I purchased and ordered the Focus ST170 headlights recently, along with the 1998 upper and lower grilles. Considering that my car is black, the dark lights will look awesome combined with the new grilles. Only one question remains in the back of my mind...do I need the European headlight switch to use the ST170 lights, or no...are they needed for the HID's? I got a feeling I shoulda bought that switch on the same order now...
Do I need it?
No you dont need a new switch. The only reason to buy a european switch is for the rear foglight control, I believe.
You'll be fine as long as you wire everything up correctly (which is really easy), the switch will function exactly the same way.
Awesome...I was planning on using them the same way as the regular lights anyways...and if I don't have to buy that switch, that's a little bit of extra money to replace the factory 6x8's and get the stereo 100% finished...well, ver 2.0 anyways....lol!
i think some the european switches also have aim adjust for certain headlights.
Drivesthebeast,Jul 20 2005, 03:08 PM Wrote:I purchased and ordered the Focus ST170 headlights recently, along with the 1998 upper and lower grilles. Considering that my car is black, the dark lights will look awesome combined with the new grilles. Only one question remains in the back of my mind...do I need the European headlight switch to use the ST170 lights, or no...are they needed for the HID's? I got a feeling I shoulda bought that switch on the same order now...
Do I need it?
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You know the ST170's are grey inside right? they might not be as dark as you are hoping. You'll also have to put a jumper wire on your high beam switch in the column, Otherwise you will have only the 2 inner lights on for high beams instead of all 4 like in europe. Also when you do that mod your fogs stay on when your high beams are on...
Yeah I know they are grey inside, but they are pretty dark as I remember from SVT deans car at the last meet I actually made it to...either way, should still look pretty good. The main thing is I want maximum firepower light wise (besides shelling out the moneyz for the HID's), since I drive through Algonquin Park and other back areas of the province a lot where it's really dark. So you are saying then that when the highbeams are switched on, the low beam shuts off? I like the thing you said about the jumper will make both stay on, as well as the fogs...only thing is, will it make the car catch on fire though....As you know, the wires for the stock headlights are pretty flimsy to say the least, in the firstplace....hmmm might need someone to show me where/how to do that jumper mod. Also, if I remove the relay for it, can I disable the DRL's with the ST 170's?
Thanks!
You can pull the DRL relay regardless of what headlights you have installed. As far as catching on fire.. The reason why our cars only allow the high or low beam at once is because our stock headlights use a dual filament bulb rather than seperated high and low beam bulbs. In a stock headlight, running the high and low filaments on the bulb will make the housing heat up and melt, but with seperate high/low bulbs there isnt a heat problem. This is how the lights were designed to work.
I know there is a how-to with pictures for the HID headlight install on Focaljet, it shows where you have to put the jumper wire for the high/low thing.