F150 Headlights

F150 Headlights and You!

There's a lot of F150 headlights to choose from, and there's more than a few misconceptions about F150 headlights and what they do for your truck.

Light Output
While aftermarket F150 headlights do look aggressive, the majority don't do much to actually improve overall light output. Most headlights still come with halogen bulbs for both their high and low beams, so while they don't necessarily hurt your output over stock, they don't do much to improve it either. To really get a bump in output, you'll need an LED or HID conversion kit, which work extremely well in projector lenses. Just keep in mind that most aftermarket headlights use different bulbs than stock and to order your conversion kits accordingly.

Projector Lenses and what they actually do
The vast majority of aftermarket headlights for the F150s come with projector lenses for at least the low beams, if not for both high and low beams. Unlike OEM-style reflectors that use a reflective surface over the housing of the light to scatter light as much as possible, projectors use an enclosed light assembly with an outer lens that captures light and turns it into a more focused beam that tends to have longer range (if less width and breadth) than a reflector. While actual light output isn't much different from a standard reflector, the focus of the beam and its cutoff can give the impression of a loss in output. To combat that effect, you can drop in an LED or HID conversion kit.

How LED Accents and Switchbacks Work:
Many aftermarket headlights come with various LED accents, outline strips, or switchback systems. The LED accents on most F150 headlights are powered off your F150's parking light bulbs or come with leads meant to tap the parking light wiring. With the LEDs tapped or tied into the parking light wiring, that means that the accents will only come on if you have the parking lights selected on your headlight switch or if the low beams are on. LED accents do not usually function as true Daytime Running Lights (DRLs) without custom wiring.