Headlight comparision.
Thread Starter
5 Year Member
Joined: Sep 2017
Posts: 1,220
Likes: 455
From: Near Macomb, Illinois
Headlight comparision.
So I've read a lot of posts about people swapping out headlights bulbs and entire headlights because they are poor. I asked myself is this internet lore or is it a real problem. Some of this is by memory but some of this is my noticing headlights on other vehicles since I got my F150. My F150 is a 2017 with the standard headlights, no changes in the bulbs.
2017 Ram. We have 2 of these at works, very basic 4x4 models. Drive one of these and you will see bad headlights. I've seen worse but not as good as my F150 by a very noticeable amount. Kind of a more yellow beam and just not as bright.
2008 Chevy Impala. This is my daughters car. Drove it a few nights ago. About the same as my F150, not any better. One thing I've really tried to notice is do they make a wider beam and let you see off the edges of the road better and see better when taking sharp corners. The Impala isn't any better, but not any worse.
2011 Chrysler 300C, stock headlights not the HID's. Maybe a wider beam than the F150 but not a huge improvement.
2004 Ram 3/4 ton 4x4. This is a truck I used to own. You want to talk about bad headlights, this is it. I put some Silverstars or some other upgraded light bulb in it. Helped a lot, they made it just bad instead of pathetic. You would get more light holding a lighter out the window of the truck but the wind blows it out.
2011 Chevy 3/4 ton. This is the truck I traded to get my F150. I would have to drive it today to get a good feel for them, so I'm going by memory. I'm pretty sure they weren't HID's but they were really good. A wider and brighter beam on high beam.
2010 Dodge Challenger with factory HID's. This is what headlights should be. Its not like they project down the road that much better maybe just a little bit, but on high beam, the width and height is so much better. I really notice it going down hills. Most vehicles headlights just get buried into the bottom of the hill, these factory HID's shine up the other side of the hill much farther. They are also a whiter light that is more pure but not a funky blue color.
So of all the vehicles I've driven lately listed above, and a couple I didn't mention, the Challenger with the HID's are the ones that are better, most of the others aren't any better or maybe a little worse. The vehicles I feel are better you really only see a difference on high beams also. I also live outside of town so I know what dark looks like and worry about deer hits all the time. We have lived there 20 years and I've hit 4 deer. I thought about upgrading my bulbs but will probably leave well enough alone.
2017 Ram. We have 2 of these at works, very basic 4x4 models. Drive one of these and you will see bad headlights. I've seen worse but not as good as my F150 by a very noticeable amount. Kind of a more yellow beam and just not as bright.
2008 Chevy Impala. This is my daughters car. Drove it a few nights ago. About the same as my F150, not any better. One thing I've really tried to notice is do they make a wider beam and let you see off the edges of the road better and see better when taking sharp corners. The Impala isn't any better, but not any worse.
2011 Chrysler 300C, stock headlights not the HID's. Maybe a wider beam than the F150 but not a huge improvement.
2004 Ram 3/4 ton 4x4. This is a truck I used to own. You want to talk about bad headlights, this is it. I put some Silverstars or some other upgraded light bulb in it. Helped a lot, they made it just bad instead of pathetic. You would get more light holding a lighter out the window of the truck but the wind blows it out.
2011 Chevy 3/4 ton. This is the truck I traded to get my F150. I would have to drive it today to get a good feel for them, so I'm going by memory. I'm pretty sure they weren't HID's but they were really good. A wider and brighter beam on high beam.
2010 Dodge Challenger with factory HID's. This is what headlights should be. Its not like they project down the road that much better maybe just a little bit, but on high beam, the width and height is so much better. I really notice it going down hills. Most vehicles headlights just get buried into the bottom of the hill, these factory HID's shine up the other side of the hill much farther. They are also a whiter light that is more pure but not a funky blue color.
So of all the vehicles I've driven lately listed above, and a couple I didn't mention, the Challenger with the HID's are the ones that are better, most of the others aren't any better or maybe a little worse. The vehicles I feel are better you really only see a difference on high beams also. I also live outside of town so I know what dark looks like and worry about deer hits all the time. We have lived there 20 years and I've hit 4 deer. I thought about upgrading my bulbs but will probably leave well enough alone.
JPayne
Joined: Jan 2018
Posts: 3
Likes: 0
From: Tampa, FL
I had the regular halogen bulbs in my XLT and swapped them out for a set of ebay 5000k LED bulbs. Very happy with the results but the high beams for whatever reason aren't worth a crap, barely noticeable when I flick them on. Just my .02.
Senior Member
Joined: Sep 2015
Posts: 807
Likes: 200
From: Northern BC
I do find my 2017 XLT halogen lights are better than my 2013 was......but it is 2017 buck up Ford there are TONS of better headlights out there.
....I basically have a herd of deer living on my property (hit one about 4 years ago about 50 yards past my place
) so I have upgraded my low beam bulbs and added a light bar for highs. Once you have driven consistently with 'good' lighting it is hard to go back to 'bad' (good and bad being a relative term).
....I basically have a herd of deer living on my property (hit one about 4 years ago about 50 yards past my place
) so I have upgraded my low beam bulbs and added a light bar for highs. Once you have driven consistently with 'good' lighting it is hard to go back to 'bad' (good and bad being a relative term).