Hid no high beams!
12-29-2012, 03:00 AM
#16
Senior Member
I have some feedback on HID lights in general and Ford high beam circuits. The 97-03 trucks stock have a single dual filament bulb. This means that the truck is wired to only run one filament at a time, since both filaments use a common ground lead from the filament that is not capable of handling the current of running both filaments simultaneously.
When you upgrade to headlights with dual bulbs, you eliminate the weak point at the common ground for the 2 filaments in the single bulb. This means you can wire the lights so that when you turn on the high beams, you can keep the low beams on. This is critical on dual HID headlights because the high beams don't reach out as far as the low beams do. The high beams have a wider pattern, but sacrifice distance for width.
Since the bulbs and balasts are now separate, you won't overload the common ground for the filaments running both circuits at the same time. On my Explorer, and my Expedition, I found a simple method to keep the low beams on when the high beam circuit is on. I put a relay in tied to the high beam circuit to trigger the relay when the high beams are on. When the relay triggers, it opens a connection from the battery to the low beam circuit to keep the low beams lit. This also allows you to run the low beams, high beams and fog lights.
Innova makes a "Brite Box" that does this, but you can do it with a single relay, some wire, and a 30 amp inline fuse. I'll put up a graphic of how to wire it if anyone is interested in it.
When you upgrade to headlights with dual bulbs, you eliminate the weak point at the common ground for the 2 filaments in the single bulb. This means you can wire the lights so that when you turn on the high beams, you can keep the low beams on. This is critical on dual HID headlights because the high beams don't reach out as far as the low beams do. The high beams have a wider pattern, but sacrifice distance for width.
Since the bulbs and balasts are now separate, you won't overload the common ground for the filaments running both circuits at the same time. On my Explorer, and my Expedition, I found a simple method to keep the low beams on when the high beam circuit is on. I put a relay in tied to the high beam circuit to trigger the relay when the high beams are on. When the relay triggers, it opens a connection from the battery to the low beam circuit to keep the low beams lit. This also allows you to run the low beams, high beams and fog lights.
Innova makes a "Brite Box" that does this, but you can do it with a single relay, some wire, and a 30 amp inline fuse. I'll put up a graphic of how to wire it if anyone is interested in it.
