Projector Headlights

Sorry, I know there are a thousand threads about the projector headlight but I was wanting some imput. Most people run HID's with them or whatever they had before but I was wanting to know how big of an improvement is the light output from these lights. I read that the low beam is the projector. How much better are these then the factory lights? Would you recommend them?

 

[celly]

Sorry, I know there are a thousand threads about the projector headlight but I was wanting some imput. Most people run HID's with them or whatever they had before but I was wanting to know how big of an improvement is the light output from these lights. I read that the low beam is the projector. How much better are these then the factory lights? Would you recommend them?

Yes on all accounts. Best headlight option available for 2nd gens short of retrofit.

 

[Jhonny]

hopefully they'll make them for 3rd gen

 

[dmathews]

Ok thanks, I was wanting to get some but was only willing to buy them if they were better. I was also going to match them with the projector fog lights.

 

[storlied]

They are indeed better, one thing to note though.. they disperse the light differently than you're used to from the factory lenses. A lot of my friends have made comments on how it looks like the light output sucks on them compared to before... but in reality it's just projected differently... street signs are more visible as the light it directed to them... you'll even notice compared to other vehicles that it Appears you have less light... you'll see on other vehicles they have a huge splash of light right in front of their vehicle.. while you don't have as much... but if you take a look again.. look at how much the signs are lit up by their lights. Definitely not nearly as well as the projectors. I'd say these are perfect for in town/city driving but once you hit the highway [without much street light] or if you do any off-roading in places with absolutely no light.. you're definitely gonna make use of the high beam as they intended but you Might want some aux lights for that kinda use as these aren't the Best. But they are a very good investment and they look great.. depends on use on how these are gonna treat ya in the long run.

Edit: Just an example I thought about... if I'm at an intersection I can clearly see the street sign next to the stop light lit by my light, if I were to turn my lights off then the sign would be unlit or Barely lit by another vehicle. Like I said, they're great for signs and on-road driving, but you're gonna want more if you go out to explore with your explorer somewhere =P With the HIDs, my high beams don't do too much.. they help but not enough to make a big difference... I mainly use them to alert people for whatever reason I need to.. for some real light I have 2 fogs in my grille and 4 100w auxilary lights mounted to my bumper..=D

I'd say go for it if you can, huge improvement in overall look to the truck and light.. specially with HIDs for in-town on-road driving.

Here's some pictures of these lights:
mine's on the right, the left truck has only the halo's and LEDs lit up... you can wire yours however you want, Celly changed his LED's to normal amber bulbs for a more stock look, also I believe he didn't wire up his halos as he didn't like them.. it's personal preference

Projectors all lit up..

Excuse me while I aim my lights once again, as I'm very persistant about it..lol.. but here's a closer look to what you'd be buying.. I changed the outter most corner light with a matching LED..

 

[dmathews]

well I want something that will give me a better night time driving. I want to put some lights on top and behind the grill. couldnt u just aim the lights down to hit the road more than the signs?

 

[storlied]

It does light up the road fine, the difference I was pointing out was they're not Just focused on the ground like a lot of normal stock lights are.. [most of the time wasting 90% of the light on Just the ground right in front of you] You can aim these also, I've seen projectors that were one peice light this and you Can't aim them!! Wtf is that.. Stock vs Projectors for night driving: Projectors hands down, it just looks a little different. It would be as if you got into a BMW with projectors... you'd see a difference vs a BMW with the classic refractor lenses. Just as HIDs are a different level than halogen, it's the same as projectors vs normal lenses... it's different... but better =)

Fogs will help if you like a lot of light right in front of you, check the 2nd picture... you'll see as the front of my truck is lit.. but not too much... as the truck on the left, has some nice HID fogs which fill in that spot as if you had aimed your lights down.

 

[zerodevil]

i would give my left arm for projector headlights to match my projector fogs on my 3rd gen. MUCH better light dispersment over the road surface, especialy with 6000K HID's. Where in A Town are you located storlied, i havnt seen your truck around.

 

[dmathews]

ok, I know they look better than factory headlight and I like the halos but I think I would put them on a switch. I know my factory lights with normal bulbs light up great and I can see everything. I was just wanting to make sure they were brighter. I seen on a srt-4 site that you can change the color of the halos so I might try that if i get the nerve and change them to red to match my car.

 

[storlied]

i would give my left arm for projector headlights to match my projector fogs on my 3rd gen. MUCH better light dispersment over the road surface, especialy with 6000K HID's. Where in A Town are you located storlied, i havnt seen your truck around.

Heheh, I'm around... currently staying near the sulivan arena thing. I can't seem to find any pictures of your truck though... I MIGHT have seen you around but who knows without pictures.. I've seen a couple 3rd gens with 6k HIDs. We needa get a Atown Explorer meet. =P Currently I'm the the only one on the road with these projectors here, there's another truck with them but it's currently been down for the count until some projects take place. There was a third but they got destroyed in an accident [Danny]

PM me or something, perhaps we could meetup n checkout the trucks.


As for the OP, opening these to change the halo color is an unexplored path so far... if you do it... definitely take pictures.. I'd like to see how to operate on these.. I want to change the LEDs for the halos to SMD LEDs... that would make them so much brighter.

 

[vroomzoomboom]

i did a projector retro in my sport last spring. there is no comparison to factory lights what so ever. i also put 6000K hid in them. the fogs or "driving" lights are 8000K with halos. if you don't mind tinkering, a retro is less money then the ones that celly and storlied have, but if you like plug and play, those are the way to go. i personally don't like the looks of the ones they have (sorry guys, i am not bashing you both in any way, so please don't take it to hart PLEASE!!!!), i like the single bulb better.

this is highway driving with low beams. keep in mind, they are not aimed all that high. i can still go higher with out blinding people.

here is down a road with zero street lights. if my lights where off, it is pitch black there.

low beam only

high beam

high beam with fogs on

 

[storlied]

No prob, you did a great job on yours. I always liked the whole 2 headlight setup I wish my Ford had.. and finally I got it... plus the halos look cool, they're different. It's personal preference really. It comes down to experience also... a lot of us don't know how to do that... so the easier way was the plug n play ones. Either way... great job on those lights, and that truck.

 

[vroomzoomboom]

hey, today is your lucky day!

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=260929

 

[celly]

hey, today is your lucky day!

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=260929

He's been selling them for a while. I think there was a time they'd be gone, but the economy being what it is.....

His setup looks pretty sweet too. I've bumped his thread a few times just so he finds a taker.

Oh, and I prefer the two headlight look myself. I really like having separate high and low beams. Flash to pass works pretty slick with them as well (i.e. don't have to put strain on the HIDs to do so). A quick on and off on a HID ballast can cause it to fail prematurely.

 

[95exploder817]

so if i were to buy some projectors for my x it would be a plug and play setup or would i have to do some work on them so i can use them i have found some that the wiring is different

 

[celly]

so if i were to buy some projectors for my x it would be a plug and play setup or would i have to do some work on them so i can use them i have found some that the wiring is different

Mine were plug and play for the most part. To power the LEDs (i.e. halo and one of the corners) you need to tap your parking light wires. Dead easy. I don't care for the halos in the slightest so I snipped the wires and taped them off.

HIDS take a bit of thinking to make happen, but it's still dead simple to rig up. The lights as sold come with halogens (H1 in the low and high).

 

[95exploder817]

wow that doesnt seem hard at all

 

[95exploder817]

hey guys i got my projector headlights and i cant seem to get them adjusted was wanting to no how i can adjust them and i took out the old adjuster that came with the old headlights

 

[sean99]

hey guys i got my projector headlights and i cant seem to get them adjusted was wanting to no how i can adjust them and i took out the old adjuster that came with the old headlights

Check out post #33 http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=234285&highlight=projector+adjusters&page=2

 

[95exploder817]

that help alittle but not alot but thanks