KenR
T.C. Member-
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About KenR
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Region
U.S. Northeast
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My. T.C.'s Year
None
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FYI... LED's were NEVER intended to be a 1-for-1 replacement with any other bulb type. In fact, it's illegal in the US to replace your factory-specified bulb type with a different bulb type. The reason is because bulbs and their corresponding optical systems (in the case of the TC, a parabolic reflector system for both low and high beam functions) are engineered AS A SYSTEM, meaning that the optics of the system are engineered specifically for a particular bulb type (in the case of the TC gen-2, that's an H11 low beam bulb and an H9 high beam bulb). No other bulb type will work in it's place. The same is technically true with projector systems as well -although, they tend to be more forgiving due to their ellipsoidal reflector design. As such, as is the case with halogen or HID lighting systems, modern day LED headlamps are designed with dedicated optics that work only with the light source they were designed for. When you replace a halogen light source with an LED light source you will get mixed results, often times improving your view of the road (simply by virtue of the adjusted color temperature of the light wavelength that the LED bulb produces giving the appearance of more light on the road), but you'll also increase glare light as well. And it's glare light that most automotive lighting laws are designed to control because that's the light that shines above the horizon and into the eyes of oncoming traffic. You will likely not get pulled over after having swapped-in LED bulbs, but you likely will get flashed high beams by oncoming traffic a lot more.
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KenR started following Cruise Control Add , Fanless LED headlamps..anyone tried them yet? and Heated Mirrors, Rear Window Defrost
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This is the reason for "poor" lighting performance about 75% of the time! Quite often OEM's aim headlamps low on purpose to minimize the service department warranty claims that come from new customers getting 'high-beam flashed' by oncoming traffic. When customer's headlights are aimed properly it's not uncommon to get flashed by onconing traffic. Thus, a customer will bring their carts in to the dealership to get the headlamp aim lowered (costing the OEM money on the warranty claim). But when they are aimed too low, the customer often just things they have crappy headlamps, and no customer will return their car because of poor lamp performance! Often, a simple reaim is all the is needed
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Searched but could find anything definitive about upgrading to heated mirrors and rear defrost. I have a 2015 TC LWB Cargo without CC and I am anticipating the cold weather here in Michigan. Winter here is hard enough -much less having to live without some of the more 'basic' necessities we've grown used to on our modern cars. As such, I'm researching the possibility of adding heated mirrors and rear defrost to my TC. I'm curious if an 'add-on' harness is available from Ford that would add the heated mirror and rear defrost options to a TC. I know I would have to secure some new mirrors (ar at least replace my current mirror glass with mirror glass that has the heating elements on them. I also know I would need to swap-out the rear windows for those with the defrost elements on them as well. But for me, that's the easy part. The hard part is integrating it into the existing vehicle systems (all of which might be rather easier if a factory harness is available). Anyone have any experience with either of these upgrades?
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Searched but could find anything definitive about adding cruise control. I have a 2015 TC LWB Cargo without CC and it's a bit of a hassle traveling as much as I do without CC. Anyone know if CC can be added to a TC that came from the factory without it? I'd prefer to use Ford factory parts if possible.