HID headlight upgrade

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07xln

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I switched to leds and difference was night and day
 

JExpedition07

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Looks good man. My halogens are kind of dim compared to newer cars, thinking of changing them. I like the projector swap some people do.
 

ExpeditionAndy

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Here are my before and after photos of my Xenondepot.com HID headlight upgrade on my 2015 EL platinum. The new bulbs are 5000K and now match the OEM fog lights.

Post your upgrades!!
I switched out my halogens for HIDs in my projectors and the difference is night and day.

These were the halogens:
Halogen headlights.JPG

These are HIDs
IMG_5272.JPG
 

Bigbadbull

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I switched to leds and difference was night and day
Got any picts?

We are looking at swapping our 16 explorer ( full led lighting) for a 17 expedition.. to say the lighting is antique would be a diservice to antiquities
 

GAINMOB

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I have some in my photos... Check my profile and pics

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Adieu

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ExpeditionAndy

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What is up with the fireball-in-the-middle looking scatter patterns y'all getting from your HID lights???

You guys SURE you got proper projectors and not reflectors??????
It sure looks like a projector and that's what is says on the window stick but you'll have to ask Ford that question it's their design.

IMG_5502.JPG
 
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Adieu

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Well whatevs, their beam pattern is pretty darn odd...

Are your bulbs mounting up in the exact same position as the stock halos?? Same lengths and everything?
 

ExpeditionAndy

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Well whatevs, their beam pattern is pretty darn odd...

Are your bulbs mounting up in the exact same position as the stock halos?? Same lengths and everything?
Yes, in my case before I installed them I measured the stock bulbs and the location of the filament and compared that to the halogens and they were pretty much identical.
 

gixer2000

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What is up with the fireball-in-the-middle looking scatter patterns y'all getting from your HID lights???

You guys SURE you got proper projectors and not reflectors??????
This is typical of putting HID in a halogen projector, Some projectors handle it different and will focus pretty well but not these. The fun begins when the UV from the HID actually burns the bowls of the halogen projector causing you to retro or buy a new housing.
 

ExpeditionAndy

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This is typical of putting HID in a halogen projector, Some projectors handle it different and will focus pretty well but not these. The fun begins when the UV from the HID actually burns the bowls of the halogen projector causing you to retro or buy a new housing.
It's funny but the Halogens had the same fireballs just a more yellow color. HIDs didn't change the pattern of my factory projectors. Just look at the pictures above.
 

gixer2000

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It's funny but the Halogens had the same fireballs just a more yellow color. HIDs didn't change the pattern of my factory projectors. Just look at the pictures above.
I actually wasn't even talking about yours because in your pictures you look like you could be facing slightly down hill and not showing the same effect.
 

Adieu

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This is typical of putting HID in a halogen projector, Some projectors handle it different and will focus pretty well but not these.

Huh.

Guess my assertion that Anzos, fugly though they may be, are actually half-decent projectors for HID retrofit --- at least for 35w HID --- gets some confirmation....

No scatter no bakein after a few hundred hours.


Anybody know if the U-bar aftermarket headlights hold up too?? Find myself kinda regretting not going with those (for cosmetic reasons)
 

GAINMOB

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Anzos and spyder aren't bad... I retrofitted oem headlights... getting another set done

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ExpeditionAndy

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Well I broke down and ordered a set of 9005 Morimoto 2stroke Leds.https://www.theretrofitsource.com/hid-systems/led-headlights/9005-morimoto-2stroke.html
We shall see how this goes with the projector housings.

Wife had a mini road trip last night and was less than thrilled with the Halogens vs her old 2016 LED Explorer headlights.
I had similar complaints with the halogens in my 2017. I couldn't get the right beam pattern with the LEDs that I bought so I switched to HIDs and the difference was between night and day. Good luck on your LEDs. If you are happy with them, I might switch. :)
 

gixer2000

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Well I broke down and ordered a set of 9005 Morimoto 2stroke Leds.https://www.theretrofitsource.com/hid-systems/led-headlights/9005-morimoto-2stroke.html
We shall see how this goes with the projector housings.

Wife had a mini road trip last night and was less than thrilled with the Halogens vs her old 2016 LED Explorer headlights.
I'm a huge morimoto/TRS/Acme fan but unfortunately the 2 stroke aren't designed for projectors even if it's a halogen projector. I hope they work out well for you but for the moment I'll assume they perform like any other led and that's sub par. I'd love to see some output pics when you get them installed though

**Edit**
After looking at trs test photos the look pretty good in the projector being used but keep in mind the projector they used is out of a housing so it tuned to perfection for the specific bulb before the pictures are taken
 
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Bigbadbull

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They should be in today, main reason I looked at them was was not really sold on permanent mods to the headlight housing, and from the reviews Ive seen they were in the top2-3 in light output and beam pattern for LED's, with really good hardware and connectors.

I got some parts to look in to replacement of the rear caps of the housings if I want to swap to HID's at some point.
I will be sure to take some picts.
 
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