HID light help

    A little bforground info first. Last February (2015) I received my SS SL and living in northern MN I couldn't drive it until May. After about two weeks of driving it I noticed that my headlighs were basically turning off and on due to a overheating relay. So I bypassed the OE relay with a heavy duty one mounting it outside of the fuze box and separated the inside and outside headlights and put them on there own switches. No more flashing headlights.
    At roughly the same time I switched out the OE lights for a HID light kit from DDM that I ordered through Slingmods. These things have been nothing but a headache!! In the approximately five months of actual drive time Slingmods has replaced three of the four ballasts, and finally sent me a new complete kit. This is NOT a slam against Slingmods or DDM. They have been nothing less then outstanding in they're customer service!!!
    My question is, am I the only one having all these problems with HIDs? This is my first experience with HIDs so I don't have anything to base my experience on. The stock lights are crap, and when the HIDs work they're great, but are they really this unreliable? I haven't contacted Slingmods yet, mainly because I hate to sound like a whiner. I'm just trying to find out if I am the only one that has had such rotten luck with these. Thanks for reading my rant

    I bought mine thru DDM Tuning. (Not DDM that does the engine work). I have replaced 3 of my HID ballast. They will start to flicker over time. And then they will die. I have no issues with low voltage. And I have no issues with current draw. I finally ordered Morimoto Ballast and have no more issues.


    I pulled over on the interstate to reply because I wanted to let you know that some ballast just suck. And unfortunately I can't tell you that yours suck but I can tell you that I had plenty of HID issues. I can message you tonight and give you a place to get the Morimoto ballast that will plug into your existing plugs and require no modifications or change in bulbs.

    First off, you are 100% correct that Slingmods and DDM are top notch companies to deal with. Keith at Slingmods and Dave at DDM know what customer service really is. This is not a bashing of HID headlights, but I use led headlights. My understanding on the HID lights (especially for the slingshot) is the ballast issue that you have seen first hand. One of the problems is that unlike most applications when you turn on or off headlights, the ballast will only have that one "start-up" signal. Since the slingshot has the headlights on all the time (when the switch is in the run position) you get that initial power surge when the key is on, then it goes away when you hit the start button, only to have a second surge right after the button is released. This on-off-on cycle is what's killing the ballasts. The best way to reduce the chances for the early ballast failures would be to have a headlight bypass switch. Once you start the vehicle, you then turn on the lights once and you're good to go. It will probably extend the life of the ballasts dramatically. I hope this helps explain why you may be having the issues.

    Nobody gets outta here ALIVE

    Thanks guys, I appreciate the info. As far as cycling the lights, I do turn them off before I shut down the SS, I'm kinda anal about voltage draw, and don't turn them on until the SS is running, so I don't really think that is the problem in my case. I will check into the ballasts that Rabtech is sending the info on. Thanks again

    Slingmods isn't to blame... They can't tell what their source vendors use all the time... A lot of times the outside of the ballast will look the same and they inside will be different... And these lights seem to be sensitive to changes in voltage and heat .... So one set may be different for the next set.... They will fix you up I'm sure if you call...


    I just got lucky and the Morimoto ballast fixed my issue.... They may not fix everyones....

    Yes sir, Slingmods is taking care of it. I cannot say anything but good things about them. They are the best, I don't blame anyone really for the issue, it is what it is. I just want to be able to count on having lights! Not only that, you have to have lights on all the time,unless that has changed by being redesignated as an autocycle. Either way, they have squared me away!