Ford HID Kit worth getting from Ford parts?

[NJExplorerFan]

I'm curious for those of you that have upgraded your halogen projectors... Has anyone actually just added the Ford HID kit that comes as an option when you order? Are they significantly better than stock or is it better to go aftermarket. My only thing is playing around with electrical stuff, I wanna make sure I don't burn anything out and keep my factory warranty in place. Right now my 2015 Limited has the halogen projectors and I have to say that the lighting is terrible. On a really dark road you can see them shine better but overall they're awful. My wife actually drove it home in the rain one night and kept saying that the headlights were off. LOL

I do see the kits from The Retro Source and Diode Dynamics. These appear to be plug-n-play kits that take about 1 hr to install. Are they really that good for the mere $150-160 price point? I assume they utilize the factory projector lens. Would a real kit include a new projector lens to go with it? What is the best route to go with this? I don't want to buy a $150 kit and only get a "slight" improvement over what I have now. Grant it, I don't need the absolute best lighting out there that would come on a BMW or Mercedes but I do want to see a nice improvement over stock so I would consider the $150 plug-n-play kits. I thought they actually cost a lot more. Guess they're so common now.

 

[cwescapexlt4x4]

I'm sure PeterK9 will chime in but I have done aftermarket and the best roughly $200 i've spent without a doubt and the projects do a fine job in the retrofit. Do it, you won't regret it and if you go Ford OEM, you will pay a whole lot more for sure!

 

[1995E]

I personally have a tight budget but I wanted my headlights to be brighter. I just bought a 20 dollar Ebay 4300K 55W HID kit instead and then an HID relay wiring harness for 9 dollars and the HIDs work fine. I also bought two extra rubber caps for the headlights in the case that the HID bulb burns out and I can just plug in my regular halogens in with no issue and keep it sealed since you have to trim a hole through the rubber grommet to fit the HID wiring through. After working for a hardware tech company, I don't believe in going for that 150 bucks price because the hardware is all basically the same. Resistors, capacitors, etc are all made in some random factory in China and they just slap those parts together. At the end of the day, you're just buying name brand that probably does more quality and control checks but you're paying a 100+ dollar difference in price. The bulbs are basically all 9 dollar HID bulbs standard throughout. What really matters is the ballasts but you can get them cheap on Ebay too if you want to upgrade from the lower quality ballasts that come from an Ebay kit.

My 20 dollar Ebay kit has worked fine except for a bad ballast but I easily requested a replacement free of charge from the youtube manufacture. 7,000 miles on them with many off and on cycles and they are working fine.

If you have the money to go OEM, I'd do it though since you will know they will be higher quality.

 

[Uaglio]

I'm curious for those of you that have upgraded your halogen projectors... Has anyone actually just added the Ford HID kit that comes as an option when you order? Are they significantly better than stock or is it better to go aftermarket. My only thing is playing around with electrical stuff, I wanna make sure I don't burn anything out and keep my factory warranty in place. Right now my 2015 Limited has the halogen projectors and I have to say that the lighting is terrible. On a really dark road you can see them shine better but overall they're awful. My wife actually drove it home in the rain one night and kept saying that the headlights were off. LOL

I do see the kits from The Retro Source and Diode Dynamics. These appear to be plug-n-play kits that take about 1 hr to install. Are they really that good for the mere $150-160 price point? I assume they utilize the factory projector lens. Would a real kit include a new projector lens to go with it? What is the best route to go with this? I don't want to buy a $150 kit and only get a "slight" improvement over what I have now. Grant it, I don't need the absolute best lighting out there that would come on a BMW or Mercedes but I do want to see a nice improvement over stock so I would consider the $150 plug-n-play kits. I thought they actually cost a lot more. Guess they're so common now.

just do this: http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showpost.php?p=3380623&postcount=34

 

[HamHands]

After driving home from a party on Saturday night that was about 25 minutes north of the Atlanta suburbs I live in... I noticed on those dimly lit roads that the stock lights in my new Sport, suck balls! So I think I'm going to try http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005KDO9UY?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=ox_sc_act_title_1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER, these first after reading some reviews. If they are still lacking I'll get an aftermarket kit and install them myself like the link below...
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005KDO9UY?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=ox_sc_act_title_1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

 

[sr71_1]

Uaglio has it right - do the 9011's before you try anything else. The topic has been well covered in previous posts. If you are interested in any kind of performance automotive lighting I highly recommend reading Danial Stern's blogs (website attached for HID) . Anyway... did the 9011's - nice easy upgrade that improves lighting and does not blind other motorists.

http://www.danielsternlighting.com/tech/bulbs/Hid/conversions/conversions.html

 

[explosportguy]

Uaglio has it right - do the 9011's before you try anything else. The topic has been well covered in previous posts. If you are interested in any kind of performance automotive lighting I highly recommend reading Danial Stern's blogs (website attached for HID) . Anyway... did the 9011's - nice easy upgrade that improves lighting and does not blind other motorists.

+1 on the 9011s upgrade . I'm very happy with the result.

 

[NJExplorerFan]

I think I'm inclined to go with an HID Conversion Kit but from reading up on some of this stuff, it appears even that kit isn't the "right" way to do it. Basically, you have to get an entire headlight assembly made for the conversion kit. I didn't know something as simple as a headlight is this involved. I just don't want to blind drivers at night even with my stock projector set-up. And will I need to worry about anything with fuses or does the conversion kit take care of that?

I would however consider the Philips 9011 upgrade. What is it called exactly? Is it just a standard bulb or this HIR1 stuff I keep seeing? Also, what is so unique about this bulb? Does it damage/melt any of the stock wiring? It runs at 65W right? Will it burn out faster than normal bulbs?

 

[cwescapexlt4x4]

The retrofit kit works just fine, the pattern may not be AS flat as the OEM HID but really good overall.

 

[Shadracks]

I put 9005 Lifetime LED's in my 2015 Explorer Sport. MUCH better than stock halogens, and the cutoff is impressive. Doesn't blind oncoming traffic. Only thing is you have to leave the rubber seal off because the back of the light is so large due to the fans on the LED's.
I'm pulled in at an angle is why the left side is a bit brighter.

 

[mayher]

Uaglio has it right - do the 9011's before you try anything else. The topic has been well covered in previous posts. If you are interested in any kind of performance automotive lighting I highly recommend reading Danial Stern's blogs (website attached for HID) . Anyway... did the 9011's - nice easy upgrade that improves lighting and does not blind other motorists.

http://www.danielsternlighting.com/tech/bulbs/Hid/conversions/conversions.html

I installed 9011's about six months ago. Probably the best money I have spent on my Ex. There is a big difference between these and the stock bulbs. Cleaner brighter light that projects much further down the road. Have to modify the tab slightly to make them fit, but easy 10 min install. Not sure why Ford doesn't use these as OEM's, other than they would probably cost $5 more per car.

 

[Uaglio]

I did them a year ago and no issues. They use same wattage as stock bulbs so no extra heat. They produce something like 700 more lumens, the only meaningful metric if you're after more light. Forget all that bullshit about color temperature etc.

 

[R56 Ed]

I had a shop install the Diode Dynamics kits for fogs and headlights. It was a VERY tight fit in the engine compartment, and I just don't have the patience or eyesight to deal with tedious stuff anymore. These are truly a night and day difference. Incredible brightness, and not one single flash from an oncoming driver about my lights being too bright.

My only negative comment is that they take several seconds to come up to full brightness. That said, I'd do these again in a heartbeat.

 

[Sixonemale]

I installed 9011's about six months ago. Probably the best money I have spent on my Ex. There is a big difference between these and the stock bulbs. Cleaner brighter light that projects much further down the road. Have to modify the tab slightly to make them fit, but easy 10 min install. Not sure why Ford doesn't use these as OEM's, other than they would probably cost $5 more per car.

Is the install easy? I a had 2002 Explorer and the bulbs were very easy to replace, any tricks with installing bulbs on a 2015 Explorer. I could not find video on YouTube. Thanks

 

[Uaglio]

Is the install easy? I a had 2002 Explorer and the bulbs were very easy to replace, any tricks with installing bulbs on a 2015 Explorer. I could not find video on YouTube. Thanks

http://store.candlepower.com/mohirbuba.html

 

[NJExplorerFan]

I'm curious.... with the HID conversion kits, do you need to realign the headlights?

 

[mayher]

Is the install easy? I a had 2002 Explorer and the bulbs were very easy to replace, any tricks with installing bulbs on a 2015 Explorer. I could not find video on YouTube. Thanks

The install is the same as replacing the oem bulb that came with your Ex. You do have the modify the tabs on the bulb slightly which is outlined in another discussion. This is a five minute job. Once the tab is modified, all you do is take the old bulb out and replace with the new modified bulb.

 

[sr71_1]

Just to be sure….like all halogens… wear gloves to keep the oil on your fingers off the bulb

 

[HamHands]

I'm curious.... with the HID conversion kits, do you need to realign the headlights?

This is exactly the same thing I was pondering. I hate misaligned headlights as I'm OCD about that and one pointing up and one pointing to the side drives me nuts.

 

[cwescapexlt4x4]

I'm curious.... with the HID conversion kits, do you need to realign the headlights?

I didn't need to but YMMV