Aux headlamps for Ford truck with weak LEDs?

[kingofwylietx]

Those turnbuckles are available in a variety of metals and so are the end pieces. Also, all those parts (turnbuckles and end rod ends) are available in different lengths and configurations. It's pretty cool.
To look, go to www.hobbytown.com and type 'turnbuckle' in the search bar. I was amazed at all the options. Some of the rods are bent, most are straight. The rod ends can be had in different offsets. Hobby Town is just a local store for me, so I was able to go in and dig through their inventory to find what I wanted. If you wanted to do something similar to my setup, you may be able to use a shorter rod and attach it from underneath.



I bought several lengths....I updated link to include additional pictures that would use the base of the light to add a bracket which would allow you to mount stabilizer bars. You could also bend a metal bar, then screw it to the top of your light and tie it back to the car, but it wouldn't be as easily adjustable. http://s241.photobucket.com/user/kingofwylietx/library/Light brackets


I plan to do Virgil's aiming process before permanently attaching my struts. This will get me in the neighborhood of proper aim. As long as I get it close, I can ensure that I don't overshoot the adjustable range of the rod ends when I take the truck to have them electronically aimed.

 

[fangle]

It is always nice to come here with a question and find the answer is already presented and well discussed. My '94-'01 style Ram pickup was going to get the sport light upgrade until I found that the housings are either not available or ~$250 each side. That's LED headlight territory.

kingofwylietx - Do you keep the factory lights on with the new lights? (This reminds me of my old truck with the plow lights, it ran either/or not both.)

Virgil - In an early post you listed JWSpeaker, Truck-Lite, and Peterson. The JWSpeaker is significantly more expensive. How much difference is there in performance? I am not afraid of the extra if it will show in use.

Thanks!

 

[-Virgil-]

It is always nice to come here with a question and find the answer is already presented and well discussed. My '94-'01 style Ram pickup was going to get the sport light upgrade until I found that the housings are either not available or ~$250 each side. That's LED headlight territory.

You really should still do the Sport light upgrade; the non-Sport lamps are severely deficient. The Chrysler-official parts are N/A any more, but there are actually some affordable and acceptably decent aftermarket units for that application. You have to be picky and choosy about brand, but if you will do that you will wind up with much better headlighting. You might or might not still want auxiliary lights.

Virgil - In an early post you listed JWSpeaker, Truck-Lite, and Peterson. The JWSpeaker is significantly more expensive. How much difference is there in performance? I am not afraid of the extra if it will show in use.

All of them are good. I like the JWS beam pattern best, but which one is best for you, really depends on your particular driving and weather conditions.

 

[fangle]

The Chrysler-official parts are N/A any more, but there are actually some affordable and acceptably decent aftermarket units for that application. You have to be picky and choosy about brand, but if you will do that you will wind up with much better headlighting.

Suggestions on how to choose? Non-OEM housings have always been frowned upon here. I see many brands that all have the same some good/some horrible reviews. None of the brands are recognizable, and it looks like there are a few suppliers selling to everyone. From memory, I think it was TYC that made a replacement housing I used in my Mustang. It was better than the yellowed stock lens, but not nearly as good as the new OEM housings I later installed. To replace a standard light on the truck I used Dorman as at least that's a recognized name. I am not impressed with the molding and gluing, I will get it in the truck this week and see how well it lights. I know that in the next few months I will need better, but the original housing was letting in water from a crack somewhere and needed immediate repair.

As always, thanks for the help!

 

[Alaric Darconville]

From memory, I think it was TYC that made a replacement housing I used in my Mustang. It was better than the yellowed stock lens, but not nearly as good as the new OEM housings I later installed. To replace a standard light on the truck I used Dorman as at least that's a recognized name.

TYC and DEPO, like Dorman, are recognized names. Recognized for being NOT what you want unless you've got a GM product and it's a DEPO lamp made by them *for* GM, because at least there's some GM oversight there (the lamps will be marked GM, as well). But when branded DEPO, avoid with very spare exceptions. The same avoiding goes for TYC and Dorman, and Spyder, and Anzo, and Spec-D, and....

 

[-Virgil-]

Suggestions on how to choose?

Your best bet is going to be this set: left, right.

Non-OEM housings have always been frowned upon here.

That is true, but (1) when something's not available any more, it's not available any more, and (2) in this case, the OEM housings toward the end of their production declined in quality, while meanwhile DEPO has been making a good effort to up their game, and they're actually turning out some respectable lamps now.

 

[kingofwylietx]

........
kingofwylietx - Do you keep the factory lights on with the new lights? (This reminds me of my old truck with the plow lights, it ran either/or not both.)

Virgil - In an early post you listed JWSpeaker, Truck-Lite, and Peterson. The JWSpeaker is significantly more expensive. How much difference is there in performance? I am not afraid of the extra if it will show in use.

Thanks!

The way mine is wired, it allows me to do either. I can use the factory lights or I can use the factory lights with the JW Speaker lights. I have a switch controlled relay on the main power circuit to interrupt/provide 12V to terminal 30 on the other relays. Once the switch it turned on, the relays do their magic and mimic all the factory functions.

I will say, I am a huge fan of the color temperature of the JW Speaker units. I keep getting side-tracked, but I really hope to button this up on Saturday. I still need to permanently attach the struts I bought. I also need to redo some wiring, because I bought a relay box that will house my relays and not have them dangling. I'll post up pics once that is all cleaned up.

 

[kingofwylietx]

Okay, so I've worked it out in a way that I won't need to drill into the truck.

No more test fitting, here is one of the struts attached to the light. 1 down, 3 more to go.

 

[Alaric Darconville]

Very nice!

 

[kingofwylietx]

Thanks Alaric! This has only taken me 9 months.....right about how long it takes to have a kid. Ironically, this project has been my baby.

I'm on the downhill side of this mountain. I am having a tough time getting these tiny stainless fastener pieces to come together, there isn't much space between the cooling fins. I'm using tweezers to hold these things as I assemble the washers. I probably dropped the washers and nuts 30 times each before getting that first one together. Fortunately, I have spares. Several fell, bounced, and have vaporized. I assume they vaporized because I can't find them anywhere.

 

[Alaric Darconville]

Thanks Alaric! This has only taken me 9 months.....right about how long it takes to have a kid. Ironically, this project has been my baby.

After months (years?) planning an auxiliary high beam install on an RX300, I finally have the bumper marked for drilling! I at least by now could have pulled the wires and installed the relay and whatnot...

I'm on the downhill side of this mountain. I am having a tough time getting these tiny stainless fastener pieces to come together, there isn't much space between the cooling fins. I'm using tweezers to hold these things as I assemble the washers. I probably dropped the washers and nuts 30 times each before getting that first one together. Fortunately, I have spares. Several fell, bounced, and have vaporized. I assume they vaporized because I can't find them anywhere.

Just use what you'd use to find a needle in a haystack: Magnets (unless they're nonmagnetic, duh).

As far as keeping things together, perhaps a small dab of Elmer's glue on parts to kindof 'tack' them together might help. A magnet might even come in handy to keep the washers 'stuck' to the strut itself (if I'm picturing how it goes together correctly).

 

[kingofwylietx]

Just use what you'd use to find a needle in a haystack: Magnets (unless they're nonmagnetic, duh).

As far as keeping things together, perhaps a small dab of Elmer's glue on parts to kindof 'tack' them together might help. A magnet might even come in handy to keep the washers 'stuck' to the strut itself (if I'm picturing how it goes together correctly).

Unfortunately, they were a non-magnetic stainless. I never found them. They must have bounced into some opening of the truck, dissolved into the concrete, or floated away.

In either case, I have all 4 struts attached and they are very stable. The light will not change aim without adjusting the struts now. I'm incredibly pleased with how it all came together. The lights shouldn't wiggle or bounce at all when going over bumps or going through a car wash. I expect that only a wreck will throw them off.

I'm doing a little rewiring on them today, I'll be done with that tonight.

So, I kind of cheated on the initial aiming of them. I pointed the truck at a wall with the headlights and the aux low beams turned on. I measured the distance from ground of each light, then the drop in angle of the factory lights to the wall from their physical height. I adjusted the aux low beams to have the same angle as the headlights. I know it is a faulty way to do a final aim, but it should have put me in the neighborhood for an initial aim. Now that I have it [hopefully] close, I will take it somewhere for a proper aim/alignment. I figure I'll have them do the factory truck headlights while I'm there.....I'd bet anyone a dozen donuts that they were not properly aimed at the factory.

I plan to call a few places to see where I can go to get them aimed. Should I specifically ask if they have an optical beamsetter? I've spent a great deal of time & money on doing this to the best of my ability, so I want to make sure my final step (aiming) is done right.

 

[kingofwylietx]

Your solution with the turnbuckles sounds intriguing. Take pictures and post them here?

Here is a pic of the final installation with 2 struts (turnbuckles) per light. I'm happy to post pics from other angles if anyone is interested.

 

[-Virgil-]

I plan to call a few places to see where I can go to get them aimed. Should I specifically ask if they have an optical beamsetter?

"Beamsetter" is Hella's name for their machine. Ask if they have an optical headlamp aiming machine, one of those that looks like a TV camera and gets wheeled in front of one headlamp at a time to aim it. The answer you're looking for is "yes". If they say "We point them at the wall/at a screen/at the garage door", hang up and keep trying.

Nice install, BTW!

 

[JasonOk]

Nice fab work using the mini turnbulckles!