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What is the best HID kit for the Edge?


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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...

I currently have a DDM HID 9006 kit on my 2011 Ford Edge, since Sept 2013. 5300k 35W with wiring harness.

Auto on has never worked properly, despite additional capacitors fitted from HD Extra.

(Note: Auto can work for a week or so after first fitting and then one light would fail to start. It works ok on manual) the auto is a hit or miss affair with many kits, from what I’ve read, IMHO - despite what some posts may say!

Relay connectors in the harness have corroded and relay has now failed on two occasions. Both lights fail to work when this happens.

Needed to unplug relay: clean pins and tap/bang it (assume something sticking inside) to get it to work.

 

12/18/14 8:11am

Following Dan Smith’s recent report on The Edge forum I ordered a new HID kit 5000k 35W from him at http://drivebright.com/home/

(kc300c on Edge Forum)

$116 incl postage.

 

12/18/14 9:43am

Got an email from Dan requesting vehicle and bulb details.

 

12/24/14 - Kit arrived. On inspection, there seemed to be some additions to the DDM harness, e.g. some gold colored resistors. I was disappointed to see the relay on the harness is the same and was the weak point of the DDM.

I will tape this one up from new, from head to toe. Maybe a shrink cover on this would help.

There is a wiring diagram in the box for use with the harness and the paperwork refers you to instructions online, also see details on back of diagram.

Dan soon pointed me to the online YouTube video, however this does not include the harness, which is an optional install anyway, so you’ll need to follow the harness wiring diagram if fitting a harness.

I liked the ballast mounting bracket and position. I didn’t find it necessary remove the airbox as shown in the video. I also recommend using an inspection mirror (from eBay or small shaving mirror) and flash light to be sure the bulbs are seated correctly.

 

1/4/15 – I installed the harness and lights. Being the second kit I’ve fitted, it was all straight forward, with bulb fitment being the trickiest bit. Trim the tabs as per the video and take your time.

My garage was 38 degs and not being used to working in the cold, it was not the easiest conditions.

For the ground connection on each side I used the same bolt that is used to mount the ballast.

The bolt is long and sticks down below the thread under the bodywork.

I sanded the underside of the threaded flange, placed the ground cable and used the extra nut from the kit supplied on the bolt from below.

 

Getting the resistors cable tied without touching anything (as they get hot) just takes a bit of thought but is ok.

Lights worked, so I finished up with the cable ties and got everything secure.

I adjusted one of the lights for height adjustment; I may have caused it to move during installation - simple hex key at back of light unit.

Lights work ok on auto and now need to see how this goes after a period of 2-3 weeks.

 

Overall, very straight forward to fit.

 

Just need to see how the auto works………….

I will post up here in a few weeks to advise.

 

I have no connections with Dan, but I am extremely pleased with his service and hope I get many years life from this install.

 

If you have any problems with the how to install, then I’m sure Dan will be able to assist. Just give yourself plenty of time and maybe a mild day with vehicle outside would be the best option for light.

 

Kev

 

Update 1 - The lights on auto still working! Keeping fingers crossed!

 

Update 2 - 5000k lights are not too blue and I prefer the color of these to my previous DDM 5300k bulbs

 

Update 2 - 3/12/15 Auto on continues to work perfectly!

 

Update 3 - 11/8/15 = All's good!

Edited by badgb21
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The Ballasts work great, I have never had a light not start yet. The 6000K bulbs that come with the kit suck however. I just bought the Morimoto XB 9012 4500K bulbs and they get brighter way faster and are a lot brighter too. I had some buyers remorse with the kit until I added these bulbs. I am not sure how his 5000K bulbs compare but I hated the 6000K bulbs but couldn't be happier with these new 4500K bulbs.

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The Ballasts work great, I have never had a light not start yet. The 6000K bulbs that come with the kit suck however. I just bought the Morimoto XB 9012 4500K bulbs and they get brighter way faster and are a lot brighter too. I had some buyers remorse with the kit until I added these bulbs. I am not sure how his 5000K bulbs compare but I hated the 6000K bulbs but couldn't be happier with these new 4500K bulbs.

 

I'm glad you said that. I haven't received an email yet and was unsure of which bulbs to get. I'll definitely try the 5000k from Dan and look into the morimoto bulbs in the meantime.

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Hey chipworkz,

What wattage did you go with for your morimoto setup. This is the same system I'm planning on ordering.

 

The Ballasts work great, I have never had a light not start yet. The 6000K bulbs that come with the kit suck however. I just bought the Morimoto XB 9012 4500K bulbs and they get brighter way faster and are a lot brighter too. I had some buyers remorse with the kit until I added these bulbs. I am not sure how his 5000K bulbs compare but I hated the 6000K bulbs but couldn't be happier with these new 4500K bulbs.

 

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I went a different route and ordered from xenon pro.com. I got the 35w 5000K combo with the anti flicker (warning canceller) for about $120 shipped. Never had a problem with them (auto or manual) and not once did I get the hyper-flashing. Install took me about 30 minutes. I installed them on my 2014 SE

 

HID-Xenon-Car-Kits-Canbus-Slim-Ballast.j

Edited by J0J0
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I've never installed HID lights before and was a little worried about getting the bulb in correctly. I must have been lucky because from what I can see there are no shadows in the beam pattern. Now I just need to figure out how to tie the cords together from the housing to the ballast and where to put them. Does anyone have any suggestions?

 

I drive mostly at night (works nights,sleep during the day) and these are great. Much brighter than stock. I'm still interested in the morimoto bulbs though, so we'll see.

post-33784-0-69523500-1426529473_thumb.jpg

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  • 2 months later...

The DRL function is part of the parking/turn signal lights. That should have no effect on your HID kit, which will only turn on manually or via auto switch when dark.

 

Thanks candurin but even with my light switch on the off position the headlights turn on as I put into drive but I've seen othe edge models only with the park/turn signal on and the bottom lights not sure why mine is different HELP!!!!

The DRL can be the headlights (at reduced output) or turn signal lights. If they are the Headlights, you can check with your dealer to program them to the turn signals.

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I thought I would chime in here with my experience. I recently bought the Morimoto "9012" 35w kit with 5,500k bulbs and "HD" relay harness from The Retrofit Source and I'm pretty happy with the results. Figuring I didn't do the full retrofit which includes proper projector lenses and such, I can't complain too much. Light output is hugely increased from the OEM halogens that the '11 Sport came with. Not only are they brighter, but they cover far more space. The cutoff is fairly clean, even through the OEM projector lenses too. My one disappointment in the results is that I seem to have a couple little "hot spots" in my light output, which I'm assuming has to do with the OEM projectors. The bulbs (being 9012's, and not a trimmed-to-fit 9006 or other size) are installed the only way the tabs would allow, which I would assume is the proper way, so I'm not sure of any other explanation for the hot spots. My hopes were that these projector lenses were the same ones Ford used on the OEM HID equipped vehicles, but apparently they aren't if they're causing these. My parents and a friend both have Limited Edges with OEM HID's, and they definitely don't have hot spots in their light output, so something's different about mine. Maybe someone can speak to this?

 

The only install issues I had were 1) finding good locations for the ground wires (factory grounds weren't easily accessible), and 2) mounting the ballasts. For the ground wires, I wound up sanding and drilling a location on each fender lip (then coating in dielectric grease, of course). Not a big deal, but I'd hoped to be able to use a factory ground location and not have to sand off paint and drill holes. For the ballasts - the TRS kit came with mounting brackets, but they were too small to fit nicely into the factory mounting locations. I wound up taking the mounting brackets off, and securing the ballasts into the factory location with "plumber's strapping". Not the prettiest, but functional. Unfortunately, my heavy duty Velcro wasn't holding things securely enough for my liking, so this was the next best option I had.

 

All in all, this kit appeared to be very high quality and basically dummy-proof in terms of how things wired up and connected.

 

I do feel like I need to throw a disclaimer in here about why I chose TRS and not DTBL (Daytime Bright Lights, aka DAN), because I did seriosly consider Dan's kit. I asked him a number of questions last year and he was absolutely awesome to deal with. Nothing but helpful and courteous, like you would expect any professionally run business to be. I had every intention of giving him my business, but by the time I was ready to pull the trigger, I found out that I needed a kit for my other vehicle as well. Since I couldn't get the 2nd kit from Dan, I went looking on TRS's site and found that they had an Independance Day special on. It just made more sense t buy both from TRS rather than buy them separately. Sorry Dan, but I'll probably be thowing some business your way for the LED DRL/Signals to make up for it sometime in the future. :)

Edited by wes8398
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