Kanatronic

Mine do not have so much brake dust, not sure what the reason is, but as a side note I take it to the car wash weekly, so maybe they remove the dust pressuring the water plus cheaning fluid as they do the washing...I have not noticed dust in mine...

The real thing if they will exactly fit, and the price, last time i heard about those were like 80.00 for that mirror only...IMO a rip off...I work for the glass industry and there no mirror in earth, not even the custom made antique italian ones, so expensive for so small foot print...

I got an answer from some lighting authority we all now very well from other threads, and here are some suggestions of legal replacements, appart from being a Ford problem, the sockets should be better quality. Most of the times thosep roblems are all down to the quality and construction of the sockets selected by the vehicle manufacturer. Be aware also the "LED bulb" idea raised here is not a solution to the problem, and it is extremely dangerous and quite illegal. "LED bulbs", even the fancy ones with multiple emitters facing various directions, cause the vehicle's lamps not to perform in a safe or legal fashion with respect to the intensity of light emitted, the ratio of bright (brake or turn) to dim (tail or park) intensity, and the angles through which the light is distributed. If a vehicle is involved in a collision, and the lighting equipment is found not to be equipped with a legal light source or otherwise not to be performing in the intended manner, the vehicle owner can be exposed to very significant liabilities. First guys, insist that Ford replace those burnt sockets under warranty, if applicable (if not, replace them yourself). Then, there is a hybrid type of bulb available that we can install that will give us much of the benefits of the glass-wedge base. They are an all-glass bulb with a high-temperature polymer locating collar to secure the bulb correctly in the plastic-wedge socket. They're not just variant forms of the 3157/4157 bulbs, they're indeed special continuous-duty bulbs, designed to handle the heat encountered in always-on daytime running light service. Their filaments are rated at 14v rather than 12.8v, and the all-glass base and Ultem collar do a better job of conducting heat away from the bulb-to-socket junction. They are electrically a direct replacement, and they are fully optically compatible with the lamps on our Edge. As an added bonus, their lifespan is much longer than the 3157/4157 bulbs. The amber (front park/turn) ones are here: http://store.candlepower.com/5702ka.html The clear (rear brake/tail) ones are here: http://store.candlepower.com/4114k.html

Just reset all the counters and you will be OK, the car is using the last 500 miles readings to calcculate, maybe in the last few fills your MPG incresed a little bit and it calculates based on that...Resetting all the counters will solve that problem in hte future...

I have seen those already, and by coincidence one of their stores is around home, and I was planning to pay them a visit to see if they can sell it to me...let's see, thanks a lot

Guys is not that I'm pricing the harness, just use a little common sense, I'm a little DIYer in audio, and a home audio hobbist enthusiast by nature, go to Mouser or a MCM, or any online componets store and see how much a conector, far better and more sofisticated than this one cost, just a few cents. $12.00 per piece, for two midgrade wires, midgrade fast on connectors, attached to that connector is a horrible markup... BTW the ones they have listed is not even the right one, they have listed the Metra 72-5512 (as per the picture, unless the picture is wrong) and the correct one, is the Metra 72-5600 acording to the Metra website.

I know they have it, but I do not see myself paying $24.00 plus shipping for two sets of harnesses to Crutchfield (nor anybody else)... :wacko:

The problem is that is easier for me to prepare all home, and just come down put everything back, and asemble, rather than to begin to stripe and solder in a parking lot, that is not very practical especially during winter the time in NJ...But you know, you are right, what the heck!!! I will get more out of the stock ones ebaying them now...

BTW is there any reliable not so expensive place to purchase the harness that attach the stock speaker to the wire, I do not want to cut it as maybe in the future if I get rid of the car, I will place the stock back, IIRC it is the Metra 72-5512... I would like ot see a pic ti be 100% sure of the shape...

External crossovers are really annoying, and they take extra space, and sometimes you do not have it, but given the level of design you have no other choice as the circuit becomes to big to be placed on the speaker itself, specially while the crossover is from higher orders, 12, 18, 24db etc...and include more numbers of parts, but it is true that mostly today are included on the speaker in one way or another, and if they are designed and boxed, they come ready to go. External crossovers are in no way better than the onboard ones, being passive or active, if those others are well designed according to the parameters of the speakers, the problem is that most of the times they are not, and they just drop a 4uF filter in series with the tweeter and period... Also to place an external crossover in an speaker not designed for such system or combination of drivers, is not the way to go neither, as you will not know the parameter of the speakers and the right xover point in any case...see what Boston Acoustics say here regarding some of those nice aftermarket crossovers. Crutchfield are sellers but at the differnce with others, they have tons on information, sometimes useful, and sometimes not that useful, as sometimes the info published by the same manufacturers is not accurate, and as they only use it, if it is wrong, you will get the wrong approach...Also the selction they have on hand of products is not the best you cna get, simply put it this way, the best manufacturers do not like to sell where the competitions is shown, as they tend to have exclusive distributors, that happen in high end home audio as well...One thying is sure with them if they made a mistake, they will try to fix it at least, as they stand behind of what they say and promote...

That is not correct, and be careful guys, unless the crossover is integrated into the speaker, that some of them do, it doesn't have to be external, you do need a crossover, of course. The crossover is the device in charge of distributing the freq on the drivers, and make the curve from 20Hz to 20KHz flat, removing the part of the spectrum in which the particular driver is not efficient enough. If you do not have a crossover you will overlap freqs, or part of the spectrum, and you will have a bump in that region, leading to a an uneven sound at the end...please consult the seller to find out if you need crossovers or not...most of the time it is integrated but always ask!!!

If the speakers are blowing for two times, both of them there is a chance that something is causing it, not just defective speakers, as there is very rare that two speakers may be defective in a row, in your shoes I would make the head-unit checked as well, if for some reason the head-unit is defective, you will blow again the Infinity ones, being more sensitive, and lower in impedance are more prone to go...

But we can create a new turd...LOL....They look like these...

LOL...Sorry Lex, "drivers" are also called the speakers, and I was asking for a picture of that stock speaker, as I have not removed mine yet. It seems that it is covered by the grill, not sure if opening that grill will help the sound or not, honestly I would like to see what is inside as they do not seem to bad to me, just a bad bafle design...but anyway will be more work than replacing them, practically talking... I'm contemplating to get some DLS457, as I got a fantastic price for them, even lower than some bulk models from other brands (I used my home audio dealer credentials for that purpose...LOL...) and they have somewhat good reputation soundwise, among the car audio enthusiasts, but my only concern is that they have an external crossover box, like this one in the picture, that is a little too big...Lex do you think that there is any hole where I could locate it?

Lex I have a question about your stock speakers, and for all the enthusiasts of the car audio, I was doing my last research and price hunting here and there and I decided to have a peak at what was installed, and for my surprise it is not what I was expecting, it is not a 5x7/6x8 coaxial, it is indeed a two driver combo mounted in a plate, a tweeter and a round woofer...I was epxecting a single 5x7 driver with no tweeter at all, just a full range or at best a coaxial little cone there... Did any of you by any chance have any close picture of that driver, it resembles the Boston Acoustics SL80 with a covered woofer, saving the sound quality of course... My idea is that why not using that same plate and place a component speaker set in there, removing the internal grill???

Well finally I decided to take it to the dealer, weather conditions here are not good at all, to work outside and on top i was not able to find a so easy way of accesign them. They replace them for me, the only drawback is that they consider those bulbs as "aftermarket", so they do not offer any warranty in the bulbs or wiring, no big deal I know that those will not be a problem as they are rated to the same wattage (Not sure but I think that the bulbs are never covered anyway, not even theirs) and as per the wires, no big dela neither as they are exactly the same wattage and type fo bulbs. They charged me 32.00 bux plus tax, honestly for 34.00 bux I will not even bother to go under the car myself...

LOL....don't take me so serious, probably I'm lazy and was just trying to get an excuse to avoid doing it myself.... :yup: The Infinities, same as a Pioneer I heard, may be better (BTW I liked better the reference series that the new Kappa, the bass was a tad better) I have no doubt of that at all, but not the kind of upgrade I'm after, also consider that we in the stores hear them in a different position than in our cars, and also in a different space and volume, the car while closed, offer a rather small volume to fill with more intimacy, and they are placed in front of our ears, in the store they were almost horizontal in front of us, and the space was a lot more open....

Well yesterday and the day before yesterday I went on a few audio stores around to try to audition a few of the 5x7 they had. After carefully audition of mainly all the brands discussed here: JL, Infinity, Pioneer, Sony, Keenwood, Polk, etc...none of them made me want to upgrade yet. All of them were hooked to a very nice headunits, probably better than the ones in our Edges, and the sound was far from being what I was after (not saying that the stock is good, it is indeed mediocre, but those were not that better as to make go for all the hassle of replacing the speakers myself)....Not sure if Dynaudio and Morel that are really hard to find in front of you to audition, will get me move...Anyway will keep on listening around... I will try to audition some coaxs DLS to see if they make me change my mind, otherwise I thing that Morel will be my second choice as Dynaudio do not make 5x7's, just circular ones... DLS has two models that will fit the 457, and 257. On the 457 the xover is a little bulky, so not sure if we may have space to accomodate it inside the doors...the 257 is more moderate in size, but the tweeters are just 16mm, as opposed to the 25mm silk that they use in the 457...

Yesterday and the day before yesterday I was on a few audio stores around, to try to audition a few of the 5x7 they had. After carefully audition of mainly all the brands discussed here: JL, Infinity, Pioneer, Sony, Keenwood, Polk, etc....(with the exception of the Dynaudio and Morel that are really ahrd to find in front of you to audition) none of them made me want to upgrade yet, all of them were hooked to a very nice headunits, probably better than the ones in our Edges, and the sound was far from being what I was looking for (not that the stock is good, it is indeed mediocre, but those are not that better as to make go for all the hassle of replacing the speakers myself) I will try to audition some coaxs DLS to see if they make me change my mind, otherwise I thing that Morel will be my second choice as Dynaudio do not make 5x7's, just circular ones... DLS has two models that will fit the 457, and 257. On the 457 the xover is a little bulky, so not sure if we may have space to accomodate it inside the doors...the 257 is more moderate in size, but the tweeters are just 16mm, as opposed to the 20mm silk that they use in the 457... BTW for the poster about Morel and Dynaudio, if you are serious about audio, there are just a few brands to consider which everybody in the car audio circles seems to agree on them: Dynaudio, Morel, Focal, DLS, then JBL, Boston Acoustics, with maybe a couple more, and then the rest, but those four are considered to be in a completelly diferent league of performance in reference to brands like Pioneer, JL, Infinity, Polk, MTX, Pyle, and so on (BTW Polk used ot do prety good speakers, not sure why now they are downgrading) Not that these are bad, but they do not have the extra refinement that the above have in the design and manufacture, and of course as a result in the sound...

The problem is that the specs of the stock system are not known, and the power of the amp that is installed neither, so replacing them for the sake of, is not IMO the way to go, of course you can go and do it, and you may get a better sound, or you may not, depending on what you are replacing them with...if the stock amp is able to go us to 20Hz with a clean sound and let's say 50 watts, replacing it for a 1000 watt amp will do nothing but having more power that you will never be able to use, unless you want to be deaf...you will never be able to listen more than 50 watts inside a car, simply before to get real 50watts, not 50watts on the peaks, you may need to visit your Doctor later on...I have a 25watts per channel Marantz Class A amp here at home with floorstanders and I was never in my life able to go over the half of the volume, the volume to fill is considerably bigger than the interiror of a car, to get 50watts inside such small volume is simply insane...If you know about martin Logan, you know what I'm taking about, tube monoblocks run sometimes around 8 to 10watts and they are enough to power speakers at home... I'm assuming as well that the stock sub is nothing to write home about, sensitivity talking, nor the environment in which it will play, so why not trying first if the stock amp is able to power a supposedly far better and more sensitive one, and if you feel that it is not up to the task, well then replace it, I can not comment on that, as I may need more info on the stock system, which unfortunately we lack off...and remember just because it is stock, does not mean it is bad. we can get good sound nowadays for chips that relatively really cheap. Just to mention one case, yesterday I was touring around all the big electronic stores around home, listening all speakers that I was able to, most of them were hooked to a big amps, and nice aftermarket head-units, and you know what, none of them was my cup of tea at all, not even the Infinity Kappa, Pioneer, Kenwoods, Sony, Polk....and a few other brands not well known...All of them indeed sounded worst than the stock one...I will try today a couple of DLS at the dealer around home... Also if we are talking only of power, I do not see why your Marting Logan could not be powered by a Sears amps, if it is able to draw enough power, now to power the speakers properly is one thing, and to make them sound good, is another completely different...to get good sound you need a refined good design, and not just power...BTW we do not know who designed the Ford stock amp, maybe is good, maybe not...

It is true that here, an automotive forum, I have only 35 posts, but in an audio circle forums more than 12,000 posts, and I have been in home audio business for almost 10 years, trust me that their recos are just based on sales, they do not offer a single good audio product in their website, just best seller and marketing stuff...See if you Can find dynaudio, focal, morel, vifa, skan speak, seals, etc...among their speakers, brands than in audio circles are very well known... A good subwoofer is a sensitive device able to work with no much trouble with the stock audio system, the subs they sell there are just toys for bass freaks, and far from being audiophile quality, those are not good enough without an amp, as in order to be able to produce the stupid bass they want, that is not what is needed, they restrict the movement using stiff materials in the spider and cone surrounds, then you need more power from the amp to offer that muddy one note bass, get a subwoofer from the brands I mentioned above and see if you may need an amp...Also keep in mind that all those amps are misleading while they rate the power, power in watts is calculated as a rough mode, just multiplying current by the voltage (in this case 12 volts) so to get 1000 watts as many claim you need 85 amperes from the battery, not sure how many batteries can give you that for long time or how many alternators are able to give you that amount safely...

I can understand on the content issue, and I feel that if you do not like the commercials and the DJ (that BTW we have also a lot of very retarded ones in satellite as well, and on top not even well informed as I have heard a few errors in band members, band albums etc...) but the sound is day and night difference, the satellite quality really sucks for been an expensive service (as opposed to the traditional free ones) They must work in improving the sound quality a lot to be at the same level of the local FM we have around. I have been an home audio dealer for years and an audiophile by hobby and I can tell you what sounds good and bad, satellite radio sound wise sucks...period, a real shame as it is a very good service content wise...

If they said that, sorry to tell you again that then they are just sellers, and I have nothing else to trust from Crutchfield, honestly, that is an absurd way of pushing an amp...period. Just think about, if you replace a sub, you are using another different driver, probably better and more sensitive, so the power used should be less, not more, but the parameters must match the stock one, so if they are the correct ones, and closer to the stock one, there is absolutelly no need to use an external amp at all, it will work just fine with the stock amp... Now if you want to install one of those stupid jackhammers, of course you may need an amp, but they are not audiophile quality at all, those are just toys for the bass freaks...A good subwoofer just integrates smoothly into the sound, adding what the sound is lacking in the bottom end, but it will not overpower the bass on top of the rest of the freqs...BTW the stock one works fine to me...

Lex not sure which quality of FM you have around in your area, but here in the tri-state area NY-NJ-CN we have pretty good FM stations, and even while they do talk, they are funny and make the ride smooth... Soundwise, to be 100% honest, I was expecting the XM to be far superior to the FM in quality, given that you pay for the service, but the sad truth was that I was really disapointed, the XM till now had proved me nothing in being superior to other radio bands (with the exception of AM) The FM around here sounds far better than the XM...once I get the new speakers installed, I'm expecting the difference to be a lot more noticeably...and with a good CD in, the XM have nothing to do around...Some of my CDs literaly crash the better of the XM stations...honestly I asked those guys to improve the service in some of my communications with htem, otherwise they will not get my cash anymore...

I looked under the vehicle and not sure if yours is like mine, but mine has a black plastic splash guard in the way all across the front side, and only leave you an small hole on each corner, to inser the hand in there, of course I just took a quick peak but I do not think that there is room enough to do that, unless you remove the black thing (at least partially)....but how to remove that?