The factory headlights on a 2021+ F-150 do the job and look fine doing it. They are also exactly what everyone else on the road is running, and the low-beam pattern is tuned more for compliance than distance. If you want the truck to look different at a glance and see more of the road once the sun goes down, the housing has to change, not just the bulb.
I put a set of Morimoto's XB Evo headlights on my own shop truck, a 2021 F-150 Lariat FX4 that is already front-leveled on a 2.5-inch strut spacer, and filmed the whole install along with a side-by-side beam comparison against the stock lights.
The Truck
Nothing exotic here on purpose. It is a 2021 F-150 Lariat FX4, front-leveled with a 2.5-inch strut spacer, otherwise stock. The point of this feature is not a big modified truck, it is showing what one part does for a truck a lot of readers already have sitting in the driveway.
What's Different About the XB Evo
What you get from the factory depends entirely on trim. Lower trims like the XL and XLT run halogen bulbs in a basic sealed housing. Step up to a mid-level trim and Ford switches to LED reflectors, better than halogen but still bouncing light off a reflector bowl instead of focusing it. Only the top trims get real LED projectors from the factory. Even at the top of the lineup, none of it touches Morimoto's brightness or build quality.
Once a stock housing ages or fogs, there is no bulb swap that fixes it either, because the projector and the reflector are one sealed piece. Morimoto's XB Evo headlights are a full housing replacement built specifically for the 2021-2023 F-150 and 2021-2023 Raptor, so the fit, the beam cutoff, and the DRL and turn signal wiring are all designed around this platform rather than adapted to it.
The optics are what Morimoto calls Tri-Beam Technology: an Ishida Type 1 Bi-LED projector paired with a side-specific low beam reflector assist and a separate high beam reflector assist, rather than one projector trying to do both jobs. In stock form they are DOT (FMVSS108) compliant, so this is a legal upgrade for the street, not just an off-road light.
They also carry Morimoto's patent-pending frost-free system, a ceramic heating element that warms the lens surface so frost does not build up in cold, wet weather. Flash the high beams four times when it is below 41 degrees and it kicks on automatically. The DRL color (white or amber) and the turn signal style (sequential or fade-off) are both configurable too, so you can set the look to match how you want the front end to read.
The styling is a step up on its own, a much darker, more finished look up front than anything Ford offers, factory LED projectors included. Backed by a 5-year warranty from Morimoto, these are not a cheap set of housings, and they are not trying to be. On a modded truck, this is about as close to a must-have as a lighting upgrade gets, the newer, cleaner face out front and a housing built to hold up for as long as the truck does.
Frost-free lens heating
5-Year Morimoto warranty
The Install
I did this one myself, and it is a straightforward plug-and-play swap. Morimoto includes everything the kit needs, harnesses and all, so there was no splicing or piecing together adapters from a parts bin. Pull the factory headlights, connect the new harnesses, set the new units in place, and you are done.
The Result
The XB Evo throws a brighter, wider beam than the factory housing, and the truck looks better doing it, day or night. See for yourself in the shots below.
Side by side, the stock lights throw a shorter, narrower pattern that fades out quickly past the truck. The XB Evo pattern reaches further down the road and lights up more of the shoulder on both low and high beam. The aesthetic upgrade matches the lighting performance upgrade here, and both are worth the price on their own.
The XB Evo Hybrid: Same Optics, Lower Price
If the price on the full XB Evo is a stretch, Morimoto also builds an XB Evo Hybrid version for the same 2021-2023 F-150 and Raptor. It runs the same Tri-Beam Technology, the Ishida Type 1 Bi-LED projector plus the low beam and high beam reflector assists, and it is DOT compliant in stock form just like the standard set.
To hit a lower price, Morimoto drops features rather than the optics. The Hybrid skips the frost-free lens heaters and the mode selectors that let you personalize DRL color and turn signal style, so you get fixed white DRLs and amber turn signals instead of the configurable setup on the full XB Evo. The projector, the reflectors, and the DOT compliance carry over unchanged.
Fixed white DRL, no lens heating
5-Year Morimoto warranty
Frequently Asked Questions
Do the Morimoto XB Evo headlights fit the 2021-2023 F-150 and Raptor?
Yes. The LF2-498 set is a direct-fit housing replacement for the 2021-2023 Ford F-150 and the 2021-2023 Ford Raptor.
Is the XB Evo headlight install plug-and-play?
Yes. The kit includes the harnesses and hardware needed to connect to the factory wiring, no splicing or extra adapters required.
Do I need a tune or any other modification to run these?
No. These are a direct housing swap and do not touch the powertrain, so there is nothing else to modify to run them.
Are the Morimoto XB Evo headlights DOT legal?
Yes, in stock form. They are DOT (FMVSS108) compliant for use on public roads. The optional Supercharged Driver upgrade pushes past that compliance level, so it is off-road use only.
What is the warranty on Morimoto XB Evo headlights?
Morimoto backs the XB Evo line with an industry-leading 5-year warranty.
Can I add more output later?
Yes. Morimoto's optional Supercharged Driver boosts output another 30 to 50 percent, but that level is off-road use only since it is no longer DOT compliant for public roads.
What is the difference between the XB Evo and the XB Evo Hybrid?
Same Tri-Beam optics and the same DOT compliance. The Hybrid drops the frost-free lens heaters and the DRL/turn signal customization to hit a lower price.
Light Up the Way You Look
Same truck, new face, and a beam pattern that actually keeps up with it. Grab the set we installed, or call and we will help you spec it.
