How many feet in front of your bumper do you guys like the center mass of your LO beams to hit on level payment?
I need to clarify my above experience by saying I quite possibly have my housings directed a little nearer the front bumper since the roads are twisty, turning with much ascent/descent. As you can imagine, this has a tendency to throw a beam too far into the distance and often away from the direction the road turns. For that reason, I might have mine angked a bit more down.
In my experience Ford OE headlights have outlasted Mercedes, BMW, Toyota, and all others. This is using 2003 Expedition and 2006 F450 and F350 as the comparison. I don't think newer Ford models fare as well. The downside is that these older models that lasted so long are not easily restored. I did a restoration on the 06 F350 lamps and it was not wholly successful. I did 4 rounds of 600 grit wet power sanding and then sprayed them with clear and I should have sanded more off. I like the clear coat spray method as it lasts here for years and all other topical wax stuff lasts a year, maybe. The downside to clear coating is that you don't do the progressively finer steps and have the ability to see if you need to go back and do the coarsest step over again to get more dead plastic off. The 06 F350 ones are crystal clear halfway and lower but the top that was the worst has faint haziness. WAY better light and WAY decreased scatter but not the crystal clear all over like most others I have done that way.
BUT, Motorcraft branded items for Ford products are usually top notch but I have had new Motorcraft parts not last nearly as long as the OEM part the vehicle was built with. That makes me think there is some specification "drift" when they choose to go back and procure some pieces.
it seems that nothing lasts as long as the original equipment. @ArcticDriver: I tried to aim my lights according to the general guidelines. I am not sure how many feet out in front they are actually hitting, but i try to keep them lower as it helps in rain, for, snow, etc. there is a tiny bit of dead space just in front of the truck , but my driving lamps fill that void. with my truck being lifted on 35's i feel like they might be a little high but I haven't been flashed and they light up the road really well, I think.
Thanks for sharing the headlight cleaner, I may have to try some of that.
I did find one fault with the TYC housing compared to Motorcraft.
It is the small black adjustment box on two of my four housings. It is loose internally and does not grab the threaded portion firmly. This allows the entire assembly to wobble.
The first two photos attempt to show the two pieces on the TYC and the third photo is the exact location of the slop in an old Motorcraft.
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