2015 headlight housing options

[RayneStorm]

I bought a 2015 Expedition XLT with reflector headlights. The passenger side is yellowed, so I’m looking to replace/upgrade my lighting. Currently, the existing lights are very poor in light output.

I am looking for bright white color pattern (I hate blue tint lights) that are nice and bright. I live in the woods with very a high deer population.

What are my best options to upgrade my lighting? Factory used OEM projectors? Aftermarket housing? Hid?

I searched but most threads I came across were fighting over light bulbs and blinding people with lack of cutoff.

I’m open to all suggestions.

Thanks

 

[Shantheman73]

I believe my 07 has different headlights than your 15...but I purchased these LED headlights off amazon...and I have never been more pleased. I actually liked them so much, I purchased them for all four of my vehicles. I agree, the stock headlights left a lot to be desired. These remedied that completely. They're also correct length to work with the headlight reflectors.

Amazon.com

 

[maxxplatinum9137]

@RayneStorm LEDs are becoming less and less DOT compliant now a days, especially in reflector housings for the exact reason you mentioned. Nothing in a reflector is going to give you amazing results. The light won’t be focused correctly and it will scatter all over. LEDs will be brighter yes, but at the cost of having a very ugly cutoff and usable light is wasted as it’s reflected everywhere. LEDs in a PROJECTOR housing would be the way to go. That said, you can probably just get a cheap pair of amazon ones. I have diode dynamics but purchased them before they did a mass recall on all of their LEDs couple years ago. I have projector housing though.

 

[RayneStorm]

Since I have to get a new housing, can I just swap in the projector housings and go from there? Do I need to upgrade any wiring to swap over from factory reflector to factory projector?

 

[maxxplatinum9137]

@RayneStorm you should be able to just buy projector housing (OEM) and use wiring already there. You may get hyperflash when you install LED bulbs of your choice but you can easily disable that with Forscan or adding in line resistors. I would suggest doing Forscan

 

[RayneStorm]

@RayneStorm you should be able to just buy projector housing (OEM) and use wiring already there. You may get hyperflash when you install LED bulbs of your choice but you can easily disable that with Forscan or adding in line resistors. I would suggest doing Forscan

Thanks! I’ll go that route then!

 

[Shantheman73]

@RayneStorm LEDs are becoming less and less DOT compliant now a days, especially in reflector housings for the exact reason you mentioned. Nothing in a reflector is going to give you amazing results. The light won’t be focused correctly and it will scatter all over. LEDs will be brighter yes, but at the cost of having a very ugly cutoff and usable light is wasted as it’s reflected everywhere. LEDs in a PROJECTOR housing would be the way to go. That said, you can probably just get a cheap pair of amazon ones. I have diode dynamics but purchased them before they did a mass recall on all of their LEDs couple years ago. I have projector housing though.

I'm sorry, but I disagree. LED manufacturers are finally figuring out the correct length and placement of LED diodes so they reflect better in the stock housings. Early days, yes. They were a disaster with brightness but poor light throw and weird cutoffs. Buying a brand that is reputable makes a difference. Again...I tried SEVERAL different brands before I landed on the brand (link in comment above). They reflect correctly and throw brighter light down the road in the SAME pattern as stock lights.

 

[Dennis_H]

I'm sorry, but I disagree. LED manufacturers are finally figuring out the correct length and placement of LED diodes so they reflect better in the stock housings. Early days, yes. They were a disaster with brightness but poor light throw and weird cutoffs. Buying a brand that is reputable makes a difference. Again...I tried SEVERAL different brands before I landed on the brand (link in comment above). They reflect correctly and throw brighter light down the road in the SAME pattern as stock lights.

I'm using the same ones linked and don't have any issues. It does put brighter light down the road with the same cutoff in the reflector housing. Never been flashed by oncoming traffic. Been in for a year and so far no issues at all.

 

[maxxplatinum9137]

@Shantheman73 all I’m saying is LEDs give you much better performance in a projector housing than in a reflector housing. Yes you’ll regain the factory cutoff pattern from a reflector housing with LEDs and brighter light down the road. No argument there bro. But take that same LED light and put it in a projector housing and results won’t compare. Projectors give you that really crisp top cutoff which reflectors do not. Reflectors scatter the light and don’t do as good of a job focusing it as projectors do. In the end, yes, any LED upgrade over the stock halogens is going to be beneficial. I would just suggest using them in projector housings over reflectors.

 

[maxxplatinum9137]

HIDs in reflector housing vs projector. It’s obvious that the reflectors scatter light while projectors focus it but yes you do retain factory cutoff either way. It’s just the cutoff is better with projectors