3rd Gen HID vs LED vs Halogen H11 projector headlights

Wait, my mistake. Initial google search showed the wrong bulb. Edited the bulb suggestions above.

 

I'm not sure my dad will keep the vehicle long enough to spend the money on new headlamps or retrofits. If the drop in LEDs give better performance without blinding oncoming traffic, that may be an option. It would also be nice to not need to replace the bulbs again, as it's a huge pain to replace bulbs on this truck.

 

For a ‘19 F250 that came with factory halogen lights, you have some options. I wouldn’t go with a retrofit, Morimoto makes 2 LED housings that are plug and play but not cheap. The higher end option is $1,600 and has 4 LEDs in each light, very impressive output but a clean cut off line so no blinding oncoming traffic.
They recently came out with a step down model that mimics the OEM LED housings with 2 LEDs per housing and its $800 for a pair. Again, crisp cutoff so no blinding traffic.
Personally, I went with Headlight Revolutions V4 plug and play LED kit and have been running them since I had my ‘18 F250 (kept swapping them over every time I got a new truck). They’re now in their 3rd truck and going strong. I aimed the drivers side down a bit and I rarely get flashed. Every once in a while it happens, but it did with the halogens also, I think people see 4 lights on and assume you’re on your high beams. That kit was pushing $400 and I’m sure haven’t gotten any cheaper.
Last option is a full blown OEM LED conversion but you’ll likely have several thousand into that endeavor and it does require some programming to be done at the dealer or through ForScan. The OEM LEDs are sweet but they be pricey.

 

Wow. Facepalm.

I am not a Ford follower, so I apologize for getting the headlight gens on the F150 mixed up. The 2015 F150 used single filament H11 bulbs for low beam in a dedicated assembly. The 2019 F150 uses dual filament H13/9008 bulbs for combined low and high beam in a combo assembly. Diode Dynamics specifically sought compliance in the H11 dedicated low beam F150 assembly. This is important because dual beam assemblies have significant glare issues when running a dual 'filament' PnP LED. The optics of the assembly are specifically designed around the filament being in an exact position which an LED is unable to replicate. In a dedicated low beam assembly, all light output is going to be directed in a low beam direction, so being slightly off will result in some increased glare and reduced focus, loss of distance light, increase in foreground light, etc. In a dual beam assembly, being a little off can result in light spill into the high beam reflectors (which are not present in a dedicated low beam assembly) meaning substantial glare that is unsafe and blinding to oncoming motorists, in addition to the other issues. This is one of the reasons Diode Dynamics never made a dual filament LED, you'll notice the SL1 was only ever offered as a single filament replacement bulb, and for good reason. I would not recommend a PnP LED in a dual beam housing. So scratch that Morimoto suggestion in the 2019 F150. If you had a 2015, that would be a very different story. Apologies for responding before coffee this morning.

See previous comments on Morimoto's LED replacement assemblies. They are covered in extreme detail in this thread, but they lack compliant uplight. While many headlight pages/posts like to show that super clean and sharp cut off line, there is a reason OEM manufactures don't have that. It severely limits your vision and makes your headlights less effective, this is even worse if your headlights are very high intensity. An extreme cut off with high contrast makes your eyes unable to see beyond the low beam cut off line. You are effectively blinded by your own lights and vision distance is severely limited. All OEM headlights have uplight, reduced light output above the cutoff line so that you can see beyond the low beams, at reduced levels that are safe for oncoming motorists. The Morimoto lights do not, it is a significant design flaw typical in most all aftermarket headlights. Also see the comments on the F150 OEM LEDs, they are some of the worst OEM LED headlights on the market for that Gen. Definitely not something you should put money toward.

 

I get what you're saying about the crisp cutoffs and that's one of the reasons I'm not a real big fan of them. I know the sharp cutoff was sought after with projectors for a bit, good to see that's changing.
One thing I will say about plug and play LED's in a halogen housing is, not all LED's are created equal. In general, I agree with not just throwing an LED in a housing intended for a halogen, but one of the reasons I went with the kit I did was HR tested several LED's in the Super Duty housing and compared them side by side. Overall, the kit I bought gave the best beam pattern with the least scatter in that particular housing. It was surprising to see how much variation you get with different LED's in the same housing. Generally, I'd agree not to throw LEDs in a housing meant for a halogen but there are ones that work if you do your homework. I've been running my setup for several years now and I don't get flashed and they work very well in poor weather conditions also (heavy rain and snow).

 

But it is not changing. OEMs have always had compliant uplight and will always continue to do so. Aftermarket units typically do not, they continue to promote the sharp cut off. The cut off makes for great looking marketing photos, even though it actually reduces the headlight's functionality.

Very true, not all PnP LEDs are equal. However I hope you realize HR is not at all a credible source for any real lighting information, it is a sales machine based on often misleading product reviews to always favor house owned brands while pretending to appear as an independent 3rd party. Wheel Pros, the company that now owns TRS, Headlight Revolution, GTR, Morimoto literally calls HR the online "Influencer" division to increases sales. Pretty sneaky when the independent 3rd party is actually owned by the same lighting company of products they include in their reviews and surprisingly always declare as best. Obviously their goal is to funnel sales back into their own products with people looking for 'independent' online reviews. It is WAY worse than you think.

Case and point. Headlight Revolutions claims the GTR Ultra 2 as nearly the best bulb ever.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uO8Nuj6tPy4&t=111s

How it actually performs: Headlight Revolution GTR Ultra 2
It is literally the worst LED in this thread and appears to be designed by someone with not the slightest clue at all on optical engineering or automotive lighting. The product is so flawed from every standpoint it does not at all mimic a halogen, no optical engineer would suggest this product. Yet, here is HR promoting it as the very best, because it is GTR. And Wheel Pros owns both TRS and the sub-brands of HR and GTR making sure that HR is cleverly designing videos to convince people to buy their own brand products like GTR. It is a highly refined snake oil machine. And that is one of the reasons I personally started funding these threads.

If you want PnP LEDs the only one you should consider is Morimoto 2stroke 3.0, but I wouldn't recommend LEDs in a dual filament housing, however they will be substantially better in terms of focus and less glare than what you are running now.

 

I used to just shake my head and avert my gaze to avoid getting blinded

But ever since the standard answer or justification seems to be that drop-in LED users have is "I don't get flashed, so I'm good", now I flash those MFs. I guess that is what they need.

Never had to do that before. But, I'm sure most are like "my lights are so awesome, that guy flashed me, he thinks I have my high beams on, but sucker don't know I'm running awesome lowbeams"

You can tell immediately that an LED is in the wrong housing on the road
Perhaps not completely tacoma related, since fortunately the projector shield on our trucks minimize that.
But many other vehicles on the road it is a bigger issue.

Worse, is running LEDs in OEM "fogs", and running them with no inclement conditions. That is atrocious

Don't be that guy
You might think you're cool, but you're not

 

Yep, I can't tell you how many conversations I've had like that. Thing is most people don't understand headlight optics, nor should they need to. They are sold a misleading product by an LED vendor they trusted and are told it will increase their headlight performance and they believe it, without fully understanding it. Some scenarios are better/worse than others, but there is good reason NHTSA started going after the manufactures and forcing recalls on their illegal PnP LED headlight products.

 

WTF does the NHTSA know?
The guy on youtube says it's awesome

/sarcasm

Look, I'm sure at some point, the technology will get there.
But we're inundated with cheap Amazon products that aren't there.
and perhaps worse, there are very expensive products that currently are also not there, but getting closer

I will be amongst the first to be happy to purchase an LED drop-in product that matches performance in a halogen designed housing.

@BTS Lighting - send Crash your product. Talking the talk is one thing, walking it .... well.
Just think of all the sales if you're right. Count me in.

S

 

Big news in the aftermarket lighting world. Wheel Pros, aka TRS, aka Morimoto did not renew/lost their exclusivity contract with CoPlus (the makers of Morimoto XB headlight assemblies).

 

Interesting. Headlights have now made the 2022 Tundra a top safety-plus pick for full sized pickup trucks by the iihs. This comes from Tim over at Pickup Truck Plus SUV Talk. Despite the heavy marketing for aftermarket and vanity lighting, headlights do mater in the bigger picture.

 

The 2021+ Highlander is on that list too. My wife has a 2020 xle, and apparently she has the poor rated headlights due to glare, and not having high beam assist or curve adaptive lights. I guess you need to buy a platinum Highlander for the good lights, or buy a newer model.

 

Apparently the 22 Tundra has the same rating for all trim levels. I guess due to the fact the headlights are the same throughout.

 

Quick question, how much better are the OEM led’s vs the v2 Morimoto’s? Mori’s are on sale right now for a pretty good price!

 

not a scientific answer here but I have the v2 Morimoto's. They are great but it takes some getting used to with the extremely sharp cutoff. I have no experience with OEM LED but in reading the tests and feedback, OEM LED is going to be your best performing headlight.

 

Thanks. I’ve read a ton of reviews but still not 100%convinced on the Mori’s. They sound like they work great and look cool with the amber Dre’s but at the end of the day the OEM’s are a better headlight in the respects of night driving. I saw the price and it got my wheels turning I guess.

 

I’m wondering if Morimoto will address any of the downfalls they have when being compared to the OEM’s?…v3??

 

My focus was 100% on OEM until, like you, I saw a sale I couldn't pass up. I got my set for $850 as the shop had only a single box left and didn't want to move it to their new shop they were packing up to go to. I also really like the look of the housing as opposed to the OEM.

I am 100% happy with them but they are finicky to setup as you have left/right and up/down adjustments. Plus, the light tends to 'bounce' because of the severe cutoff. If you are looking at a price you can't pass up, I'd say go for it. If price is not the issue and the best performance is what you're after, OEM.

 

The sale is definitely not as good as you got but it’s hard to pass up. The bounce thing is a little wonky with the severe cutoff. I’ve heard that before. Im wondering if they will address that with a new generation? I’ll probably wait until I can find the OEM’s on sale somewhere or v3 from Morimoto. Thanks for replying.

 

not sure to the comparison but I bought led’s recently from a local dealer that matched online prices and got oem led’s for $1263 and some change.