Hmm i happen to buy some LED bulbs to replace my halogens (havent received yet) Which ones did you buy? These are what i ordered but I may return if they are no good. The review do seem kind of fake.

 

My truck came with factory HIDs. I wanted a different headlight just for looks since mine were chrome and I wanted something black. I ended up buying a pair of Spyder headlights that I really like. They look very similar to the OEM headlights but have a DRL tube. The projectors are actually really good in them. I replaced my factory ballasts with a good set of 55 watt ballasts and the projectors throw the light very well and very clean. Total cost of my setup was about 500 bucks. That included headlights and ballasts (bought separately). So...... I'm telling you I went from OEM HIDs to something else and they're just as good. Maybe I got lucky but it is what it is

You can get the Halogen version for about 350 bucks then buy an aftermarket HID kit which will put you around 450 total. That will get you bulbs as well (in the HID kit).

 

I went from factory Halogens to the '13 HID upgrade. Plus I knew that I could still upgrade them with aftermarket bulbs and ballast if I wished to. I did all the research, read many, many threads and posts and decided to take the advice - instead of all the trial and error (research took care of that), buying something that didn't work, or worked poorly (recommendations from said research), spending time with headaches, and on all the bull with returns, shipping, etc....and considering reliability (factory built for said truck), I decided to suck it up and look for the best deal I could find on a complete set of factory '13-'14 HID headlights, plus adapter harness for same. It took a little time but I found a set on Ebay for $950.00 with shipping. Then $125.00 for the harness. So in the end, I did spend some coin, it took me less than an hour to install both headlights and harness, and best of all, They Work and I have no grief or headaches. Sometimes it's better to suck it up and heed some good advice. These guys have been there and are trying to help out.

 

either buy a set of used oem hids, or do a complete retro fit, hell even a mini H1 set is a super easy retro (what I currently have).

DO NOT... I repeat DO NOT buy a plug and play hid kit and put it in your stock lights... will it work? yes... good lighting? yes better than stock.. safe? NO, the glare seen by oncoming traffic and cars directly ahead of you is unbarable.

recon and such aftermarket hid housings are made cheap, and most people will tell you they have awesome light output.... these people have not run an actual oem or retro fit hid set up....

the smart ones will tell you that recons and such are actually junk, poor light output for a hid setup... but nobody ever seems to mention why.... the projectors in them are designed for a halogen bulb, it a cheaper parts source.... some even come with free bulbs. but most buy these and toss in a PnP hid kit... yes you get much better than stock lighting, with an OK cut off line. but compare to a very basic projector actually designed for hid lighting, the diffrance is very clear.

 

My 2 cents, from someone who's been in your exact dilemma

I had oem halogen that I felt weren't good for me
I tried different halogen bulbs, some felt brighter but nothing crazy,
I then bought a set of spider/recon headlight assemblies, wow they look cool, but they were the worst thing I ever bought, the light output was crap, oem halogen were actually better
I went back to oem halogen,
Did some research about upgrading to hid projectors
Decided I did not want to spent huge money on oem ford projectors (this is when they were new) and would have cost me 2500$
Looked into a custom retrofit from some of the other members here, didn't want to spend 1500 either,
Did more research, started watching videos on retrofitting projectors into a halogen housing.
Ended up doing my own retrofit, bought some 2nd hand oem halogen housings for 40$ and some components from TRS (the retro fit source) for about 300-350,
Loved the results, light output was better then I planned.
Sold the truck, got a 14 now with oem hid
Still doesn't compare to my retrofit oem from my 12.

 

Good information here. I agree with most of these comments, DO NOT just put HID or LED bulbs in your reflector housings.

 

My apologies I was looking at the stage3motorsports website and came across those headlights they sell which are about 2k

 

I am hoping people read this before attempting to do so. The company that sells the LEDs I bought have someone posting a "review" all over the Internet on how great they are, but I am quite sure it's one of the people selling the lights that is writing it up. They make it look like a customer wrote it. It's literally everywhere and it is all the top hits on a Google search. It's quite clever, but dirty and shady as hell. This way, you never really see all the real customer reviews. It's even posted on this forum too

Regardless, I'll just keep my eyes peeled for a used or heavily discounted OEM HID set up and be done with it. Will have to wait until after the holidays to drop that kind of cash, but its better than dropping $1000 and never being happy

 

Ok, hopefully y'all can help me set this up.

I found two OEM housings, used, in mint condition for $250 each. It doesn't have harness, ballasts, or bulbs. Does the ballast or harness include the part that holds the bulbs? Otherwise, that's missing and I need to get that too. It's just an empty hole.

 

Keep shopping 500$ for just the housing isn't worth it. The light and ballast and harness will put you way over 1000 before you are done