thinking about HID's

[88Nightmare]

im just not torn on it yet. Trying to get some solid answers. I know they make direct plug and play kits, but then I hear its not 100% legal to use the HID kit in a factory housing. People tell me you may need projector lenses which I think look ugly. Others tell me the cut offs may not be right in the factory lenses with HID's and it will be overly bright. I don't want to fork out the money just to have the police bust my ass about them all the time. So what are some opinions?

[Slow Joe]

I've been looking into it too... You can probably retrofit projectors into your current headlamps... Here's a website I've been looking at... It's got some good forums and tons of info... hidplanet.com :thumbsup

[88Nightmare]

yeah but thats the thing, I don't want projectors, I think they look ugly, so I'm trying to find out of I can get away with the stock housings, both legally and practically.

[PureSound15]

Joe is right, there are retrofit options available for any car. And no, do not put HID bulbs into your factory reflector housing, you'll blind us all.

I love HID's, and will forever have them in any lamp possible in any of my cars, but there is a right way to do it.

I personally love the look of projectors. Projectors with a 4300k bulbs is :headbang

Installing them is cake, just get the right headlamp first.

Legally.. you'll get pulled over within the first month if you throw them in your factory lamps.

AND yes... there are cars, like my Acura, that come factory with HID headlights but in a reflector housing. The housing is designed differently, and the bulb is different as well, combined they give me the same sharp cutoff (but without the light bending "blue" flicker you see).

[88Nightmare]

well if thats the case then HID's are out. I don't want projectors. Doesn't suit my fancy.

On another forum I belong to, a lot of people talk about Toshiba HIR bulbs. Any info on this?

[88Nightmare]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/TOSHIBA-HIR-9011-9012-BULBS-THE-BRIGHTEST-AVAILABLE_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ33710QQihZ008 QQitemZ180216534753QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWDVW

I wonder if those are worth the money?

[PureSound15]

I've honestly never heard of HIR bulbs. :confused

[88Nightmare]

a lot of guys talk about them on the silverado forums. They are used in a lot of commercial applications, and farming equipment I think. Read that ebay link, lots of good info on them. For 50 bucks a set, its not too terrible. I doubt it would provide less light then OEM bulbs, and if I don't like em, then I just wait for them to burn out and replace them. I'd rather drop fitty and not like it then drop like 150ish for an HID kit and not like it

[Poncho]

I have HIDs in my low beams, they are projectors. I have HIDs in my fogs, but they aren't aimed sky high.

your e-bay link doesn't work for me.

[Poncho]

BadLS1 has HIDs in his Monte and they aren't blinding.

[Slow Joe]

Joe is right, there are retrofit options available for any car. And no, do not put HID bulbs into your factory reflector housing, you'll blind us all.

I love HID's, and will forever have them in any lamp possible in any of my cars, but there is a right way to do it.

I personally love the look of projectors. Projectors with a 4300k bulbs is :headbang

Installing them is cake, just get the right headlamp first.

Legally.. you'll get pulled over within the first month if you throw them in your factory lamps.

AND yes... there are cars, like my Acura, that come factory with HID headlights but in a reflector housing. The housing is designed differently, and the bulb is different as well, combined they give me the same sharp cutoff (but without the light bending "blue" flicker you see).

Have you ever retrofitted projectors into a headlight housing?? If so, I might be asking you some questions...

[Z Speed]

I have HIDs in my stock housing and so far no complaints from anyone about them glaring.

[PureSound15]

I retrofitted some 90mm projectors into a pair of foglights for a friend of mine. It looked good enough to not look like a hack-job.

late night customs does retrofitting too.



I only said that his reflector housing, specificially, would be blinding because it's in a truck, he'd have to aim them straight down to try to control the glare.

[Jsho13]

I put a set of HID's in my girlfriends mazda 6. It was kind of a pain in the ass to get at the headlights but the wiring only took a few minutes. The set I put in was 55w and 4300k bulbs. They are awesome, and look great inside the projector housing.

[UnderPSI]

You NEED to get the ones junkygeorgio has for sale! They are the nicest setup I have seen for aftermarket. They have the high quality small balasts unlike the chepo ebay ones. I am pretty sure his are $150. Tony 262-424-4411

[pOrk]

^ And I have the same kit for 135 :)

[88Nightmare]

im just concerned there will be a lot of glare if I use the stock reflector housings...

[UnderPSI]

Are you sure they are the same ones? They didn't look the same.

[Flight_740]

Don't listen to people that say "don't do it"

Believe me. It can be done with no issues. Numerous people have done it including myself. get the damn HID's and be happy with them.

[88Nightmare]

well everyone else on my other forum are tellin me to go for it. 90% of those guys use them in reflector housings and they all have the same style truck as me, and report no problems. They have plenty of pictures too, and the light looks great!

Here is a few of them:
http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l44/88nightmare/fogsandlows1.jpg
http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l44/88nightmare/fogsandlows2.jpg

both those pics were taken with the trucks fog lights and low beams on. Both were converted to 5000k HID's. Looks damn good to me. The silverado guys all tell me the stock reflector housings are awesome on those trucks for running HID's, so I think im gonna go for it. You guys all know I love lights :D

[Poncho]

you suck at pics.

[88Nightmare]

why? pics work fine for me. the quality is good too. I didn't take them though. Someone just posted them up on a different forum.

[Poncho]

no shit, you're also posting attachments from another forum. newb.

[Poncho]

yay. now it works, newb.

[88Nightmare]

**** off tubby, isnt it time for you to complain how your car looks too much like a pontiac?

[PureSound15]

Don't think that I was saying the light output wouldn't be worth it from the drivers seat.

I'm only saying that 90% of reflector housing throw blinding glare to other drivers, that's all.

I had HID's in my explorer's reflector housing back when they first came out, I didn't make it 2 weeks without getting stopped. We stopped selling the drop in kits at Stay Tuned while I was there, only because almost every kit we put in, we had to take out (reflector housings), because the law didn't like them.

I love HID's, so I'm all about it, if it's done right.

[PureSound15]

I'm sorry, I cannot remember what kind of truck you have... but if you check out this video, you can see the horrid glare.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Bym6XsA3fQ


BTW... if you ever flash your HID's like that, I will sodomize you. Terrible for HID bulbs.

[Poncho]

**** off tubby, isnt it time for you to complain how your car looks too much like a pontiac?

Hello kettle, I'm pot.

[Flight_740]

They will glare to a camera. Most cops have no idea what is factory equipped and what is not these days.

[PureSound15]

Thats true I suppose, HID's were only a few years old when I first had them.

It's still incredibly easy to pick out a car with non-OEM HID's in a halogen reflector housing.

[Junky Giorgio]

^ And I have the same kit for 135 :)
I'm not going to argue, I have seen the hid kits that you are speaking of and they are NOT anything like the HID Kits that I sell.



Are you sure they are the same ones? They didn't look the same.
Correct Brad!

[GTSLOW]

Don't you need to upgrade the headlight harness or something? I thought if you just upgraded the tail end of it all it usually fried the stock harness from pulling to much power.

[Flight_740]

You should not need to touch it. The ballasts makes the power from the current 12 volts. No issues.

[Poncho]

and they only draw 35w and usually use 10 or so amps.

[Breecher_7]

35W and 10amps? That doesnt make sense. Common rule is about 1amp for every 12 watts.

So 70 watts would be just under 6 amps.

Will the plug and play kits throw and "bulb out" lights or anything of the sort. If not, im converting my lows and fogs over with stock housings. If your infront of me and get a "glare" Sorry. Its better then when i was running around with the 4, 100 watt Hella's on my Ram.

[UnderPSI]

I am going to get some from Tony too. I get enough people thinking I have my brights on as it is with factory bulbs. Would be no different if I converted to HID.

[johnny--2k]

I've got a set from Tony in my Jeep without any projectors or anything, and they look fine.

Go for it man, you'll be fine, and if you dont like them, they are easy to resell.

Mine were $200 IIRC from Tony. Planning on purchasing the fogs soon as well!

[Flight_740]

Mine throw a "bulb out" light but I will be adding a resistor shortly to remedy this.



35W and 10amps? That doesnt make sense. Common rule is about 1amp for every 12 watts.

So 70 watts would be just under 6 amps.

Will the plug and play kits throw and "bulb out" lights or anything of the sort. If not, im converting my lows and fogs over with stock housings. If your infront of me and get a "glare" Sorry. Its better then when i was running around with the 4, 100 watt Hella's on my Ram.

[CobaltSSTuner]

Joe is right, there are retrofit options available for any car. And no, do not put HID bulbs into your factory reflector housing, you'll blind us all.

I love HID's, and will forever have them in any lamp possible in any of my cars, but there is a right way to do it.

I personally love the look of projectors. Projectors with a 4300k bulbs is :headbang

Installing them is cake, just get the right headlamp first.

Legally.. you'll get pulled over within the first month if you throw them in your factory lamps.

AND yes... there are cars, like my Acura, that come factory with HID headlights but in a reflector housing. The housing is designed differently, and the bulb is different as well, combined they give me the same sharp cutoff (but without the light bending "blue" flicker you see).

glare yes, if your headlights aren't aligned properly. I have them in my car and i have 0 issues.

Pulled over, i cant guarentee it but i've had mine for 2 years and have yet to have a cop question it.


im just concerned there will be a lot of glare if I use the stock reflector housings...

Just make sure your headlights are aligned properly.

[Breecher_7]

Aligned properly? What is your definition of aligned properly? If your in a truck, there gonna shine in peoples mirrors, just the way it is.

And its worse if the truck sits higher then stock.

[Poncho]

35W and 10amps? That doesnt make sense. Common rule is about 1amp for every 12 watts.

So 70 watts would be just under 6 amps.

Will the plug and play kits throw and "bulb out" lights or anything of the sort. If not, im converting my lows and fogs over with stock housings. If your infront of me and get a "glare" Sorry. Its better then when i was running around with the 4, 100 watt Hella's on my Ram.

I was referencing my car in which the fuse is a 10a

[Slow Joe]

Does anyone take pride in doing things right now a days? Don't half ass it, get the projectors like you're supposed to, you'll have better and more focused light output...

[CobaltSSTuner]

Aligned properly? What is your definition of aligned properly? If your in a truck, there gonna shine in peoples mirrors, just the way it is.

And its worse if the truck sits higher then stock.

oh yea, i'm talking for cars. my headlights are aimed more at the ground to reduce glare. I have yet to have someone flash their brights at me.

[Poncho]

Does anyone take pride in doing things right now a days? Don't half ass it, get the projectors like you're supposed to, you'll have better and more focused light output...

**** that. Mine work fine. God damn Joe, you're such a damn naysayer.

[Slow Joe]

**** that. Mine work fine. God damn Joe, you're such a damn naysayer.

Don't your headlamps have factory projectors of some form?

[H8RADE]

Did you start this thread meaning STDs and not HIDs?
Signed,
Curious in Cudahy

[88Nightmare]

personally, I hate the look of projectors, especially on a truck. If it glares too much with HID's, then Ill just resell the kit. No big deal.

[Flight_740]

Does anyone take pride in doing things right now a days? Don't half ass it, get the projectors like you're supposed to, you'll have better and more focused light output...


Joe, do you know shit about this? Or are you just talking shit for the hell of it?


Put the damn lights in Mike. You won't be disappointed.

[88Nightmare]

im sold on it. if worst comes to worst, ill just reaim them slightly down. either way im sure there will still be better lighting then stock. what kind of color difference will there be over stock halogens if I go with a 4300k kit? cuz otherwise im thinkin im gonna do the foglights too. I cant tolerate color differences with headlights

[ND4SPD]

I've retrofitted my Supra with HIDs... they work beautifully, no issues, not being flashed by cars... never pulled over, etc... but... the Supra already has projector housings. Now when I finally get my wife's WRX retrofitted with them we'll see what happens (because it has reflector housings). By the way, thanks Mike for the HIDs... they work fine when hooked directly up to a battery (tested them last night), but for some reason they aren't working in the actual car (not sure what that's about) so I'll have to do a little more research. Anyway, if she gets pulled over or is getting flashed a lot by other cars I may have to do a projector retrofit.

[Slow Joe]

Joe, do you know shit about this? Or are you just talking shit for the hell of it?


Put the damn lights in Mike. You won't be disappointed.

I'm just going off what people have told me... Maybe I'm speaking where I shouldn't... I'll just shut up now...

[Flight_740]

I'm just going off what people have told me... Maybe I'm speaking where I shouldn't... I'll just shut up now...



:rolf:rolf i was joking. hard to sense sarcasam in the net.

[Slow Joe]

:rolf:rolf i was joking. hard to sense sarcasam in the net.

:rolf ****er... :thumbsup

[88Nightmare]

hey joe, half assed is better then no assed :D

[Flight_740]

Either way it will be a drmatic difference. Not to mention these days oncoming traffic kind of expects HID's (projectors or not) to be brighter than halogens.

[88Nightmare]

well I got a kit on order. wish I could have had it today but I guess i cant have my cake and eat it too :rolf


im excited to see what it will look like with it in there.


What kind of color difference do you think i can expect from stock vs. 4300k kit?

[Jsho13]

Quite a bit of difference. It will be pure white light. About a month or so I put in 4300k bulbs in the Mazda 6. The difference was night and day. I could actually see the pavement light up when I turned the lights on during the day. I will not go back to regular halogen bulbs.

[88Nightmare]

well im excited to get the kit in and see what it looks like at night

[kornholio788]

See my thread in the pics forum. I will NEVER go back to halogen. Well worth the money. And please put them in projectors. Trust me you will NOT be dissapointed.

[Flight_740]

I had that issue as well. I had the wires going into the factory harness reversed.:punch:


Try reversing those wires and see what happens.


I've retrofitted my Supra with HIDs... they work beautifully, no issues, not being flashed by cars... never pulled over, etc... but... the Supra already has projector housings. Now when I finally get my wife's WRX retrofitted with them we'll see what happens (because it has reflector housings). By the way, thanks Mike for the HIDs... they work fine when hooked directly up to a battery (tested them last night), but for some reason they aren't working in the actual car (not sure what that's about) so I'll have to do a little more research. Anyway, if she gets pulled over or is getting flashed a lot by other cars I may have to do a projector retrofit.

[Flight_740]

You'll love it.


well im excited to get the kit in and see what it looks like at night

[wikked]

http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l44/88nightmare/fogsandlows1.jpg

I'd be pretty fukking pissed if I had that in my rear-view mirror... that looks WAY brighter than hi-beams.

[Flight_740]

He might have HID's for his high beams as well. Maybe even fogs. That's very bright. But how nice would that be on a dark country road?

Wait till you drive the truck in the rain. You can actually still see the lines on the road.

[88Nightmare]

the guy in that picture has HID's in his lowbeams and foglights. he does have them in his high beams but its only lows and fogs turned on in that picture

[Breecher_7]

Im definitly getting them for my lows and fogs, unsure of temperature yet though. I like the look of the 4300's but im thinking i may just put 6000's in there and be done with it.

[Flight_740]

I have 6000k and I love the color. Not to ricey. The 4300's are almost to pink for my taste. had them in my Q45.

I would not suggest putting HID's in your High beams. There is to much of turning them on and off for oncoming traffic and would wear the bulbs out quick. Not to mention HID's require a small amount of warmup time before fully lighting up.


I'm considering these for my fogs rather that another HID kit.

http://www.hoen-usa.com/fog.htm

[Breecher_7]

With 6000k lows, i dont think id need my highs anyways, not sure they would even be as bright as the lows with the stock highs in there.

[88Nightmare]

the 4300's look pink? its supposed to be a stock white color. 6000k almost looks sky blue. The pictures I posted up are 4300k, how is that remotely pinkish?

Besides, from my understanding of HID's, 4300k (or some websites refer to them as 5000k) physically put out more light then the 6000k

[Flight_740]

Actually it still works well together. The factory highs will brighten it up more for you. I use mine often. I have silverstars for my highs.

[Flight_740]

I had them in a car. They WERE to pink for my liking. 6000k gives me the white light that I like. Just speaking from experience.




the 4300's look pink? its supposed to be a stock white color. 6000k almost looks sky blue. The pictures I posted up are 4300k, how is that remotely pinkish?

Besides, from my understanding of HID's, 4300k (or some websites refer to them as 5000k) physically put out more light then the 6000k

[88Nightmare]

the 6000k I've seen looks sky blue

http://www.gthid.ca/images/kelvinchart.gif

according to that 4300k is white. pinkish/purple out of a HID kit is more like 25000k color temperature, according to www.hidworld.com

[Jsho13]

Most kits are 35w from what I understand, I put a 55w kit with the 4300k and they are still brighter than my high beams. They are aimed different but the light output is very different.

[PureSound15]

The first kit I ever had was 8000k... waste of money and time.

IN the Jetta I had 6000k, definitely more of a blue tint to them which was fine on dry pavement, but sucked if the pavement was wet. Wet and dry pavement is where I see the noticeable difference in light output and reflection when compared to my Acura's factory 4300K.

I can understand wanting a little bit of a blue hue, but I'm not going to spend money for better lighting, only to get 6000k and have it fail to perform as well as 4300k.

I think I'm going to try to rtetrofit some projectors into my fogs and use a 3000k H3C kit :)

[Flight_740]

I will probably do 4300's in my fogs without projectors.

[88Nightmare]

heres what im thinkin...

them pictures I posted look so damn bright because the guy had his HID foglights turned on, which cause just a massive flood of light. If it were just the lowbeams, I dont think it would be so severe.

[pickardracing]

Id like to do HIDs in my Lows and Fogs on the Regal. 6K I think.

[88Nightmare]

the 6k is alright, I just dont like that ever so slight blue tint it has. to each their own.

[A B4C Z]

I got Hids in my Sierra there 4300k slim balast. They look a little bit to blue for me. I put 3400k hid fogs in it there yellow so looks like the is300s. have 4300k in my camaro those were from xenonking. There nice. Also had 4300k in my cobalt(there for sale 9007 bulb) those were the best lights ever they were perfect color also from xenon king. Have some "hid" brand off ebay in my sisters mustang that are 4300k there also nice. My cavalier had them in 4300k from xenon king also those weorked great to.

Theres no problem as long as you aim the bulbs after you put them in. I never got pulled over cops have no idea anymore unless you buy the ****** usless 8000k that look purple then you stand out to much and you will probly get nailed for it. Otherwise so many cars come with them now they have no idea.