Bronco Low beams issue

[Torre]

First I am loving my Bronco 2 dr so much. I got the Big bend in white and just put a leveler lift and 35s on it with black wheels and am so thrilled. My question is this....has anybody had an issue with the low beams being terrible? I live in Washington and we get a lot of rain. When I drive at night on a 2 lane highway I cant see my own lane lines and when its dark and raining forget about it. I have tried with fog lights off and on to see if it makes it any better to no avail and have had a couple people in my bronco or driving my bronco who have also said how bad they are. Is there a fix? There is really very little distance lit up in front of the Bronco with low beams on. The high beams are terrific, but I can't drive around with those on all the time. Thoughts? Help? Thanks,

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[ScottyScooter]

Did you adjust the aim of the headlights after installing the level kit and 35" tires? Maybe the reason your low beams don't light much of the road is because the majority of the light is shooting above the horizon?

The IIHS only gave the Bronco's headlights a rating of "marginal" in their testing, so even if they are aimed properly it sounds like they have poor performance. You could probably make some improvements to your visibility in the rain by improving the fog lights. I'm sure this is down to personal preference, but I've found that switching to a yellow bulb for the fog lights makes them a lot more effective at cutting through the interference of splashing rain, snow, and fog.

 

[jasonkosi]

You probably need to adjust the beam like Scotty said.

 

[ScottyScooter]

My understanding is that the signature lighting is just for the looks of the running lights and the actual LED headlight is 100% identical to Broncos that do not have the signature lighting.

 

[ProdigyJKU]

My understanding is that the signature lighting is just for the looks of the running lights and the actual LED headlight is 100% identical to Broncos that do not have the signature lighting.

I thought that til I saw both versions side by side and noticed the shape of the refections were different, so I'm sure the pattern will be a bit different.

 

[IDyeti]

So yeah @Torre I did the signature swap on my Black Diamond. The sig lights I got off ebay are stamped with "1,0%" on them and I swear they are slightly brighter than the standards. I don't think what I bought are true Ford headlights as they don't have the coordinates stamped on them for MAP like my standards do. I night ski and just had a lot of rain/sleet/snow coming down and they did fine but am on the fence about picking up some fogs.

I guess for the forum I should put one of the standards back in and fire it up to see if there is a side-by-side difference or if its my imagination.

 

[BlazinGTO]

I'd agree with the marginal rating they recieved from testing.

I have the sig lighting. I wouldnt call them terrible, but yeah they're marginal. I have the mod bumper so I can't comment on the fogs.

The area they light up is very bright but they don't reach far.

I really thought they would be somewhat better and it's a bit of a disappointment being that its 2022 and why would any headlight only get a marginal rating?

 

[dan79]

I noticed the same at night when I first got my bronco they seem a bit week with out the high beams on so I left the auto high beams on. I dont seem to mind the on and off like I thought I would

 

[King Luis]

Did you adjust the aim of the headlights after installing the level kit and 35" tires? Maybe the reason your low beams don't light much of the road is because the majority of the light is shooting above the horizon?

The IIHS only gave the Bronco's headlights a rating of "marginal" in their testing, so even if they are aimed properly it sounds like they have poor performance. You could probably make some improvements to your visibility in the rain by improving the fog lights. I'm sure this is down to personal preference, but I've found that switching to a yellow bulb for the fog lights makes them a lot more effective at cutting through the interference of splashing rain, snow, and fog.

not really true. slight drop in performance around corners, but marginal usually is the case for non-curve adapting headlights. you also get poor rating for non-curve and no high beam assist as is the case for the wrangler without the LED package.

https://www.iihs.org/ratings/vehicle/ford/bronco-4-door-suv/2021#headlights


OP needs to adjust his headlights as he's most likely blinding on coming traffic (i'd assume most others are as well).

 

[XirallicBolts]

Unfortunately modern lights struggle with scatter/glare in rain, and the Bronco's reflector design isn't doing us any favors.
It'd be nice if there was a way to use projectors without losing the retro appearance.

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Based on my experiences in Washington, the SOP is to drive with your highbeams on while doing 50 in a 70.

 

[Techun]

Yeah the standard low beams suck

 

[Merc4x4]

You probably need to adjust the beam like Scotty said.

following these instructions seems to be a waste of time, unless you replaced / moved the headlights after the factory alignment.

Step #2 measures the center point of your headlight to get the height of the 'target' line.

If I lift my Bronco to where the headlight center point is 10ft in the air, following the instructions you'll mark your target at 10ft.

I'm guessing that's not what people are recommending here.

With the at least 3 different heights of the Bronco (base, badlands, sasquatch), I find it interesting that Ford doesn't adjust the angle of the beam relative to the height of the headlights from the ground.
Instead, the angle of the beam is constant no matter the height of the headlights (including my exaggerated 10ft example).


Edit:
It could be they were misaligned from the factory. This procedure would tell you that.

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