smoked headlights

[ams2737]

so i jumped the gun and bought smoked headlights for my truck but the light output sucks. does anyone else here have smoked headlights that are bright? i like the look of it but i've been debating on going to clear just so i can see better at night.

 

[GAINMOB]

that's why I never did it...light output deminishes

 

[k9education]

Light output will always be diminished with smoked lenses compared to clear lenses with all else being equal. Perhaps go back to clear and lightly smoke the lenses yourself using Nite-Shades or have a shop paint them for you. There will still be a reduction in the light, but it will be minimal if they are smoked lightly (similar to what's found on the 3rd gen Limited headlights).

 

[ams2737]

I like the look just light output is bad. I ordered smoked taillights for the truck as well. is there anyway to get brighter headlights? I have fog lights on the truck and thoses are brighter than the headlights. I'll prob end up going to clear headlights again

 

[k9education]

You can replace the bulbs with Silverstars which will make them a little brighter. Keep in mind that Silverstars burn out ridiculously fast though and really do only offer a small improvement. Alternately, you can retrofit HIDs.

 

[ams2737]

i have the sylania zxe in the truck now but they wasnt bright at all. i guess my biggest thing is im going for the blacked out look with the truck. i have the silverstars that were in the stock headlight housing so i can swap those back out

 

[Seven11]

If you really want black headlights, then get ones with a black housing, not black lenses.



but i find anything that's not OEM, looks cheesy

i just ordered the OEM type Ford Lighting headlights. Compared to the stock, now yellowish headlights, the visibility should be greatly improved. Will post pics when I receive them.

 

[ams2737]

please let me know how those turn out

 

[ExplorerTom]

You can also rewire your headlights and power them through a relay. That will increase the voltage at the headlights and give you full power on your bulbs.

 

[ams2737]

how hard is it to rewire the headlights?

 

[Habbibie]

To make up for the loss of output you need to run CREE LEDs or HIDs to to counter the draw back

 

[Yudaman]

Mine has clear lenses with black backgrounds so they lenses look smoked, but they are actually clear



But as been said, smoke lenses will cut you light output. After all, it is just like putting sunglasses on your headlights.

 

[GAINMOB]

I was in pep boys today and saw headlight tint film...very thin to allow output and u get desired look

 

[IMINYOURCHAIR]

Not hard at all. Is there a prebuilt kit for this? I have a relay kit for the hid projectors I installed that gives better power to the low beam side (ballast) but doesn't have the provisions for a 55w+ high beam.

the kit you would wire would consist of two relays that are fed a constant hot wire from the battery using 12ga or 14 ga wire. you would have a relay for low beams and high beams. the relay signal wire would be fed from the lowb and high b wires from one side of the oe harness. it just gives better wire to help get the full battery voltage up to the bulbs whereas the smaller stock wire ends up with 12 to 11.5v at the bulb where the battery voltage with the engine running is around 14-13.8

 

[Seven11]

i promised pics

i made a new thread

http://www.expeditionforum.com/f42/ford-lighting-style-headlights-before-after-pics-28964/

 

[ams2737]

Mine has clear lenses with black backgrounds so they lenses look smoked, but they are actually clear



But as been said, smoke lenses will cut you light output. After all, it is just like putting sunglasses on your headlights.

hey Yudaman what style headlights did you order and do you have a front picture so I can see what it looks like from the front?

 

[ams2737]

got my new headlights today and i love the look.

 

[GAINMOB]

way better

 

[ams2737]

they do look alot better i really like these

 

[Seven11]

look good

take some pics with the hood closed and from the side but so we can see the headlights.