TheWizard

Installing HID capsules in a halogen reflector housing is a definite no-no. It doesn't matter how much you aim them, they will always produce light scatter and glare. You may be able to aim them down enough to keep from getting flashed by other drivers but the problem is still there. Here is an image of a lighting pattern produced by using HID in halogen reflector housings: Notice the upward curve of light at both sides, the two vertical spikes of light near the center and the general scatter of light all over the garage - even well above the door. As chipworkz pointed out, this is caused by the position and alignment of the light source as well as its shape. Halogen bulbs have filaments that create a tubular shaped light perpendicular to the axis of the bulb. HID capsules have an arc that is inline with the axis of the bulb but curved upward in the center due to their own heat. In a projector housing those differences are still there but not as noticeable because the front lens and the internal low-beam shutter take care of shaping the output. In a reflector housing, the curves of the reflector are all that shape the output and those curves are carefully designed to work with a light source that is a particular shape and in a particular relative position. In general, if you're thinking of installing HIDs in halogen reflectors - please don't.

No, actually my daytime job is IT Director for a Shell Oil joint venture. But a friend and I formed a volunteer group many years ago that provides safety patrol for charity bicycle rides like the MS150 and since my experience is in general electronics (I finished college before the PC was invented... that explains the grey whiskers on my avatar) it seemed natural that I would be in charge of the lighting (including strobes) on our team's motorcycles and SUVs. I've probably done 100 or more LED and HID conversions over the years so I've seen what works and what doesn't. I've seen lighting technology make huge advances in just the past 15 years. LEDs have almost completely replaced flash tube type strobes and now they are being used for primary lighting such as headlights. And you're quite right - HIDs in halogen reflectors are very bad.

It would appear that you value appearance over effective lighting - that's fine as long as you understand what you're getting. The Edge2 DRL kits are 6000K (cool white) which is white with some blue. 5000K is generally considered pure white while 4100K-4300K is used for factory HIDs because it has been found to be the most effective at providing illumination of the road in front. 10000K is blue with some white and 12000K is mostly violet. Higher temperature represents only the color and is certainly not an indication of lighting effectiveness. In fact, it's quite the opposite... once you get much above 8000K you lose so much effective light that you might as well have stayed with halogen bulbs. Sure they look very bright but that is because your eyes interpret the glare of the blue light as brightness. They don't actually light up objects down the road very well at all. Not to mention they look like they would be on some kid's ricer car with a fart cannon muffler. Higher temperature HID capsules won't last as long either. HID capsules never actually burn out (if properly handled) but they eventually shift upwards in color temperature to the point where they no longer provide useful light. Over-driven capsules have even shorter lives and also tend to wash out in color... a 6000K 55W kit will look much like a 5000K 35W kit (or a 10000K 55W kit will look like an 8000K 35W kit - not as blue).

I had the LockPick 2 in my '13 Edge. It does provide some extra features that are useful and some that are foolish. It can be very useful to allow the passenger to program the GPS while moving. It would be very foolish (not to mention illegal) to run videos while driving. Adding a front camera was helpful for parking at first but after a while you get used to the vehicle and parking is less trouble even though you can't see the front corners so the front camera got used less and less as time went on. Being able to turn on the rear camera in any gear is just an interesting feature with no practical use unless you're towing a trailer. One "gotcha" that is important to remember... the device allows activation of things that normally can't be done while moving by turning off the speed input to the head unit. That means the GPS is no longer aware of your motion. Several times we would activate the LockPick to add a waypoint along our route and forget to deactivate it again so it never informed us when we passed the exit. Basically you can't have the LockPick active and use navigation routing at the same time. Was it worth $350? Not to us. We didn't use it often enough to justify that cost. However, now that we got rid of the Edge, I have that LockPick 2 for sale at half price... $175 including shipping if you're interested. If you don't plan to add more cameras, it's a simple plug-and-play installation (adding the front camera was a lot of work).

The OEM options on a 2009 Explorer were 16, 17 and 20 - there was no 18" wheel offered that year. The 20" wheels would certainly fit and the 17" wheels would probably fit but the 16" wheels are unlikely to clear the brake calipers.

Please clarify the color temperature... 1000K would be orange bordering on red and if you meant 10000K that would be blue bordering on violet but they don't look like either of those in the photos. Factory HIDs are around 4200K but very few aftermarket lighting products are that color. They're usually 5000K or 6000K (LEDs especially).

Toothpaste is actually a very good choice. It has a very fine grit that won't leave your lights looking like they've been sanded (as long as you're careful). I've used it on windshields with great success. For headlights I've used the Mother's Headlight Restorer kit that comes with polishing compound and a foam ball for your drill. It works well, is inexpensive and somewhat more convenient than toothpaste (although it doesn't have that "minty fresh" smell).

$300 installed will be a little low. The camera alone will probably cost about half that. I don't know if the wiring harness for the camera is installed in vehicles that didn't come with the camera from the factory. The harness is probably not expensive but the labor to install it would be. If you go with a LockPick, you'll have more flexibility in setup (OEM camera or aftermarket, etc.) and it adds features like being able to activate the camera in any gear but it costs $350 plus the camera plus the harness plus installation. It just happens that I have a LockPick for sale for $175 shipped if you decide to go that route.

I have a similar set of their H9/H11 LED bulbs with drivers in my fog lights and they have survived the Florida heat without any issues. I know it's not quite as hot here as in Arizona but yours is a "dry" heat, right? I would contact V-LEDs and ask them. I expect they'll say that it isn't a problem as long as you ensure sufficient air flow around the heat sinks and fans on the back of the bulbs. That's where modification of the dust covers comes into play.

There is nothing wrong with your wiring except that you assumed that the courtesy light fuse would have power switched on and off like the courtesy lights. In fact, the fuse is in the circuit ahead of the switching so it provides constant (battery) power and your lights stay on all the time. A better option would be to tap into the power wire right at one of the courtesy lights using a ScotchLock connector and an inline fuse. That way you'll get the same switched power as the other lights.

It's similar to "a comma can save a life"... "Let's eat, Grandma" rather than "Let's eat Grandma".

Have you tried aiming? The Edge projectors are notorious for being very badly aimed from the factory making them seem like they don't light up much of the road. Proper aiming might solve your visibilty issue without the cost of conversion.

The Edge doesn't require the high/low capability of H4, H13 and similar dual filament bulbs. The 9005/9006 single filament version listed below the H4 version allows the Edge projector to use its internal shutter to control high and low beam. They are listed on the main page at $250 for the pair but when you look at the details page you'll see that all those "add-ons" are included - they start with $100 for the bulbs then add $40 for the controller boxes, $75 for the color temp (yes I know that is silly) and $10 for the mounting collar (9005 or 9006). That comes to $250 from which they will deduct a $50 discount at checkout... net price $200 for the entire kit. That's still not cheap but you get impressive (almost overwhelming) light output, the instant on, no warmup capability that is missing from HIDs and they last many times longer than either a halogen bulb or an HID capsule.

Back up for sale after no response from previous poster.

V-LEDs has those LED headlight kits for a variety of different bulb types including 9005 and 9006 so you can get the correct type for the Edge low/high projector setup. They are claiming 4500 lumens per bulb (9000 lumens for the pair). V-LEDs is known for using the "add them all up" method for advertised brightness rather than measurement of actual total bulb output so that number is somewhat inflated but still very impressive. With that much output you'll have to be very careful with headlight aiming (which is notoriously bad on the Edge) or you will fry the retinas of other drivers. Bear in mind that these will not be simple plug-and-play replacements for halogen bulbs. The LED bulbs have a large fan and heat sink on the back and require an external driver box similar to the ballast of an HID setup. So some modification to the dust caps on the back of the headlight assembly will be necessary. Over the years (and dozens of purchases from them) I have found V-LEDs customer service can range from arrogant to excellent but overall they are a good company to deal with and they sell quality products.

Well, we went through the things we took out and determined that the only other thing worth selling was the CalTrend DuraPlus rear seat covers. They are custom fit (they actually fit like they were made by Ford), waterproof, tear resistant and very durable. A good choice to protect the back seats if you have kids or pets. Unfortunately, the light gray color does not match the Ford stone interior but there wasn't any color that would have been closer. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0075KLXPE/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1 We used them for a few bicycle charity events where we were picking up cyclists who needed a ride and the covers still look brand new. I will let them go for $60 including shipping to lower 48 if anyone is interested.

Overall, I am very pleased with the new Kia so far. My wife loves it so that's a big plus (she was never really fond of the Edge from the first day we got it). There are some things that I would improve if I could. For example, the touch screen display is a "one thing at a time" design - you can look at a map or at the current audio but there is no split screen view allowing any combination of nav, audio, climate and phone to be displayed at the same time. And although you can load images into the onboard storage, you can't use them as wallpaper for the display. It just gives you the option to display the images in a completely separate mode - rather useless if you ask me. Personally I don't care because I like the stock muted background but my wife wants to use photos for the background as she did in the Edge. However, many of the "tech" items that are similar to those in the Edge simply work better. The blind spot warning system (equivalent to the BLIS system in the Ford) has a much more noticeable light in the mirror, does not activate until 20mph, warns both of vehicles in the blind spot as well as vehicles approaching at a high closure rate, and adds audible warnings if you use your turn signal to indicate moving into the lane where a vehicle is in the blind spot or approaching rapidly. I had grown so used to the Ford BLIS light being on almost all the time in traffic that I initially thought the Kia system wasn't working... that 20mph limiit is just one of the little things that shows some thought was put into the design. The navigation system warns about distraction every time you start up even if you aren't using it although you don't have to respond as the prompt goes away once you start driving. What can you do about corporate lawyers? The seats are much more comfortable than in the Edge. You feel like you're sitting in them rather than on them. But the Edge has the advantage on second row leg room. We don't often use those seats but I can see that tall passengers might be very cramped back there. Still, for the type of use we want to get from the vehicle, we both feel it was a good choice. Comfortable, fairly economical and lots of storage space were the things we wanted and the Kia seems to deliver.

I have traded in my '13 Edge Limited but removed the LockPick device first. It allows all navigation functions while vehicle is in motion (so your passenger can program destinations); rear camera in all gears; use of aftermarket rear, front or side cameras; and video functions while in motion (not legal or recommended due to driver distraction). Simple plug-and-play installation. Works on ALL MyFordTouch equipped vehicles including '11-'15 Edge and MKX. Selling for half of original price... $175 including shipping to lower 48 states. Will ship to Canada but you'll have to pay any additional shipping costs. Here is the website: http://www.coastaletech.com/mytouch2.htm

Our '13 Edge Limited is a mere 18 months old and has already been in the shop for three weeks while they replaced the steering rack and power steering four times to fix a noise and shuddering when making a left turn. We though the problem was behind us for the past six months but now it has returned. There are enough things about the Edge that neither of us like (not to mention how much we despise our local dealer) that we have decided not to go through the hassle of getting it repaired again so we have traded it in on a '15 Kia Sorento. Now before you start laughing... all of the things we found most annoying about the Edge are not present in the Sorento, it has some really nice extra features like heated and ventilated seats and real fog lights and it costs a couple thousand dollars less. I wish we had looked at it two years ago but I had X-plan and liked the Ecoboost engine. Okay, so here is what is different... - it has real buttons to go along with the 8" touch screen. - it has real gauges in front of the driver. - it has voice activated navigation, climate, bluetooth and audio that actually respond correctly. - it has a touch screen that does not require mashing with your finger just to get a response... it's as responsive as my phone. - it has a nice old-fashioned mechanical turn signal lever with its reassuring click when it shuts off (and it still has the one-touch 3-flash feature for those who like that sort of thing). - even with the V6 engine, it gets better mileage than the Ecoboost when driving over 70mph (28.6 mpg calculated - the Ecoboost is great up to about 65mph but only gets around 25 mpg once you hit 70mph). - it doesn't slip and then suddenly slam the transmission when accelerating on the highway after cancelling the cruise control for traffic. - it lets me disable the backup warning beep just once with a real on/off switch for when driving with the bicycle rack mounted (the Edge requires turning it off every time the vehicle is started). - it has a large storage area under the rear floor (where 3rd row seats would fold if we had them). - it has built-in music storage that allows you to transfer your music from a flash drive and then remove the drive. - how about a built-in 110V inverter? - those ventilated seats are going to get a lot of use here in Florida. The Edge still had some nice features... - it had maybe an inch more rear leg room - not a huge difference but certainly noticeable for tall people. - the power front passenger seat raises and lowers. - the Ecoboost engine has good efficiency for overall combined city/highway driving as long as you resist the temptation to put your foot in it. - the keyless entry keypad on the driver's side is convenient. - the grade assist mode is nice in the mountains to keep the transmission from constantly shifting. - the backup warning system has cross traffic alert. I will miss the community here... there are a lot of good people with interesting points of view and lots of knowledge to contribute to other members. I will be posting some accessories for sale at fire sale prices in the for sale area so if you're interested in a LockPic or maybe some custom fit rear seat covers, be sure to have a look in the next day or so.

Assuming that by "signature lights" you mean the vertical LED accent lights in the front lower fascia... they can't be programmed as DRLs because they are much too dim to be effective DRLs. They're hardly bright enough as accent lights (they remind me of the "landau" lights they used to have on the side of Thunderbirds). The solution is to replace them with the DRL kit from www.daytimebrightlites.com. Dan is a sponsor here and he produces a quality product with unmatched customer support. Have a look in the Glass, Lenses, Lighting, etc. section of the forum for lots more information.

Many of the bulbs on your car are "2 stage". They're actually dual filament... a single bulb with two filaments inside - one that's bright and one that's dim. They are commonly used for turn signal and parking/running lights. The bright filament flashes for the turn signals while the dim filament provides parking and running light functions. Same thing with the brake/tail lights - the bright filament is used for brake lights while the dim filament provides tail lights (they're not separate bulbs). On the other hand, the backup lights don't use dual filament bulbs. What you're seeing sounds very much like a bad connection on one of the bulbs. Often this is on the ground side of the circuit. What happens when there isn't a good ground is that the electrical current will "back feed" to ground through the other bulb on the same circuit causing both to light more dimly than normal (because there is twice as much resistance as normal from going through the second bulb). When the circuit is put in use (you put it in reverse), both bulbs are getting power so there can't be any back feed anymore and only the bulb with the working ground will illuminate - the other will turn off. While the symptoms you describe most commonly indicate a ground problem, there are other wiring situations that will cause the same symptoms. In this case, I would be concerned that the backup lights are on at all (even dimly) when the car is not in reverse. There should be no power at all to those bulbs when the transmission is not in reverse. So I suspect you may have a short between another circuit and the backup lights that is powering the circuit when it shouldn't be. That would be extremely unlikely unless some modification has been done to the wiring - the most common culprit being a trailer connection.

Also make sure you didn't accidentally turn on the high beams... that will give you a light pattern without the distinct cutoff that the lowbeams have.

Dissenting vote here... I prefer the chrome. Actually, I think the best would be a combination - chrome wheel with black inserts. The aluminum just looks dull to me.

Before spending money on aftermarket headlight kits, try aiming the factory halogen projectors properly. It seems that the vast majority of Edge projector lamps come from the factory improperly aimed. I too had planned on doing an "upgrade" until I happened to be sitting in the driveway with the garage door closed and saw how badly aimed the lights were. After adjusting the aim, I am more than satisfied with the factory lights... the halogen projectors are significantly better than any halogen reflector headlights (including an '02 Explorer) once you get used to the sharply cutoff beam pattern.

Fuses don't protect electrical accessories - they protect your car from burning to the ground. Electrical circuits don't push power through the accessory or device, the device draws whatever power it needs from the circuit. Fuses are not there to protect a device from drawing too much current because if it does, it's already broken. Fuses are there to make sure they don't allow more current to be drawn by the device (or by a short circuit) than the wire can handle. The idea is that the fuse will blow and stop current flow before it can cause the wiring to overheat and possibly cause a disastrous fire. So that means you want to select a fuse that is rated at less than the amount of current the connecting wire can safely handle. You also want to select a large enough gauge of wire that can safely pass the amount of current expected to be drawn by the device - in this case about 30 amps for the inverter. An extreme example would be to use a 30 amp fuse (because the inverter might draw that much current) connected with 18-gauge speaker wire. Normal operation would allow the inverter to draw up to 30 amps (actually 33 amps due to normal fuse tolerance) without blowing the fuse but that small wire would quickly overheat, melt its insulation and possibly start a fire if it was touching something flammable. What you want to do is connect the relay using at least 10-gauge wire (8-gauge would be even better especially if the wire is long) and a 30-amp fuse or fusible link. A normal ATO or ATC 30-amp fuse will run 33 amps for up to an hour before blowing so unless you max the inverter for an extended period, you shouldn't find yourself blowing fuses. You should also get a 40-amp relay because Bosch-style NO (normally open) relays rated at a nominal 30-amps aren't designed to carry that current for long periods (their NC - normally closed - rating is even lower). A 40-amp relay won't cost much more but will last much longer.