2018 F150 headlights are garbage

[buck91]

So we recently traded in my wife's vehicle for a new F150. Still have my old 2011 F150... Anyways, I have noticed with all this winter night time driving that the 2018 headlights are absolutely crappy! Now don't get me wrong my 2011 didn't set any records but the headlights were always decent at least (Actually pretty dang good now with the 12ga relay harness I built). This '18, though, just aint the same. It actually isn't the same. Obviously the reflectors are substantially different but even the bulbs are different. The 2011 used 9008 but this new one uses H11 bulbs for the low beams. Are the H11 that much worse than the 9008/H13 bulbs? I really don't want to go through and build a wiring harness on a brand new truck but I'm afraid I might have to. I plan to trial some standard H9 bulbs (as these lamps have glare shield) but I'm sure Ford didn't leave a whole lot of wiggle room in wattage capacity of the wiring...

 

[PPWarrior]

If it is too dark for you to drive outside, you shouldn't risk getting into a crash.

 

[97prizm]

I'd take it back and see if they can align them. Many cases they need adjustment. Two over the last few years headlamps are one of the things i look at in regards to ratings.

 

[GMBoy]

Check the alignment and upgrade to a brighter bulb such as the Xtra Vision or Silver Star bulbs that are direct fit parts.

 

[charbaby]

+2
When I can't see, I tweak'em!

 

[billt460]

Headlights have ALL been "garbage" ever since they went to plastic lens covers.

 

[Old Mustang Guy]

At age 66, I thought I could still see just fine with regular headlights. I just got a 19 Avalon with LED headlights and wow! So much better. I wonder what it would take to convert to LED on an 18 model that you plan on keeping?

 

[BMWTurboDzl]

Originally Posted by billt460
Headlights have ALL been "garbage" ever since they went to plastic lens covers.



LOL...uh huh. I'd take Xenon's or LED's over glass lights any day.

 

[RooflessVW]

H11 you say? Little snip snip and H9s will nearly double the output and life.

 

[OVERKILL]

Does Ford offer upgraded lights for it? My buddy's dad's 2018 has LED headlights (like our new RAM) and apparently he's quite pleased with them.

 

[thescreensavers]

They do sell drop in headlights that are better than OEM

https://www.theretrofitsource.com/ford-f150-xb-led-headlights.html

 

[BISCUT]

Lots of new cars have horrible lights in them. Ford is a big culprit. Love my 15 F150 but had to change the lights out. I think its easier to do plugs than change a headlight on these guys :0 Went LED like a month into owning it and took the time to aim them right and jackpot.

From work I saw the same crummy lighting in Ford Explorers, Taurus, and Dodge as well.

 

[billt460]

Originally Posted by BMWTurboDzl
Originally Posted by billt460
Headlights have ALL been "garbage" ever since they went to plastic lens covers.

LOL...uh huh. I'd take Xenon's or LED's over glass lights any day.

The headlights have improved. But it doesn't do any good if the cheap plastic lenses cloud over in less than 12 months of UV exposure, like they do out here.

 

[meep]

I have the same truck with the same problem. The first thing I did was to re-aim them. Mine came from the factory pointing UP, so there was no light on the ground, at all. I've never seen headlights come from the factory like that. They were like 5 degrees above horizontal, and had to be awful for oncoming traffic too.

One of them also points slightly to the right, and there is no L-R adjustment. I was able to lower them to the street where the hot spots are ~50 yards in front of the truck and it's very driveable now, and by lowering them the rightward beam is now on the road instead of in the ditch.

I've wondered if new bulbs would help - I've seen oem bulbs come with the filament not quite centered, but it's now good enough that I've not needed to mess with it.

I'm leery of even the HID projector upgrades, having done a couple myself. Most of the upgrades I've done look great "on the garage door" but they've failed to properly distribute near-to-far, leaving too much light too close in and hurting distance vision. For the price of the TRS link above, I wouldn't dare spend that kind of coin without absolutely knowing that they got the distribution correct.

I just tried the "projector fog" thing going on out there for the 150. Mixed bag. Gobs of light. Lights up the nearfield well. Doesn't glare much. But it overpowers the headlamps and defeats any distance vision. I then modded the oem fog lamps for a 9006 bulb and ran it on the bench. The oem lamps have an excellent beam pattern! But they cooked with the 9006 and bubbled the chrome off the housing.

Hella makes a halogen low beam projector. I'm considering DIYing those into the fog lamp placement to supplement the stock low beams instead. Or just living with it. Getting the oem headlamps on the ground was a big improvement here.

 

[wrcsixeight]

Another vote for checking the aim.

i have no idea what year it was, but the other night I was being glared hard by an oncoming truck, which turned out to be a Ford. I gave them my high beams and they responded with theirs, but the misadjusted beam must have gone over my head as it became less painful to my eyes.

From a recent interview with Daniel Stern:
Quote
......There are other contributing factors. In North America, we don't pay good attention to headlamp aim, which is the single biggest determinant of how well we can see at night and how glaring our headlamps are. There's no legal requirement for high-mounted headlamps to be aimed lower than low-mounted headlamps—or for headlamps on new vehicles to be aimed correctly at all. Federal regulations are silent on the matter—it's left up to the states to set and enforce those rules. Most states don't bother, and those that do tend to have poorly written rules that give a pass to badly misaimed lamps.


source:

https://drivingintherealworld.com/part-1-lighting-the-way-with-guest-daniel-stern/

https://drivingintherealworld.com/part-2-lighting-the-way-with-daniel-stern/

 

[gathermewool]

Originally Posted by rooflessVW
H11 you say? Little snip snip and H9s will nearly double the output and life.


I've got H9 bulbs on the way for my Legacy.

I installed HIR bulbs in my previous Civic and they were a very noticeable improvement.

 

[IveBeenRued]

Did you check the IIHS ratings before buying the vehicle? If you had, the poor headlight performance shouldn't be a surprise to you. All three types of headlights available for that year were rated "Poor"; the halogens being the worst of the bunch.

https://www.iihs.org/iihs/ratings/vehicle/v/ford/f-150-crew-cab-pickup/2018

 

[meep]

Bulb mods - be careful - No bulb upgrade should be conducted if the lamp throws the light into drivers' eyes rather than on the road. Not only will a mis-aimed light continue to be ineffective at putting it on the road, it will also put even more light into someone else's face.

 

[Donald]

Back in the days, NJ State Inspection would check aim as part of inspection. No idea if they still do or if they even have state inspection stations.

 

[Skippy722]

Originally Posted by rooflessVW
H11 you say? Little snip snip and H9s will nearly double the output and life.


I'll be doing the same for our new van.

300 is getting some Diode Dynamics SL1 led's. Going to compare them to the 9011's I have in there currently.