HID Kits on the cheap

You don't have to pull the glovebox if you are flexible. I did it by laying on my back and just unclipped it then pulled on the connector.

 

sounds like a good kit, might have to look into it some day

 

i ended up taking my glove box apart and it was pretty easy to find the black box and disconect the DRL. i also found out that one of the bulbs arived with the grounding lead broken, (the blue part leading to the top of the glass) i'll call for a replacement and test their customer servise. Ps. Anyone have an extra H1 4500k bulb i can borrow for a week? I got some good help from Jessy and Emily last night at the subaru meet on calhoun, i did have to connect the power from HID's to the ballest upside down to get them to fire up.

i think i'll be able to figure out the rest of the install alright but i'm wondering about how to secure the ballest to my car. the tech guy at work suggests that for these slim digital ballets because there is electronics in there that get quite warm that you mount them to the car with screws and thermal paste, to help with heat dissipation on the back side. but that would involve pre drilling holes / painting them then screwing them in then covering with silocone. is it worth the work? or should i just use the double sided tape they provided? Thanks for all the input and help!

 

I just ziptied mine in place, I wouldn't go through all that just to secure them.

 

i saw shibbs they looked clean

 

I ziptied mine to my washer bottle neck as a "temporary" thing, and its been there for months now. lol No melting.

 

So I am not sure if anyone else has run into this so I thought I would post it in this thread. The DDM kits have a good warranty on them.


If you run into any problems or if it quits working they will replace the parts. My headlight was having issues of just shutting off randomly last fall. I went back and unplugged and plugged everything back in and it seemed to take care of the problem (for the most part). Yesterday my headlight would not stay lit. It would come on, then flicker and turn off right away. My previous fix was to just turn my headlights on then off again. It always seemed to work. I emailed (no response) then called DDM today. They said test out the parts (swap headlights driver/passenger) and find if the problem is the bulb or the ballast. Then they have a return process online. They will replace the part that is broken.


So FYI, these kits are not only cheap (in price) and great to have. But the customer service @ DDM also makes it worth the $70.

 

^ interesting,

prices right now are $25 for the regulars and $35 for the slims. guna have to get a set for the teg and maybe the truck.

 

LAME, they were cheap before and after i buy them?????? oh well. still happy with what i got. I would say if you have projectors you should check them out. So far one of the best things i did to my car.

 

^ yea the teg has stock projectors, probably will go with 35w - 5000k. thanks for bumping the thread though! wouldnt have remembered if u didnt.

 

^ that is the same set up I have. I am really happy with the 35W, 5K

 

i just bought a set of the $35 ones, i haven't installed them yet but hopefully in the next week I will have them in. I hope they work well because they are very affordable

 

i've used and sold about 50 of these kits so far with just minor problems (usually just because the person i sold them to screwed them up while installing them). I'd recomend then to anyone.

 

So I just got my free replacement bulbs. They work great. To top off the email they sent me when my package arrived, and the great customer service.... They took all the silicone off of my headlight cover (the back peice the you have to drill into) and cleaned it up and shipped it back. Too bad I already ordered two new ones from White Bear.... I guess I have 2 extra sets now

Anyways I wanted to let people know, this company really does a great job of standing behind their product.

 

Apexcone Raptor HID Kit (35w or 55w)

DDM HID Kit Slim Ballast (35W or 55W)
whats the difference between the 2?​

​

 

the color and brightness. the 55w are a bit more blue. i have the 35w and they are more white.
i believe shibbs has the 55w 5k. they look good. i have 5k on mine.

 

the top one has the regular ballast

the bottom link has the slim ballast

 

so which is better the slim or regular ballast?

 

they're both really good quality....the "slim" ballast are just easier to install for ballast placement since they are smaller... I think they're worth the extra $10

 

the wattage only affects the brightness. the spectrum number gives the color. hence, the 5k has a blue tint, whereas the 4500k is white. the 55W's are extremely bright and you will get pulled over for sure

 

i know that i was asking about the slim ballast vr normal ballast. sry for not asking a clear question

 

i've had the 55w 5ks installed in my SRX for over a month now. i've never even been flashed by oncoming traffic. all about the aiming.

 

I just got a set of these for the kids birthday...wants to put them in his 93 legacy. Looks pretty simple...any tricks? 35W 4500 is what i got

 

just make sure he has projector bulbs for the headlight housing.

Correct, I guess i was saying that a 5k for 35w and 55w are different in color as well. Infact the company says even the 35w bulbs are never the same, each set can have a different tint to them.

 

projector bulbs?

 

to do a good job, soldering is necessary. there's not a lot of space in there so it's difficult to get everything in and out and to find working space. good luck with the install though! i just put those exact bulbs in and they're great

 

No. In fact in an automotive application a properly crimped connection will outperform a soldered connection in nearly all cases.

 

um.... are you guys talking about the same ones. mine are plug and play

 

Most are, but if you use the stock harness to power the ballasts, you may have intermittent failures to ignite one or both lamps. The inrush current at ignition is quite large, and the Subaru stock wiring is notoriously undersized. Typically you can just turn the lights off and back on and they'll both fire. To really do it right you'd wiring the HID ballasts straight to the battery with some heavier wire and use the stock harness to engage a relay.

But most people won't have a problem with the plug-and-play, at least not enough to matter.

Also, depending on the specific application, it might, in fact, not be simple plug-and play. For instance, an H1 bulb has only one terminal , and gets it's ground from the body of the bulb housing. That won't work with a HID capsule, so you'll have to set up your own ground for the ballast, even if you use the stock wire for the supply. Not difficult, but not plug-and-play either.

 

when i installed in the SRX, something about the wiring refused to fire the HIDs at all. not sure if it was some sort of protection circuit or what. they were getting proper 12v all around, just seemed to refuse to put out the amperage to fire.

opted to install a relay kit. got one off ebay, acceptable quality with an inline fuse for all of $10.
this would eliminate any issues like vector is describing, plus it will offer an extra layer of protection should something short in the wiring.

 

My light pattern is going to be crap in that old legacy...its all making sense now. I think I will return them.

 

ok...well i just installed them and soldering was necessary so i don't see how you can just say no like that...

 

and also how can you say a soldered connection is worse than a crimped connection? please explain because I think that you have nothing to back that up

 

Yeah, it's just NASA that agrees with me.

http://workmanship.nasa.gov/lib/insp/2 books/links/sections/201 General Requirements.html

And every auto manufacturer, boat manufacturer, airplane manufacturer, etc.

 

so you found one article that is extremely vague and uses the word "typically" without any sort of statistical backing? all the reading i've done suggests that it's easier to do a good crimp and harder to make a good solder, but when done correctly, both are equally as effective. crimping=easier

 

The solder causes a stress riser in the wire at the end of where the solder wicks to, and vibration can cause fatigue and cracking of the wire. And I've seen it numerous times in automotive applications where someone soldered a wire and it eventually broke off, or broke enough strands to cause signal issues.

In most electronics gear, the solder is backed up by a physical joint (the pin through the hole), and the pieces are ridgid, and will vibrate together, not flex.

Solder joints also will have higher resistance than a good solid crimp (even silver solder has higher resistance than copper), but in most cases that's not an issue, and it's not why they aren't used in cars.

A really good crimp connection takes as much or more skill (and more specialized equipment) than a good solder joint. A mediocre crimp is easier than a mediocre solder joint though. And both can be done poorly by pretty much anyone.

Crimping is also faster, cheaper (parts vs. labor), and with the right equipment, much more repeatable than soldering, all of which make it the technique of choice for connecting wires in situations were vibration tolerance is a significant factor.

But if you prefer to solder your wires in your car, go right ahead. It's not my car, after all, so I don't really care.

 

i just have the crimp connectors with heat srink ends and solder in the middle so when u shrink the end of the connector u also melt the solder that is in the midle of the connector. so u get get both of them. but i always finish up with some electical tape.

 

Dumb question, but you should replace your highbeams too, hence buying two kits?

 

I have been in the automotive electronics industry for over ten years, and have seen my share of soldered and crimped connections. I personally was trained to solder every connection. When properly soldered, the connection quality is hard to beat. As far as a higher resistance with a soldered connection, I can tell you from experience that is false. When soldered, the wires being connected are making direct contact with one another, where as in a crimped connection, continuity is made through the metal barrel inside the crimp. Many vehicle immobilizer systems work via resistance (GM Passlock) and crimped connections would cause enough fluctuation in resistance to cause failures, but when soldered would work perfectly. Crimped connections are easy screw up, you need to have the right type of crimping tool for the connectors you are using. On the same note, if you do not know how to solder correctly, cold solder joints can cause just as many issues. As far as vehicle manufacturers using crimped connections, two examples that I can think of that were complete disasters were mid 90's Jeeps that had crimped connections for the front door speakers, they were such a common failure we had a preset cost for repairing it at a couple of the shops I worked for. The other was in Buick LeSabres for years, crimped connections in the footwells and under kick plates were notorious for failing causing multiple issues. In my experience, soldering is the way to go if you know how to do it properly, and if you don't know how you should learn or have someone else do it for you. But if you want to do it the easy way, crimp away.

 

Thanks, Russ. My driver's side headlight just went out, so I figured this would be a good time to upgrade. I'll be ordering the same setup that Shibbs had.

 

anyone having problems with these starting up on a cold day?...mine has been doing that recently these past few cold nights and morning.

 

I installed the 50w kit on my silverado and they started up good last week when it was -2

 

I have the 35w kit in mine. They have been in for about two years now and I have had no issues other than a few times when I have turned on the headlights one of them does not turn on right away. I have noticed more flickering on the initial turn on in the morning now that it is getting colder now though.

 

mine worked great all winter long last year, and still kicking this year