(EDIT: Sorry, didn't realize how much I carried on here. Guess I found another soapbox to climb on. Grab some
a
and read on if you dare.)
This is unusual for talking about headlights, I'm normally the guy advocating for either running stock replacement with a good quality bulb, or go all the way with a proper HID retrofit (not the cheap ebay housings). I'm actually going to be the dissenting opinion here.
LEDs can be a great option, if a proper LED is selected. Run of the mill Amazon or eBay LED headlight "bulbs" (they aren't actually bulbs) are
almost never the proper LED regardless of how good the reviews sound.
3rd Gen Tacoma HID vs LED vs Halogen H11 projector headlights This thread covers upgrading the 3rd gen Tacoma H11 headlights and looking at the...
www.tacomaworld.com
Again, pains me to link to the enemy site.. but..
No offense but I wouldn't put much stock in applying that thread to a Ranger. Those Tacos used a Projector assembly which focuses and throws light much different than a reflector assembly.
A typical halogen light assembly focuses a light with a reflector. Old school housings then diffused it with the lens, hince the "grid pattern" on lenses. Newer technology started having the diffusion built straight into the reflector with a plain clear lens. Unfortunately either of these designs result in a lot of output from the bulb being scattered and wasted. That scattered wasted light is what blinds oncoming drivers.
Projector headlights don't rely on the reflector to spread, focus, and diffuse the light. Instead the reflector is used to throw the light back at the dome shaped lens in front if it that handles all of that. These do a much better job of focusing the light output. Personally I've found that oncoming projector headlights when properly aimed, appear to be bright, but are actually less blinding than even old yellowed weak halogen headlights. Majority of the HID output is put where it needs to be, on the road, not my eyes.
The reason that a HID bulb doesn't work well in a Halogen housing, and vice versa is because the filament is positioned incorrectly. A HID bulb has the filament positioned such that it hits the wrong parts of a Halogen reflectos, and the reflectors results in a lot more light scatter than the projector would have. A Halogen bulb doesn't have the output to take advantage of a HID projector.
LED gets a bad rep because of the people taking advantage of marketing hype to make money. Making a LED bulb fit multiple housings is a simple matter of changing the adapter. In interest of making profit, most of the cheap LEDs bulbs use one design and swap out the adapter and that causes a few issues.
First issue is that many styles halogen bulbs have the filament positioned differently. If the emitter depth of the LED isn't positioned correctly to match the bulb its replacing, then it is not going to work properly in that housing. So you end up with much more light output scattered everywhere that it doesn't need to be. (Same problem as HIDs in a halogen housing.)
Second issue, (or a continuation of the first) is that unlike a HID or Halogen bulb, a LED bulb doesn't emit in a full 360 degrees. An LED emitter can have a maximum angle of 180 degrees, but most are more like 150 max, and they don't put out full power over all of that angle. Think about your typical flashlight beam, it's exaggerated but similar, you have a central area that is bright then it fades off to the edges. A bare LED emitter does the same, just wider. While an LED bulb has emitters on both sides, there is a "dead spot" in between that has rather low output. As such the LED needs to be aimed in the housing such that the emitters throw light where it is needed on the reflectors. Not uncommon to have to loosen the adapter on the LED (if possible) and reclock it to get the best light pattern.
Third issue is heat. LEDs typically run cooler than Halogen or HID lights, but they still produce it. They are also much more succeptable to degredation from it. Many of the LED bulbs out there aren't built with adequate heat dissipation built in, and many housings not providing adequate ventalation for air flow over heat sinks. Add to that the many low quality LED chips on the market (they run hotter than good ones), a heat becomes a major issue that reduces the performance and shortens the life of an LED.
I can tell you that I have LED bulbs installed in my 99 and they well outperform the Silverstars that used to be in there. They also out perform the previous set of (Amazon Special) LEDs that were in there that had "excellent reviews". I will follow that up by saying that they weren't cheap and weren't a simple bolt in install. I did have to source different, shorter, retaining rings to provide for adequate ventlation for the heat sinks, as well as clocking them for proper focusing. They also cost more than a new set of housing with new Silverstar bulbs. They also did not blind people when the housing were still clear, the housings are pretty faded. I'll be fixing that in the (hopefully) bear future by upgrading to the 01+ headlight assemblies (and grill).
FWIW, the bulbs in the 99 are
S-V.4 and I purchased from Headlight Revolution to avoid counterfiets. That was a few years ago and LED tech is constantly changing, so I can't speak to what is available now. I will likely install them in the F-250 in the future. The Kia doesn't need them, it has an excellent reflector design for the Halogens it uses. The older trucks are built for sealed beams and will likely get one of the complete replacement housings intended for Jeeps. The F-100 does have LEDs installed already, but I don't remember what they were and it doesn't get driven much at night (or at all right now) so I don't worry about it too much.
Finding a road legal solution to your problem is a tough one and usually costs some money to do.
While the solution posted by MT_PLS would work, from what I remember, the wattage is out of the road legal range. It has been a while since I've seen a in depth discussion on the subject. So I may be remembering incorrectly. The low beam max watt rating is 65W and high beam is 100W, if I remember correctly.
Swapping housings for ones designed for LED has been mixed in results. Some have been worse that the factory lights as far as the driver being able to see and others have been reported to be good but I do not remeber which were trash and which were good.
Another option that was popular back in day, was projection lamp housings for HID. That one is going to cost more and require more parts and labor since you may need to modify the existing housing to accept the projector assembly if you can not find housings already setup for it.
For what it's worth, even some factory LED light setups are quite blinding to on coming traffic. So, even the vehicle manufacturers haven't got it all figured out yet.
Technically the only road legal solution is the headlight assembly and bulbs that the vehicle left the factory with, or dot approved oem equivalent replacements. Basically if the vehicle didn't come with HIDs or LEDs as a factory option it isn't technically llegal, even then only if the factory parts are used.
The limit used to be 55w for low beam, I think it was 80w for highs. Basically every vehicle with incandesent headlights left the factory with headlights that met the legal limit, even the old incandesent sealed beams. They have gotten brighter over time because of the gasses (halogen, xenon, etc) used inside the bulbs provided for more light output (filament materials that glowed brighter IIRC) at the same wattage, combined with improved reflector technology better focusing that output.
If you were to dig into it, I imagine that you would find the same is true even with the HIDs and LEDs. Atleast for the HIDs the wattages used areabout the same, but the technology allows for much more output at that level. A big part of the problem with headlight technology is that DOT's archaic rules regulating them has not kept up with improvements intechnology. Rather than being free to develop a good headlight assembly, they have to color within the lines for approval.
The only good projector lamp assembly are OEM versions, or Mechanical projector retrofits. All of those commercial aftermarket project or retrofit housings, at least as far as a Ranger is concerned, are worth the plastic they are made out of. Basically the same can be said of the LED retrofit housings. Even many of the sealed beam LED retrofits are no good, but a few are actually decent. Most of the decent ones are marketed for Jeeps or Motorcycles. They either look an awful lot like a traditional sealed beam, or them look like something that would be found on a new high end exotic.
Put in a harness and you may be pleased with the brightness, if you haven't already done so.
Definitely yes to the harness. Not only does it provide better, cleaner power to the headlights, it also reduces the load from your headlight switch. That results in a much longer lifespan for the headlight switch and lower chance of it getting too hot.
That with a good set of (IMO) Sylvania or Osram bulbs can make a big improvement. The Osram is what my Kia came with from the factory, and they work exceptionally well. I haven't found an Osram package in a local store, but they are resold by other brands. IIRC I found the Osram packaged as Sylvania Xtra Vision. Might try those with new housings in the F-250 before I jump to LEDs.
If the bulbs have a blue tint put them back. Plain Silverstars are the exception, they have a slight blue tint and work good, but I'm not sure they are any better than the Osram. The very blue Silverstar Ultra bulbs, put them back, that's the company cashing in on the "white" light fad. White light fad is actually blue light, while it might produce more lumens, our eyes don't pick up the blue light as well. We actually get more definition from the warmer end of the spectrum.