C5VetteLS1

Hello All, just curious if any of you are running this HID projector kit in your rigs? I hate the stock headlights being that I can't see for *very well* when coming up these mountain roads at night. In fact I always have the high beams on and nobody even knows it. Anyway, I've got to upgrade to something much more efficient.

If you're running these particular lights, please let me know your opinion. Here's the eBay link with more details: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...=STRK:MEWAX:IT



If you're running another system that you feel is very efficient, please advise of that as well.

Many thanks for any assistance.

Robert m

iTrader: (2)

thoes housings are known to be pretty crappy and because there black and not a true projector, put out a bad pattern. if you want a pretty good, cheap setup buy these housings http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/82-95...Q5fAccessories and a set of good bulbs.
im running those housings and osram night breaker bulbs http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/US-SE...Q5fAccessories and love the combo.
im sure someone will tell you to run the hella conversion lights but the ebay autopal lights have almost the same pattern and are 1/3 the price. everyone i have recommended that package to has also liked the results.
http://www.toyotanation.com/forum/sh...d.php?t=361680

InvaderTrax

I've got those same "Euro style" H4 housing. They work well, but do not put HID's in them

diablo

Robert M,Do you have to have any changes to wiring or are they plug and play?

hilandfrog

Upgrading the wiring as per 4wheelcrawlers site was the first step.... very nice!!

The second was the 200 mm hella lights and 90/55 wt bulbs :woot

Actually getting $4-500 HID's is far to expensive to replace when i hit the next deer:lol


Repo

shaeff

Buy those housings with no HID kit. Go to http://www.theretrofitsource.com/ and buy the FX-R projectors. They're bi-xenon (hi/lo beam) Custom install them into the cheap-o housings (removing that crap fake projector in the process) grab some GOOD OEM ballasts and wire it up with some 14awg.

You will not be disappointed. I did it on my M3 (though I used real OEM FX35 projectors) and the output is amazing. If you're going HID, do it right or don't do it at all. I've been with the cheap PnP kits and they all suck, I don't care what anyone says.

Do a proper OEM retrofit or stick with a good rewired halogen setup. Edit: Like Robert M did.

BrianJE

I did this and love it. 200 % better than stock!

C5VetteLS1

Thanks Robert, I read the thread and this looks like an easy & efficient way to go. I won't have to worry about blinding on-coming drivers either. I couldn't quite figure our from the posts below if hilandfrog was telling diablo if a wiring change was required, or not. Does wiring need to be changed or is this set up plug & play?

I'm thinking it is plug & play being that there was no mention of modified wiring in the thread you linked.

Many thanks for the assistance bud

Many thanks to the rest of you that posted. I appreciate you all taking the time to help. Happy Holidays

BrianJE

Yes it's plug and play . very easy mod.

Robert m

iTrader: (2)

yeah its all plug and play. the only thing you will have to do is stuff something between the housing and the headlight bucket to stop them from being loose. i used some weather stripping i had laying around and it worked perfect. you might also want to check the wiring like hilandfrog said on this site http://www.4crawler.com/4x4/CheapTri...ml#VoltageTest if the voltage is low, you might as well start there first.

C5VetteLS1

Way cool, thanks a bunch! I'll order the parts today and have a friend check voltage at the headlights as soon as I'm ready to install the parts. This should be a sweet upgrade, awesome

shaeff

Also forgot to mention, if you do a halogen setup, rewire with a couple sealed relays, relay harnesses, and 12 or 10awg wire. The output will blow you away.

aa1911

iTrader: (1)

hmmm.... those autopal ebay combos look great.... tempting....

still deciding what I'm going to go with, kinda still want to do the full HID deal.... but the price on those in Robert M's post is awesome...

aa1911

iTrader: (1)

for the full HID setup, does everyone use the canceller? I just started noticing those being a recommended item, no idea if guys are running them or not

thanks

aa1911

iTrader: (1)

OK, I'm starting here, might upgrade the projectors later but looking at my OE ones, they look fantastic and they have the little umbrella reflector deal in the center.

http://www.hidnation.com/90bihidki.html

it's a $299 kit supposidly for $99 plus $15 for an entire relay harness (which I will probably modify or add to, it's a $50 harness for 15 bucks according to the site.) also an additonal $20 for the canceler deal. I chose standard warranty/standard ballasts (they have slim ballasts for an extra $28, seems like a waste.)

Anyway, these suckers look like they are bright, anything will be 100 times better than the crap that I'm running now. low beams as I sit now, you could do better with the passenger holding a headlamp out the window, they suck!

anyway, total cost right now is $144 for the bulbs/kit delivered. I'll post up once they arrive and I plug them in!

aa1911

iTrader: (1)

forgot, I also got the 8000k color temp in these.... I don't mind a little blue so much, I plan on adding some super bright amber fog lights....

Ajm1991

I 2nd the black housings. I thought they looked awesome in my 93 p/u until night rolled around and realized i made a big mistake and looking awesome ended up being a safety hazard. I just went to Vatozone and bought a set of Sylvania performance stock style lights and called it done. They were 2x as bright as my glazed factory ones.

aa1911

iTrader: (1)

^^ yes, I put the high-speed set of silvania's from autozone in my tacoma and they are noticeably brighter than stock, pretty happy with them. took me a little bit to realize that it wasn't oncoming traffic lights on the distant trees, they were MY lights! hahaha... I can see much further and the light is a good even spread of nice white light. I was going to make a relay harness to add to it but I am still getting full voltage at the lamps. haven't even checked the runner yet but I'm going to install a relay harness anyway just to protect the existing circuits.

I am hoping the 9004 HID conversion will be plenty in the runner, pretty sure they will be good.

I also found a floor dimmer switch at Autozone for $10, haven't put it in yet but will be doing that shortly...

Robert m

iTrader: (2)

8000k is going to be really blue and since it looks like you live in WA and you will see alot of rain, the blueish light is going to get washed out and make driving in the rain a major P.I.T.A. if its not too late i would atleast change the color temp down to 4300 or 5000. those color temps are what cars come with from the factory and it will also be brighter. also you might want to look at DDM tuning for the HID kits. http://www.ddmtuning.com/Products/DD...ast-35W-or-55W
i have the 35 watt 4300k kit in my hella 500s on my bumper and they are freaking awesome. when there on i cant even tell my normal headlights are on.

shaeff

Don't bother with any PnP kits. See my above post. If you're not doing a proper OEM style retrofit with actual projectors DESIGNED for HIDs then just stick with halogen. The PnP kits are usually crap, the cutoff is terrible, and they're more likely to just blind oncoming drivers.

8000K? You serious? You won't see much of anything with that. Seriously, if you want actual output, not pretty ricer like lights, go with NOTHING OVER 5000K. 4300 is what all the OEMs use, and for good reason. The loss of lumen output is exponential the higher up you go from 4300k. For what it's worth, 6000k is blue tint, 8000k is getting toward dark blue/purple. Not good for visibility at night at all.

4300k is about 3200 lumens
8000k is only about 780 lumens. Although it'll look brighter than stock, the type of light is terrible. Trust me, I've worked with HIDs a lot.

I wouldn't waste my time with Sylvania either. If you want good silverstar bulbs, get OSRAM (do not confuse these with Sylvania, OSRAM is much better quality) Osram Nightbreaker +90 bulbs are fantastic. Phillips VisionPlus are great, too.

Check out www.danielsternlighting.com for more info. That dude is fantastic.

Sure, you're getting full voltage, but how much AMPERAGE are you getting? Amperage is what's going to make the difference. Seriously, rewire and you'll be amazed all over again.