First off I want to change my headlights and foglights to something brighter. I just want to simply change the bulbs, I dont want to have to mess with the wiring or anything like that. Also I want to make sure its safe and not going to blow fuses or get so hot it will melt my lamps. Need some suggestions on good bulbs...

Also, how do I mod my foglights to stay on when I hit my brights...and there must be a reason they go off? Is it safe to change this? Has anyone had any problems?

Need help guys...Thanks

 

i was told the Silverstars are awesome for our trucks, i dont have them yet, but im told that they rock...
for the foglight mod.. check out www.Generation-edge.com and look on there for the "How-to" Mods, and it will tell you exactly what to do

 

Clickity click below Sparky Kid
FOG LIGHT MOD 2001-2003 RANGERS

 

there ya go :-) People helping People... that what i like to see!

 

What is the max wattage I should use?

 

^^^^^what he said!^^^^

 

Because it is illegal to run both high beams and fogs, and it is also illegal to run brighter bulbs, and while we're at it it can be illegal to run fogs when it isn't foggy depending on where you are. Not to mention it is dangerous for other drivers around you, hence the laws existing in the first place.

 

That's the first Ranger mod I ever designed, like probably 3 years ago or something.

EDIT: SilverStar bulbs from Sylvania are brighter to the eye than standard bulbs by quite a bit, yet meet DOT standards. They are one of the safest upgrades. Higher wattage bulbs have damaged MANY Ranger's wiring harness and connectors. Unless you are going to rewire your headlights, stay away from ANYTHING higher wattage than stock. Ford did NOT design ANY headroom into the wiring system.

 

I definitely recommend Sylvania Silverstar bulbs. They produce a brighter, whiter light, yet as N3ELZ said, they are DOT legal.

 

Technically if you want to look at all the fine print, red tape, blue tape, yellow tape...everything that isn't stock on a vehicle isn't legal. But who cares. I have done the foglight mod and it really isn't a problem because I drive on the freeway most of the time so the brights are not on all that much. And when they are on it is on country backroads where no one is on them anyway. So do whatever you want to your truck...it is exactly that YOUR truck.

O yeah, Silverstars rock...I had a bad set that cooked my harness...but got ford to replace it under warranty :)

 

This is rather not true. Especially in the case of something like headlight bulbs. They are a WEAR PART (which means they're expected to burn out eventually) so how could it be illegal to replace them? It would be illegal not to replace them! The Silvania Silverstars are DOT approved replacement bulbs, hence 100% legal.

That aside, alot of car mods are protected under the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act (http://www.granatellimotorsports.com/magnusonmoss.htm). So how can something protected by federal law be illegal?

Now parts that modify the emissions or the emission-controls on a vehicle are illegal in some states, esp. California.

 

If you change parts on your truck with aftermarket...are they covered under warranty? No.

Now the bulbs are supposed to be replaced with factory bulbs, not aftermarket. But I am not saying that this is a bad thing, it is just the sad truth. If I didn't swap my stock lights back in, they wouldn't have covered my harnesses.

 

Quite to the contrary. Once the vehicle ownership is transfered from the dealership to you, your vehicle is governed by state laws. These laws vary by state but in most cases, they are for more forgiving than the Federal standards that dealers and manufacturers must comply with. To say that anything other than stock is illegal is a gross mis-conception.

DOT standards state that when you turn your high beams on, all other road lighting must shut down. This is why every vehicle's stock fog lights shut off when you turn on the high beams. However, if your state does not have a law that says the same thing, you can do whatever you want with them. Your not a dealer or manufacturer so those federal DOT standards do not apply to you as the end-user.

As for bulbs, I would personally get the Sylvania Xtra Vision bulbs. They are the same as the Silverstars but without that slight blue tinge. The result is even more light. It isn't by a lot but I noticed a difference with them. ALWAYS, whatever you do, remember not to put high wattage bulbs in.

 

Yep...that is what a kc daylighter is for lol

Hey FireRanger, I am slowly catching up with you! I found out that I get discounts from trucklite through my work and they sell strobeheads in LED and everything!

 

GAAAH! THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS AN STROBE LED OR AND LED STROBE!!!! Sorry, that's always been a pet peeve of mine. :D It is either an LED or a Strobe. They are seperate animals.

Good luck catching up. I'm going to be adding intersection lights soon too :)

Be careful with what you buy from Trucklite. A lot of their warnign lights are cheezy crap with flashie descriptions to make them sound cool. PM me or something with what your looking at and I'll let you know.

 

I will get all of the part numbers when I go into work tomorrow and let you know. They are all sealed beams. I know that some ambulance and firetruck outfitters use them. They also have their own strobe controllers too.

 

Doh, yeah, it would be an LED flasher lol

 

Well, I can assure you that Ambulance and Fire Apparatus manufacturers do NOT use emergency lights from Trucklite. Far far far from it! Trust me.

I'll look at it and let you know if it is junk or not, just get me the #'s.

 

LED Strobe with metalized reflector, Red 60362R
http://www.truck-lite.com/webapp/wcs...&langId=-1

http://www.truck-lite.com/webapp/wcs...&langId=-1

http://www.truck-lite.com/webapp/wcs...&langId=-1

 

Alrighty. Lighting Eval 101 with Matt. First, please don't mind my sarcasm in this, it comes naturally and involuntarily since i have been doing this so long.

The 60362R "LED Strobe with Metalized Reflector" is a joke. I've seen many of those on highway jobs around here. I would call them a suped up bicycle tail light. First of all, the reflector part is a gimick. They are LED's, there is no light to reflect because LED's only emit light in the direction they are facing. You could put a mirror behind it, you will still get nothing more out of it. So that leaves just the LED's and the lens. They are WEAK. Albeit better than some of the POS LED flashers out there, it is still not worth the money. Oh, and god damn it, IT IS NOT A STROBE!! It might have a strobe-like effect but calling it an "LED Strobe" is a sure sign that it is a POS and are aiming for people who don't know any better.

The first on you linked, the "LED Dash/Deck" light. That is an old school Whelen Slimlighter. I have one in my back window that I bought about 3 years ago. It isn't bad but it has been obsoleted by several newer products that are actually cheaper. I don't know what they are charging you but I would be willing to bet it is gauged to begin with and not worth it anyway. Retail prices... Amber & red combos are $150.00. If you want blue, white, or green, the price goes up exponentially due to the older LED's it uses. There are far better lights, I will link later.

The second one you linked that straps over your visor. Just pretend it doesn't exist. It is the most worthless POS ever invented. Not worth further description.

The third one linked is a Code 3 PSE LED-X Body Mount LED. Not bad, however again, there are much better lights on the market. Plus, I think they are ugly. For what it's worth, they retail for about $140.00.



Now, my recomendations as replacements for the above:

The Whelen Talon LED dash light is the brightest dash light every invented. I was flabbergasted when this LED was blinding at off-angles. It totally kicks ***! Retail is $221.00 for a double, $119.00 for a single.
http://www.vlsusa.com/cgi-bin/vlsusa/TLN2%2A.html


This is the newer version of that slim LED dash/deck light. It is the Whelen Slimlighter MM It uses newer generation LED's that are a LOT brighter. It is cheaper, brighter, and better. The aformentioned Talon is still brighter than all of them, but sometimes it comes down to price or what fits in the space. Retail is $194.00
http://www.vlsusa.com/cgi-bin/vlsusa/SLPMM.html


The Whelen TIR3 LED body mount little thing. Scew that other Code 3 thing. These little puppies are only $55.00 each and are KILLER bright. Any new installation I do on a personal vehicle uses these now. You just can not beat them. They even have self-contained flashers. You set the patterns and away they go. You can use the interconnect wire and syncronize them! $55.00 can not beat for what you get here!
http://www.vlsusa.com/cgi-bin/vlsusa/TIR3.html


Class dismissed. :)

 

I may be able to get away with just a few Whelen TIR3 LED's

I can link them together you say...so I could have a row running across the space between the bumper and the tailgate and they could be sequenced together?

yay for fireranger!!! I know where I am bringing my ?'s on led's to lol

 

Yep, There is an interconnect wire on each one. Then, you can set each one for alternating or simultaneous. They are pretty slick.

 

SWEEEEEEEEEET!!!

 

Go Whelen, other stuff is crap.

Listen to fire ranger, he knows his stuff.

Have fun with the lights man.

 

Yeah I have the whelen 90w strobes waiting to go in. I need to mod the headlights though. I am also pondering the idea of a lightbar on top but I think that might just be a lil over the top...

I already have the headlight flashers in. Next thing will be to hook up a flasher unit to the fogs and also to hook up my back-off unit for the tails.

Basically I am going to try to make someone puke if they look at all the lights for too long lol Not really just want it to be a traveling light show when I am out on the job lol. Pay ya bills!