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Ford Goes Cheap With Halogen Over HID On 2017

I tore my hands all up installing the bulb. It is so hard to get your hand in that small space and turn the bulb and lock it into place.

Can you post a before/after pic?
 



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I swapped LEDs into the factory highs as well. Overall lumens are a tad better, but they do not project nearly as far as the factory halogens. I love the factory hids in my 2013 f1. Factory lows are awesome on the explorer but the highs lack a lot be desired.
 






I swapped LEDs into the factory highs as well. Overall lumens are a tad better, but they do not project nearly as far as the factory halogens. I love the factory hids in my 2013 f1. Factory lows are awesome on the explorer but the highs lack a lot be desired.

I didn't expect a huge difference from just swapping the bulb in the 2016, but I got much more than I hoped for. My wife even reacted the first time I flipped on the LED high beams and she doesn't notice anything with cars. They were a night and day difference for me.

I will try to remember to take some pictures tonight on my way home from work.
 






How about taking some pictures of with one OEM bulb and one of the aftermarket ones installed?
 






How about taking some pictures of with one OEM bulb and one of the aftermarket ones installed?

+1 this would certainly help the Explorer community.
 






I could probably work on getting some pics. Even with a peppery indexed bulb and 8000 lumens, they still don't read as far as the halogens. They do really light up closer distances and throw a little further than the lows, but that's not their intent.
 






How about taking some pictures of with one OEM bulb and one of the aftermarket ones installed?

Maybe someone installing them soon can do a 1 OEM one LED, but I'm not reaching in there to take that bulb out again until I absolutely have to. haha

One2nine might be right. The Stock Halogen's might throw farther, but I definitely feel like the LED light is more usable. I can see more on each side of the road and I don't feel like I lost any distance, but that is debatable. I passed one of the new Audi's on the highway last night and flicked my high beams on as he was flicking his off. My high beams definitely lit up more than his did.

I did this same swap in my wife's Sonata and the results sucked. I guess the bulbs don't work well in her projectors.
 












Maybe someone installing them soon can do a 1 OEM one LED, but I'm not reaching in there to take that bulb out again until I absolutely have to. haha

One2nine might be right. The Stock Halogen's might throw farther, but I definitely feel like the LED light is more usable. I can see more on each side of the road and I don't feel like I lost any distance, but that is debatable. I passed one of the new Audi's on the highway last night and flicked my high beams on as he was flicking his off. My high beams definitely lit up more than his did.

I did this same swap in my wife's Sonata and the results sucked. I guess the bulbs don't work well in her projectors.

I'd swear there is already a thread on the LED light swap on the 2016 models. I know I've looked at one once.

But on your sonata issue - with projectors light emission zone is far more critical than it is in a basic reflector setup. This is due to the projectors - focal length and the lense.

It's calibrated for the "hot zone" of the bulb in question - this is why the good HID retrofit kits mentioned specifically specs bulbs for each replacement. My go to example is the H11 HID replacement and a car like the pontiac GTO. Projector lamp - halogen factory bulb with an H11. The lense and the focal zone of the rear relector are setup for where the filiment of the H11 should be - as that is the hot spot of the bulb. If you put in an HID bulb where the arc zone (HID's are fundamentally Arc Lamps - so there is a "bolt of lightening" in the tube) is not in that same spot +/- a few thousandth's of an inch, you will get a murky or unfocused beam pattern - without a clean cutoff line or a uniform beam even.

This is why I always tell people buy the quality philips/sylvania or morimoto HID kits - they actually try, do very well.

That same issue happens with an LED bulb replacement in a projector housing if the LED emitter - or emitter set isn't correctly aligned for where the hot spot of the replacement bulb should be. Occasionally they can be adjust with with a large shim or some sort.
 












I did the LED highbeam conversion and what a PITA it is if you have bigger hands but I got it done.

BEFORE

20160909_174342-M.jpg

AFTER
20160909_174337-M.jpg


Getting in there.... not easy.
20160909_174306-M.jpg
 






is it easier from the wheel well by chance?
 






No way it would be easier from the wheel well. Probably not even possible.
 






My 15' Landcruiser has HID low, and Halogen high beams. The halogen high beam is extremely powerful, just not as white as the HID.

But both low and high beam output from the Landcruiser is much stronger than our 15" Ex Limited.
 






@Napalm not a chance.... too much in the way. It's really tight, but doable from the top.
 






Not sure if youve noticed yet, but those LED lights are probably 10x better then the HIDs. Its definitely not a step backwards. Now the halogen highbeam is annoying but its just a bulb change away. I think the reason is because HIDs are projector style technology where as the LEDs use reflectors like the halogens. So i guess it was easier to use standard bulbs in the highbeams. You shouldve looked into the car before buying it, things change every year.
I was thinking of switching to LED bulb in the highbeams but hear mixed things about them.
 






Not sure if youve noticed yet, but those LED lights are probably 10x better then the HIDs. Its definitely not a step backwards. Now the halogen highbeam is annoying but its just a bulb change away. I think the reason is because HIDs are projector style technology where as the LEDs use reflectors like the halogens. So i guess it was easier to use standard bulbs in the highbeams. You shouldve looked into the car before buying it, things change every year.
I was thinking of switching to LED bulb in the highbeams but hear mixed things about them.
I've read that too. More light but less distance. I think if I was in that position I'd just upgrade the halogen bulb.

Peter
 






With the LED low beams I find I very rarely have a need for the high beams on this rig.
 



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Not sure if youve noticed yet, but those LED lights are probably 10x better then the HIDs. Its definitely not a step backwards. Now the halogen highbeam is annoying but its just a bulb change away. I think the reason is because HIDs are projector style technology where as the LEDs use reflectors like the halogens. So i guess it was easier to use standard bulbs in the highbeams. You shouldve looked into the car before buying it, things change every year.
I was thinking of switching to LED bulb in the highbeams but hear mixed things about them.

Something to consider since LED is such a generic term for how the light is made, is that they are not all equal. You will notice the ones that light up far and bright tend to require some sort of additional head dissipation. it's all in how the emitter works - the chemistry involved and the current being passed though.

TLDR version - there is far more variance in performance than there is with HID or Incandescent (halogen) bulbs. Therefore I would recommend for the application using a LED bulb that has a larger heatsink on it or active fan cooling - more than likely those will have the throw you will be looking for. because throwing the light out distance takes more power the flooding an zone
 






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