Clear Headlamps - Diesel Forum

POLR BR · 06-30-2001, 01:43 AM

The clear headlamps Ford developed for the monochrome X has now been released and is available. Part numbers are 1C3Z-13008-AA for left and 1C3Z-13008-BA for right headlamps. List price is $168.74. I paid $120.00. I plan to install them on the X unless my wife doesn't want them. Rest assured I won't try to persuade her if she does not want them and if they go on the CC, they are not coming off. [img]images/icons/laugh.gif[/img]

wacojoe · 06-30-2001, 08:08 AM

Let us know how they work, please.

X-cuses · 06-30-2001, 09:13 AM

Ditto on the let us know. The four pack flourescents I installed on the front grill keep getting hit with stones and breaking!!!(and hauling the 110V generator to power them up is somewhat impractical)

ceferino · 06-30-2001, 06:01 PM

What do you mean when you say "clear headlights?"

1. The forward surface is clear and smooth, with fluting on the reflector instead (just like Honda started with Accords years ago). So it looks "cool" but light output is still from a 9007 bulb.

2. Something significant like HID lighting or H4 bulbs.

In other words, is this an improvement in the light output onto the road, or just a better looking headlight?

If you really want good lighting, buy the headlight buckets for a base Super Duty and put them in. Then install Euro-code H4 lamps in there. Wire up relays and run 80/100w H4 bulbs. That will improve your light output dramatically - about as good as HID would be.

POLR BR · 06-30-2001, 10:30 PM

I will change the stock 9007 bulbs. I did confirm before ordering that the bulbs are replaceable as with the current headlamps. Whether I go with with PIAA 9007 or try something like the H4 remains to be seen. I want to see how the new lamps will work first.

As we all know the stock headlamps diffuse the light badly and so installing 80/100 Watt bulbs made very little difference. I have been informed the new headlamps have much better reflectors that focus the light output.

VTFireftr · 06-30-2001, 11:04 PM

Hello All,

Just my 2 cents on this subject.

My company car (2000 Crown Victoria) has the "clear" headlights.

To be honest, these headlights aren't any bette than the lights on my 2001 F 250. Also, after driving this car for 2 years, there is noticable "pitting" and dulling of the outside lenses.

I attribute this dulling to "sandblasting" and the wonderful New England salt used in the winter to clear the roads.

Just thought you might want to know.

Happy 4th!

Marc

ceferino · 07-01-2001, 01:09 AM

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR>...As we all know the stock headlamps diffuse the light badly and so installing 80/100 Watt bulbs made very little difference. I have been informed the new headlamps have much better reflectors that focus the light output.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

It doesn't make sense that they'd be better if the only difference between the 2000 lights and the "clear headlights" is where the lens fluting is. In fact, a perfectly smooth spherical surface makes the best reflector. That's why the reflectors in high quality lights such as Cibie, Hella, or PIAA are smooth.

Honda started this fad of putting the fluting on the reflector a few years back, and it looks cool to have a clear front lens. But the only gain is looks. The best lights in the world still put the fluting on the lense and keep the reflector smooth.

So in "light" of these facts (get it?), I'm highly dubious that these new "clear headlights" shed any more light on the road than the 2000 headlights.

As you noted above, the factor that limits light output in the 2000 lights is the 9007 bulb. If the "clear headlights" have a 9007 too, they'll put out no more light. I have 80/100w 9007s in my X and the light is pathetic compared to the stock H4s in my wife's Sequoia.

PIAA is just another decent brand enjoying its 15 min of fame. Their 9007 bulb won't be better than anybody else's. Phillips makes the best bulbs I've used.

You can't put an H4 in a 9007 housing. I tried years ago with only limited success after mucho mucho sweat and time. The filaments are oriented 90 degrees differently in those bulbs.

Check out http://lighting.mbz.org/ if you really want to read up on lighting. The guy's a real jerk and I don't recommend doing business with him, but his site presents loads of useful info on lighting.

AJ'sDad · 07-05-2001, 05:14 PM

APC has made a 4 light system out of a 9007 system for both the Dodge Neon and the F150.

I called them about this and they said that they are in the process of making a 4 light system for the Excursions and Superduties. The low beams will be projector lamps (not HID) and the high beams will be regular bulbs. The lenses are clear.

I'm going to wait before I go and buy the 2002 lights. For about the same money, I'd rather have the APC lights if they are as good as I hope they are.

POLR BR · 07-06-2001, 01:07 AM

Thanks for the tips all. I will see how my dealer reacts to my telling them to return them. Since I get jobber pricing, I may gladly pay any restocking fee. I thought the APC units were supposed to be out last February. I guess I will just have to wait some more. Am headed for moose alley (Wawa, Ontario) in a couple of weeks. I always seem to land there after dark. Hate driving half blind.

skeys · 07-06-2001, 01:50 AM

I have been using the clear headlamps, well, at night, anyway, for two months now.
The headlamps in my ex, i.e., the F-350 I sold, blew light all over the place.
The headlamps in my Ex, i.e., my Excursion, aims the light with a cutoff about 30-40 feet in front of the Ex. There's no more light, just a defined cutoff.
I am looking for a replacement lamp which will give more light.
Oh, yeah, LOL, the one nice thing about the new headlamps: I always turn them on when entering my garage. They project a circle on the wall and when the top of the circle disappears below the front edge of the Ex, it's time to stop. There'll be about 5 inches of space between the Ex's bumper and the dent in the wallboard made by my ex's (the F350) bumper when attempting to make it fit inside the garage so I could close the garage door.
(With the Ex (the Excursion) in the garage, I can actually walk around behind it with the garage door closed.)
Steve

bjornar · 07-09-2001, 03:47 AM

The main difference between H4 and 9007/9004 bulbs is that the H4 has a "cup" under one filament. Your driving lights uses that filament, shining into the top of the reflector casting light down and in front of the vehicle. The hi-beam filament and technology is almost identical between the different bulb types (except maybe the hi-beam filament is a little farther out on the 9000-series which could account for more spread?).
I had the small SuperDuty XL-series lights with H4 bulbs, and they did not work much better than the US originals. Maybe better cutoff on the driving lights, but less effect of the hi beams. I guess the smaller reflector doesn't help.
I installed rectangular Hella 220s, and my hi-beams are now adequate...

AJ'sDad · 07-09-2001, 11:38 AM

I have Phillips 55/100 H4 bulbs in my Bronco and they are some of the best lights I have ever been behind.

The lenses and housings are a brand called Eagle, I think. I ordered them about 10 years ago from JC Whitney.

ceferino · 07-10-2001, 04:13 PM

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR> ... The main difference between H4 and 9007/9004 bulbs is that the H4 has a "cup" under one filament. ... I had the small SuperDuty XL-series lights with H4 bulbs, and they did not work much better than the US originals. ...
I installed rectangular Hella 220s, and my hi-beams are now adequate...<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Bjornar,

First let me add one more significant difference. The H4 has a filament that is oriented 90 degrees different from 9004/7 bulbs. That makes a big difference in where the output light is focused, and the fluting is designed with that in mind. I once drilled and hacked up 9004 bases so I could slide an H4 core in there. I got more light but finding the right focal point for the bulb was impossible.

Second, if your SD H4 lights were not dramatically superior to the flush-surface US originals, then there were of poor quality or something was wrong with them. I've used Euro-code H4 lamps for over 20 years and in every case they provide much superior light to DOT headlamps. Recently, some DOT-legal headlights are much better, mostly on imported cars.

Third, are those Hella 220s conversion lamps that go in place of the SD H4 lamps you had? Or are they an extra pair of lamps that you added? I added some rectangular Hella H3 lamps to my bumper to get additional high beam lighting.

bjornar · 07-11-2001, 05:37 AM

Reno, (Husker Du = "do you remember"; a norwegian TV programme of days long gone)

The H4 lamps originally mounted on my Ex was the same appearance as the standard sealed beam lights as the XL-grade SD trucks. The holder, fairing and all that was all SD vintage, but the light itself was a 5x7 Cibie H4 unit.

The Hella 220s are extra hi-beams. I've recently cut a hole in the grille (!) and mounted them hanging from the upper lateral support in front of the radiator(s).

Read most about it at http://www.bgnett.no/~bjornar/truck.html

The Exs now delivered by Ford Norway have E-code H4 lamps which are visually identical to the US 9007 units. I haven't been able to check if they really work better. Not really dark here at night; you can read the newspaper outside all night...

The E-code lights have numbers similar to the ones POLR BR said, but I was given:
1C3Z-13008-AA for the right and 1C3Z-13007-AA for left. By the way, in Norway the will cost $ 340 - a piece!

ceferino · 07-14-2001, 01:35 AM

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR> ... The Exs now delivered by Ford Norway have E-code H4 lamps which are visually identical to the US 9007 units. I haven't been able to check if they really work better. ...<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

HMMMMM....real E-code flush aero H4 headlights for an X? That would be way kewl. Please let us know how they work. I was planning to go to SD buckets with Hella 5x7" H4 conversion lamps. That is unless I can figure out a way to get HID lamps in that space. [img]images/icons/cool.gif[/img] [img]images/icons/laugh.gif[/img]

We swapped email about a year ago and realized our trucks were almost identical. I lived in France for 4.5 years until 1999, and wow what a trip it would be to terrorize Paris in a lifted X - them socialist lazy frogs wouldn't know what to do. [img]images/icons/shocked.gif[/img]