Daytime running lights

[VAMike]

What are your answer(s) as an alternative to those of us who find the stock halogen bulbs and reflector housings to be lacking in effectiveness and close to dangerous at times?

You could try brighter halogens.

Sponsored

 

[ArchitectThom]

What are your answer(s) as an alternative to those of us who find the stock halogen bulbs and reflector housings to be lacking in effectiveness and close to dangerous at times?

Well, apparently, drive dark. That way no one you drive by gets pissed off by how bright your headlights are.

 

[ArchitectThom]

In this vein, I'm liking the auto-dimming high beams in this truck, too.

Running ONLY the fogs is a different situation.

I kinda do like the auto-dimming high beams, too, though, living in a city, I have only encountered them a couple of times thus far.

I didn't realize you could run with JUST your fogs on? Or is that a computer hack you've gotta do to the truck?

 

[Ranger8729]

What are your answer(s) as an alternative to those of us who find the stock halogen bulbs and reflector housings to be lacking in effectiveness and close to dangerous at times?

An eye test. lol I'm joking. But I test drove my truck at night so I can see the beam pattern. The Ranger is WAY above the average OEM, so if you genuinely have difficulty, get your eyes looked at. Eyesight is nothing to mess with.

I suggest a relay harness between the headlight plugs and battery. Power wires go all over the truck, and drop voltage. Shorten the route to get that power back. By far the best bang for your buck, didn't think it woulake that much difference modification I've made to a vehicle.

Just because you think you can't see with headlights coming at you doesn't mean I'm going to jeopardize my safety by not allowing me to see very well from turning off my fogs or dimming my lights back down to yellow. Sorry about your luck.

You willingly admit to putting others safety at risk?

 

[Deleted member 1634]

An eye test. lol I'm joking. But I test drove my truck at night so I can see the beam pattern. The Ranger is WAY above the average OEM, so if you genuinely have difficulty, get your eyes looked at. Eyesight is nothing to mess with.

I suggest a relay harness between the headlight plugs and battery. Power wires go all over the truck, and drop voltage. Shorten the route to get that power back. By far the best bang for your buck, didn't think it woulake that much difference modification I've made to a vehicle.

I'm surprised you think these are great OEM headlights. They're by far the worst I've ever had. Even my 2001 Focus was better, albeit only slightly. But my 2014 Crosstrek, also with halogen reflectors, was almost twice as good as these. Of course the headlights on the 1998 Windstar I drove in HS (yeah, I was that cool haha) were like candles. You could literally drive with the high beams on all the time and no one would flash you because they thought those were just the low beams because they were so dull. haha So I've certainly survived with worse and can still see okay (I do have glasses but I'm not blind or anything), I just wish they were better.

Thanks for the idea. I'll look into it.

 

[ArchitectThom]

You willingly admit to putting others safety at risk?

That's just the thing I think we're disagreeing on. I don't think I AM putting other people at risk. What would be even riskier is if I couldn't see as well while driving. That's the whole point of the better light.

 

[Deleted member 1634]

You could try brighter halogens.

It looks like most good brighter halogens have a life of only a few months to a year... Who the heck buys new bulbs every single year?! I've never had to buy new bulbs for any of my vehicles over their whole life. Man this is really frustrating.

 

[Deleted member 1634]

Well, apparently, drive dark. That way no one you drive by gets pissed off by how bright your headlights are.

I hear you. Finding that balance between too dim and too bright is hard to do. Especially when everyone has their own idea of what is acceptable or not. Obviously in an ideal world I would prefer having no light at all shining in my face and all the light on my side, that's why I like taking rural roads and not seeing another car for almost an hour whenever I can, but that's not realistic. It's almost getting to the point where I'll have to just turn on all my lights (lows, fogs/highs, and off-roads) whenever I can, and go with the lakluster lows when other people are around and hope for the best, especially since I'm basically blinded by oncoming lights anyways given how much brighter other's OEM headlights are these days.

 

[VAMike]

It looks like most good brighter halogens have a life of only a few months to a year... Who the heck buys new bulbs every single year?! I've never had to buy new bulbs for any of my vehicles over their whole life. Man this is really frustrating.

Yup--burn bright, die young

 

[Bluebeastsrt]

No kidding this is irritating.

I also get annoyed when people roll around with their fog lights on every time their headlights are on., even in perfectly clear conditions.

I just can’t imagine being triggered by something this trivial.

 

[Gizmokid2005]

I didn't realize you could run with JUST your fogs on? Or is that a computer hack you've gotta do to the truck?

Not *just* the fogs, but fogs + parking lights, just turn the knob to parking lights and push the fog button. You don't need headlights for the fogs to work.

The Ranger is WAY above the average OEM, so if you genuinely have difficulty, get your eyes looked at. Eyesight is nothing to mess with.

This is definitely subjective. According to the IIHS, which spends quite a bit of time, money, and effort on measuring these things, the Ranger headlights are Marginal at best, both with Halogen and factory LED models (XL/XLT & Lariat): https://www.iihs.org/ratings/vehicle/ford/ranger-crew-cab-pickup/2019#headlights

Those of us in here stating that their quality is not great from the factory, while you're calling this subjective, is backed by actual data and testing, so regardless of any "armchair engineering" or "keyboard warrior"...ing going on, objectively the Ranger's headlights are actually pretty poor from the factory. Granted, they're not as poor as the F-150, but they're also nowhere near what most would consider acceptable.

 

[VAMike]

Those of us in here stating that their quality is not great from the factory, while you're calling this subjective, is backed by actual data and testing, so regardless of any "armchair engineering" or "keyboard warrior"...ing going on, objectively the Ranger's headlights are actually pretty poor from the factory. Granted, they're not as poor as the F-150, but they're also nowhere near what most would consider acceptable.

Different standards. IIHS is intentionally forcing improvements by setting a bar that basically nothing could pass, just as they've done before with crash standards. I applaud them for pushing innovation...and your drop in LEDs wouldn't pass either. Among other things, they're also looking at glare because unlike people who let their eyes decide, they think it's important.

This is certainly the case where if a manufacturer could get an IIHS top rating by simply swapping in a drop in LED they'd do it in a heartbeat. But they can't.

 

[Ranger8729]

Different standards. IIHS is intentionally forcing improvements by setting a bar that basically nothing could pass, just as they've done before with crash standards. I applaud them for pushing innovation...and your drop in LEDs wouldn't pass either. Among other things, they're also looking at glare because unlike people who let their eyes decide, they think it's important.

This is certainly the case where if a manufacturer could get an IIHS top rating by simply swapping in a drop in LED they're do it in a heartbeat. But they can't.

This. VAMike hits it.

And my "armchair engineering" is actually a very fancy piece of paper hanging in my office.

I'll just step outta this conversation ?

 

[StezenW]

To lighten the mood - here's a recent mod I did that gave me ADDITIONAL daytime running lights.

CAUTION - fog lights are illuminated on this post - view at your own risk.

 

[Hickesy]

If my headlights are on auto, and my Daytime Running Lights are on, shouldn't I see a green headlight sensor on the dash?

Sponsored