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Yet another HID post...


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Yesterday, I drove my wife's 2010 SXT for the first time at night and in the rain. I have to say I was thoroughly disappointed. Just want to say, this is not my first time buying HIDs. Over the years I've probably bought and installed about 10-20 pairs for myself and friends. Projectors, non-projectors, retrofit, motorcycle, bi-xenon, plug and play, relays, no relays, 3000K-12000K, analog/digitial/digital slim/ 35w/55w, capacitors, etc. You guys get the picture. I know the debate lines. I know HIR, I know about CANBUS.

First, allow me to caveat my choice with a little background, as I drive a US spec vehicle in S. Korea. If you've never driven in Seoul, let me tell you that the rules of the road are only suggestions. Getting blinded by headlights is the least of your concerns. Since this is my wife's daily driver, I needed something less flashy and more practical. I pulled the trigger and went with these: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00CF280LM/?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&linkCode=ur2&psc=1&tag=kinsrev0a-20&linkId=MYGZ5D2RPKWNFFXT

The factory cutoffs are good enough, and compared to the light output on my other car, this is very pedestrian. This is my first upgrade in her car so I guess we'll find out if/how/when this vehicle will react. I went with the 55W ballast so hopefully the power draw is the same. I believe this kit comes with capacitors to help with flickering as well as the relays in case I decide to wire them directly to the battery.

I know that wiring the relay harness directly to the battery is the best option, but I have a feeling that this combination will work directly with plug and play. Just need to wait 10 days for it to arrive...

Edited by SeoulJourney
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  • 2 weeks later...

Finally got them in and installed! It was not fun. I'll try to share my experience so others can benefit and decide to install them for themselves. Here goes...

Box arrived and it was professionally packaged in one OPT7 box. Nothing fancy, but everything was secured. I'll save you the unboxing pics but you can see it on the link I provided earlier. This is what EXACTLY came in the box.

2 x ballast

2 x bulbs / wires

2 x capacitors

2 x mounting brackets

6 x small white zip ties

4 x small nut/bolts

1 x capacitor instruction sheet

1 x instruction sheet for general install

Missing:

1 x relay

After reading through the comments it seems that they don't include the relay but if you ask they will send it free of charge. Not good to find out when I'm receiving the goods overseas.

OPT7 55 AC Digital Ballast

Bulb/wiring

I won't give you a step-by-step on the install. I'll just highlight some of the key points. First, I tested the battery side first (as the instructions tell you to do) w/ out the capacitor. The instructions tell you that you must have the correct polarity on the capacitor or you will blow it. Previous installs using car audio capacitors verified this statement. :cry:Key point # 1: The OEM headlight harness needs to be installed in reverse. The harness will not CLIP onto the ballast. You will need to secure with electrical tape. (It even says to do this in the troubleshooting steps. Anyway I hit unlock on the keyfob, a little flicker, and BAM it's on! :happy feet: This verify's what HIDextra's website (which incidently, is referred to in the OPT7 manual) says about not needing capacitors in 09-13 Dodge Journeys.
Anyway, I started it up and turned on the headlights.... :shrug: Nope. Welcome to CAN-BUS. But contrary to popular belief there was no light out message on my dash. I might add that I don't have the EVIC option on my SXT. Keypoint #2: You need to install capacitors or the lights won't turn on when the engine is on. Keypoint #3: Black is ALWAYS NEGATIVE! We don't have any red wires when installing the capacitors, but as long as you match up black to black, then you should be ok.
Next problem: I received a defective ballast. I troubleshot this by switching everthing but the ballast, and tried on both sides. Definitely dead. Fortunately, I had a Kensun 35W digital ballast laying around. It did the trick until OPT7 mails me my replacement.

Kensun 35W digital

Here's what it looks like installed. I used the double sided tape and put some more duct tape to secure it to the side of the headlight housing.

Driver side secured

And the temp install until I get my replacement ballast.

temporary install

And here they are on and the cutoff:

Bulb

Driver's side

Cut off

Not a bad upgrade. I haven't driven it yet, but viewing them from the outside at night (sorry no pic) I have to say that they are BRIGHT AS HECK! I definitely would not recommend these in places where you actually can get pulled over by police.

Hopefully this helps some of you out. Please let me know if you want more details.

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So you're running a 55w ballast on one side and a 35w ballast on the other? Is there a noticeable difference in output from the drivers seat?

Correct. It was either that or put the halogens back in (never again). From the driver's seat and up close, you can tell a slight difference in color. The 55W ballast produces a whiter light. Ironically, using the 35W ballast produces a slighty bluer light. I'm sure this affects luminosity but from a drivability perspective you don't really notice it.

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Can you take a picture of a wall around 30 feet away? I just want to see how much light scatter there is above the cutoff.

There will be a ton of scatter... While the cutoff is nice, the amount of light above the cutoff is significant even with halogens. After adding MUCH brighter HIDs that are not designed with the specifications of the halogen reflector in mind and built with much less quality than oem HID bulbs, there is no way it won't be...

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Not a lot of problems, just one. I haven't taken a look at DDM's ballast, but I opened the OPT7 ballast up and inside they are properly silicon sealed. This is typically indicative of a higher end ballast. Although the one i received was defective, this is likely outside the norm.

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Can you take a picture of a wall around 30 feet away? I just want to see how much light scatter there is above the cutoff.

As requested:

OPT7 5000K HID Cutoff

I did take it out for a long drive and the lights did not seem to be pointed in anyone's eyes. Definitely could see much better than the factory halogens. Obviously a projector retrofit is better but this is a vast improvement.
Edited by SeoulJourney
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Thanks!

I got my DJ last week and I cannot believe how sharp the cutoff is for a halogen headlight.

The cutoff is pretty good with the halogens, but the scatter is still really bad in that picture... There is a LOT of light above the cutoff meaning it is in oncoming traffic's eyes.

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  • 4 weeks later...
  • 2 months later...

I am extremely interested in this as i have a HID kit from my last vehicle that would fit this one, and i hate halogens and cant seem to find a place that sells HIR's and god knows after i bought this car i cant afford a retrofit. is this a viable solution? stock reflectors in a 14 journey with a decent cutoff? i dont want to be an asshole :S

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