manufacturers. The old adage applies here in spades, "just because you can, doesn't mean you should"

https://www.autonews.com/article/20181029/OEM03/181029812/nhtsa-s-proposed-rule-change-should-help-t...

Clicky for mobile users.

[rickeoni]

Actually they are, but it is the NHTSA's fault , not the manufacturers. The old adage applies here in spades, "just because you can, doesn't mean you should"

https://www.autonews.com/article/20181029/OEM03/181029812/nhtsa-s-proposed-rule-change-should-help-tame-headlights

[ShinerBock]

dodge guy wrote:
The new LED headlights the OEMs are offering are just as bad for blinding people. I’ve seen it myself. So if you don’t like LED headlights, then you may want to speed to the manuf and thy government for allowing brighter lights!

Actually they are not just as bad because the beam is focused in a way to cut off and dim and you get closer similar to how a projector with LED/HID bulbs do. The only ones that I see that blind people are the people driving trucks that have had their front height angle altered either by lift/leveling the truck or when they are towing. In the cases of the a lift/level, they need to readjust their beam just like I had to do with my HID projector headlights when I leveled my truck. In the case of towing, the manufacturers should offer a button in the cab that allows you to adjust the headlights down when towing like Nissan and Toyota's have.

[wnjj]

dodge guy wrote:
The new LED headlights the OEMs are offering are just as bad for blinding people. I’ve seen it myself. So if you don’t like LED headlights, then you may want to speed to the manuf and thy government for allowing brighter lights!

I agree and it's time they update the decades old wattage-based regulations.

[ShinerBock]

FishOnOne wrote:

Like I said earlier if your LED headlights are installed and adjusted correctly you're not blinding no one.

An LED or HID bulb cannot alter the reflector plate in a halogen housing. It is the higher light output bouncing off the reflective material in a halogen housing that creates the blinding glare, not the bulb itself so the only way to fix it is to change the housing to one that takes out the glare like a projector housing.


Like i said before, I find it very difficult to understand that some one will pay over $50k for a new vehicle, but cheap out on proper headlights. The amount of money to do it right is chump change compared to the cost of the vehicle.

[dodge_guy]

The new LED headlights the OEMs are offering are just as bad for blinding people. I’ve seen it myself. So if you don’t like LED headlights, then you may want to speed to the manuf and thy government for allowing brighter lights!

[rickeoni]

HID/LED bulbs in a halogen housing results in high beams and higher beams. People can argue it all they want, but YouTube videos from resellers doesn't make it any better.

[FishOnOne]

ShinerBock wrote:

FishOnOne wrote:

Why don't you visit your local state highway department and tell them you're running a truck with missing emissions equipment and a tuner and it doesn't comply to federal emissions standards. They may or may not care.

I've been running LED lights in both my headlights and my fog lights and I'm sure hundreds of locals and state police have seen them along with many others and I have ever been stopped because they're installed and adjusted properly.

I actually know the two DPS officers in my region because they are good friends with my father(who is also a police officer). One of them actually has a deleted F350. It still does not make it legal for either of us just like it does not make it legal for people to run HID/LEDs in halogen housings blinding people on the road.

As I said before, enforcement is sparse depending on where you live because not many officers even know about the rule. That does not make it legal or keep you from being seen as an inconsiderate d-bag from the people you are blinding. Some places know the law and will stop you while other places may only write you a ticket for if they stopped you for another reason and you are being a d-bag to them.

Ironically, these d-bags don't like the taste of their own medicine. If I see these lights coming at me then I turn my bright lights on which for my truck is my HID lights unfiltered from my projectors which is exactly the same as what they are doing to me with their unfiltered HID/LED light. They don't like it very much, but they don't mind doing it to other people.

Like I said earlier if your LED headlights are installed and adjusted correctly you're not blinding no one.

[ShinerBock]

FishOnOne wrote:

Why don't you visit your local state highway department and tell them you're running a truck with missing emissions equipment and a tuner and it doesn't comply to federal emissions standards. They may or may not care.

I've been running LED lights in both my headlights and my fog lights and I'm sure hundreds of locals and state police have seen them along with many others and I have ever been stopped because they're installed and adjusted properly.

I actually know the two DPS officers in my region because they are good friends with my father(who is also a police officer). One of them actually has a deleted F350. It still does not make it legal for either of us just like it does not make it legal for people to run HID/LEDs in halogen housings blinding people on the road.

As I said before, enforcement is sparse depending on where you live because not many officers even know about the rule. That does not make it legal or keep you from being seen as an inconsiderate d-bag from the people you are blinding. Some places know the law and will stop you while other places may only write you a ticket for if they stopped you for another reason and you are being a d-bag to them.

Ironically, these d-bags don't like the taste of their own medicine. If I see these lights coming at me then I turn my bright lights on which for my truck is my HID lights unfiltered from my projectors which is exactly the same as what they are doing to me with their unfiltered HID/LED light. They don't like it very much, but they don't mind doing it to other people.

[FishOnOne]

ShinerBock wrote:

drsteve wrote:

ShinerBock wrote:

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

That is just an LED kit. Where does it say that it alters the beam pattern of the halogen housing?

I don't think some of here know how a halogen housing works. The reason why it is scattered the way it is in a halogen housing is due to the low light output of a halogen bulb therefore it is able to reflect upward without blinding people. If you put a brighter bulb ,such as an HID or LED bulb, then the reflector in the housing that are pointing upward will cause the light to scatter upward blinding oncoming drivers. It has nothing to do with the beam pattern of the bulb because it is the beam pattern of the reflectors in the halogen housing that cause this issue. Hence the reason why it is illegal to put a brighter bulb such as an HID or LED bulb in a halogen housing.

You asked for a link to a street legal LED kit. This one says it is street legal.

But that is not street legal to be put in a halogen housing. Maybe in a projector housing made for HID/LED bulbs, but not a halogen housing. In fact, the picture of the different colors shows a projector style housing, not a halogen housing.

Send that link to your local state highway department and tell them you are putting it in a halogen housing and see what they say.

Why don't you visit your local state highway department and tell them you're running a truck with missing emissions equipment and a tuner and it doesn't comply to federal emissions standards. They may or may not care.

I've been running LED lights in both my headlights and my fog lights and I'm sure hundreds of locals and state police have seen them along with many others and I have ever been stopped because they're installed and adjusted properly.

I'm pretty sure there's OEM LED headlight vehicles that blind others more than mine.

[ShinerBock]

drsteve wrote:

ShinerBock wrote:

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

That is just an LED kit. Where does it say that it alters the beam pattern of the halogen housing?

I don't think some of here know how a halogen housing works. The reason why it is scattered the way it is in a halogen housing is due to the low light output of a halogen bulb therefore it is able to reflect upward without blinding people. If you put a brighter bulb ,such as an HID or LED bulb, then the reflector in the housing that are pointing upward will cause the light to scatter upward blinding oncoming drivers. It has nothing to do with the beam pattern of the bulb because it is the beam pattern of the reflectors in the halogen housing that cause this issue. Hence the reason why it is illegal to put a brighter bulb such as an HID or LED bulb in a halogen housing.

You asked for a link to a street legal LED kit. This one says it is street legal.

But that is not street legal to be put in a halogen housing. Maybe in a projector housing made for HID/LED bulbs, but not a halogen housing. In fact, the picture of the different colors shows a projector style housing, not a halogen housing.

Send that link to your local state highway department and tell them you are putting it in a halogen housing and see what they say.

[wnjj]

drsteve wrote:
You asked for a link to a street legal LED kit. This one says it is street legal.

Those bozos list “blue” among the options and say nothing about how illegal those are. I assume they claim legal simply because they meet the 55w requirement.

[drsteve]

ShinerBock wrote:

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

That is just an LED kit. Where does it say that it alters the beam pattern of the halogen housing?

I don't think some of here know how a halogen housing works. The reason why it is scattered the way it is in a halogen housing is due to the low light output of a halogen bulb therefore it is able to reflect upward without blinding people. If you put a brighter bulb ,such as an HID or LED bulb, then the reflector in the housing that are pointing upward will cause the light to scatter upward blinding oncoming drivers. It has nothing to do with the beam pattern of the bulb because it is the beam pattern of the reflectors in the halogen housing that cause this issue. Hence the reason why it is illegal to put a brighter bulb such as an HID or LED bulb in a halogen housing.

You asked for a link to a street legal LED kit. This one says it is street legal.

[ShinerBock]

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

That is just an LED kit. Where does it say that it alters the beam pattern of the halogen housing?

I don't think some of here know how a halogen housing works. The reason why it is scattered the way it is in a halogen housing is due to the low light output of a halogen bulb therefore it is able to reflect upward without blinding people. If you put a brighter bulb ,such as an HID or LED bulb, then the reflector in the housing that are pointing upward will cause the light to scatter upward blinding oncoming drivers. It has nothing to do with the beam pattern of the bulb because it is the beam pattern of the reflectors in the halogen housing that cause this issue. Hence the reason why it is illegal to put a brighter bulb such as an HID or LED bulb in a halogen housing.