Morimoto XB or Raptor Retrofits?

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Ruckus08

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Thanks. Don’t have many pics of the truck but here are a few I found that have the headlights visible. I’ve added a rigid lightbar up front as I needed more light off-roading. Still enjoying the XBs. I didn’t go with hybrids because of light output, but they are better than stock HIDs still.
I’ll try to get some more pics this week and send them over also. Let me know if you’d like a specific pic. Will do my best. 26d01bb99fb19a4b1056c9a10d8536ae.jpg
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Citizen Park

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Thanks. Don’t have many pics of the truck but here are a few I found that have the headlights visible. I’ve added a rigid lightbar up front as I needed more light off-roading. Still enjoying the XBs. I didn’t go with hybrids because of light output, but they are better than stock HIDs still.
I’ll try to get some more pics this week and send them over also. Let me know if you’d like a specific pic. Will do my best. 26d01bb99fb19a4b1056c9a10d8536ae.jpg
cdfdd5b3424a6cce895e9f8f506bf010.jpg
422f5a671a48ac5e18e13c739cc02151.jpg
f80fa2c704cfb21d3b46dcd446de8947.jpg
86dd11981af454f312340e6c5120d2ea.jpg
Thanks for uploading all the pics... super dope, no more pics needed : )

Heck... as someone mentioned earlier, the signals lights are ‘loud’.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
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Citizen Park

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After watching the shootout video, I pulled the trigger on the alpharex novas and I absolutely love them. Brighter than the XBs, built in DRL, sequential turn signals and a cool startup sequence with the DRLs. Definitely much brighter than my stock HIDs.
Post pics please [emoji4]


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

djscoutmaster

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Looking to upgrade the headlights in my 2012. I like the looks and wide DRL band around the MM but I think the RR are probably better lights.

I hear the MM high beams aren't great any complaints from those that have them? I don't do a lot of night driving and even less where I would need high beams.

What pushed you to go one way or the other on your purchase?

Morimotos are great, but I have also been pretty impressed lately with the higher end AlphaRex options... Check out some quality, feature and brightness comparisons here https://beyondtheraptor.com/best-f150-headlights-2009-2014/?swcfpc=1
 

breezy

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I just installed the Mormoto XBs and they look better than my old HIDs (long story, one has water in it, etc) however they presented some challenges. The socket was loose/ill-fitting, resulting in no high or low beams. The excuse given on the other thread is that the factory pigtails 'wear out' or whatever but I don't personally buy that because the factory lights work great even when swapping back. There is a red plug insert inside the light that causes the pins to bend and get out of alignment. I connected, disconnected, and reconnected these lights several times trying to get the headlights themselves working and they were straight literally until the last time, where I tried to connect them to the included Morimoto pigtails. I know they were straight because I connected them directly to the battery using small alligator clips when they didn't work. Again this is per the other thread with ground in middle and high/low on the outside pins.

So after confirming the pins straight using alligator clips and my own sight, they became bent when using the Morimoto pigtails. After all of that, I found that the DRL piggybacks off fuse 77 which also happens to be the AC Clutch, meaning that if your DRL fuse blows the AC is going with it. I don't agree with this design choice.

One thing that no one talks about is the aftermarket light 'fit'. Drivers side is fine, passenger side wants to pop out of the body clips on the outside and took quite a bit of back-and-forth to get aligned, and the gap is still not factory.

Having new, clear, lenses is nice, and I actually like the style. The cons are that I feel the fuse usage is bad, the body fit is not premium (nor is the sealant), and the socket connection is subpar. I'll be sending my old HIDs to Raptor Retrofit for cleanup and upgrade and will probably put those back on, but the XBs aren't so bad that I'm in a hurry about it.
 

4x4TruckLEDs.com

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The H13 connector on the Fords isn't actually STRAIGHT/CENTERED. It's actually off-center a bit. So if you centered the pins on the H13 plug, it'll knock it out of alignment/bend it when you try and insert it.

The DRL runs on it's own fuse. It's a fuse tap, so 1 fuse is for the vehicle stuff, and the 2nd fuse is for the DRL only. So IF you shorted the DRL fuse, the main fuse is not effected.

Aftermarket headlights may not fit as well on an older truck... because the trucks seen some use/abuse over time and things may have bent over years. Factory housings will bend along with the vehicle parts so they work "together". When you start installing a brand new component into a truck that's 7+ years old, you may notice some things don't line up 100%, that's just the nature of the beast and having a vehicle 7+ years old.
 

breezy

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It was the included plug, I didn't have to straighten anything until that red insert popped out a little bit and forced all 3 pins to each side. And yes I saw it is a two-this-side-of-center and one-this-side-of-center, scenario. "center" in this case just means back to the middle instead of literally touching the sides. No worries though I got it! I will say that opening a chat at 3pm and getting 'I don't understand your issue' as a response wasn't the best. In any event the 'other' problem thread helped me get to where I needed to go.

Fair enough, I didn't short it, I just forgot to put it back in when I had to quickly swap the OE lights back, didn't have AC and a bit of research told me why. If the fuse tap is not a concern then that's fair enough.

By mentioning an older truck are you implying that the OE headlamp aged into a different shape that magically fits the opening, and the brand new one hasn't had the chance to do that? When the high/low beams did not work out of the box, I swapped the OE with the XB many times and I think I have a comprehensive observance of the fit.

Look man, no hate, I bought from you guys, but I just don't want anyone getting the impression that these fit like OE. I was a parts and body shop manager for a Ford dealer for 6 years and I've seen my share of aftermarket parts not fitting. In fact it's more common for them not to fit than to fit like OE and I understood what I was getting into before I even ordered.

I'm looking forward to testing the brightness against my pitiful, old, non-upgraded OEs and will post pics. Overall I'm happy enough, cheers.
 

4x4TruckLEDs.com

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Well, the H13 plug on the Fords are known (at least in the aftermarket world) for being VERY tight. You have to squeeze them together. The pins are also off-center (top to bottom, not side to side). Most folks think they need to be centered, not true. Because of how tight they are they generally get pushed out of alignment. Very common.

And by the truck being old, it's just changed shape over time. Pins get bent a bit from years of travel across roads (at least 7 years now). So a brand new set of headlights will not sit as flush as the factory ones, that have moved along with the truck. You'd have the same issue if you replaced your old factory headlights with a brand new set of OEM headlights. You'd most likely see how they don't quite match up as far as fitment to the old factory ones.

Regarding the 3pm chat... are you Jay?? If so we got this message

"Morimoto XB headlights do not work, high or low beam."

No other info. So Steve replied with "Im not sure I understand?" but he never got a response back.
 

oplersx

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Problem found on my XB. I was parking in front of a huge glass window yesterday.. saw the passenger side LED DRL turns off then I put gear in reverse. It will turn back on in about 10~20 seconds after I put gear in drive or park. Only passenger side :rolleyes:
 
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