Best headlights?

[petersonj]

I appreciate you sharing the details of the incident. I, too, understand the risks of owning an aged truck with a manual transmission / park brake setup. I now carry a wheel stop behind the driver seat and use it whenever I park on a slope that could endanger anyone when I get out of the truck with engine idling and park brake set.

Over the course of 21 years and 370,000 miles, I have had and issue with the park brake twice. It was the same problem, different sides. First time with left park brake in 2015 at 215,000 mile - second time right park brake in 2021 at 358,000 miles. The failure was (from my log) "Left park brake not holding properly - cause was in the left brake assembly from two sliding parts forming a notch limiting the full travel of the shoes. Removed notch with a file and fixed the problem" and "Right park brake not holding properly - cause was in the right brake assembly from two sliding parts forming a notch, limiting full travel of the shoes. Removed notch with a grinder and fixed the problem."

Both occurrences left me with a very weak park brake. The symptoms came on very gradually and went unnoticed for a long time. The park brake pedal stayed firm because the notch would not allow for the full travel of the brake shoes inside the affected drum. When I did each repair, afterward the park brake worked like new. Other than those two instances, I have never needed to replace any park brake parts. I think other truck owners may have experienced this problem, but may have never recognized it for what is was.

- John

 

[Topzide]

Even with an auto, I use a wheel chock on an incline that I'm not familiar with. Use them any time I'm under the truck, just in case! Carry them in tool box for the what if's. Better to be safe then sorry! Truck can be fixed, just sucks when it happens!

 

[Shelby Griggs]

I appreciate you sharing the details of the incident. I, too, understand the risks of owning an aged truck with a manual transmission / park brake setup. I now carry a wheel stop behind the driver seat and use it whenever I park on a slope that could endanger anyone when I get out of the truck with engine idling and park brake set.

Over the course of 21 years and 370,000 miles, I have had and issue with the park brake twice. It was the same problem, different sides. First time with left park brake in 2015 at 215,000 mile - second time right park brake in 2021 at 358,000 miles. The failure was (from my log) "Left park brake not holding properly - cause was in the left brake assembly from two sliding parts forming a notch limiting the full travel of the shoes. Removed notch with a file and fixed the problem" and "Right park brake not holding properly - cause was in the right brake assembly from two sliding parts forming a notch, limiting full travel of the shoes. Removed notch with a grinder and fixed the problem."

Both occurrences left me with a very weak park brake. The symptoms came on very gradually and went unnoticed for a long time. The park brake pedal stayed firm because the notch would not allow for the full travel of the brake shoes inside the affected drum. When I did each repair, afterward the park brake worked like new. Other than those two instances, I have never needed to replace any park brake parts. I think other truck owners may have experienced this problem, but may have never recognized it for what is was.

- John

Thanks for that, and that may be what happened to me? My 2001.5 has never had what I thought a solid parking brake, even with lots of application pressure it still tends to creep even on a slight grade. Anyway, I am ordering a set of wheel chocks!

 

[BigPapa]

I had four of these, light weight, stackable, and inexpensive.

Amazon product ASIN B000BQYH6Q
The last time I trusted my parking brake, I'd started my truck to let the A/C cool it off before heading to church. This was the '95 with the 5-speed. My driveway is pretty steep and my shop/shed is at the bottom with a cross-tie at the end of the drive. I had just shut the door and turned to go back inside when I heard the brake pop off. I got the door open and grabbed the steering wheel, pulled myself in enough to get my foot on the brake pedal and got it stopped three feet from the shop, front wheels were on top of the cross-tie. I tore my rotator cuff and a tendon in my right hand. Never again did I trust the parking brake.

 

[Shelby Griggs]

Black vertical line on fire hydrant is outside edge of RF tire, it was that close to missing, needed about another second on the steering wheel!

 

[LorenStrodtman]

3 years and probably 50k miles ago I did the projector retrofit into Anzo 111067 housings. Everything has held up well. I used the Morimoto D2S 5.0 projectors, pieced together the order from the "clearance/2nds/returns" section of TheRetrofitSource.com
35W bulbs/ballasts is plenty, no need for 50W.
I love the headlights now!
If it's your first time doing the retrofit then set aside a day. I could do one much faster now that I've done one.
Total price back then was $529.

 

[Cummins12V98]

I like my OE Sport headlights!!!

 

[BigPapa]

A good friend of mine put some HID projectors in his '01. After riding in my '98 with the Sport headlights, he changed his projectors out for a set of Sports.

 

[Shelby Griggs]

I like my OE Sport headlights!!!

I imagine we all would if we could find any!

Thinking I may have to buy a set at the junk yard and refinish them if I want OEM sports. Most I have found on line look pretty thrashed and the price is more per side than a pair of aftermarket ones.

SHG

 

[BigPapa]

I’d wager the Dorman’s I bought are indistinguishable from the OE’s. They were quality assemblies with full adjustment and mounted perfectly.

 

[Shelby Griggs]

Guessing the OEM's might of been a WAGNER product, I still have one of my original rubber welts and it is a WAGNER branded product.

I will see how the EagleEyes or whatever they are that I just put in after the fire hydrant mishap. If they don't last, I will try the Dorman's next.

SHG

 

[PerryEX]

A good friend of mine put some HID projectors in his '01. After riding in my '98 with the Sport headlights, he changed his projectors out for a set of Sports.

Good to hear the Sports headlight is a good option.

 

[Cummins12V98]

Good to hear the Sports headlight is a good option.

Love my OE Sports.

 

[Macarena Man]

Daniel Stern . . . sport headlights, heavy wiring, and relays. Can drive at night now.

 

[PerryEX]

Love my OE Sports.

View attachment 136731

Looking great! Nice

 

[Devil Black Diesel]

I don’t know if the Depot assemblies are the same as the OE assemblies, but I also had a thread on resealing the headlight lenses.

https://www.turbodieselregister.com/threads/headlight-lens-reseal.254357/

This is the thread on the Cerakote.

https://www.turbodieselregister.com/threads/cerakote-headlight-restoration.272473/

I put the Cerakote on some new Dorman Sport assemblies last year before selling my truck in February, so I’ll never know how it holds up. You’ll still need to do the wet sand on new assemblies before applying.

How is the Cerakote holding up? What's the oldest application you have? You would suggest putting it on a brand new set of headlights?

 

[BigPapa]

The oldest application I’ve done was on a brand new set of Dorman Sport headlights I put in my ‘98. I sold it a year ago.

The next oldest are my Accord and the wife’s Lexus that I did almost exactly a year ago. They both still look the same a year later.

 

[Larry W Larsen]

Both trucks are broke again and flopping around so I need to do something. I guess I’ll order from genos because I like them and they usually have good quality unfortunately there lights are not one of them

Just wondering, why you say your truck is John Deere yellow but your avatar is of a red truck.

 

[LorenStrodtman]

A good friend of mine put some HID projectors in his '01. After riding in my '98 with the Sport headlights, he changed his projectors out for a set of Sports.

Perhaps he didn't use very good HID projectors, or we just have different opinions on what is good. I specifically purchased the ones I did based on feedback from gentlemen who had tried the Sport conversion and were still unhappy with the low beam lighting and amp draw. I have not experienced a Sport headlight equipped truck, but I can tell you even driving through rural Iowa during the rut I no longer feel the need to use high beams. There is a lot of light, and the cutoff of the beam is fantastic so as to not blind any oncoming traffic. I'll see if I can find any good photos showing the results.