55 Watt Ballast DDM tuning

2

2k9FX

Member
Has anyone successfully swapped the stock 35 watt ballasts w/ 55 watts aftermarket ballasts? Im very familiar w/ HID's, but i just wanted to know if anyone had any experience w/ the procedure or output results. I want to keep the car stock looking yet have a better on road lighting experience. Thanks all.
 
If your talking about upgrading the stock HID ballast in the low beams, I didn't. If I were you I wouldn't do that either. You can literally fry the factory wiring doing it, or pop some fuses and what not.
 
Startup during cold start is crucial and is the highest point of failure for any HID component. Simply put the arc in the bulb will turn off before your harness will fry. If there's not enough power drawn you'll be able to see almost immediately as your lights will flicker or your ballast would make a loud buzzing sound. I'll just put thicker guage harness to and from the ballast. (I've previously retroed Audi headlights on my 1st car). Even w/ the experience i still think precaution is needed especially when this is my primary family car.

---------- Post added at 02:12 AM ---------- Previous post was at 01:31 AM ----------

Ok so i can't post links that are extremely helpful because im a N00b =). I guess this will just lead to a DIY if all goes well. Im still deciding on either ddm 55 watt w/ 5000k 55w bulbs or going FXR lens w/ morimoto 35 watt bults. In any case this will be the first useful mod on my FX not to mention it'll look dope as hell.
 
2k9FX said:
Startup during cold start is crucial and is the highest point of failure for any HID component. Simply put the arc in the bulb will turn off before your harness will fry. If there's not enough power drawn you'll be able to see almost immediately as your lights will flicker or your ballast would make a loud buzzing sound. I'll just put thicker guage harness to and from the ballast. (I've previously retroed Audi headlights on my 1st car). Even w/ the experience i still think precaution is needed especially when this is my primary family car.

---------- Post added at 02:12 AM ---------- Previous post was at 01:31 AM ----------

Ok so i can't post links that are extremely helpful because im a N00b =). I guess this will just lead to a DIY if all goes well. Im still deciding on either ddm 55 watt w/ 5000k 55w bulbs or going FXR lens w/ morimoto 35 watt bults. In any case this will be the first useful mod on my FX not to mention it'll look dope as hell.
Click to expand...

All your comments are good points.

I would call The Retrofit Source:
The Retrofit Source LLC
1038 Arcadia Blvd.
Westerville, OH 43082
614.653.3451

and ask him, the owner KNOWS his stuff and might be able to tell you if the stock FX wiring can handle the extra wattage and draw.

My 2 cents is go 5000K morimoto 35 W bulbs w/ FXR clear lenses for your headlights.

Then get some morimoto mini projectors and throw them in your fogs. You'll have all the output you need and the color will match.
 
Wow Ched... good idea...It's such a bitch to retro projectors though. My first retro literally took months of planning and i had extra headlight units use while it was at the planning stage. The only problem w/ putting the projectors in the fogs is the fact the car's bumper would be completely off for a while and right now this is my only vehicle. I always wanted to setup projector fogs, but after driving next other cars w/ HID 35 watt on the highway the quad output is not at all noticeable.
 
2k9FX said:
Wow Ched... good idea...It's such a bitch to retro projectors though. My first retro literally took months of planning and i had extra headlight units use while it was at the planning stage. The only problem w/ putting the projectors in the fogs is the fact the car's bumper would be completely off for a while and right now this is my only vehicle. I always wanted to setup projector fogs, but after driving next other cars w/ HID 35 watt on the highway the quad output is not at all noticeable.
Click to expand...

this is the guy I go to that does all my retro/headlight stuff.

You can just buy his fogs:
///169065&postcount=75

Also, bumper doesn't have to be completely off. There is enough room if you put both wheel under jacks or rhino ramps.

I agree, only on "country backroads" where it's pitch black I can see a significant difference in light output. I was surprised at how far and bright my 35w HID Kit was in my OEM halogen fogs -- when i turned them off it got a lot darker, but only noticeable when pitch black.

Lumen output in front of you and throw is good, but unless you get 55w, it won't throw any farther unless you get some more directly focused driving lights.
 
So i ordered my morimoto bulbs and hopefully during install i'll get enough space to try a shield bend for some cutoff color. This would be my second bulb replacement on the FX. The 55 watts will have to wait until i feel i can get decent color at the cutoff. Im getting 5k bulbs btw. I don't wanna cheat the color in any way. This is a luxury SUV after all. It saddens me to see Range Rovers w/ stupid 8k-12 k bulbs in the headlights meanwhile the cutoff already generates a beautiful prism effect up to some serious purple.
 
2k9FX said:
So i ordered my morimoto bulbs and hopefully during install i'll get enough space to try a shield bend for some cutoff color. This would be my second bulb replacement on the FX. The 55 watts will have to wait until i feel i can get decent color at the cutoff. Im getting 5k bulbs btw. I don't wanna cheat the color in any way. This is a luxury SUV after all. It saddens me to see Range Rovers w/ stupid 8k-12 k bulbs in the headlights meanwhile the cutoff already generates a beautiful prism effect up to some serious purple.
Click to expand...

Here is mine with 6000K Morimoto bulbs. Spacer + shield bend/cut:
View attachment 213643
 
Nice..do you know if your projectors are pre-recall 03 headlights? Thats pretty nice color on that step.
 
At first the Morimoto bulbs won't look like 6000K. It take's a good 20-40 hours before they color shift AKA "break in". They go from white to a pure white with a tinge of blue to them.

Here's what mine look like after 60+ hours of use:

cimg2561.jpg
 
post 8

---------- Post added at 02:03 AM ---------- Previous post was at 02:02 AM ----------

post 9

---------- Post added at 02:06 AM ---------- Previous post was at 02:03 AM ----------

9 post


---------- Post added at 02:12 AM ---------- Previous post was at 02:06 AM ----------

Im absolutely disturbed at the lock per post count on this forum... Honestly knowledge requires alot less posts considering most of these posts for members of "premium" status have littlle to say. Im not hating the administration of this site, but to guage something based on post count is merely a false sense of moderation. If you are a moderator and post less than the trollers here than why guage post count as a means of legitimacy. What are you doing to invite actual people of passion vs people of ignorance?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top