I was driving at night and was looking at my lights... I don't know if this s normal but my right head lights shines more upward than the left one, which shoots down.... Are the lights suppose to be that way? or are they suppose to be both upward and lighting straight?

 

I believe that the headlights are aimed slightly to the right, not straight ahead, to avoid directly blinding an oncomming driver. This explains why one light appears brighter that the other.

NJ inspection use to have a panelboard the would put infront of the headlights to check the aim, but they don't anymore. Wish they still did.

 

You'll find that the headlights in the '04 - '07 F-150's are only capable of being aimed up and down. They've eliminated the lateral aiming capability since it really just wasn't needed. That said, if one of your headlights seems "brighter" than the other, we need to determine what's causing it.

First possibility: Dim headlight. I have seen bad grounds, poor connections and just plain dirty lenses cause one headlight to actually be dimmer than the other. I kind of doubt this is your problem.

Second possibility: Incorrectly aimed headlights. I'd be willing to bet this is your problem. The first thing you need to do here is determine if one is high or one is low. If you look in your Owner's Manual, you'll find a very good section on how to aim them properly. You'll need a flat surface in front of your truck for this.

I actually go one step further than the "aim them against the wall and measure them" process shown in the manual. After you've aimed them that way, stand about 50 feet from your truck and look back at the headlights. Slowly bend down - watching for one or both headlights to suddenly get brighter. (This is the "cutoff.") If one gets bright before the other, they're not aimed exactly the same. Works like a charm.

 

Thanks for the help, I'll have to try that out... not to hijack my own thread lol but how you liking your SilverStar lights? I want to do the total replacement too... around what price did it cost you to get the whole set?

Danielle

 

There is a third possibility, I noticed on my '92 a while after I got it, I noticed in reflections in store windows etc, one light looked dim so assumed the main element was out, but when I looked at the rear of the headlights where the bulbs mount, one was slightly popped out - unscrewed - from the mount. It was a very tight fit for some reason, probably why bulb wasn't in correctly, but with a little dielectric grease on the o-ring, it popped in. Now both lights are uniform.

I too, wish they still checked light alignment.

 

I like my Silverstar headlights, but I LOVE my Silverstar fogs. The 9005 (which is actually a high beam bulb) is much better than the 9149. I forget what I paid, but most places have a mail in rebate for the Silverstar Ultras right now. If you're short on cash, invest it in the fogs. There's a better bang for the buck there.

 

have you had any problems with changing to the 9005 fog light? i have heard they can melt the housing.....and do the connecters match?

 

I haven't had any problems - probably because I haven't gone stupid with wattage. Most of the folks who have melted stuff are playing with 100 watt bulbs and / or a small housing (like the '06 - '07 round fogs). As for physically fitting the 9005's in a slot designed for 9149's - no, they actually went in pretty easily. You may have to trim one of the three locking tabs on the 9005's, but not everyone seems to need to do that. (I did.) To see what you might need to trim, just compare the stock bulb to the 9005 and you'll see the small difference in the one tab. A set of diagonal cutters will snip it right off. The difference in the amount of usable light on the road - without pissing oncoming drivers off - is amazing.

 

I've been wondering if those Silverstars just burned hotter, period. I recently changed the bulbs in a 10 year old Volvo that had been fitted with Silverstars. The wires behind the socket were totally brittle and discolored. The insulation was falling off, and when I touched the wires the insulation just crumbled. A clear sign of overheated wires.

My wife has a Volvo 850 that is 11 year old. All it's ever had were the stock bulbs. I checked, and the wires were completely pliable, like new. No way am I going to Silverstars until I know more. What do they do, anyway, besides look blueish?

BTW, if there's one beef I have with my late model F-150 headlights, it's the cuttoff angle. They are plenty bright and shine a 1/4 mile down the road. But above the cuttoff, they are dark. This makes driving difficult on hilly country roads. Going downhill, you can't see what's on the uphill side in front of you. I've been thinking about adding some driving lights. Any comments? How's that for a hijack? Sorry.

 

Finally got pics of what I am talking about.. I think I just need to angle the headlight up more...







How do you angle the light up more?


Edited to add... Going to go look at the manual...

 

Your Owner's Manual actually has a pretty good section on aiming. One thing you want to check first though is whether the right side is high or the left side is low. You'll also find that moving the adjuster moves the reflector inside the housing as opposed to the entire housing - like on most vehicles. After you get the correct headlight aimed according to the manual, use the method I noted in my original reply to your post for fine tuning.