XLT to Lariat Headlamp Upgrade

BOT_ROCKET

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Just like anything in life you get what you pay for.
That's not at all true. I'm very confident my $70 Hikary Ultra bulbs are as good if not better than the $150-200 bulbs sold by Headlight Revolution. In fact, I'd wager the $40 Nineo gen 2 are nearly as good as the identical $150+ SV-4.

The problem with drop in LEDs is how inconsistent they are. None of them are DOT legal, so there are no regulations regarding performance. For example, Hikari previously had 2 lines. A $40 line and the $90 (~$70 with coupon) Ultra line. Now they have a newer $70 "2020" line that I can tell you 100% without a doubt is terrible, and will handily be outperformed by the old $40 line.

There are plenty of other examples of more expensive bulbs that are junk because they use a poor design. There are also plenty of examples of cheap bulbs (or any other product) that perform great. You just have to put in the effort to find them.
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Just like anything in life you get what you pay for.
Sadly, there's less and less correlation between price and quality. All it means if something is expensive is that they thought they could get away with charging more.
 

Inklesstako

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Eh man whatever floats your boat. But if you haven’t tried these LEDs then you don’t know. Try them out and let us know what you think. All I can say is I’m happy with brightness, color, and beam pattern
 

Deleted member 1634

Another problem with a loss in focus is glare. Depending on your driving situation, glare may or may not be a major factor. I spend 99% of my driving on well lit, hilly streets, so a small change in the cutoff isn't going to matter. If you drive on dark, flat roads a lot, a small change in your cutoff may piss off a lot of people and cause unsafe driving conditions. That's the part of the Headlight Revolution videos that pisses me off. They promote and sell headlights based on a close range, max lux test. People are spending upwards of $200 on certain bulbs that may be throwing retina searing demon semen into the eyes of oncoming traffic. Dont get me wrong, the GTR Ultra 2 looks solid, as does the SV4, but I doubt they're worth their price when compared to many, much cheaper options.
I'll say one thing that though these LED bulb swaps may produce more glare, I'm not sure they'll be any more annoying than the brand new stock LED headlights I'm seeing on some new vehicles. As an example, the new Silverados have extremely annoying and hurtful LED headlights. To the point where I thought they were bad swaps on an older truck. So I guess my point is that, sure LEDs may not be as precise a pattern as halogens, and they may produce more glare than halogens, but there are brand new stock vehicles that are probably as annoying, if not more so, than any reasonable bulb swap we can do. Sure there are crazy bright swaps people are doing, I definitely don't condone those, but any reasonable swap seems like it should fall within the ever moving line of annoying headlight acceptance.

Just my opinions. I have no factual data regarding brightness, intensity, or glare of said new stock LED headlights. Nor am I trying to argue that LED low beams should necessarily be swapped, or do I disagree that the pattern may be off and there may be extra glare. Just adding to the discussion. Your results may vary.
 

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I'll say one thing that though these LED bulb swaps may produce more glare, I'm not sure they'll be any more annoying than the brand new stock LED headlights I'm seeing on some new vehicles. As an example, the new Silverados have extremely annoying and hurtful LED headlights. To the point where I thought they were bad swaps on an older truck. So I guess my point is that, sure LEDs may not be as precise a pattern as halogens, and they may produce more glare than halogens, but there are brand new stock vehicles that are probably as annoying, if not more so, than any reasonable bulb swap we can do. Sure there are crazy bright swaps people are doing, I definitely don't condone those, but any reasonable swap seems like it should fall within the ever moving line of annoying headlight acceptance.

Just my opinions. I have no factual data regarding brightness, intensity, or glare of said new stock LED headlights. Nor am I trying to argue that LED low beams should necessarily be swapped, or do I disagree that the pattern may be off and there may be extra glare. Just adding to the discussion. Your results may vary.
Dont mistake what I said. I'm not talking about the all LEDs. Some are much worse than others.

The problem with the new OEM LEDs, I believe, is the the optics are so precise that the cutoff is very defined, and the light just below the cutoff is extremely bright. Combine that with beams that are aimed quite high (ie Ford cars and SUVs) or are mounted high so they shine right in your mirrors (ie Silverado). Those lights still meet the legal requirements, though, unlike the LEDs with oversided emitters.
 


Deleted member 1634

Dont mistake what I said. I'm not talking about the all LEDs. Some are much worse than others.

The problem with the new OEM LEDs, I believe, is the the optics are so precise that the cutoff is very defined, and the light just below the cutoff is extremely bright. Combine that with beams that are aimed quite high (ie Ford cars and SUVs) or are mounted high so they shine right in your mirrors (ie Silverado). Those lights still meet the legal requirements, though, unlike the LEDs with oversided emitters.
I think I understand. The OEM LEDs are just as bright as, if not brighter than, the bulb swap LEDs we've all been talking about, just more precise in their pattern and cutoff. But I guess part of my point still stands I think. If I'm already getting blinded by OEM LEDs, even sitting up high in the Ranger, and they have correct patterns and cutoffs, then using these swaps won't seem any worse to the average driver. Again, not saying that's okay, or that they are legal or correct pattern wise, or that we should necessarily be doing the swaps. Just that they may not be any worse to the surrounding drivers than the worst, and already annoying, OEM LED headlights out there these days. I think I'm more concerned with how bright and annoying headlights are getting altogether, whether stock or after market. So we're annoyed about the same thing essentially I would say.
 

BOT_ROCKET

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I think I understand. The OEM LEDs are just as bright as, if not brighter than, the bulb swap LEDs we've all been talking about, just more precise in their pattern and cutoff. But I guess part of my point still stands I think. If I'm already getting blinded by OEM LEDs, even sitting up high in the Ranger, and they have correct patterns and cutoffs, then using these swaps won't seem any worse to the average driver. Again, not saying that's okay, or that they are legal or correct pattern wise, or that we should necessarily be doing the swaps. Just that they may not be any worse to the surrounding drivers than the worst, and already annoying, OEM LED headlights out there these days. I think I'm more concerned with how bright and annoying headlights are getting altogether, whether stock or after market. So we're annoyed about the same thing essentially I would say.
To an extent, yes. Annoying isn't necessarily unsafe. A lot of times the LEDs just seem brighter due to the short wavelength being more abrasive to your vision, but aren't affecting your night vision recovery. The oem ones may be annoying, but usually aren't actually blinding you, whereas poorly designed LEDs or even any bulb that isn't meant to be in a particular housing (ie HID in a non-glare capped reflector) may put other motorists directly in the main beam, or have them looking directly at the source of the light. That light will be significantly brighter, and brightness, not wavelength, is what affects night vision recovery. Many tests show drivers may feel more discomfort with whiter light, but dont actually experience adverse affects.
 

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thank you OP for posting your video and making this thread even though it’s gone way off track. I was able to get a pair of the Lariat headlights and just got done doing the swap. Came out great. For those who are on the fence about getting some retro fit led setup and potentially hating it after spending a few hundred bucks on those bulbs, you can source these headlights if you are patient from junkyards or eBay. I got mine for 1k for the pair. Seems like a lot but not a whole lot more than running through several sets of bulbs and having issues with aftermarket kits.

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Wanted to throw an update out there for anyone else doing this swap.

I noticed my DRL was still my low beams with the new headlights just as it was with the halogens. I really wanted the LED strip to be the DRL. So I did some poking around and found out that it’s a forscan setting that can be modified (found it in this forum)

so I got my forscan all setup (I had been procrastinating on this), and went into the settings. I turned on all the options and then selected the “dedicated DRL”. It indeed turned off the low beams as DRL but sadly it appears the XL and XLT wire harness lack the pinned wire that runs the dedicated DRL. I had no DRL with this function selected. So I went back in and the only other options were turn signals, low beams, high beams or none. I selected turn signals and thy does work. For now this is how I will run it. But I plan to run the dedicated wire and pin it in. I have a factory wire manual for the truck so I will get it figured out.

this is the only real “snag” in this otherwise simple plug n play swap. The LED strip does still function when parking lights and or headlights are on. They just can’t be controlled individually. I will update this once I figure it out.
 

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Wanted to throw an update out there for anyone else doing this swap.

I noticed my DRL was still my low beams with the new headlights just as it was with the halogens. I really wanted the LED strip to be the DRL. So I did some poking around and found out that it’s a forscan setting that can be modified (found it in this forum)

so I got my forscan all setup (I had been procrastinating on this), and went into the settings. I turned on all the options and then selected the “dedicated DRL”. It indeed turned off the low beams as DRL but sadly it appears the XL and XLT wire harness lack the pinned wire that runs the dedicated DRL. I had no DRL with this function selected. So I went back in and the only other options were turn signals, low beams, high beams or none. I selected turn signals and thy does work. For now this is how I will run it. But I plan to run the dedicated wire and pin it in. I have a factory wire manual for the truck so I will get it figured out.

this is the only real “snag” in this otherwise simple plug n play swap. The LED strip does still function when parking lights and or headlights are on. They just can’t be controlled individually. I will update this once I figure it out.
The wire for dedicated drl was pinned on my truck's harness (pin 6). Moving the drl to the strip worked for me using these forscan settings:

BdyCM (As-Built)
Find 726-45-01: xxxx XXxx xxxx
Allows All DRL Options
Change To: 7F

Find 726-50-01: XXXX
Change to below:
Dedicated DRL - 108E - lariat led strip

If those settings don't work you might also have to play with the settings in the simplified menu section.

Edit ** update** Do not use the settings above. Use the settings from post #121 instead.
https://www.ranger5g.com/forum/threads/xlt-to-lariat-headlamp-upgrade.2750/post-124198
 
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Stockranger

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The wire for dedicated drl was pinned on my truck's harness (pin 6). Moving the drl to the strip worked for me using these forscan settings:

BdyCM (As-Built)
Find 726-45-01: xxxx XXxx xxxx
Allows All DRL Options
Change To: 7F

Find 726-50-01: XXXX
Change to below:
Dedicated DRL - 108E - lariat led strip

If those settings don't work you might also have to play with the settings in the simplified menu section.

Good to know! I will try that thank you. I used the dummy switches and didn’t go into the as-built. When they didn’t come on with the lights in auto, car in gear I figured it was missing the wire. I hope this works for me.
 

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Good to know! I will try that thank you. I used the dummy switches and didn’t go into the as-built. When they didn’t come on with the lights in auto, car in gear I figured it was missing the wire. I hope this works for me.
It should.....the menu section didn't work for me either.
 

User79

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Tried it. No DRL. Do to any other setting and it works.
Interesting....
I know the "as-built" settings I posted are what I used but maybe I had to change something in the menu section & I just don't remember. When I get a chance I'll connect to mine & see what they are set at.
 

Stockranger

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Interesting....
I know the "as-built" settings I posted are what I used but maybe I had to change something in the menu section & I just don't remember. When I get a chance I'll connect to mine & see what they are set at.
i appreciate that. I wonder if it was a change to the harness at some point in the build dates? Mine was built late, in august. Do you know when yours was built?
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