NEED HELP need advice on headlight assemblies here is why

[Lsteele87]

I ordered my 2021 Ranger SCAB Lariat online fully loaded, of course they didn't put the LED headlights or fogs in due to chip shortage, I cant justify the cost of OEM Ford LED headlights so i went with Morimoto XBs which was the price of One OEM assembly but still pricey, now i have gone through 2 sets warranty due to DRL not working, and now turn signals alternating from working to not working and now not working at all. I am done with that especially since you have to remove the front clip of the vehicle to access the headlights. I am looking for a cheaper option such as the VLAND Projector dynamic Headlight For Ford Ranger 2015-2022 Plug＆Play 3*LED Lens on Ebay, the seller has good reviews and rating and offers warranty. Has anyone used these or has any advice? I really don't want to go halogen if i don't have to.

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[ControlNode]

I can say the Anzo have worked great so far, but I'm only about 4 months into owning/using them. Black Friday had them down to $420. Only issue was that some of the connectors were not sealed as good as they could have been, but that is an easy fix. If you look on the OE halogen headlight connector you see the plug on the back side where the Lariat's DRL wire is, Anzo left that location open on all the connectors.

Don't get the 15-22 version of those VLAND lights, that is the non-us version. You need to find the 19-23 version. Details here on that.

I will add, I hate any light that only has an option with a side marker/reflector that is not required. The US Ranger has that light on the fender trim, adding another light for the same function is just not something I would consider. Only way I would get such a light is if I was planning custom fender flares or something and wanted to remove the OE light, then those lights with the side marker/reflector would be on the shopping list. But for now, the Anzos work great and don't offend my OCDs.

 

[airline tech]

The used ones on Ebay have dropped quite a bit in price, I will say that the Factory Led's appear to be quality built to last as I do not recall a huge number of complaints about them not working.
Now for some reason the majority of the ones on Ebay have broken tabs, just make a decision on which one is broken and if it will affect security or if you can plastic- weld or similar repair to secure it.

For my Led delete, I had to option to walk away (Factory Order) and also had another dealer offer to buy mine (off the lot) if I buy there's (off the lot) that had the Leds with a 3,000 difference out of pocket (more). I weighed the options and decided that to get the truck how I wanted it, and with the 500.00 deletion credit used to go towards the Head & Fog Lights - It would run 2,700 total so 2,200 or so out of pocket more for the truck I ordered.
Weighed (Aftermarket Options) in Sepr 2022 I think there was only (one or two) decided for the amount of labor involved to swap, it was much less of a headache to just make them factory Led's.

Did Ford screw us on the credit of $500 - yes, it should have been, here is a temporary solution bring it back when we get the parts, and we will swap them out for you.

The funny thing is - I sourced the parts from Ford within 6-weeks of purchase.

Anyway, for me, yes, they are expensive, but I did not want to gamble and fool with After-Market lighting solutions at the time were untested and with all the issues reported here for every option available, they all have issues of operation.
So, my suggestion would be finding a decent set on Ebay (used) or if you are lucky to find a 5G Ranger on any (Pick N Pull) yards would be a great find, the problem is for some reason they are rare for these types of yards for now.
Ebay = $500 Est- Pick N Pull - $31.99 - so see how much of a difference it would be if you could find a set on a (pull it yourself yard) I love yards like this.

There is a bright side - you have become efficient (quicker) is getting them swapped out by now you should have it down to 1/2 the time of your first swap.

 

[Lsteele87]

I can say the Anzo have worked great so far, but I'm only about 4 months into owning/using them. Black Friday had them down to $420. Only issue was that some of the connectors were not sealed as good as they could have been, but that is an easy fix. If you look on the OE halogen headlight connector you see the plug on the back side where the Lariat's DRL wire is, Anzo left that location open on all the connectors.

Don't get the 15-22 version of those VLAND lights, that is the non-us version. You need to find the 19-23 version. Details here on that.

Thank you @airline tech would you be able to provide a picture of that DRL spot on the connector? I am having a suspicion that since they erased my LED headlight and fog lights on my lariat they set it up just like they would a XLT with halogen lights but I don't know how to confirm that. I was looking at the alpha Rex pro series for right around 580 and then throwing in some Amazon LED bulbs. I will definitely give the anzo a look but it blows my mind that a $1,400 pair of morimoto's could have such issues.

The used ones on Ebay have dropped quite a bit in price, I will say that the Factory Led's appear to be quality built to last as I do not recall a huge number of complaints about them not working.
Now for some reason the majority of the ones on Ebay have broken tabs, just make a decision on which one is broken and if it will affect security or if you can plastic- weld or similar repair to secure it.

For my Led delete, I had to option to walk away (Factory Order) and also had another dealer offer to buy mine (off the lot) if I buy there's (off the lot) that had the Leds with a 3,000 difference out of pocket (more). I weighed the options and decided that to get the truck how I wanted it, and with the 500.00 deletion credit used to go towards the Head & Fog Lights - It would run 2,700 total so 2,200 or so out of pocket more for the truck I ordered.
Weighed (Aftermarket Options) in Sepr 2022 I think there was only (one or two) decided for the amount of labor involved to swap, it was much less of a headache to just make them factory Led's.

Did Ford screw us on the credit of $500 - yes, it should have been, here is a temporary solution bring it back when we get the parts, and we will swap them out for you.

The funny thing is - I sourced the parts from Ford within 6-weeks of purchase.

Anyway, for me, yes, they are expensive, but I did not want to gamble and fool with After-Market lighting solutions at the time were untested and with all the issues reported here for every option available, they all have issues of operation.
So, my suggestion would be finding a decent set on Ebay (used) or if you are lucky to find a 5G Ranger on any (Pick N Pull) yards would be a great find, the problem is for some reason they are rare for these types of yards for now.
Ebay = $500 Est- Pick N Pull - $31.99 - so see how much of a difference it would be if you could find a set on a (pull it yourself yard) I love yards like this.

There is a bright side - you have become efficient (quicker) is getting them swapped out by now you should have it down to 1/2 the time of your first swap.

So I like the advice and I am going to look into that but with my first newborn well things are a little tight as far as wants vs needs although attorney signals are definitely a need, I already have 1400 into the morimoto's and I saw that you posted some stuff about forescan and I can pick one up from Amazon for fairly decent price would you be able to sort of idiots guide on how to at least get my lights functioning through the forescan tool when I get it? Once my profit share from the family business comes in at the end of the year hopefully we do good lol I'll look into the OEM headlights for sure.

 

[veedubtuner]

I did the same thing, sourced some OEM LED's on ebay, took some time finding ones that were A. not super expensive, and B. not damaged at all. I ordered an XLT and wasn't in any hurry so I had time to find a good set. Actually had the lights before I got my truck lol. With the Headlight FAQ here I was able to install them and get them working no problem. So far no issues 2+ years later. Can't beat OEM IMO.

 

[Ranger Mel]

I second checking the wrecking yards. We have one that has the "you pull" option but there's always a charge to just look so I always use the one where someone drives you out to find the part or just order the parts through their network. Get OEM at a fraction of the price. I don't always find what I'm looking for but more often than not I do.

 

[ControlNode]

Thank you @ControlNode would you be able to provide a picture of that DRL spot on the connector? I am having a suspicion that since they erased my LED headlight and fog lights on my lariat they set it up just like they would a XLT with halogen lights but I don't know how to confirm that. I was looking at the alpha Rex pro series for right around 580 and then throwing in some Amazon LED bulbs. I will definitely give the anzo a look but it blows my mind that a $1,400 pair of morimoto's could have such issues.

I think you intended to tag me. Anyway, in this image the yellow wire is the one I added to fill the hole. it has no connection inside, just fills the hole. I know my XLT as the wiring on the chassis side to support the LED DRLs found on the Lariat trim. But, the connector on the halogen light housing has a plug in where I put the yellow wire.

 

[airline tech]

Look at these comparisons:

Halogen & Aftermarket such as Morimoto's are wired like this.
Note: All Trims the (Main Harness) is wired for both (Halo & Led) so all 6 wires & contacts.
The change occurs at the (component side) on how the headlight itself is wired.

Note: The Halo Headlight does not use Pin #6, so it's not wired for it, as they use the Low Beam Circuit for DRL's, and the As-Built files are set in the BCM for them to operate as Halogen Headlight Assemblies.

So, Aftermarkets follow this same circuit (power) and instead of having buyers use Forscan to alter the As-Built files they use a tapped power source.
So, this takes away control from the BCM - The BCM throws fits for this, and it creates a battle for power issues.
Some have had luck setting them to work as (Factory Leds) via Forscan and the BCM is content with it.
The biggest issue with the Morimoto's is the Start-Up Sequence (Headlight Control - Circuit)
not wanting to sequence when the BCM has already commanded the headlights on.

The thread stalled that I had started but we need to investigate & verify if there is any aftermarket assembly that has Pin #6 and is wired the same as the factory Led's.
It may have been GTR I am thinking is one but not sure.

Factory Led - Note: Pin #6 is present, and Pin #8 is missing, this does not matter as this is a ground and Pin #4 & Pin #8 as spliced together in the wire harness

So, when I did my swap, I just swapped the headlight assemblies and used forscan to set all the As-Built files as if it were LEDs installed.
What the As-Built change mainly does is it moves the DRL off of the Low Beam and places it on the Dedicated DRL Circuit (Dedicated DRL Circuit =Pin #6) Power
Since the Aftermarkets do not have (Pin #6) the BCM has no way to control it, hence the tapped power source.

 

[ControlNode]

I think the LED use less current so splitting the ground across more than one pin was not required, while halogen use enough power that with markers/low/high all active a single ground pin would be over its rating.

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