[nev4g]

K folks, this will be the 2nd set of Raxioms I have installed on my car. Yep you could blame the mechanic. But I have been working on cars for years (not that this precludes me from being a moron) but I know my way around a car and tools.

Basically the 1st set has a faulty ballast from the factory.
2nd set a bulb blew out around 3+ months of use. Checking voltages everything appeared to be ok, so I went to replace the bulb. No biggie.

Then I check the connector for the H9 bulb and it was melted. Dielectric paste lacking here? Also finding H9 bulbs at your local shop is ...well.. not a plentiful as all the other "H" models.

So my plan is buy the 2012 projectors and slap an aftermarket HID kit on them. Has anyone done this before? And if so, which HID manufacturer did you go with? Did you need any special cables that will mate to the projector housing? etc..

 

[Blackpenguin69]

im using retro solutions 35w kit

 

[nev4g]

well im concerned with getting the projectors. then getting the kit is all i need?

sorry for punctuation ....on cell phone.

 

[Blackpenguin69]

im a little confused. ill put it this way. i bought raxiom headlights to replace my stock halogen ones. then i ordered the 35watt kit with h9 bulbs from retro solutions. it was plug n play. very easy.

 

[nev4g]

Sorry for the confusion. Cliff notes:

My GT/CS came with only the reflector halogen headlights. I don't care for them.

Got raxioms.... not happy with their bad quality

Would prefer to get OEM ford halogens and put HID bulbs in. Since I believe the plugs aren't compatible.

So if I were to get a pair of OEM ford HID projectors for the 2012, would I then just get a HID kit for lighting them?

 

[YerBuddysPony]

Sorry for the confusion. Cliff notes:

My GT/CS came with only the reflector halogen headlights. I don't care for them.

Got raxioms.... not happy with their bad quality

Would prefer to get OEM ford halogens and put HID bulbs in. Since I believe the plugs aren't compatible.

So if I were to get a pair of OEM ford HID projectors for the 2012, would I then just get a HID kit for lighting them?

It would be cheaper for you to use the Raxioms for a little while longer while having your OEM halogens retrofitted. I had some Raxioms retrofitted, but the guy in the link below will do any lights you want. He does great work and is very reasonable on price. Like I said, much cheaper than purchasing Ford HID projector lights.

Send Kris a message:

http://www.facebook.com/HRLights

Here's the link to what I had done (look just like Raxioms, but with true HID projectors):

http://www.allfordmustangs.com/forums/2011-mustang-talk/349262-raxiom-hid-install-pictures.html

 

[nev4g]

Thanks for the response. I will have to check Kris up when I get home. However checking the linkage in your post. Those pics of what it looks like aren't coming up.

Well I have been told that HID with a reflector housing isn't a good idea and blinds people. This would be removing the raxioms. AmericanMuscle said they would honor a refund. In the meantime I would get some 2012 Projectors from ebay, but I understand getting the OEM harnesses and stuff is expensive.

So that is where a HID install from DDM or stangmods would come in. My question really is. Say I get the OEM projector headlights, would I then just need to buy ...say a 6k HID kit and plug n' pray? I installed the raxioms myself so installing the OEM projector unit with HIDs shouldn't be hard. But is that all that is needed?

Remember I don't have the projectors I have the reflector headlight. So the plugs could be different.

 

[frankp]

Your cheapest option is to take your OEMs and get projectors retrofitted. Most of the time the retrofit comes with HID lights, ballasts and all the necessary hardware. Much less expensive than purchasing the stock HID projectors from a 2012 mustang. I went with sickhids.com for my retrofit. I went through 3 sets of Raxioms while waiting for my retrofits. Same problems as you, but I used only halogen bulbs, no HIDs

 

[nev4g]

Seeing all of the posts online. Should I be concerned with brightness running the 35w HID kit? Melty bits a problem here too?

 

[YerBuddysPony]

Thanks for the response. I will have to check Kris up when I get home. However checking the linkage in your post. Those pics of what it looks like aren't coming up.

Well I have been told that HID with a reflector housing isn't a good idea and blinds people. This would be removing the raxioms. AmericanMuscle said they would honor a refund. In the meantime I would get some 2012 Projectors from ebay, but I understand getting the OEM harnesses and stuff is expensive.

So that is where a HID install from DDM or stangmods would come in. My question really is. Say I get the OEM projector headlights, would I then just need to buy ...say a 6k HID kit and plug n' pray? I installed the raxioms myself so installing the OEM projector unit with HIDs shouldn't be hard. But is that all that is needed?

Remember I don't have the projectors I have the reflector headlight. So the plugs could be different.

Link works for me. Maybe it's your computer.

The way you are going about this is going to cost you much more than having your OEM halogens retrofitted. Kris will retrofit the lights with the projectors and supply everything necessary for plug and play. You seem hellbent on doing it your way so have fun and good luck.

 

[nev4g]

Well I think hellbent is a little over board. :nono:

I don't want the downtime and the misspent time of ripping the frontend off and reinstalling the lights.

I am going with penguin's route of retro fitting the 35w HID onto them which negates the amount of downtime and effort on my part. Thanks for the info about Kris's HID work Buddy. I just want minimal downtime for my car.

While I love working on my car, there is beer to drink and women to chase. Not endless clanking and smacking of tools just to do it a different way. :cheers:

Besides AM is going to refund my money cause of the issues I have been having with the raxioms.

 

[WhiteBird00]

I'm confused... how is a bad ballast or a melted HID capsule (bulb) connector a Raxiom problem? The Raxiom projector headlamps come with H9 halogen bulbs. Any HID kit is an add-on and the problems you mentioned sound like they were with the HID kit.

 

[nev4g]

I'm confused... how is a bad ballast or a melted HID capsule (bulb) connector a Raxiom problem? The Raxiom projector headlamps come with H9 halogen bulbs. Any HID kit is an add-on and the problems you mentioned sound like they were with the HID kit.

Yes the raxioms do come with H9 bulbs. I do not have a HID kit yet. I have ordered to fix the problem.

See attachments to what happened to the stock raxiom H9 blub connection. There was no dielectric paste applied when the bulbs were installed.

 

[WhiteBird00]

So I'm still confused. Since the original Raxiom halogen configuration has no ballast (that's an HID part), how did you have a bad ballast for the first problem?

Also, dielectric grease is used to waterproof electrical connections. It would not relieve an overheating condition. You may be thinking of silicon heat sink compound which is used to assist with heat transfer but is not commonly used in automotive electrical connections. In any case, lack of grease is not the cause of your melted connection.

 

[nev4g]

Sorry that might be the part of confusion. Just the connector fried where you connect the H9 bulb. Which doesn't make sense.

My old man always said to use the paste on headlights. *shrug*

I'm not trying to bash Raxiom. But something is funny when 2 different sets of lights have a problem. Bad quality control??

So I'm still confused. Since the original Raxiom halogen configuration has no ballast (that's an HID part), how did you have a bad ballast for the first problem?

Also, dielectric grease is used to waterproof electrical connections. It would not relieve an overheating condition. You may be thinking of silicon heat sink compound which is used to assist with heat transfer but is not commonly used in automotive electrical connections. In any case, lack of grease is not the cause of your melted connection.

 

[nev4g]

Currently talking to Kris to get the retro done to the stock lamps. Non-projector.

The photos weren't coming up due to blackhole DNS appliance.

In any case I have the HID's from retro solutions and they said in order to retro fit the Raxiom's to the mustang I would need the following pieces.

HID relay wiring harness - Retro-Solutions Store

Capacitor Link - Retro-Solutions Store

Might have all of that to sell or return. But Retro solutions only allows store credits. Might have to do a HID fog light setup too.

Link works for me. Maybe it's your computer.

The way you are going about this is going to cost you much more than having your OEM halogens retrofitted. Kris will retrofit the lights with the projectors and supply everything necessary for plug and play. You seem hellbent on doing it your way so have fun and good luck.

 

[WhiteBird00]

Do you understand the difference between reflector and projector lamps? This and earlier posts suggest that an explanation might be worthwhile.

A reflector housing is one in which the light from the bulb is reflected from a specially designed mirrored "bowl" behind the bulb. A projector housing is more like a camera lens in that the light source (halogen bulb or HID capsule) is in a tube with an optical lens at the front that helps shape the projected light.

The stock halogen headlights come in a reflector housing. The factory optional HID lights come in a projector housing (as do almost all factory HID systems ever made). Raxiom lights are projector housings with halogen bulbs.

Putting HID capsules (bulbs) in halogen reflector housings IS VERY BAD. It causes light scatter and glare that is at least annoying and at worst dangerous. It is a matter of physics (optics actually) and there is nothing you can do to prevent this other than switching to the proper projector housings.

A retro conversion involves not only changing halogen to HID but also replacing the reflector with a projector. And yet you say "non-projector" in your post. So, which is it?

By the way, you do not need that Capacitor Link at all - it only applies to Mustangs in Canada that use their headlights for daytime running lights. And you don't really need the relay kit either although that is a nice thing to have to ensure full voltage gets to your lights.

 

[nev4g]

Do you understand the difference between reflector and projector lamps? This and earlier posts suggest that an explanation might be worthwhile.

A reflector housing is one in which the light from the bulb is reflected from a specially designed mirrored "bowl" behind the bulb. A projector housing is more like a camera lens in that the light source (halogen bulb or HID capsule) is in a tube with an optical lens at the front that helps shape the projected light.

The stock halogen headlights come in a reflector housing. The factory optional HID lights come in a projector housing (as do almost all factory HID systems ever made). Raxiom lights are projector housings with halogen bulbs.

Putting HID capsules (bulbs) in halogen reflector housings IS VERY BAD. It causes light scatter and glare that is at least annoying and at worst dangerous. It is a matter of physics (optics actually) and there is nothing you can do to prevent this other than switching to the proper projector housings.

A retro conversion involves not only changing halogen to HID but also replacing the reflector with a projector. And yet you say "non-projector" in your post. So, which is it?

Correct I do understand the difference, and like you.... I cannot stand people the just slap a HID blub into a reflector housing and blind everyone. It's cheap and it's quite dangerous.

What I seem to be interchanging is halogen and HID and causing confusion. This is not my motive. My apologies. Somewhat miffed as to why retro solutions (Retro-Solutions Store) doesn't make purchasing a retro kit much easier. Their customer service is great, but I think their website should be better formatted to make sure their customer is purchasing everything they need to perform the retro.

The halogen bulb in the raxioms just doesn't get the job done. They look great and get compliments on the look of them all the time. However, where I live is deer country. If I can't see the "cat's eyes" of them then I can't adjust to the possibility of hitting them. Nevermind that my fogs put more light on the road.

Kris is fairly busy with order's right now. But we have a good idea of what I am looking for to make the car right.

 

[WhiteBird00]

I too was disappointed in the light output of the Raxiom housings until I discovered that they weren't even close to the correct aim from the factory. The cutoff line was a full 4" below the horizontal centerline at 25'. Even reflector lights should be only 2" down at 25' and projectors like these should be level. Once I adjusted the aim, I found that even with just the halogen bulbs the Raxioms were quite an improvement over stock lighting.

Also, don't be fooled by the impression that fog lights provide more light. They provide more fill-in light close to the front of the vehicle which creates the illusion of more overall light but they are lousy at a distance. In fact, the increased light close to the vehicle actually makes your distance vision worse because it causes your pupils to contract more. That's why it is never a good idea to install HIDs in fog lights - the purpose of fog lights is auxiliary lighting not primary lighting so raw lumens is not the point.