Diamond Cut Housing Installation Disaster

[mweiss]

I bought some of the diamond cut clear corners and headlamp housings that others have bought here and I had a hellish time with installation.

I don't have a garage, and I was out in 25ºF weather with sleet starting to fall 3 hours into the 6-hour job that this turned into.

The driver's side headlamp unit housing wasn't quite the same dimensions as the original--the rails in the chassis did not quite line up with the clips on the new units. This caused me to have to exert a lot of pressure to line up the dissimilar parts. This is when I discovered that the plastic used in the black adjuster retainers is inferior to the Ford OEM retainers. When I finally got the driver's side headlamp lined up and gave it a good push to get the clip retainer into the hole, it went in--to far! The ears broke right off like they weren't even there at all. There was no stopping power--those things just snapped right off. I lost the ears on the top clips left and right on the unit.
So now there is nothing holding the housing in---save for the wiring to the bulb.
And that's another story; the bulb retainer ring is defective. It is supposed to catch 3 screws on the housing. But one of the plastic catches is missing. So the bulb won't align properly. That unit casts diffuse light, not a focused beam.
I did manage to install a new wiring harness that I bought from SUVLights and that went okay, although I had to remove the top bolts of the radiator and transmission cooler/ a/c condenser coil in order to dress the harness along side the existing wiring harness. That was a bit of work.
What disappoints me is that with all that work, I still can't see much of the road light up. With a temporary shim wedged under the lamp housing to keep it stable, I test drove the Explorer tonight and found that low beam was still woefully inadequate. High beam was too diffuse to really penetrate the distance. If I held 'flash to pass' to force both filaments on, the amount of light was almost adequate for speeds up to 40mph in rainy conditions. But I still can't see right of the curb, so any deer that's waiting to jump into the road is not illuminated still, as with the OEM housings.
I think the largest improvement was the wiring harness. The light output is more white now, but brightness is still not really there.

I think I will trade in my Explorer for a Lexus. My friend's Lexus lights up the road about 10X brighter. His lowbeams are more effective than my lights with all four filaments forced on. I don't get it. And cars with HID projector lamps turn night into day. I'm really irritated with Ford for not providing a safe illumination system for their vehicles. The only thing worse is the old style bulb-in-reflector of my 1948 Dodge pickup truck with 6-volt system. I have flashlights brigher than these headlamps!

All this work and I still can't see where I'm going at night. I'm going to see a dealer about a trade in. I've had it with these lights.

[celly]

The Diamond cuts are low quality items. Same with the corners. It was a bit of a song and dance getting the headlights in my Ex, but I had nowhere near the issues you had.

I don't share your views re: illumination in general. Mine work great and I've done a lot of solo road trips through the years (many times through the Canadian Rockies where good lights come in handy with all the wildlife on the road). I'm on my 4th Explorer ('93, '97, '99, '00). Sure those HID systems are nice but I don't need them myself.

[gijoecam]

Properly aimed composite headlamps have been around since the 80s and, once properly aimed, work just fine for most people. I've noticed that as my lenses have yellowed, the light output has become worse. 55-watt bulbs are not a lot of output, but it's all that's allowed under the current FMVSS. HIDs get around it by having a higher lumens output at a lower wattage.... it's simply based on the way the light is generated (with an arc rather than a filament).

I've got Sylvania Xenarcs on my F-150 and they make the OEM headlights look like candles. By the same token, I've also got 150-watt KC Daylighters on both the F-150 and the Explorer, and they make the headlights look like flashlights!!

Like you, I couldn't stand driving my country back-roads at night with barely adequate headlights. I installed the daylighters, and since then, the road never seems too dark.

-Joe

[draft]

You're gonna trade your Explorer in for a Lexus because of the lights? I can understand that you need to see the sides of the road, but perhaps reading up on these before you bought them could've helped you out? How about brighter fog lights? HIDs?

Otherwise, your excuse sounds rediculous. To each his own.

[jimcom]

I re-used the stock handlers/adjusters.
Piece o' cake compared to using the the newer ones.

[draft]

Yeah, I did some writeups on here about how I RECOMMENDED people install using their existing hardware and just trashing the ones PCP/Makato sent with their lights... I was one of the first of the few to get them and test them out. Yeah, I never commented on their upgrade of lighting, or lack thereof, but I did write some nice install instructions that could've saved you hours.

Now I did the merc conversion with diamonds and HIDs... everything is alot better =]

[greenbeer]

I also used my OEM clips and had the whole thing done in about an hour. I am also impressed with how well they light up the road as well as many other people who have road in my Ex. Maybe I have a different brand.

[mweiss]

Originally Posted by jimcom

I re-used the stock handlers/adjusters.
Piece o' cake compared to using the the newer ones.

Stock handlers didn't fit into the plastic assembly--they were thicker and wider (the clips the snap into the side of the lens assy, that is)

The units are dimensionally off from the OEMs, which, I suspect, is part of the cause for so much difficulty. Working in sleet and freezing rain at 25ºF didn't help either.

[mweiss]

Originally Posted by greenbeer

I also used my OEM clips and had the whole thing done in about an hour. I am also impressed with how well they light up the road as well as many other people who have road in my Ex. Maybe I have a different brand.

I drove tonight with the new housings, but neither I nor my wife thought they were producing any more light than before. And this is with a new wiring harness and brighter bulb output due to higher voltage!

The pattern is really odd. There are holes all over the pattern, dark spots actually. There's a bright spot near the front passenger fender, which is too close in to be useful, then there is a general dim illumination that extends in low beam mode about 50' in front of the truck. Within that area, there are dark spots. The whole area is too dim to really see. I can't see if there is 'black ice' on the road ahead with enough advance distance to slow down, for instance. I can't see if there's a chunk of some truck tire in the road until I'm on top of it.
My old lights at least had a bright spot in front at about 50' and I could tell if my lights were on or not, in city traffic.
The light output is like 'tunnel vision'. That is, there is a black void all around and only a little area of illumination, but no sharply-defined pattern, like I had with my Cibie halogen lamps on my '69 Riviera. This light is too diffuse and too dim across the width.
Even my wife's Mitsubishi lights up everything nicely. I never feel like there's not enough light. And her high beams are almost too bright--my eyes actually hurt a little when first switching them on until eyes get accustomed. There is no fatigue with them. But with the lights in my Ford, I get a headache from driving more than 30 mins and I also get drousy on trips in rural areas where my lights are the only source of illumination. I find it hard to stay awake with such dim light.
My friend has a Lexus SUV, not sure the exact model, but I rode it the other night and all I could say was WOW! If I had lighting like this, I could drive safely at night. It was just as easy to see at night as it was to see during the day with those lights. His low beams were quite adequate to 60mph, lighting up 500' ahead and way off to the sides--the whole width of the road.
Why would I change vehicles just because of lighting? It's a lot cheaper than having to live with having killed a pedestrian that you didn't see and the attendent litigation, attornies' fees and anguish.
I had hoped to avoid adding aux lights because there's no place to mount them on this truck. Below the bumper they get smashed from hitting curbs. Can't put them anywhere else because there isn't any place on the truck where some can be installed. My old truck had lots of places where aux lights could be easily mounted. But the grill on the Explorer is made of plastic or fiberglass and is too flimsy to hold a driving light. The slots in the bumper are only like 2" high--not enough to fit any kind of decent lights in there.
I'm not about to sink another $1500 into projector lights and new housings custom modified to fit the projectors. I've got over 100K miles on this truck and the repairs are starting to become more frequent. Just had new ball joints installed last week, and this week it wouldn't start after work and I was stranded at midnight in a rural town with no towing service. It's probably time to move on.
There is a docket with the NHSTA over these Ford headlights. I signed it back in 2001 when there were just 1500 complaint letters entered on the docket. So I'm not imagining all this. The lights are seriously inadequate for safe driving. With winter here, I no longer can arrange my schedule to avoid driving in the dark.
Back to the situation here, I have these poorly-made housings and broken mounting hardware on the driver's side. Since I had to break the clips on the old OEM lights to remove them from the chassis (there was no access to the back side, so I had to pry them out and some of the retainer were sheared off.) I did take that hardware and try to re-use it in the new housings, but they won't snap in as the plastic parts are slightly larger and thicker, although they look identical. But they don't fit, not even close. I used a grinder to thin down the piece that slides into the side of the housing, but the width was still to much to fit. And it was too darned cold and I could no longer feel my fingers anymore, so I jambed it in there cockeyed just to button it up. Six hours was long enough to be working on this and no solution for the fit problem would have been found by spending even more time.
I'm tempted to get a few tubes of rubber silicon caulk and fill the back of the headlight cavity to lock in the unit and leave it at that. I've wasted countless hours on trying higher wattage bulbs, replacing melted sockets when that didn't work, now this, plus a new wiring harness. And I still can't drive safely at night (well, I can, but I doubt traffic behind me appreciates my 25mph speeds in a 40 zone because I can't see far enough down the road.
I'm frustrated by all of this. The vehicle is otherwise a fine vehicle. It had been reliable up until last Sunday night when it refused to start, and is rugged and resisted two rear end collisions nicely in the past two years without sustaining any damage. But now that I'm driving in the dark more than the day, I'm continually getting bad headaches and having to double my travel times to avoid over-driving my light's range of illumination.

[Afboy143]

it took me 10 mins to install my diamond cut clears WITH projectors mounted inside them.

On my old explorer I had PCP diamond cuts with halogen bulbs and it was 10x brighter than stock housing. It took me 20 mins to install these with the diamond clear corners.Stock housing SUCKS. I also ran 80/100w bulbs on a upgraded wire harness and it was much brighter than stock.

Also, getting a new car over LIGHTS? Be real....who does that

If your lights are THAT bad, get a upgraded fog light system or upgraded bulbs. I would say do a HID retrofit but if it takes u 6 hours to install headlight housings, I dont even want to think about you doing a HID retrofit or a hid 9007 kit install for that matter

ps. I love everyone, I dont mean to start a fight. Also, maybe you should go get your eyes tested, I think something maybe wrong.

[Raminator157]

Hate to say it. But mine went in really smooth. But I was also in a heated Garage. The Passenger Side one was difficult to get out. But everything fit nice.

[aldive]

Looks good. To look even better swap the bulbs ( amber ) to Silver Stars.

Nice install.

[Raminator157]

Thanks, I was thinking about it, but I am having a hard time justifying spending more money on the X. My Rocker panels are rotting out.....

Originally Posted by aldive

Looks good. To look even better swap the bulbs ( amber ) to Silver Stars.

Nice install.

[aldive]

Here is how mine look with the Silver Stars ....

[thewishkah]

The diamond clears are really not hard to install at all, I own a 94 X and i was able to install the diamond clear corners and headlights within an hour for my friend who has a 96 x. I have never taken apart the grill and head light assembely on the 95's+. No it wasnt easy but it wasnt very hard ethier. The light output and looks were amazing over the stock. Try to aim them correctly by using a blank wall and parking 15-20ft away, that might help your "dark spots" good luck.

[XLT_Explorer]

are those clears ones off of ebay or a brand name ?

[spkhone]

how much do they go for. i'm considering on getting me a set. i've seen them on ebay for 120. which brand is better to buy

[IAmTodd]

There is a set on there for $100 + $30 shipping. They seem to be the best. They're the ones with out the cap on the headlight.

The only problem I had with them, the one clip on the one adjuster was broke. Swap adjusters, went right in. Turned out beautiful.

[JayDub]

For your bulbs, should I put 3 3157 bulbs for the corners, and 1 906 for the headlight?

or what about a kit like this to make the light HID looks?
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/9007-...64503455QQrdZ1

[huskyfan23]

I don't see how your light output can't increase when switching to diamonds. Proper aiming is the key. There's a lot to be desired from halogen headlights.