Do the OEM LED Projector lights self level?

[dolsen]

We were discussing the pre-start sweep though. It's a single event.

The fact that these amazing lights are also "active" in motion is a very different thing. And there's far more going on than what the height sensors provided pre-startup.

I poked fun at Ford for being late to the party. But once they did arrive, they brought the whole package. There's so much technology in that headlight and on a dark night driving around if you are watching for what they are doing it's amazing.

You’re right, I went into the weeds lol

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[Snakebitten]

You have every right to dig deep since you are retrofitting. That must require tenacity and a learning curve. Much respect from me!

 

[dolsen]

You have every right to dig deep since you are retrofitting. That must require tenacity and a learning curve. Much respect from me!

I cannot believe how much I’ve learned about these trucks in just 4.5 months of ownership. I’ve had an absolute blast upgrading my 501A to a 502A. And I’m trying to make it as complete and factory like as possible, within reason. I’m not gonna replace entire wiring harnesses for 2 wires for the HSW, I’ll just run new wiring. But I want it to look factory built when all the panels are on

 

[Snakebitten]

It's an amazing platform and an amazing forum, combined. Especially in context of what you are achieving.

So different than when I was a younger man.

 

[vidwiz]

Turns out we were mostly correct, apparently it also does it based off vehicle pitch from acceleration or braking as well.

From the manual:

"Automatic Headlamp Leveling
The headlamp beam height is automatically adjusted according to vehicle load, speed, acceleration and braking data received from the ABS module and PCM. The front lighting uses a HCM to command the up/down aiming of the headlamp adaptive lighting LED through the LIN to the headlamp assemblies. The headlamp assemblies contain a module that receives the messages through the LIN from the HCM.
Depending on the inputs received (steering wheel angle and vehicle speed for example), the HCM can command the height at which the headlamp LED is aimed (up or down) to improve nighttime visibility. Automatic headlamp leveling is activated when the headlamp switch is in the HEADLAMPS or AUTOLAMPS position.
When the LED control module first receives voltage when the ignition is on the and LED control
module commands the headlamps up and down to initialize the system. During the initialization, the HCM runs diagnostics on the system and set Diagnostic Trouble Codes (DTCs) for applicable system faults."

All the more reason for me to get these ride height sensors installed.

Thanks for that. I had previously searched and tried again in my 22 f150 owners manual pdf and get zero hits on leveling. Where exactly did you find that? I'm just trying to figure out why I get flashed when my trailer is hooked up. It's almost as if I dont have leveling but I have a 22 Plat with scales and ccd.

 

[dannko58]

The motorized ones on the 502A+, have a fancy little up down/right left dance they do on start up, is this just for show or do they actually level themselves each time?

My truck is on 2” pucks to level it, I haven’t noticed any issues with my lights shining people or being too high, so I’m curious if the lights actually adjust themselves or not.

do not level, I had to adjust down, or let's say if they self level, they don't because after the level kit I was getting flashed constantly

 

[dolsen]

Thanks for that. I had previously searched and tried again in my 22 f150 owners manual pdf and get zero hits on leveling. Where exactly did you find that? I'm just trying to figure out why I get flashed when my trailer is hooked up. It's almost as if I dont have leveling but I have a 22 Plat with scales and ccd.

That’s from the service manual, not the owners manual

 

[vidwiz]

Is the level set at startup or is it continuous?

Answering my own question. My '22 Plat does not self level at startup nor during use. I powered up the truck and let the lamps initialize then marked their position on the wall. Then I powered off, added a couple hundred pounds to the tailgate and restarted. The lamps shone higher on the wall. Seems to be something rotten in Denmark as I read reports of them both working and not...

 

[McGuyver]

Same experience as dannko58, marked headlights on garage wall 25’ away. Removed rear blocks which dropped the rear 1.25”. Drove truck around, a few days later pulled back to my spot and headlights were about 4” above the mark. So I don’t believe the auto level function compensates for a lift or reverse level. I had to manually adjust them.

 

[vidwiz]

I have had my truck into 2 dealers now, they have done all sorts of things but have been unable to rectify the problem. A quick check on recalls now shows this new development however:


Reprogram light emitting diode led and headlamp control modules hcm Recall Incomplete, remedy not yet available

Campaign/NHTSA#
23C36/AWAITING#
Issue Date
2023-11-28
Description

Safety Risk

Remedy

Next Steps
Contact your local dealer and schedule a maintenance appointment. To find your local dealer, use the "find a dealer" feature below.

I'm going to piss on Ford now so tune out if you're not into that. I've been waiting over a year for a fix. The whole reason I went with a truck was to pull travel trailer. But it's too limiting to do the extensive trips I had anticipated unable to tow at night safely because of this. I risk a traffic ticket, road rage, and accidents. My trailer sits unused depreciating, the truck was losing a grand per month in value last time I checked. So I'm bailing, going to get out now, but it's going to cost me 10's of thousands and countless hours of research and consternation. FUF.

 

[astrand1]

I’m reviving this thread. I have my 23 lariat lightning. We were having a discussion on the lightning forums about adjusting the headlights. For anyone that’s not aware all lightnings regardless of trim have adaptive headlights. So my 23 has a ride height sensor in the rear but just a plug with a cover on it in the front where a sensor should be. Someone else said they deleted them in 23 for supply chain issues. My question is should there theoretically be a ride sensor on both sides of the front or just the right where I see the dead end plug. I will go back out and look at the front left and see if I have a dead plug there as well. If I do you know the next question will be and that’s what forscan address will I have to change to tell the truck those sensors are there? I have a feeling this will wind up being a Jesse@infotainment question. ?

 

[Snakebitten]

I have auto-leveling headlights in my 2005 Porsche and my 2016 Miata, along with the 2022 KingRanch Powerboost.

Both the Porsche and the Miata accomplish their iteration of auto-leveling with a single height sensor on the rear suspension.

The fact that Ford supplies a height sensor at all 4 corners is PROBABLY because they leverage the feedback data for more than just leveling the headlight aim at startup. The truck also has CCD suspension that leverages height sensor data that is measured in the VDM module.
And the onboard scales, as silly as they might be, also use the same height sensor data to calculate weight.

I would imagine, and I am only guessing, Ford could in fact auto-level the headlights with a single height sensor in the rear of the truck. But they obviously have designed additional features that would require more than just that single rear sensor?

 

[Chrisy]

If I recall correctly the startup leveling (called reference run in Ford lingo) will move to a pre-calibrated value that is stored in the non-volatile memory.
After which the auto-leveling SW module will take over and dynamically (real-time in runtime) adjusts the leveling angle of the lights based on the inputs it gets (e.g. leveling senors and whatnots).

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