Headlights brightness?

[Pedaldude]

The LED retrofit bulbs are probably worse than the stock Halogen bulbs. The reflector is optimized for a filament bulb, which throws light in all directions. The LED arrays of the retrofits don't, not to mention, they don't have the same cooling capacity as the OEM or aftermarket LED headlights, so they're not going to be very bright.

The best bet is the Morimoto units, or use the OEM projector headlights with a wiring harness adapter and reprogram the truck computer with Forscan.

https://www.f150gen14.com/forum/threads/halogen-to-led-headlight-and-foglight-how-to.4307/

https://www.f150gen14.com/forum/thr...-to-projector-led-headlights.1859/#post-36147

https://www.f150gen14.com/forum/threads/led-reflector-to-led-projector-swap-discussion.3684/

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[Blue Spruce]

I have a XLT 302a with LED headlights and they are worlds better than my old 2016 XLT. I don’t claim to be a headlight aficionado but they are great in my opinion.

before my 2016 F150 I had a 2016 Subaru Outback and the headlights on that were good. Went to the 2016 F150 and I thought I was going blind they were so bad.

 

[Bryan Simon]

XLT 301a
I am also rural in a nighttime critter infested area, and most of my driving is done at night. Not major hiway s or freeways.

The halogens are just fine for me, but I am also a low beam driver and look for sparkly eyeballs just outside the road illumination line.
The hot rods and my old 98 k1500 all use halogen sealed beams.
Not quite as illuminating as the ones in the new truck, but acceptable to me.

I may be a bit biased as most oncoming vehicles I come across have no idea what a dimmer switch is and oncoming high intensity bright white lights actually blind me and are a bit painful.

The automatic light dimming feature is the very first item I disabled.
The first morning of the lights dimming and brightening at every little thing till I got to major artery just annoyed the hell out of me.

Shut that feature down and have not used brights since.

 

[Vulnox]

The LEDs on the 501a and below will be great, but they are reflector LED so it can definitely be brighter to other drivers. The halogens are awful, especially attached to a vehicle of this size since their throw is so bad, it's why the F-150 last gen couldn't crack the IIHS top safety pick despite having best in class ratings on basically everything else.

The 502a and up projector LEDs are on another level. I wasn't concerned with getting them when I got my '21, since the reflector LEDs in my 2019 (which are basically what is on the 501a and below trims now) were pretty good for brightness. But having them, they rock.

They adjust up and down and left/right so you don't blind oncoming drivers, and the corner lighting gives you a little better visibility when making turns. When I come up to an intersection leaving our neighborhood, the road is on a slight incline and the people on the other side of the road would get blinded, no matter what lights you had. But my '21 tilts the lights down automatically so drivers aren't getting hit right in the eye.

I wouldn't get a 502a or higher just for the lights, but now that I have these lights I don't want anything else.

 

[xtraman122]

I love the (Reflector) LEDs on my 302A. Best headlights I’ve ever had on a car that I’ve owned. The old halogens one my 2015 sucked. Can’t imagine anyone being disappointed in them, I’m sure the projectors are great, but you definitely won’t be disappointed in the regular LEDs.

 

[Knickell]

Please specify which lights your build has.

I have the LED Projectors on mine, and can confirm, they are sublime.

Way back when news and information was beginning to break on the generation fourteen F-150 I posted these videos showing a good demonstration of the headlights. Should give you an idea how they’ll look at night.

XLT with the LED Reflector style lights:




Platinum with the LED Projector style lights:

 

[Infotroll]

The LED retrofit bulbs are probably worse than the stock Halogen bulbs. The reflector is optimized for a filament bulb, which throws light in all directions. The LED arrays of the retrofits don't, not to mention, they don't have the same cooling capacity as the OEM or aftermarket LED headlights, so they're not going to be very bright.

The best bet is the Morimoto units, or use the OEM projector headlights with a wiring harness adapter and reprogram the truck computer with Forscan.

https://www.f150gen14.com/forum/threads/halogen-to-led-headlight-and-foglight-how-to.4307/

https://www.f150gen14.com/forum/thr...-to-projector-led-headlights.1859/#post-36147

https://www.f150gen14.com/forum/threads/led-reflector-to-led-projector-swap-discussion.3684/

Seems I will have to get morimoto projectors seems to be the cheapest option and easiest . To me good lighting is akin to gps you don't really need it but once you have it you can't go back ?

 

[Jerry Can]

Seems I will have to get morimoto projectors seems to be the cheapest option and easiest . To me good lighting is akin to gps you don't really need it but once you have it you can't go back ?

The halogens are downright dangerous in poor weather conditions at night. You won’t regret Morimots. Don’t forget to buy their fog lights too!

oh, and they are typically available with an orange outline!

 

[Doggy-Dog]

The halogen headlights are garbage and there's no discernible difference between them and my old '06 Silverado's miserable headlights. Unfortunately, the halogen are the only option on the regular cab trucks. It's pretty shameful that my $50,000MSRP truck didn't get LED's as standard when the $20,000 Maverick does!

I was hoping that with the redesign, the base halogen headlights would be okay but they aren't, most cars in my city have LEDs and if there's a car behind me with them, I can't even tell whether my lights are on or not. Typical Detroit behavior of using trim levels upgrades that are tied to safety features, since things like passenger side mirrors, windshield wipers and seatbelts were all features unavailable on base model vehicles. If kids weren't getting backed over by their grandparents, reverse cameras would still be unavailable on XL trims. Yet somehow, the worthless and troublesome capless fuel fillers are standard across the line!

I agree with almost everything you listed. My friend that last year bought a 2019 Chevy(tried to get him in a Ford)to replace his 2005 Chevy with bad headlights. His 2019 light are bad.
The one item I wonder about is the cap less fuel filler. Just what problems have you had with yours?

 

[Doggy-Dog]

The halogens are downright dangerous in poor weather conditions at night. You won’t regret Morimots. Don’t forget to buy their fog lights too!

oh, and they are typically available with an orange outline!

I went on the cheap side and put Anzo switchbacks on my 2019. Those color changers are nice and the projector led melted road signs.
.....
One could say I got lucky with LED bulbs for bright lights in my Pacifica. They fit great and do a great job of lighting the road.

 

[RexTX]

I bought these lights for my 1996 F350 to replace the factory halogens.

https://smile.amazon.com/AUXITO-Hea...keywords=led+headlight&qid=1628438814&sr=8-41

The difference was remarkable - lots more lumens with good distribution, sharp cutoff. I then ordered a set for my Shelby Mustang and my Escape. Same great results.

I can't swear they would work as well in the current models, and almost certainly inferior to the OE LEDs, but they were well worth it for me.

 

[Infotroll]

I agree with almost everything you listed. My friend that last year bought a 2019 Chevy(tried to get him in a Ford)to replace his 2005 Chevy with bad headlights. His 2019 light are bad.
The one item I wonder about is the cap less fuel filler. Just what problems have you had with yours?

So concerning the cap less fuel filler is that it’s not so much the cap less feature but the fact that it’s non-locking the door itself . I end up driving into and parking vehicle 12 hours in some pretty bad areas and yeah they could break in and take I don’t even know what anymore since All vehicles come with a pretty decent radio system nowadays . Even if they steal the truck but the car can be tracked so that’s kind of a moot point. If it were stolen the insurance would covers that potential . My greater concern is that somebody actually could pour something into the fuel tank that concerns me the most ( being a diesel) I’ve looked at some of the aftermarket locking doors which don’t fit on 21s according to the online stuff and they are ridiculously ugly So I would settle at the very least for a locking gas cap doesn’t prevent anybody from doing anything but just my own paranoia

 

[Doggy-Dog]

You have a point. There are a lot of creeeeps out there now days. Ticked that they have an old junker and you have a nice new truck.

 

[superfordman]

The quad LEDs in my 501a are awesome, super impressed and happy with them. Honestly, they are just as good performance wise from the driver seat as my XB Morimotos that I had on my previous trucks. Light output and color is almost identical. I hope to upgrade to some color matched projector LEDs headlights here soon so will be interesting to see the different, if there will be much at all.

 

[Infotroll]

I went on the cheap side and put Anzo switchbacks on my 2019. Those color changers are nice and the projector led melted road signs.
.....
One could say I got lucky with LED bulbs for bright lights in my Pacifica. They fit great and do a great job of lighting the road.

I bought these lights for my 1996 F350 to replace the factory halogens.
Did you replace the bulbs with I saw a lot of reviews saying to buy led bulbs ?




https://smile.amazon.com/AUXITO-Hea...keywords=led+headlight&qid=1628438814&sr=8-41

The difference was remarkable - lots more lumens with good distribution, sharp cutoff. I then ordered a set for my Shelby Mustang and my Escape. Same great results.

I can't swear they would work as well in the current models, and almost certainly inferior to the OE LEDs, but they were well worth it for me.

This might be the best option til I put in the Morimoto units, I didn’t budget for new head light I have a bunch of things of aftermarket things I will putting on day one bedcover etc etc hell some already sitting in my garage waiting for a truck

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