Halogen to LED headlight conversion?

[spikerS]

So, same issue with my 2016 F150 as my 2012. The stock halogens are HORRIBLE at night, and in most situations, I might as well just shut them off completely for how much light they throw. I tried swapping to different and "brighter" halogens, but the gains are barely noticable at best.

Thinking about swapping to LED headlight bulbs. Is it worth it? will it help with night driving? Can i use the stock housing or should I be looking to do a completely new housing? Anything special I should be looking out for? Any particular brands I should be looking at or staying away from? I haven't done an upgrade like this before, so I am not sure what else I should be researching.

[My_name_is_Rob]

A buddy of mine just put some LED's in his 2015 Explorer, and it made a huge difference. The explorers have a kind of projector light housing though so it worked out. I'm not really sure what the F150's have but if it's a projector style as well then you should be fine. If it's not a projector type housing you will just look like every other truck in Alberta who runs HID's in halogen housings. :thumbsdow

As for brands, I'm not sure what a good kind would be. He got his off of amazon, and they had pretty good reviews, so I guess time will tell how long they last.

[revelations]

If your housings are projector, then they should be ready for LED or HID (sort of passe though). If not, you are looking at a housing swap. Simpy slapping brighter bulbs is not the optimal solution.

check a 2016 F150 specific forum .... im sure youre number 12435 person with the same complaint!

[benyl]

https://www.f150forum.com/f118/halogen-oem-led-headlights-forscan-way-394074/

[ShermanEF9]

Retrofit or buy the correct housing. Just putting bulbs in will do nothing but throw light everywhere.

[infamous]

LED's are not the same as HID's. you can easily swap a LED light in and have more/brighter power without blinding the rest of the world. I was having the same issue with my accord, and swapped to led's. used to have hid's. with the hid's i was getting flashed all the time because people thought they were my brights. with the led's i have not encountered anyone who has had an issue with my headlights, and it gives me at least 50% more light output than halogens.

[Rocket1k78]

https://www.f150forum.com/f118/halogen-oem-led-headlights-forscan-way-394074/

Thats the best way for sure but for some its a hard pill to swallow buying that set up


LED's are not the same as HID's. you can easily swap a LED light in and have more/brighter power without blinding the rest of the world. I was having the same issue with my accord, and swapped to led's. used to have hid's. with the hid's i was getting flashed all the time because people thought they were my brights. with the led's i have not encountered anyone who has had an issue with my headlights, and it gives me at least 50% more light output than halogens.

I had no idea leds were like that, always assumed hid or led in a non projector is a mess

[spikerS]

Yeah, I have been doing some research. I don't think I want to go the whole replace housings, and wires through the firewall and such.

In reading, it seems that the most important part is keeping the LED placement as close as possible to where the filament placement is once inside the headlight housing. Doing so keeps nice cutoff lines and light loss as the light source is in the same spot as OEM, and where the reflectors were designed for.

The F150 forums has been a pretty big help, and I think I am now pretty confident in just replacing my low beams to LEDs as I can't recall the last time I used my high beams.

[SOAB]

in my opinion, the best way would be get the ANZO headlights with the projector beams in them and swap the halogen bulbs out with LED's. You can get the LED kits and the ANZO headlights from some of the forum sponsors on F150forum.com

give your truck a cool new look and have it functional as well!

[J-hop]

LED's are not the same as HID's. you can easily swap a LED light in and have more/brighter power without blinding the rest of the world. I was having the same issue with my accord, and swapped to led's. used to have hid's. with the hid's i was getting flashed all the time because people thought they were my brights. with the led's i have not encountered anyone who has had an issue with my headlights, and it gives me at least 50% more light output than halogens.

I don’t think that’s exactly true, LEDs still have similar scatter problems. Here is good thread with emperical evidence you can see from the before/after the scatter from LEDs is brutal. Could be different depending on the design of the halogen housing but IMO LEDs suffer the same fate as HIDs in halogen reflectors and shouldn’t be done

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/why-leds-should-not-be-run-in-halogen-reflectors.454371/



in my opinion, the best way would be get the ANZO headlights with the projector beams in them and swap the halogen bulbs out with LED's. You can get the LED kits and the ANZO headlights from some of the forum sponsors on F150forum.com

give your truck a cool new look and have it functional as well!

This

[ZeroGravity]

I don’t think that’s exactly true, LEDs still have similar scatter problems. Here is good thread with emperical evidence you can see from the before/after the scatter from LEDs is brutal. Could be different depending on the design of the halogen housing but IMO LEDs suffer the same fate as HIDs in halogen reflectors and shouldn’t be done
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/why-leds-should-not-be-run-in-halogen-reflectors.454371/


I have only looked at the first few post in the thread, but the original poster's LED bulb design isn't really a "correct copy" of the halogen H4 bulb design. The position of the LED might be pretty close, but it is missing the shields at the bottom. I haven't done any scientific studies, but these seem to be a closer design to the H4 bulb.

https://www.powerbulbs.com/ca/product/philips-x-treme-ultinon-led-headlamp-h4

and a slightly cheaper version...

https://www.powerbulbs.com/ca/product/philips-ultinon-led-headlight-h4-twin

[J-hop]

I have only looked at the first few post in the thread, but the original poster's LED bulb design isn't really a "correct copy" of the halogen H4 bulb design. The position of the LED might be pretty close, but it is missing the shields at the bottom. I haven't done any scientific studies, but these seem to be a closer design to the H4 bulb.

https://www.powerbulbs.com/ca/product/philips-x-treme-ultinon-led-headlamp-h4

and a slightly cheaper version...

https://www.powerbulbs.com/ca/product/philips-ultinon-led-headlight-h4-twin



Interesting yea you’re most likely right, LED design is a huge factor. This guy claims the first one you posted works well
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/my-opinion-philips-x-treme-ultinon-led-h4-headlight-bulb-review.405019/


I might have to look at LEDs again, I initially wrote off LEDs in factory housings in my F150 as every single person that posted had god awful scatter. Probably because they were buying the $70 specials...

[ZeroGravity]

Interesting yea you’re most likely right, LED design is a huge factor. This guy claims the first one you posted works well
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/my-opinion-philips-x-treme-ultinon-led-h4-headlight-bulb-review.405019/


I might have to look at LEDs again, I initially wrote off LEDs in factory housings in my F150 as every single person that posted had god awful scatter. Probably because they were buying the $70 specials...

A friend of mine tried a pair of those ~$50 specials from amazon. From the looks of the photos, the bulb design does have similar look to that of those expensive Philips ones. I have the same car as his (2015 Honda Fit), but I didn't try those because it requires some trimming of the rubber gasket plug to make room for the heat sink.

The more expensive Philips set's heat sink is a separate screw on piece so it is more likely that one doesn't have to cut that rubber gasket piece. The cheaper / but still quite spendy one looks to be one piece. This set doesn't have / need the separate voltage converter box thingy.

[HiSpec]

The Philips LED will ensure you get the ideal output and alignment than the $70 specials. Also, TRS have XB retrofit headlights for your F150. But it'll cost a pretty penny.
Alternatively, if you don't want to drop few hundreds into a set of LEDs bulbs, the Philips Xtreme Vision +110 halogen (not the +130, way too much blue coating on the bulb).

[revelations]

Would it be cheaper to add decent after-market, LED light elsewhere? External mounted projectors?

[spikerS]

I found this guy's post really informative, and he seemed to hit all the spots. I am thinking I may just follow his lead and give this a try before committing to a $1000+ package to completely replace the housings and all.

https://www.f150forum.com/f118/led-headlight-bulbs-review-bps-lighting-s5-z-es-bulbs-370732/

[ThePenIsMightier]

Bump. Did you end up doing this?

My main reason for the bump is I now see Canadian Tire is producing an H1 bulb in LED. I was excite but there's just zero chance this thing fits. H1 halogen bulbs are tiny and they tend to clip in. There's no way this bulbous thing is going to fit.
Has anyone else ever found an H1 in LED that was feasible?

https://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/h1-motomaster-oe-led-headlight-bulbs-2-pk-0200512p.0200512.html

[eblend]

I know it's an old thread but since it was bumped i might as well ll comment. I have replaced 9007 bulbs with 4WDKING lights from Amazon and they made a huhe difference in my wifes Pontiac Vibe standard housing. Instructions state to make sure LEDs are pointed horizontally. No blinging with these but insane output. I have just recently installed same bulbs in H7 in my dad's Mitsubishi Outlander with projectors and they also had a nice normal cutoff with LEDs horizontally. I hate people with blinding lights but as long as installed correctly I think it's not really an issue.

[eblend]

Bump. Did you end up doing this?

My main reason for the bump is I now see Canadian Tire is producing an H1 bulb in LED. I was excite but there's just zero chance this thing fits. H1 halogen bulbs are tiny and they tend to clip in. There's no way this bulbous thing is going to fit.
Has anyone else ever found an H1 in LED that was feasible?

https://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/h1-motomaster-oe-led-headlight-bulbs-2-pk-0200512p.0200512.html

They look just like the H7 bulbs I just installed into dad's car. Same idea, you will need an adapter. I got some on ebay for $5 shipped. The adapter slides onto the bulb, the bulb would go into the normal spot with the adapter, and the cable from the bulb plugs into the original clip. The adapter is designed to replicate the clip. Have to find one that matches your clip or car. 95326

[dirtsniffer]

Halogen bulbs for halogen housings. No need to blind every other driver on the road

[ThePenIsMightier]

Halogen bulbs for halogen housings. No need to blind every other driver on the road

This isn't about a rice HID conversion in a fart can civic. These LED substitutes are supposed to be about the same light pattern, but a bulb that will never burn out and cast a brighter white light (again - not "super coor brue").
The car they are going in eviscerates halogen bulbs, particularly the fancier ones like Silverstar Ultra or PIAA and they are a pain in the urethra to change.

[Thaco]

i have put amazon LED replacements in every vehicle i have had for the past several years and it give sme much more visibility and i have not once been flashed for "blinding people"

The brand i typically buy is LED Eagle, there's a local guy that does warranty for them too so it's an easy fix if you get a dud.

[ThePenIsMightier]

My recent bump is a specific H1 bulb issue. I'm not doing this. Check this silly video out of what a massive PitA this is:
uE5Z1cR7H6w

Nothing says "fits OEM" like scissors and duct tape! LoL.
The LED ones are just too big.

[Shlade]

Few things I think that need to be noted for these F150 headlights...

1) if you're getting LED bulbs to replace factory ones I recommend finding a place that also sells a bigger dust cap to cover the bulb otherwise you'll get moisture in the headlight and fogging. I believe F150Leds.com may sell that.

2)Stay away from most aftermarket headlights brands. Especially Anzo like mentioned in here... Anzo products are garbage and mass produced and have serious fogging and cloudy issues after some heat. If you're willing to drop the dough, a set of morimotos are the way to go in regards to aftermarket.

3) and best option IMO.... Get a set of factory LED headlights off somebody, and order a plug and play harness from boostedgreygoosedesigns. He has a website and a fairly affordable, and incredibly well done harness that allows for quick plug and play for halogen to LED. Same for tail lights if you want to spruce up your look to OEM LED tails with a harness.

[HiSpec]

Ever consider this solution?
https://www.theretrofitsource.com/assemblies/headlight-assemblies/custitem_category_facet/Ford?order=commercecategory:asc

[brucebanner]

Replaced the low beam bulbs in my 08 tahoe:
Stock
95336

New LED
95337
95338

I forgot to get road pictures of the stock lights but we all know how good those stock lights would be.

Got the led's from "cold rock accessories". These are the 20k lumens option and also have a "bambi" feature where the low beams stay on if you put your high beams on. I might get a set of high beams and fogs too, then it would almost be like daytime driving. :D

The guy is based out of Camrose, great service and quick turn around times. Very happy with the upgrade.

[msommers]

Ever consider this solution?
https://www.theretrofitsource.com/assemblies/headlight-assemblies/custitem_category_facet/Ford?order=commercecategory:asc

I used these guys for my 4Runner headlight replacement from halogen to LS460 and upgraded waterproofed Denso ballasts. Andrew did very high-quality work all around.

https://lightwerkz.net/ did the actual retrofitting of the bi-xenon low/high beam modification into brand-new 4R Trail headlights, again great work by Caesar.

Then I had the retrofitted headlight assembly sent to me and I swapped out the stock headlight assembly.

Was quite expensive at the end of the day but so happy I did it.

[eblend]

My recent bump is a specific H1 bulb issue. I'm not doing this. Check this silly video out of what a massive PitA this is:
uE5Z1cR7H6w

Nothing says "fits OEM" like scissors and duct tape! LoL.
The LED ones are just too big.

Think it depends on the car. In my dad's car I was able to get the bulb in, the controller that hung off the bulb, and everything, right behind the factory dust cover. From the outside you would never know if anything changed. There was so much room behind the light, could fit a small child in there :)