Front Headlight Upgrades

[sluggish91]

Hello again Grand Marquis guys and gals.

I wanted to ask the community if anyone has upgraded their factory style front headlights with some newer style LED lights.

By just doing a google search on "85 Grand Marquis headlights" I came across a few different options on a website called topgearautosport.com, don't know if anyone has dealt with that provider before.

Also, has anyone done LED bulbs in the taillights, and if so which ones would I need?

Thanks everyone.

[Kodachrome Wolf]

Can't say I've done anything with LED headlights, just the tails.

Small anecdote, but I usually recommend a relay upgrade first and make sure the lamps are actually aimed where they belong. I've found many sealed beam cars with lights aimed in no useful direction, which implies and LED will just be as lousy. Well aimed lamps make a world of difference.

And one last step before swapping to LED, E-Code lamps with the fluting on the face (not on the back of the reflector housing) are also pretty decent. They use an H4 lamp, you just have to change the pins on the connector a little to get the Hi/Lo feeds correct.

Obviously, the choice is yours. Hopefully someone familiar with them chimes in.

[Shayenne]

I changed mine to Led headlights on my 88 Lincoln Town Car. I love them, bright as hell. I paid about 210 CDN for them. I got them from Amazon.

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[sluggish91]

Can't say I've done anything with LED headlights, just the tails.

Could you point me towards what type of bulbs you used for the rear taillights?

[sluggish91]

I changed mine to Led headlights on my 88 Lincoln Town Car. I love them, bright as hell. I paid about 210 CDN for them. I got them from Amazon.

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Nice upgrade there Shayenne, that is kind of what I was thinking of doing on my 85 except maybe a chrome housing. The black looks sharp on the black Town Car though. Were those headlights a simple remove and replace ordeal or did they require any special relay upgrade like Kodrachrome Wolf mentioned?

[Lutrova]

LEDs generally should draw less power than the stock lights. It's probably still a good idea to do the relay, but I've switched to LEDs on my car without and it's worked out so far.

It's important to be aware of the beam pattern and aim of your headlights when switching to something much brighter. Sealed beams and I believe most DOT conversion reflector housings throw a lot of light up high, which is one thing when you're using a halogen, but could be a hazard to other drivers when it's an LED. The custom units like what Shayenne posted ought to have a good cutoff since they were designed for LEDs. For more stock-looking headlights, the E-code/ECE housings have a much better cutoff than DOT. Although with any housing designed for an incandescent or halogen filament, the relatively thicker LED bulb will produce a somewhat compromised beam pattern since the light source isn't exactly where the housing expects it to come from.

I'm using Bosch ECE housings from eBay. With the headlights off they look stock, unless you're really looking and spot the LED bulbs.



As I mentioned before, beam pattern isn't perfect, but I believe I got it to a point where oncoming drivers aren't blinded while my own visibility has improved dramatically.





If you do go the conversion housing route and not some all-in-one replacement, picking the right LED bulbs is another challenge. I found www.bulbfacts.com to be a great resource. They have charts for all headlight types, and the LED chart breaks down things like quality of beam pattern, color temperature, noise (which is something you wouldn't think of), etc. I think I went with Techmax bulbs, which I felt were the best bang for my buck, but there are probably better products out now at all price points.

[Shayenne]

I didn't use a converter or anything like that. Pretty much plug and play, but there is a small change you gotta do to make the low beams work. It is just switching a wire out on the plug. No biggie. Don't ask me which one though (I forgot) it will be in the installation description.
And I did have to use the grinder and cut off some "nipples" [emoji23] from the back of the housing on the Led headlight to make it fit into the housing.

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[jaywish]

Alignment and beam pattern are key with bright lights. What I like to do is drive another car towards my upgraded vehicle to see just how good/bad they new bulbs are after I set the alignment. You will expect some additional brightness but the beam should certainly not hit an oncoming driver in the eyes.

[Kodachrome Wolf]

Could you point me towards what type of bulbs you used for the rear taillights?

Essentially these: Amazon Link

I’m running a similar style set in my ‘97 and they’ve been working good for a long time. Only thing you might have to do is change your turn signal flasher if you’re using an original 323 or 325 flasher. The lack of load from the LED won’t cycle it.

[jaywish]

You will likely need an electronic flasher. There are many types available. Some require a 3rd wire and some have adjustable speed and some click louder than others. I can't put my finger on the one I used in the Marauder right now as it is away for the winter but I think it is this one. It needs any ground for the pigtail iirc. I needed this because I changed all exterior bulbs to led with the exception of the CHMSL which I left incan as the cruise control uses the resistance of these bulbs to function properly. They can be replaced with leds that have resistors but I did not bother.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/141586901963 This may be what I used for Marauder.

[friskyfrankie]

Essentially these: Amazon Link

I’m running a similar style set in my ‘97 and they’ve been working good for a long time. Only thing you might have to do is change your turn signal flasher if you’re using an original 323 or 325 flasher. The lack of load from the LED won’t cycle it.

Which flasher do you recommend?

[sly]

EL12 flasher is what I used in my cars. Fits fords no issue and no third wire. You may need to clearance the cover a bit as it's taller than the stock one, but I think it fits in boxes no problem.

You WILL need to use a resistor to get it to flash properly.

[jaywish]

I am pretty sure that for no resistor you use the one with the added ground. I don't believe the Marader had a cover fitment issue.

[sluggish91]

LEDs generally should draw less power than the stock lights. It's probably still a good idea to do the relay, but I've switched to LEDs on my car without and it's worked out so far.

It's important to be aware of the beam pattern and aim of your headlights when switching to something much brighter. Sealed beams and I believe most DOT conversion reflector housings throw a lot of light up high, which is one thing when you're using a halogen, but could be a hazard to other drivers when it's an LED. The custom units like what Shayenne posted ought to have a good cutoff since they were designed for LEDs. For more stock-looking headlights, the E-code/ECE housings have a much better cutoff than DOT. Although with any housing designed for an incandescent or halogen filament, the relatively thicker LED bulb will produce a somewhat compromised beam pattern since the light source isn't exactly where the housing expects it to come from.

I'm using Bosch ECE housings from eBay. With the headlights off they look stock, unless you're really looking and spot the LED bulbs.



As I mentioned before, beam pattern isn't perfect, but I believe I got it to a point where oncoming drivers aren't blinded while my own visibility has improved dramatically.





If you do go the conversion housing route and not some all-in-one replacement, picking the right LED bulbs is another challenge. I found www.bulbfacts.com to be a great resource. They have charts for all headlight types, and the LED chart breaks down things like quality of beam pattern, color temperature, noise (which is something you wouldn't think of), etc. I think I went with Techmax bulbs, which I felt were the best bang for my buck, but there are probably better products out now at all price points.

I like these headlights too. I think I will end up going with something like this, something simple that still looks factory but updated from the old yellowish lights. Are these the ones with the H4 lamps?

[sluggish91]

Essentially these: Amazon Link

I’m running a similar style set in my ‘97 and they’ve been working good for a long time. Only thing you might have to do is change your turn signal flasher if you’re using an original 323 or 325 flasher. The lack of load from the LED won’t cycle it.

Thanks for the link on these, I'm going to give these a try.

You will likely need an electronic flasher. There are many types available. Some require a 3rd wire and some have adjustable speed and some click louder than others. I can't put my finger on the one I used in the Marauder right now as it is away for the winter but I think it is this one. It needs any ground for the pigtail iirc. I needed this because I changed all exterior bulbs to led with the exception of the CHMSL which I left incan as the cruise control uses the resistance of these bulbs to function properly. They can be replaced with leds that have resistors but I did not bother.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/141586901963 This may be what I used for Marauder.

Thanks for the link on the flasher. I'll end up using this flasher once I install the rear LED's Kodrachrome Wolf suggested.