I know there are other threads on this but I CANNOT believe how terrible these lights are. I have a hard time believing that these are even legal. Ford should be embarrassed that they sell a truck with lights like this.

Cant wait for those Diode Dynamics SL1's to come out so I can actually see the road at night.

 

We have all felt your pain. The sad thing is, the Ford OEM LED headlights didn't perform that much better in the insurance industry test they conducted recently.

 

As a recent owner of a 2016 XLT,,, you are spot on... These are definately some sorry, junky headlights... However-- I seldom drive at night any more, as I am retired, not as big a problem to me as with some others. Our family cars were a 2010 and 2013 RX350--- those were sorry also,,, not just Ford had sub-prime lights. We now have a Lincoln MKZ--- these are great headlights,, I wonder why the F-150's have the junk, as many as they sell......

 

The good news is, for a couple hours & fifty bucks you can upgrade to higher wattage halogen bulbs, and have some pretty damm impressive lights!

Use the search function to find the thread, it's a big one. But the bulb swap really works, HUGE improvement, prolly better performance than the factory LED's. I've been running mine for over a year now with no issues, and I drive a lot at night.

Now, should we have to do this? Of course not, but it beats the alternative....crappy lights, or another truck that's crappier on many levels!

 

I'm waiting for the new Diode Dynamics SL1's, hoping they are a good upgrade

 

Here are my experience on the headlights.


I used to have a 2012, the stock halogens were terrible, I upgraded to OEM HIDs which were very good.


Next truck was a 2015 XLT, the stock halogens are a big improvement and are pretty decent compared to the 2012 halogens.


I just traded for a 2015 KR with OEM LED headlights. Those lights are better then the HIDs I had on my 2012. No problems with driving at night and best of all the lights don't blind oncoming traffic like cheap LED bulbs placed in halogen reflectors.

 

I agree with the assessment. The halogens in my 2015 are absolutely the worst headlights I've had since the switch from sealed beam headlights to halogens. They work about as well as candles.

I've swapped in Opt7 35W Canbus HID lows and they make the situation much better. I don't like that I had to turn the DRLs off but I'm willing to take that trade-off to be able to see at night. I am also waiting for Diode Dynamics SL1's to come out; they are local to me and I've been thinking about dropping by to see the operation.

I think I may try them in the high beams once they expand their selection beyond the low beam bulbs. I've currently got LEDs in the highs that have the heat sink ribbon but they don't put out nearly as much light as the Stark LEDs I put in the fogs. The problem with the Stark bulbs is that they scatter light a lot and when I originally installed them I would get flashed when I was on 2-lane roads. I adjusted the aiming down as far as it will go and I no longer get flashed.

 

LED's just don't throw as far as halogens, partly because of the color temp. Since most LED's are higher temp than halogens (more blue), our eyes have trouble perceiving the dim blue light thrown at a distance because our eyes are least sensitive to blue colors. This is why they appear super bright when looking at them, and there's lots of light thrown directly in front of the vehicle, but you'll notice they don't have the same reach as a warmer colored light. This is especially true on dark wet roads. You can tell the affect of color by looking at further extremes, like even higher temps of full on blue which really doesn't light up the road, and even further in the 10000-12000k temps of purple which really does nothing at all.





The new SL1's should give a better focus because of the new LumiLED Z-ES chips, which are smaller and can mimic a halogen filament more precisely, but I think there will still be the issue of the color. If you absolutely can't wait for the SL1's to come out, there are plenty of other lights already on the market (ie Amazon) that use the same LED chips that the SL1's will be using. Just type in either LumiLED or Z-ES when you're searching. If you can find them in 3200-4000k color, it will also help tremendously.


I've had 3 sets of LEDs bulbs so far, none of which I was happy with because of distance and how much they scatter. I do lots of highway driving in the dark, and I've gone back to my halogens because they're actually better. You don't need everything RIGHT in front of you to be lit up well, you need things at a distance to be lit up well.

 

It's funny that Audi and BMW have such a hard time advancing headlight tech in North America because of regulators but manufacturers can give us these and that's ok.

These are so bad I wonder if they are legal? I'm sure they have enough light but the way it's projected down the road is terrible.

 

You can always try out our XHP50 Series LED bulbs. They work REALLY well in the Ford headlights. Every single customer has been thrilled with the output. Installation is not as simple as the SL-1 are going to be, but that's because we have a ballast that generates heat so you have to install it outside the cavity. Not really too difficult to do with our ballast relocation kit.

We have a big sale this Black Friday on them if you are looking to upgrade. Now's the time.

Once the SL-1 are out from Diode Dynamics we will have them on our site along with (hopefully) a LAUNCH SALE (we have to get approval from DD on that first though as they control pricing)