Ford is becoming a technology company as much as they are a car company. Part of this is out of necessity, in order to meet the demands of both new government standards for safety and fuel economy, and the other is due to consumer demand for more high-tech features on their vehicles.
Halogen lighting has been in use in cars and trucks for decades, and while this type of lighting is effective, it’s not the most efficient. In recent years we’ve seen more vehicles come standard with HID lighting, which offered greater improvement in light distribution and a more pleasing light wavelength or color to the eye, but it remains an expensive option.
LED lights have been around for decades, but technology is just now making them available in the automotive market. We’ve done our own stories on upgrading marker and brake lights to LED, but using theses lights for the actual headlamps has been mainly left up to high end European manufacturers until now.
The 2015 Ford F-150 promises to be a game changer in the truck market, and the headlamps are an area that Ford was concerned with. The new aluminum body of the F-150 is reported to be made from “military grade” aluminum. Many F-150 owners keep their trucks to well over 200,000 miles, and some longer than that. Often the engines outlast the bodies, but that will not be the case with the new aluminum bodied trucks.
So Ford wanted a headlamp that was just as tough, and their engineers delivered. The new F-150 will feature LED headlamps, using what Ford says is an ultra tough housing, as well as a complexly designed facet system for the lens to evenly reflect the light from a single LED bulb.
How tough is the new housing? According to Ford lighting expert John Teodecki you can stand on the housing without cracking it. The housing has also been subject to some brutal testing including firing rocks and rock salt at it in the test lab. Additionally the lights have been subjected to prolonged periods of sun soaking, and even salt water baths.
Ford expects the new LED lights to last up to five times longer than traditional halogens and the housings should stand up to a great deal more abuse as well. A It looks like the new F-150 is shaping up to be one tough truck.