LED Bulbs in Factory Reflector Housings Designed for Halogen

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LoneRanger

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The factory halogen reflector headlights on my new F150 are atrocious. The color temp is not only appearing to be low (dinghy yellowish) as compared to previous halogen equipped vehicles we've owned, they just plain do not put out enough light on low beam. I swear high beams on this truck are about the same as low's on other vehicles. At least it has automatic high beam activation and deactivation so it does kick them on and off often all by itself.

I have always been a critic of people just slapping an LED bulb into a headlight assembly designed around halogen bulbs, and felt it creates glare. However, I've noticed companies like Diode Dynamics who have put some research and design into their LED bulb products and the bulb's light emitting LED diode is engineered to locate in the exact same spot in the headlight reflector assembly as the filament of the OEM halogen bulb, after installation. I also read where DD's LED bulbs, their L1 or whatever model, also has less of the extreme white color temp and is a little lower on the kelvin scale. This sounds like it could be an option for my F150 to try in the factory headlight assemblies that would retain focus and cutoff of the beam along OEM boundaries without creating some of the crazy scatter and glare you see so often when any old LED bulb is crammed into a headlight originally equipped with halogens.

What do you think?
 
My brother had the same complaint about his Jeep. Halogens lose brightness as they age. A new pair of Philips Vision Plus bulbs and a 3M polishing kit fixed him right up.

Even if the LED focuses correctly, it will still have dark sides that create voids in the beam. I've never seen a retrofit that was worth a darn. The reflector and lens have to be designed for it.
 
I haven't seen a LED aftermarket kit that truly works better than the factory Halogen lights late model cars came with. Not saying they don't exist.
 
Originally Posted by LoneRanger
...LED diode is engineered to locate in the exact same spot in the headlight reflector assembly as the filament of the OEM halogen bulb, after installation. ..


You need a lot more than just "location"


Here is a good summary of why LEDs in halogen headlights is very problematic, at this point in time.

https://www.candlepowerforums.com/v...ED-bulbs-dont-work-in-halogen-headlights

Quote
..."Not designed for it" is a 4-word summary of the basic problem: headlamps and fog lamps are optical devices engineered to a high degree of precision, and requiring a high level of system precision in order to work appropriately. This applies even to lamps regarded as poor. These lamps have a complicated task to achieve: they have to put the right amounts of light in the right places, which means very high intensity light (for seeing) very close to very low intensity light (for glare control). They can't just put out a random spray of light, even if that's what it might look like they do when you shine them on a wall. The optics in these lamps are a type known as "imaging optics" -- they magnify, superimpose/overlap, expand, contract, shift, rotate, and align images of the light source to build up the overall beam pattern. The exact distribution of these images depends on the light source being of a very specific, particular size, shape, position and orientation, exactly as originally engineered, and it has to match all of those aspects. No matter how closely one light source's position matches another light source's position, if the two light sources aren't also the same size, shape, and orientation, the headlamp won't work right. The images won't be as intended, so the optical transformations of the images won't be as intended, so the beam pattern won't be as intended, so the wrong amounts of light will be sent to the wrong locations, and it can't be compensated by adjusting the lamp aim....
 
Ford seems to have a reputation for poor headlights, confirmed by IIHS testing, which rates both the halogen and LED headlights as "poor".

https://www.iihs.org/ratings/vehicle/ford/f-150-crew-cab-pickup/2020

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Halogen headlights:
On the straightaway, visibility was inadequate on both sides of the road. On curves, visibility was inadequate in all 4 tests.

The low beams never exceeded glare limits.

High beams
On the straightaway, visibility was inadequate on both sides of the road. On curves, visibility was inadequate in all 4 tests.


LED headlights:
Low beams
On the straightaway, visibility was good on the right side of the road and fair on the left side. On curves, visibility was inadequate in all 4 tests.

The low beams created excessive glare.

High beams
On the straightaway, visibility was good on the right side of the road and fair on the left side. On curves, visibility was inadequate in all 4 tests.
 
Originally Posted by wemay
I haven't seen a LED aftermarket kit that truly works better than the factory Halogen lights late model cars came with. Not saying they don't exist.


They do for jeeps.
 
My 2018 F150 has about the worst possible headlights. The "fog" lights are utterly useless too.
I installed some Rigid brand fog lights #50481 (SAE approved) , purchased on Amazon, and removed the factory fogs.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00Q1RS83M/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
They provide fantastic lighting and are considerably better than the OEM low beams. Please watch the video reviews.
Also note, I wired them up to the parking light circuit. Took a few, ummm, cheezy tricks to make this work, but it does work. Leaving the fog bulbs hooked up and tied up under the bumper.

The Rigid lights are on any time the parking lights are on. They remain on, high or low beam. Like I mentioned above, they are better by themselves than the low beams are. Furthermore, being SAE Fogs, they don't bother oncoming drivers at all. As they have a very sharp cutoff.

In any case, if you choose to install a LED bulb, choose the color temperature carefully. The vast majority of drivers find that 4000K or slightly under (as low as 3200K) , with a high CRI (color rendition index) provides the best illumination. LED's are often 6000K or so and will need to be brighter to provide adequate illumination. A universal favorite "drivers" bulb is the HIR halogen bulb. Bright, great CRI and fits some applications.

Adding an LED fog light to quality halogen headlights often provides a very nice combo.

Although it may not matter all that much, as many of these LED bulbs are imported and they are not shipping right now.



EDIT: you also may want to Google H11 to H9 conversion
smile.gif
 
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Check for voltage drop at the light sockets using your multimeter with the engine running. I'm not sure about the new trucks but in all (not just ford) the headlight wires are inadequate. If you lose a volt or more (my s10 dropped 14.2 to 12.6 at the plug) You can in increase the brightness running (fused) 10 gauge wire from the battery to the headlights and adding a relay and using the existing power wire to trigger the relay. (with my voltage drop I believe I was able to double the brightness using the old bulbs.)
 
Been running the Philips Xtremepower/vision H13/9008 bulbs in my 2011 F150 for years now. They are pretty decent when new, certainly "good enough." But they age pretty quick. I went as far as building a 12awg relay harness and with new bulbs its really pretty good. Unfortunately they are aging even quicker now. Guess you can't have your cake and eat it too.

At least my 2011 is better than our 2018 F150. Those H11 bulbs are pathetic. I swapped to some H9 bulbs and they are at least usable now.
smirk2.gif
 
My 2018 F150 has the worst lows of any vehicle I've owned. It's shockingly bad.

I installed morimoto projectors and they throw good light with a solid cutoff. BUT, the oem housing melted in the oven before the glue would soften, so I actually had to cut the housings open with a dremel and glue them back together with lots of adhesive - truly a horrible looking job. I've disassembled 3 other sets of headlight housings and 2 sets of fogs - I've never before had a problem doing this. These are not assembled with the kind of adhesive that's easy bake friendly.

Since then, new aftermarket assemblies have become available. I saw a set of alpharex assemblies installed on an F150 at lowes last month - it was dusk so I couldn't really critically evaluate the beam pattern, but the guy's wife sitting in his truck said they were better - she liked them. From what I saw, it was certainly better than oem - I couldn't gauge far-sight distribution. Most reviews said the light output was acceptable with an upgraded bulb, but not the one that came in it. If I had to do it again, I would go this route.

I believe the root problem of the F150 lamps are poor reflector construction. If you look at the sputtered aluminum, it has a lot of orange peel, and it's sloppy orange peel at that. Putting a brighter bulb in it won't throw better light; it will just throw more light poorly.

THAT SAID - check the aim height. Mine came from the factory pointing UP. Aiming it down at least let me drive to Publix after sunset.

-m
 
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Despite many sellers' claims that their LED's are properly designed to replace halogen bulbs, its just not true. The entire reflector and housing need to be retrofitted with a solution that is DOT approved for on-road use. Position of the LED element is not the only factor: there is dispersion, color, pattern, etc.
I get some grief from my motorcycle buddies for spending big $ on LED lights for my bike, but they are PIAA reverse reflectors and are DOT approved.
I wish there was an easy replacement - my Jetta has the worst headlights that I have ever seen. I will likely end up replacing the housings - this will probably cost me $800. Grrrrr
 
I'm with you that it's usually a terrible outcome when people throw LED replacement lamps in incandescent reflector or projector assembles, but I think it's getting better.

As you say, the manufacturers seem to be putting more effort into making these LEDs mimic halogen lamps.

FWIW, the incandescent reflectors are horrible on Ram 1500s right up to the current 2020 classics as well. I've accidentally left the brights on and not ticked off on-coming drivers.

I kind of rely on the fog lights on my 2017 Ram 1500 to give me some extra light. If anything it forces me to slow down and stay on my A-game.

What lamp does the late model F150s use? I know you can fit Rams with brighter H9's as opposed to the OEM H11's by grinding/cutting off a tab on the lamps. But the negative is lower lamp life. Lamp replacement on Rams is quite the endeavor.
 
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This certainly is a problem with the new Fords. At the place where I work, we have a large fleet (140+) of Ford Super-Duty 350s and 450s. We have changed them all over to LED headlights and are VERY pleased with the results. Just be sure to get ones that are Canbus compliant and all will be well.
 
Originally Posted by Skippy722
I have a pair of Diode Dynamics SL1's and removed them to go back to halogen. I cannot stand the color of them.


I found this too:

[Linked Image from i.imgur.com]
 
Check out Headlight Revolution on YouTube. They do vehicle specific testing and I sent them an email and they were very helpful to select LEDs for my Suburban. They work great. Yes, quality LEDs properly installed will have a good beam pattern and give you better lighting performance without blinding people.
 
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