HID headlight upgrade

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jeff kushner

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One of the 1st things I did when I bought my '17 last November was to switch the headlight lowbeams to LED so the headlights and fog lights would match. I did a write-up somewhere....cost less than 50 bucks total as I remember!

Careful though, the manual was WRONG! Said I needed H11's and they weren't! They had actually installed HB-3's!!

jeff

'17 Expy owners manual- lights.jpg

'17 Expy stock  low beam bulb.jpg
 

Bigbadbull

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One of the 1st things I did when I bought my '17 last November was to switch the headlight lowbeams to LED so the headlights and fog lights would match. I did a write-up somewhere....cost less than 50 bucks total as I remember!

Careful though, the manual was WRONG! Said I needed H11's and they weren't! They had actually installed HB-3's!!

jeff

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Yep I ordered the 9005's which I think are also known as HB-3's
The H-11's are what I have in my 2011 F-150 ( year before the HIDS came out for them ) and are hi/low single bulbe or is that the h-13?... cant remember at this point.
 

Bigbadbull

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So I got the Morimoto LEDs in last night..
Brighter yes
Color temp is much better at 5500k , I find it easier to see at night and matches the fogs

Not sure if the Light throw is farther than the halogens.
Ill see if I can get some picts. I had to seriously modify some throwaway rubber housing caps as the radiator and cooling fans on each LED were HUGE and stuck out of the housings a good 1.5-2". Install was not too bad, other than the end caps. They were a very tight fit in to the housings though. Wife seemed happy with them this morning on the way in to work.

The beam pattern is different than the Halagens when I tried to adjust them. The projectors with halogens were more like -0-0- vs the LEDs were =/=/= the hot spots were more uniform than a big circle with some side light.

Im still out on the fence over if its an improvement distance wise. I guess I will find out this weekend as we have a long 12 hour road trip for vacation.
 

Adieu

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So I got the Morimoto LEDs in last night..
Brighter yes
Color temp is much better at 5500k , I find it easier to see at night and matches the fogs

Not sure if the Light throw is farther than the halogens.
Ill see if I can get some picts. I had to seriously modify some throwaway rubber housing caps as the radiator and cooling fans on each LED were HUGE and stuck out of the housings a good 1.5-2". Install was not too bad, other than the end caps. They were a very tight fit in to the housings though. Wife seemed happy with them this morning on the way in to work.

The beam pattern is different than the Halagens when I tried to adjust them. The projectors with halogens were more like -0-0- vs the LEDs were =/=/= the hot spots were more uniform than a big circle with some side light.

Im still out on the fence over if its an improvement distance wise. I guess I will find out this weekend as we have a long 12 hour road trip for vacation.

That's messed up

You're not supposed to be getting any noticeable hotspots from this stuff
 

gixer2000

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Can you get some pictures 25' away from a light colored wall/fence/house or whatever work. Its gives a much better idea of the beam pattern and hot spot alignment. Something similar to this picture

20170615_204417.jpg
 
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Bigbadbull

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After driving 1200 miles back and forth and about to Fla.. I can say I am happy with the LED's
Held up to tropical storm levels of rain and wind.

Light color Im happy with. Could it be a longer throw , Im sure it could be with HID's, but Im fairly pleased.
I did not get flashed with on coming brights either for being to bright or miss aimed.
 

davidowl12

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Hey quick question, I’m looking into buying morimoto 2stroke LED bulbs but wanted to know what size housing caps did you end up purchasing ? I have a 2016 with just standard reflectors and can’t find anything on if I need a housing cap or not. Figured you may have an answer.
 
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