First tow and my auto leveling lights were blinding

[HammaMan]

I thought that is the concept behind the Ford glare free. I agree such things should be included in USA vehicles. At least if you get OEM LED lights it should be included because they seem to be the most blinding on the roads.

Having a Canadian truck with glare free enabled by default it is neat to watch the lights dim on the left side for oncoming traffic then kick back up to full bright after cars pass.

That's a completely different thing. The 'glare free' was good ~12 years ago. The vid I posted above is 8 years old. The issue is the low beam cutoff is wrong under these conditions and needs to be modified. The driver should at the very least be able to give the vehicle a proper level. The 'self leveling' doesn't work as intended right now which is the issue. So close, yet, so far. There shouldn't even be a manual adjust up front, it should be done on the IPC as the current setup can't fully discriminate a proper cutoff.

Ti is showing promise w/ their DLP light engines. I mean they're trying to get companies to put them into the puddle lamps as well as advanced huds and widescreen windshield augmented reality -- dive into the rabbit hole here https://www.ti.com/dlp-chip/automotive/overview.html

Audi's implementation is okay, but it's still dazzling drivers but can be modified by telling the algo to be less aggressive as well as speeding up the retreat. Whereas ford's glare-free has 3 positions, audi's has dozens of positions. Starts at a demo of its widely dynamic blackout capability.

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[BAP84]

Did the testing tonight with my buddies loaded up 20’ enclosed landscape trailer (my trailer is at a storage place, this was just easier).

Did the measurements per Ford‘s instructions, put the line level on the wall (used painters tape) and the headlight level was perfect with the truck unloaded. Dropped the trailer on the hitch and started up the truck, lights did their dance and now the lights were 14” above the line. They made zero attempt to level.

With the truck still loaded down by the trailer, I adjusted the lights down with adjustment screws so they were within spec against the line on the wall. It took MANY turns to get them down to the right spot. Then unhooked the trailer and started the truck to see if the lights would try to adjust themselves up. Nope. Zero indication there was any movement up. The lights were now 14” below our level line and way too low for regular unloaded driving.

We both stood on the bumper, nothing. Lowered the trailer on the ball in slow increments, nothing. Never once did they budge to re-level on their own.

I guess it’s a phone call to my local dealer. I know we all believe they are ‘self leveling’ but where does Ford say they are? What does the truck use to sense it needs to make a headlight level adjustment?

Curious if you got this figured out? Mine does the same thing with one slight variation of what you’re seeing and I’ve been looking for a solution…mine makes a vertical adjustment, but it does the opposite of what it should do. Tested this with a floor Jack under the hitch to raise the back of the truck and watch what the lights are doing. When I would raise the back of the truck the low beam cutoff line gets lower on the wall with the pitch of the truck (as expected) then the “leveling feature” lowers them even further . I’ve watched the live data of the height sensors in FORScan which seems to all be working properly but I can’t determine if the lights are programmed inverted on the pitch axis in relation to the height sensors or what’s going on as I don’t know what the values should be doing vs the height sensors…

 

[Calson]

The lights may be able to adjust for the tilt of the truck but that assumes that they are correctly aimed for the truck with no load at all. This is something the dealer should check at no cost to you. If they are aimed properly then the tilt sensors may be defective.

Current vehicles are very dependent on sensors and having them provide accurate data to the truck's systems. My diesel pickup had a bad NOx sensor and the result was the engine computer causing the DEF being injected into the exhaust stream to increase by more than 200%. I had to go to 3 different dealers to find a mechanic who was able to diagnose the problem and fix it.

 

[BAP84]

The lights may be able to adjust for the tilt of the truck but that assumes that they are correctly aimed for the truck with no load at all. This is something the dealer should check at no cost to you. If they are aimed properly then the tilt sensors may be defective.

Current vehicles are very dependent on sensors and having them provide accurate data to the truck's systems. My diesel pickup had a bad NOx sensor and the result was the engine computer causing the DEF being injected into the exhaust stream to increase by more than 200%. I had to go to 3 different dealers to find a mechanic who was able to diagnose the problem and fix it.

Yeah I’ve done the headlight calibration with the truck empty on flat ground using FORScan and the procedure as outlined in 417-01 of the service manual which is just a manual adjustment to set the level point based on height of the low beam headlight center point. My truck is a Raptor at stock height, no suspension mods, I ordered it with the spray in liner and factory installed tonneau cover but I’m not sure if they calibrate neutral before or after those options get installed. It was delivered to the dealer with all options installed from the factory I do know that much. My lights were high from the day I drove it off the lot so I adjusted them down manually to where they weren’t blinding everyone at the normal ride height with no weight in the truck. The Raptor suspension is pretty soft so it doesn’t take much weight in the bed to really screw with the headlight adjustment…that’s why I started really digging into it and found the leveling feature appears to be operating opposite of how it should with respect to the pitch adjustment. The dynamic turning feature works as it should but the leveling is backwards of how it should function.

 

[crazywayne311]

yeah i also think something is wrong with the leveling. i have a 502A
Stock? it seemed fine. i never towed with it but i never seemed to have an issue driving dark 2 lane roads.

then i got the ford performance leveling kit. didnt adjust anything. figured the truck would. well, driving those same 2 lane roads i started to get people flashing their brights at me. I should include that i do have Glare Free enabled.

i decided to park 25' away from a wall on a flat surface, and measure to the dot on the low beam headlight. i think it was 33" or so...anyway, i marked with painters tape and did have to lower my headlights a couple inches.

Yet, i'm still getting flashed! i even checked it again and it was where i left it. i parked beside a wall and it looks like the beams go upward! what?! haha

I'm still pissing people off and getting flashed. at this point i may ask ford to look into it and reaim them. (ford performance leveling kit does say headlights should be aimed)

 

[BAP84]

Yeah irritating for sure. I wish I knew what all could be done in FDRS. I have a mongoose cable but I just have a hard time spending $50 for a 2 day license to screw around looking for a fix with a truck that’s under warranty lol…problem is I’m sure the service guys will just look at me like I’m an idiot and don’t know what I’m talking about, keep my truck for a few weeks just to tell me that it’s working like it’s supposed to. Guess I’ll find out. It has a recall I need to get it in for anyways so I’ll see how much data I can present to them in an effort to explain the issue as simple as I can with supporting data/pictures etc.

 

[J17GT]

Thanks for bumping this back up. Unfortunately, I have not followed-up with Ford yet. Been too busy and have needed my truck. I did tow my setup again, but it was all daytime driving so was not concerned about the lights. I do plan to call them this week to get on the schedule to have the truck looked at.

I still question where in the official Ford literature does it say these lights self level?

 

[BAP84]

Thanks for bumping this back up. Unfortunately, I have not followed-up with Ford yet. Been too busy and have needed my truck. I did tow my setup again, but it was all daytime driving so was not concerned about the lights. I do plan to call them this week to get on the schedule to have the truck looked at.

I still question where in the official Ford literature does it say these lights self level?

This is out of the service manual. The first page doesn’t talk about the automatic leveling but towards the top of the second page there is a brief description.

 

[J17GT]

This is out of the service manual. The first page doesn’t talk about the automatic leveling but towards the top of the second page there is a brief description.

Great info! It says it "the high series LED headlamps may be equipped with automatic headlamp leveling."

So there is a chance the truck is not equipped with the automatic leveling?

I'm dreading asking the dealer about this... LOL

 

[BAP84]

Great info! It says it "the high series LED headlamps may be equipped with automatic headlamp leveling."

So there is a chance the truck is not equipped with the automatic leveling?

I'm dreading asking the dealer about this... LOL

Yeah I hear you on that. I see my lights adjusting as I come up to a stoplight behind cars which tells me they are active (although ass backwards lol). If they didn’t do a vertical sweep during startup or didn’t ever move vertically while driving I would say that feature isn’t active but similar to my rain sensing wipers, it’s equipped, they just had the rain sensor turned off in the coding. When I saw that I was like what the heck…even checked it against the as built and that code was set to the as built so once again I’m not real confident that all these things get programmed appropriately for the options they’re ordered/equipped with.

 

[fordtruckman2003]

Curious if you got this figured out? Mine does the same thing with one slight variation of what you’re seeing and I’ve been looking for a solution…mine makes a vertical adjustment, but it does the opposite of what it should do. Tested this with a floor Jack under the hitch to raise the back of the truck and watch what the lights are doing. When I would raise the back of the truck the low beam cutoff line gets lower on the wall with the pitch of the truck (as expected) then the “leveling feature” lowers them even further . I’ve watched the live data of the height sensors in FORScan which seems to all be working properly but I can’t determine if the lights are programmed inverted on the pitch axis in relation to the height sensors or what’s going on as I don’t know what the values should be doing vs the height sensors…

If you are driving down a hill you want the lights to be aiming down the hill not level. Same applies driving uphill. You don't want the lights to level because you'd be seeing only short distance in front of you not up the hill.

Just my guess at what they are thinking.

 

[BAP84]

If you are driving down a hill you want the lights to be aiming down the hill not level. Same applies driving uphill. You don't want the lights to level because you'd be seeing only short distance in front of you not up the hill.

Just my guess at what they are thinking.

That’s why they’re using suspension height sensors which measure the travel of your suspension to know where level is with respect to the vehicle regardless of the road/terrain you are driving on and not a gyro based system which would level the lights to the environment around the vehicle as in your description where your lights would point down if climbing a hill and conversely raise if going downhill. With the sensors they are using the lights should adjust for additional weight applied to the vehicle such as towing a trailer or putting a payload in the bed, but will remain level with the road as you go up or down hills.

 

[crazywayne311]

I see my lights adjusting as I come up to a stoplight behind cars which tells me they are active

mine doesnt do that haha but it does do the vertical and horizontal sweep on start up.

 

[J17GT]

mine doesnt do that haha but it does do the vertical and horizontal sweep on start up.

Same deal here.

 

[BAP84]

Same deal here.

I would be really curious if your lights adjust at all if you lift the rear end of the truck with a Jack under the hitch to extend the rear suspension. Additionally if you use FORScan I would love to know what the values do on your height sensors and headlight values. The Raptor suspension is pretty soft causing some noticeable dive when breaking which I’m guessing is why I see some small adjustment after coming to a stop behind someone.

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