When looking to replace the overhead lights on my 04 Expedition, I was hoping to find a pre-made kit of higher quality, custom fit to the light housings on the truck, similar to what I found for my Daily Driver, an 03 Accord Coupe. Note that the festoons were replaced with custom-shaped panels, and the 194 door bulbs replaced with custom shaped lights as well. This helped make the most use of the space provided, and emit the most light.
Unfortunately, exLEDUSA, who I had purchased my other kit from, was not offering a specific kit for the Expedition, nor any hope of him designing said kit without a commitment of at least 10 orders. Although I know that many would be interested , being that it is not the current generation of Expedition, he was reluctant to invest the R&D. So be it.
I ended up going with SuperbrightLEDs. Below are some before and after shots of each light, as well as the lights themselves.
Festoons (Second Row Map Lights, and third-row dome light), and 194 LEDs (front map lights and glovebox) Sorry, file photo, forgot to snap a few before installation of these.
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FRONT BEFORE vs AFTER (Warm white)- Didnt even know I had a glovebox light, as the original 194 was blown:
[URL=http://smg.photobucket.com/user/kmh1596/media/04%20Expedition/Interior%20LED%20Swap/Final_1_zps5d497053.jpg.html]
SECOND ROW BEFORE VS AFTER:
Another shot also showing the back. Second row left light was already removed and I was in the process of figuring out how the heck it came apart to get to the bulb.
Left side new LED vs right side factory incandescent:
Both LED:
While installing the second row lights, I decided to grind out the burned section of this picture, so allow more light to shine through.
Be careful when disassembling the light fixture, it is brittle and may crack if you're not careful. Not the best setup, but the good thing is that it goes back together pretty good, even if one of the clips is broken while disassembling the outer trim from the housing. Note the crack above, from before I knew how the light housing was removed from the roof. It has been reglued in this picture, not really noticible when in the truck.
Third Row/Rear Dome BEFORE:
AFTER:
My only issue with this whole purchase was that both the Map and glovebox 194s and 2nd/3rd row festoons were listed as "Warm white". Foolishly, I assumed that meant they would match. You'll see that the map lights are more of a 3000 Kelvin rating where as the rears are 3500K. According to SuperbrightLEDs, that is why they look slightly different, as well as the fact that they are from two separate vendors. The 194s are SMD style, where as the festoons are not, so that may have something to do with it? Personally, it looks like it is more of a 500K difference. Regardless, I am happy with the output they provide, and don't care all that much that the front and rears are not 100% the same. I worked it out with SuperBrightLEDs, and told them that they should probably make note that Warm White is not Warm white across the spectrum, just because they fall into the 2,000-4,000K range; I expected them to match.
Unfortunately, due to the way that Ford engineered the light housings in the truck, there are not many options for using the other festoon replacements that are square or not the same sizing as the original bulb. With minor modifications, I think they'd work. I may play around with that a bit in the future, and will post updates. The other consideration is that due to the way the reflectors are designed inside of the factory housings, turning the LEDs so that they are facing the reflector and not the interior of the truck, could change how the light is reflected.
EDIT 5/1/13: Found these pictures on my cell phone, they show a bit more of how the housings are designed, as well as how easy they are to break if you're not careful:
Products purchased:
(3) Warm White 194 bulbs (2 front map lights, glovebox)
194 LED Bulb - 15 SMD LED Wedge Base Tower | Miniature Wedge Base LEDs | LED Car Bulbs | Super Bright LEDs
(3) Warm White 42mm Festoons (2nd Row and 3rd Row/Dome)
578 LED Bulb - 9 LED Festoon | Festoon Base Bulbs | LED Car Bulbs | Super Bright LEDs
Unfortunately, exLEDUSA, who I had purchased my other kit from, was not offering a specific kit for the Expedition, nor any hope of him designing said kit without a commitment of at least 10 orders. Although I know that many would be interested , being that it is not the current generation of Expedition, he was reluctant to invest the R&D. So be it.
I ended up going with SuperbrightLEDs. Below are some before and after shots of each light, as well as the lights themselves.
Festoons (Second Row Map Lights, and third-row dome light), and 194 LEDs (front map lights and glovebox) Sorry, file photo, forgot to snap a few before installation of these.
[/URL FRONT BEFORE vs AFTER (Warm white)- Didnt even know I had a glovebox light, as the original 194 was blown:
[URL=http://smg.photobucket.com/user/kmh1596/media/04%20Expedition/Interior%20LED%20Swap/Final_1_zps5d497053.jpg.html]
SECOND ROW BEFORE VS AFTER:
Another shot also showing the back. Second row left light was already removed and I was in the process of figuring out how the heck it came apart to get to the bulb.
Left side new LED vs right side factory incandescent:
Both LED:
While installing the second row lights, I decided to grind out the burned section of this picture, so allow more light to shine through.
Be careful when disassembling the light fixture, it is brittle and may crack if you're not careful. Not the best setup, but the good thing is that it goes back together pretty good, even if one of the clips is broken while disassembling the outer trim from the housing. Note the crack above, from before I knew how the light housing was removed from the roof. It has been reglued in this picture, not really noticible when in the truck.
Third Row/Rear Dome BEFORE:
AFTER:
My only issue with this whole purchase was that both the Map and glovebox 194s and 2nd/3rd row festoons were listed as "Warm white". Foolishly, I assumed that meant they would match. You'll see that the map lights are more of a 3000 Kelvin rating where as the rears are 3500K. According to SuperbrightLEDs, that is why they look slightly different, as well as the fact that they are from two separate vendors. The 194s are SMD style, where as the festoons are not, so that may have something to do with it? Personally, it looks like it is more of a 500K difference. Regardless, I am happy with the output they provide, and don't care all that much that the front and rears are not 100% the same. I worked it out with SuperBrightLEDs, and told them that they should probably make note that Warm White is not Warm white across the spectrum, just because they fall into the 2,000-4,000K range; I expected them to match.
Unfortunately, due to the way that Ford engineered the light housings in the truck, there are not many options for using the other festoon replacements that are square or not the same sizing as the original bulb. With minor modifications, I think they'd work. I may play around with that a bit in the future, and will post updates. The other consideration is that due to the way the reflectors are designed inside of the factory housings, turning the LEDs so that they are facing the reflector and not the interior of the truck, could change how the light is reflected.
EDIT 5/1/13: Found these pictures on my cell phone, they show a bit more of how the housings are designed, as well as how easy they are to break if you're not careful:
Products purchased:
(3) Warm White 194 bulbs (2 front map lights, glovebox)
194 LED Bulb - 15 SMD LED Wedge Base Tower | Miniature Wedge Base LEDs | LED Car Bulbs | Super Bright LEDs
(3) Warm White 42mm Festoons (2nd Row and 3rd Row/Dome)
578 LED Bulb - 9 LED Festoon | Festoon Base Bulbs | LED Car Bulbs | Super Bright LEDs
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