Help with HID ballast mounting

[Kirby Baker]

My first HID kit installed, pictures attached!

I've been struggling with where to put my ballasts in my '13 Sport. Anyone have some good suggestions? I'm not real keen on having them out in the open, would like to hide them if possible. I think I found a good spot for the passenger side ballast, inside one of the triangle shaped openings of the structural support above the radiator. Unfortunately, there isn't one close enough for the driver side (about 8" too short on my cables).

As this is my first use of aftermarket HID's, are there any concerns with the ballasts being exposed to too much heat, or small vibrations? How secure is secure enough I guess, zip ties? would that 3M "Velcro" Dual lock be good? Concerned about the adhesive letting go with the high engine bay heat.

Thanks in advance for suggestions, and pictures are definitely welcome!

 

[lraia]

Kirby,
Not sure which kit you are going to install, but I also had the dilemma of where to mount the ballast for a clean look. For the Morimotoes I installed, I ended up fabricating some brackets in the locations you have indicated. It's probably not much help, but I thought I'd share my thought process.

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=380190

 

[Kirby Baker]

I've got the Retro Fit Source 3 Five's. I finally broke down and removed the whole front end and headlights. Decided to make some aluminum plates to mount to the factory ballast location. Just have hook everything back up now.

 

[Kirby Baker]

So I finished the install, here's some photos (one is blurry). I'd say its pretty concealed other than now there are wires going through the dust caps.

Having one odd thing though, the passenger side light flickers while the engine cranks to start. Drivers side does not. Both are hooked up the same, through a canbus module. (with light switch in auto mode, starting in a dark garage)

So not sure if the module is bad, or if that's just the way it will be. Maybe consider changing to a relay setup (time delay) down the road, or maybe just manually run the light switch.

 

[13Sport]

Having one odd thing though, the passenger side light flickers while the engine cranks to start. Drivers side does not. Both are hooked up the same, through a canbus module. (with light switch in auto mode, starting in a dark garage)

If you are using a separate harness you need to add a delay relay to it. W/ the lights on auto it tries to fire the ballast before and after the engine is cranking (because it turns them on when you hit the 'on' position, and then off while it's cranking to give the engine maximum battery availability, then back on when its done). My ballast will flicker then just stay off, leaving only one light on until I turn the lights off and back on again.

You can either add a delay relay (fires the lights 10 seconds after receiving power, giving the engine time to crank), or you can use remote start which will start the engine while leaving the lights turned off. Alternatively you can manually turn on and off your lights to keep this from occurring.

Having it turn them off and on increases the power cycles on the ballast and can shorten it's life. The stock HID's on the limited have a delay relay to accommodate the auto setting on the headlights.

 

[Kirby Baker]

I guess for now, the remote start is the easiest solution, and I had forgotten about that.

Down the road, I am seriously considering converting to new projectors and DS2 bulbs. Not sure if I will need to get factory HID housings for that as the Sport housings are not open where the factory ballast mounts, and I believe the HID housings have an opening there. If all the wires can be run through the dust cover and a relay harness, then I would think the Sport housings will work. But I don't have time for that conversion right now!

 

[gkviper192]

do you need to install the rubber covers back on with the HID headlights after installing the HID bulbs ?

 

[13Sport]

do you need to install the rubber covers back on with the HID headlights after installing the HID bulbs ?

dust covers are somewhat important for keeping dirt and filth out of the assembly. Most of the bulbs come w/ a grommet that allow you to cut a hole in the dust cover and run your wires through it.

 

[Harley#356]

I've got the Retro Fit Source 3 Five's. I finally broke down and removed the whole front end and headlights. Decided to make some aluminum plates to mount to the factory ballast location. Just have hook everything back up now.

any tips/pics on how the headlights and front end came off?

 

[Kirby Baker]

any tips/pics on how the headlights and front end came off?

The front end is a pain in the ol' keester at first. Remove all the 10mm bolts up top, and the 2 push pins. Set aside the top plastic piece.

Then in each fender well, remove the 7/32" screws. There are 2 hidden ones on each side, you have to peel back the inner fender plastic piece to reveal one of them (this is the one that caught me up for so long). The other you need to pop out the exterior trim piece and you will see it.

Then go under the front end and remove all the 5/16" screws (9 in total I think).

Once you have done all that, then go to each side where the front bumper meets the sheet metal of the side of the car, and the bumper will unsnap (pull out away from body of car). My passenger side came off a bit harder. Beware, once you unsnap the side, the bumper assembly is going to want to fall off, best to have a helping hand.

Once its all off, headlights are easy, 1/2" silver bolt on the side of the vehicle, a 10mm (I think, maybe its 8mm) up top, and another 10 or 8 on the front near the grill. Then just lift the plastic locking tab at the back of the housing and the headlight assembly is free.

It took me several hours to take it all apart, because I kept missing the hidden 7/32 screw on each side. Once I knew how it went together, re-assembly of everything (headlights, front end) took me about 20 minutes.

In the bottom photo, you pull apart along the blue outline. The green circle is about where one of the hidden 7/32 screws are if my memory serves correct. Hope this helps.

Guess I should have taken more photos and made a HOWTO.

 

[Harley#356]

thanks for the info. I was hoping there was a way to pull the headlights without pulling the bumper but seems like there's hidden bolts from reading your directions.

I want to pull the grille out and disassemble it to open up a path for the airbox, but so far I've only figured out how the upper half of the grille comes undone.

 

[Kirby Baker]

In my opinion its easier to pop the how front end forward to get to the headlight bolts. I think if you don't remove the bottom 5/16" screws, but do the wheel well 7/32's and the top screws, that you can unsnap the bumper and it will pop forward enough to access the front bolt on the headlights.

Going from memory, I think the bottom of the grill is similarly attached as the top, but I honestly don't know how you would remove it without taking the whole front off, for risk of breaking some of the tabs on the grill.

 

[harlenm]

stock HID's on the limited have a delay relay to accommodate the auto setting on the headlights.

this is not true. the stock HID's go on as soon as you press the star button, while the engine cranks.

 

[ieee_raider]

this is not true. the stock HID's go on as soon as you press the star button, while the engine cranks.

No star button on mine?? :scratch:

 

[harlenm]

No star button on mine?? :scratch:

Start,lol

 

[R1chard]

this is not true. The stock hid's go on as soon as you press the star button, while the engine cranks.

+1!!