2001 Ranger Headlights

[Cuthriell]

Hello. New here and looking for healight information on my 2001 cab and a half Ranger with a 3.0 automatic. 107000 miles. We drive this very little but I will be using it daily for the summer. I have noticed at night that the lights seem pretty weak compared to new vehicles. Any recommendations for new bulbs and or housings that are somewhat brighter? I am not looking for blinding light. Another thing I noticed when looking through amazon pictures is that assemblies for a 2001 have the red side light and white lights in the same assembly. Mine looks like the pictures of a 2000 model with separate red and white assemblies. Thanks for any help.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

Unless someone changed things, 98-00 Rangers had one headlight design, 01-04 had another and 05-11 had headlights very similar to the 01-04 but used a different plug. If you have the 98-00 style lights, you probably have an 00, not an 01.

If you change the lights, header panel and grill, you can switch from the 98-00 style to the 01-04 style easy enough, the turn signal in those used the same plug for the lights. The problem with aftermarket lights is the aftermarket doesn’t make a distraction between 01-04 and 05-11 and the 05-11 used an entirely different turn signal plug.

Personal opinion, the 01+ lights put out a better beam.

Sylvania Silverstar or Silverstar Ultra put out a ton of light.

Jeff’s Bronco Graveyard has upgraded headlight harnesses.

 

[tinman_72]

Install a relay to give power directly from the battery (through a fuse, of course). Use the power going through the headlight switch to power the relay only. Will make a huge difference even if your headlights are cloudy.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

Install a relay to give power directly from the battery (through a fuse, of course). Use the power going through the headlight switch to power the relay only. Will make a huge difference even if your headlights are cloudy.

That’s basically what the heavy duty harness from Bronco Graveyard does. Has two relays with heavier wiring and just plugs right in. I can’t make a harness for what they are selling them for

 

[rubydist]

If you find quality LED bulbs to put in there, it will give much better light. I use the ones without a fan that have both high and low beam and it makes a big difference, but it does not blind the oncoming traffic. I typically get them on fleabay, but you have to sort through all the junk to find the quality ones.

 

[Li'l Work Truck]

If you find quality LED bulbs to put in there, it will give much better light. I use the ones without a fan that have both high and low beam and it makes a big difference, but it does not blind the oncoming traffic. I typically get them on fleabay, but you have to sort through all the junk to find the quality ones.

Not to argue, but I have rarely seen good LED headlight replacements. What brand do you use? My truck came with Sylvania LED's that the previous owner used, and I had to switch them out because while you could tell they were on by looking at them from outside, they had the light output of a freebie HFT LED flashlight. I went to SilverStar Ultras and have been pleased, but I am still going to do an LED mod by merging a semi truck headlamp into the housing of my '08...

Unless!

There's a better plug and play option.

 

[rubydist]

The last set I bought was this one:
9007 HB5 LED Headlight Bulbs High Low Beam 6000K White Fanless Super Bright 2X - this is the bulb needed for a 2001 Ranger.

The one before that was this:
LASFIT H4/9003 LED Headlight Bulbs Conversion Kit High Low Dual Beam 6000K White

I really like the LASFIT ones, but they don't seem to always be available in all configurations. I also have had good experience with the Auxito brand ones. Make sure you get the ones that do not have an external fan. The external fan ones typically don't fit in the space available on Ford vehicles, and the external fan is the part that typically fails so they don't last as long as they should, and also make a bunch of noise. Also make sure you get the "dual beam" ones so you have both low and high beams since a lot of the crappy LED bulbs are only low beams. And, also get ones that have the actual emitter at the location of the filament of the halogen bulb, so that the light beam is focused correctly - a lot of the cheap ones have the emitters in the wrong physical locations, which results in a terrible light pattern and poor visibility like you described. Ideally, you will find ones that allow you to rotate the bulb once installed, so that you can optimize the light pattern - they don't always tell you in the description if they have that ability or not.

The only negative I have found to running quality LED bulbs in fixtures designed for halogen bulbs is that the LED bulbs generate much less heat, so when driving in snow or sleet or slush, the ice can build up on the headlight and seriously diminish the light output.