nvm, its a HID kit, they run at low wattage. i thought we where just talking about brighter bulbs

 

Because they are HID. The 35w HID is a LOT brighter than a 100W normal bulb. I can tell you from personal experiance. I have a 100W hella and my HID's on my truck and the HID is much brighter hands down. Plus the color on the HID is easier to see and easier on the eyes while driving.

 

I don't know a thing about HIDs... I'd like to upgrade my headlights, they are not the greatest. So there is a wrong way and a right way to do a HID upgrade?

Why is this way bad? How much are the "right kits".

 

That's a perfectly logical test if the entire nations infrastructure consisted of one way streets.

 

so, i am thinking of getting HIDs for my 98 4Runner, and from one of the posts above, it sounds like the 96-98 rigs with the "frosted" looking headlights will de better than the 99-02 "clear" headlights. i am right about this?

 

HID is a totally differnt way to light a bulb. It is kinda like a an LED on steroids. It basicly uses a welding ark to create the light that is why they need the ballest to pump 20,000+ volts into it for the first few second to light the bulb. After that it only uses 35w of power and will run for a LONG time. Because of the way it lights up it creats a lot more light with less power. And it is possible to contorol the color of the lights. The best color range is 4100K to 6000K. Above that and you start losing light output and it gets blue (harder on the eyes.). Below that and it turns yellow (also harder ont he eyes and it doesn't "seem" as bright). My 5000K are about perfect white enough that is is easy to look at all night (have done it too) and yet doesn't lose hardly any light output.

The "correct" way to do an HID conversion is to get projectors and all the bells and whistles. The bad about that is that it is ALL custom for our trucks and it will cost about $500. If there was a kit they made for our trucks where it was a plug and play style then it might be worth it but having to do it all custom and ruin your stock light ability is not worth it for me.

This way costs about $75 for the kit shipped off ebay and is plug and play. It installs in a matter of 30 mins. The bad part about this setup is that you *can* get glare out of it since it doesn't use the projector. But it greatly varys with the type of light you have. Like mine work out fine with only a very minor glare.

 

im not sure if this is right, but arent frosted the ones with all the lines similar to sealed beam? they are distorted, so i would say that clear is the better choice.

 

see, that's what i'm trying to figure out. i would like to upgrade to the 99-02 style headlights, but i'll only consider this if the HIDs WILL work better in them than the 96-98 style headlights. so can any body tell me a definite answer about which is better...

 

Well my instinks tell me that the frosted glass will cause the light to disperse more than a clear lens thus causeing glare = Bad.

But it could be that it defuses the light and lessons glare....

 

yeah, both are excellent points. so, will any body who had HIDs, in either the 96-98 headlights or in the 99-02 headlights chime in and give us all some useful info...please.

 

whitey13

yes i forgot to mention my cut off angle does not blind people when driving at them head on, this usually is never a problem since in the US headlights flare off to the right and not to the left.

Mike the 99+ lights SHOULD be better since the beam pattern isn't made on the glass like the older housings are...this is what i have always been told from people on hid forums.. i say should since i did have aftermarket hids on my 02 saab and never had problems with blinding people and that car had the patterened glass.

What you could also do if you were really concerned and would only be using HID in low beam for the life of the headlight, you could paint the BOTTOM part of the reflector with high temp flat black paint this should cut down on the light reflecting up, but only if you have the 99+ clear lens lights. I know it sounds backwards but your highbeams shine the light down and hit the bottom part of the reflector then shine up. The low beams shine up, hit the reflector then shine down on the ground (thats how all H4 housings work).

 

thanks for that info man. yeah, now that you are saying that, it makes sense that the 99-02 lenses will perform better. i mean, whenever i get them, i'll install them with my 98 headlights first, and then install the 99-02 headlight housing and see what works the best. that sounds like the best way to see to me...

 

Sorry.

No but good info above. So you are using the plug and play version? W/o the projectors they seem to glare out too much huh?

 

yeah, that's what everybody seems to being saying. but i also read on other posts/forums that a lot of this "unwanted glare" can be reduced by maikng sure you re-adjust your headlights after installing the HIDs...

 

if your gonna throw hid bulbs in your non hid housing then please for the love of god use a shield.

im so tired of getting blinded by improper hid setups with horrible beam patterns. if you cant afford to do it right then dont do it.

go here and read http://www.hidplanet.com/forums/

 

when you say a "shield", what exactly are you meaning. i plan to go with the HIDs, but i'm not gonna pay a lot for the projectors and HID kit at the same time. if the glare is absolutely "unbearable", then i'll probably take them out until i can get projectors, but it sounds like all the people you are talking about did not properly adjust their headlights after doing this, as it sounds like its a mandatory thing to do after this mod...

 

some hid bulbs come shielded, which means the top of the bulb is covered so light is only cast out and down. or you can get something like the casper shield. which drops in place of your h4 slot allowing you to use ds2 bulbs and has an upper shield.



https://www.casperselectronics.com/M...Category_Code=

 

okay, yeah that sounds a lot clearer now, thanks! i'll defintely keep this in mind whenever the $ is available for this mod...

 

Ha ha, you are funny. So i can't spell...

Yeah i am using the Plug and play and i was saying that it works fine in my 00 headlights. I don't get glare that bad at all, no more than the stock lights just a little brighter (duh!). So for these lights the plug and play setup should work fine. The only consideration for you is that you live in Cali, they are always the strictest about these type of things. It Texas i am not worried at all.


This is true, after installing them i just aimed mine lower than they were before and i still get just as much light on the road. I also have 1 or 2 other lights on the front to help if i need it ...

 

hey guys, i got hids too, its a bixenon h4 5000k with 55 watt ballast, 55 Watt DIGITAL High Output Kit, i bought it from www.retro-solutions.com, ver great customer service, and great products, hopefully ill have time to install mines tomorow, b4 i head to work. for 250 bucks with a lifetime warranty, its a deal.