Kowboy
Adventurer
Very good information sir ... much appreciated.
I'll check them thangs next time I see my truck.
'02 Superduty performance headlights??
- Thread starter Kowboy
- Start date
Very good information sir ... much appreciated.
I'll check them thangs next time I see my truck.
Yep, the fluted design of the 99-01' headlights suck, especially when hazed over, which is what mine were. I upgraded to the 02-04 design, which has a much better lens reflector.
Putting HIDs in housings not designed for them just annoys other drivers, and spills too much usable light.
I have an Excursion with an 8" all-spring lift (equivalent to approx. 6" lift on Super Duty trucks, I believe), so I wanted to be cognizant not to annoy other drivers too much, since I'm lifted, yet at the same time upgrade the sucky stock lighting. So, I upgraded to the 02-04 design (though I got cheap knockoffs instead of OEMs), which has a much better lens reflector (as mentioned above), upgraded to higher wattage bulbs, and put in a relayed light wiring harness to get maximum battery power to the bulb. I feel that is a good compromise of maximizing a stock-type lighting setup for on the road, while still retaining a light pattern & brightness that isn't too annoying to other drivers, yet is a dramatic upgrade over what I started with (2-3 times as bright). And then I plan to add some auxiliary lighting for off road.
However, for the OP, he already has updated headlight housings, which should be an upgrade, and there is definitely a wiring or adapter problem since one side is brighter than the other. Many of the cheap headlight kits have poor / under spec wiring, and I believe the newer (H13?) bulb design isn't as good at carrying current as the older (9007?) bulb design. If it were me, I'd probably want to install an upgraded headlight wiring harness, to get maximum wattage to the headlights, and then you know the power wiring is maximized. Then if there is still a problem it's the trigger wire and/or its adapter. Incidentally, you only need either the left or right OEM harness connector to trigger both L & R headlights, since L&R are always supposed to be both off or both on. If you can't figure out what's wrong with the driver side headlight wiring / adapter, then just use the passenger side OEM connector, which you know works, to trigger the upgraded headlight wiring harness. Upgraded wiring harnesses are available here: http://www.rallylights.com/hl281s-transition-upgrade-headlamp-harness-for-switched-ground-vehicles.html. Just make sure you choose the correct bulb type for both the trigger wire, as well as the actual headlight bulbs. The site that I linked to can put any of the standard bulb type connectors on the OEM connector trigger side & the actual headlight bulb side.
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