Headlight Retrofit Part 2. This time with Halo/Demon

[jasonlmarsh]

Well After a few months I decided I wanted to go to a bigger set of projectors. The little 2.5" projectors just looked tiny in that big headlight. This time I got a set of 3" Projectors, and thought I'd try Halo's & Demon Eyes.

Here you can see I painted the reflector bowls satin black, and I'm using chrome Iris shrouds for the 3" projectors.

I decided I wanted to try a street legal Demon Eye setup, so I picked up a set of amber LED strip lights and mounted them behind the lens.

They Look pretty good when lit up by themselves.

I also decided to run a set of Morimoto XBLED Halo's. Good lord these things are bright!!! So bright that they completely drown out the Amber demon eyes.

Here they are with nothing turned on. I kinda like how they turned out with the black reflector bowl. You really can't even see the chrome Iris shroud, all you see is the blackness, with the yellow ring.

Here they are with the Halo's & Demon eyes turned on. As you can see, the amber is almost completely washed out. The halo's are so bright, you can even see them in direct sunlight with no problems.

Next project... Figure out how in the heck I'm gonna get those 2.5" projectors in the Foglight housings.

 

[ExpediTuner]

Niceeeee looks really good.

 

[bricekin]

Looks great. Can't wait to start my retrofit.

 

[jjbusa]

man looks sick hows the light output compared to the last set?

 

[jasonlmarsh]

Thanks guys! The light output on these is a pretty close to the same as the MH1's I had. They seem to have a wider beam, and less foreground light, but the color and intensity in the middle is about the same. The reflector bowl is shaped and sized almost the same as the MH1. I did have one side with a fuzzy/yellow cutoff line. I had to bend up the cutoff shield a bit until I got the cleanest cutoff possible. It's weird because up close, like in my garage, the cutoff line is yellow, but over about 15 feet or so, the cutoff is blue.

 

[atmasters]

love the look of these. I want to go to this style as well but might just buy the whole headlight assembly. Did you make these or did you buy the whole light assembly ?

 

[jasonlmarsh]

The only aftermarket projector style light for our trucks that I know of, has 2 smaller projectors with small halo's. I just didn't like the look on my truck with those small projectors. One single large projector looked better in the huge housing IMO

 

[tallsville]

great work. looks really good.

 

[atmasters]

yes Looks really good. Can you explain how you did it ?

 

[dariod]

This is how $50K truck was supposed to come from factory. Ford cheapened on some parts of vehicle. My 20 year old Lexus has prOjectors but my 2011 EL LIMITED with m.s.r.p. of almost $60K does not have go figure.

 

[jasonlmarsh]

yes Looks really good. Can you explain how you did it ?

1. Gather Parts
2. Bake Headlight to remove clear lens
3. Install parts
4. Align projectors
5. bake headlight to reinstall clear lens
6. post pics on ExpeditionForum

This is how $50K truck was supposed to come from factory. Ford cheapened on some parts of vehicle. My 20 year old Lexus has prOjectors but my 2011 EL LIMITED with m.s.r.p. of almost $60K does not have go figure.

Yea I agree, this truck has the worst headlight output of any vehicle I think I've ever had... Well except for that '74 Camaro.

 

[bricekin]

Jason,
How are you keeping the low beams on with the highs? Did you purchase a harness or build one yourself?

 

[jasonlmarsh]

Low/High are not separate. With a Projector, the H1 HID bulb is at the same brightness all of the time, regardless of whether you're in low or high. The change is in the projector cutoff shield. In low beam, the cutoff shield is in the up position, and in Hi beam the shield is pulled down to allow more light through.

 

[bricekin]

Low/High are not separate. With a Projector, the H1 HID bulb is at the same brightness all of the time, regardless of whether you're in low or high. The change is in the projector cutoff shield. In low beam, the cutoff shield is in the up position, and in Hi beam the shield is pulled down to allow more light through.

I understand how the projectors and HID bulb/ballasts operate, but I was under the assumption that in Fords, the low beam filament loses power while the high beam filament takes over. If this is not correct then I completely understand how it can operate, but I read elsewhere that a harness was required to accomplish this.

 

[jasonlmarsh]

Oh, I see what you're saying. Yes I do have a Relay harness that came with the HID kit I purchased. It connects to the battery, and to the headlight wiring from the truck. It maintains power to the bulb under both hi/low conditions, it just splits the hi beam out to a second set of wires that runs the projector cutoff solenoid.

 

[GAINMOB]

it does in my 04...but i have 2 light sources for that...i think 3rd gens are dual purpose

 

[The eXpedition]

This is really awesome!!!

 

[JimmyM]

This is a really nice job you did. I agree that the lights are awful. Even my wife thinks the High beams suck compared to our subaru (Projector lows, reflector highs).
I'm not willing to take on the job you did with the single HID projector, but want to install a set of these.


Have you seen these? What do you think?
I'd power the DRL LEDs/Halos with a relay powered when the key is on. The amber signal/running light would be a yellow 3157 LED replacement.
Since both filaments are separate. I may add a relay/diode to keep the lows on with the highs.

 

[GAINMOB]

buy those and just add HID...

 

[JimmyM]

buy those and just add HID...

HID for the lows, Halogens for the Highs, right? So the relays to keep the lows on with the highs will be required.
I think the 35W 4000K - 5000K should be sufficient. I don't want them TOO blue.