LED Conversion Questions

[heuster]

Bought a new to me mint 2007 Navi in black with tan interior @ 78K miles. It is BEEYOOTIFUL. I'll post some pics soon.

Had a blown signal light so I derped and bought all LEDs for the rear without doing any homework. I get them put in and got them fast blinking. Oops. Found out that the signal relay is no more on the 3rd gen so the only options are to either get a bulb with a built in resistor or to put something in-line. Do I need to do that for EVERY light on this truck? Brake lights including 3rd brake light too? That get's a little expensive when the in-line load resistor is $15 for 2. I really don't want to put cheapo chinese LEDs so my plan is to go with the top-tier lifetime warranty ZEVO bulbs.

Is this all worth it? Significantly brighter than the good halogens? Can I even do that with the 3rd brake light? any insights and experience would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you!

 

[Gary Waugh]

It’s only the indicator bulbs that need the load resistor, the brake lights are the same bulb so the single load resistor works for brakes and indicators. The 3rd brake lights isn’t sensed so it can be converted to LED and no load resistor is required. Also the tail lights can be converted to LED without any load resistor needed. So you just need load resistors for the left and right indicators.

 

[heuster]

It’s only the indicator bulbs that need the load resistor, the brake lights are the same bulb so the single load resistor works for brakes and indicators. The 3rd brake lights isn’t sensed so it can be converted to LED and no load resistor is required. Also the tail lights can be converted to LED without any load resistor needed. So you just need load resistors for the left and right indicators.

Okay that is awesome news. Are there any pictures on which wire to use for the load resistor on the 3rd gen? One of the outside ones, but I'm not sure which one. The middle one is the ground?

 

[BigOleFordFan]

Okay that is awesome news. Are there any pictures on which wire to use for the load resistor on the 3rd gen? One of the outside ones, but I'm not sure which one. The middle one is the ground?

Been there, done that, heads, fogs, parking, turns & brakes, about a month after I got my 011 in '22

And all the wired ones I looked at included a diagram of which wire to splice on, but I chose to go with the built-in resistors, so it was just a 5 min plug & play operation.

And then a little later, I swapped out the dull, faded and worn 3rd brake & puddle lights for LED versions too, same 5 min swappyroo !

Note that all parts were from da Zon, great prices w/ fast ship & easy returns if needed for me, since I have primal status !

 

[heuster]

Been there, done that, heads, fogs, parking, turns & brakes, about a month after I got my 011 in '22

And all the wired ones I looked at included a diagram of which wire to splice on, but I chose to go with the built-in resistors, so it was just a 5 min plug & play operation.

And then a little later, I swapped out the dull, faded and worn 3rd brake & puddle lights for LED versions too, same 5 min swappyroo !

Note that all parts were from da Zon, great prices w/ fast ship & easy returns if needed for me, since I have primal status !

Thanks for the info. Built in resistors do seem to be the easiest way to go. Do you have a website on the da zon? No search I do brings back anything.

 

[BigOleFordFan]

Thanks for the info. Built in resistors do seem to be the easiest way to go. Do you have a website on the da zon? No search I do brings back anything.

I just searched for "LED headlight/turn signal/brake light bulbs" or something to that effect, but it will be much easier if you add your vehicle to your "garage" first, that way the only search results you get will be the ones that fit the specific model/year/trim of your truck...and if you have multiple vehicles, you can add them as well, then switch between them when searching for other parts...

 

[Gary Waugh]

If you can, be sure to mount the resistors somewhere that will help take away the heat. They are intended to only waste power when the indicator bulb is on (which is not often), but on the expedition the indicator and brake lights are the same bulb, so the resistors are dissipating heat when either the indicator is on or the brakes are on. We use the brakes a lot more than the indicators and often sit stationary in traffic with the brakes on, so the resistors can get VERY hot when used in an expedition, so they need to be somewhere that can help dissipate the heat or the resistors will fail prematurely.. some resistors are just inline resistors wrapped in heat shrink, some are metal body resistors that can be screwed or mounted to the car body. for the expedition, the type that can be mounted to the car body (to help dissipate heat) is the better option..

 

[BigOleFordFan]

If you can, be sure to mount the resistors somewhere that will help take away the heat. They are intended to only waste power when the indicator bulb is on (which is not often), but on the expedition the indicator and brake lights are the same bulb, so the resistors are dissipating heat when either the indicator is on or the brakes are on. We use the brakes a lot more than the indicators and often sit stationary in traffic with the brakes on, so the resistors can get VERY hot when used in an expedition, so they need to be somewhere that can help dissipate the heat or the resistors will fail prematurely.. some resistors are just inline resistors wrapped in heat shrink, some are metal body resistors that can be screwed or mounted to the car body. for the expedition, the type that can be mounted to the car body (to help dissipate heat) is the better option..

Yep, this is the other reason why I bought the ones with the built-in resistors, so I didn't have to deal with this too...

 

[Johns-exp]

Can you just change flasher to a solid state flasher that doesn't need the load of the light bulbs?

 

[night vision]

I was pretty sure it could be done through FORScan and it can. It's been a while since I've launched that program, so ymmv.

F150 LED Hyper Flash Fix with FORScan

I installed these Auxito 3157 bulbs and they are much brighter and make the truck look much newer! I install and test these and then have to fix the hyper f...

www.youtube.com

and this one too...

2017 Ford led hyperflash fix no resistors

This video shows an led upgrade install not using any resistors and using IDS to shut off bulb out error. No hyper flash. POWERSTROKECUSTOMS.COM877-331-7153S...

www.youtube.com

 

[Expedition007]

I did not switch to LEDs on my 2007, but I did on my 2017. I used FORScan to turn off the hyper flash and now everything works as desired, including fogs on with high beams, bright turn signals up front as daytime running lights. I bought oe ford led puddle lights as I read about problems with Amazon/ebay specials burning out the module that controls them.

 

[heuster]

I was pretty sure it could be done through FORScan and it can. It's been a while since I've launched that program, so ymmv.

F150 LED Hyper Flash Fix with FORScan

I installed these Auxito 3157 bulbs and they are much brighter and make the truck look much newer! I install and test these and then have to fix the hyper f...

www.youtube.com

and this one too...

2017 Ford led hyperflash fix no resistors

This video shows an led upgrade install not using any resistors and using IDS to shut off bulb out error. No hyper flash. POWERSTROKECUSTOMS.COM877-331-7153S...

www.youtube.com

This is cool, but does this work on my 2007?

 

[heuster]

Does anyone have a count of bulb types to do an LED conversion? For example how many 3157 bulbs do I need that are for brakes/running lights, how many do I need with resistors for turn signals etc? Would be really great to know all the bulb counts and types ahead and time so I don't have to pull off all the covers/assemblies multiple times.