durasmack

At one time i had the standard halogen headlights that came as OEM parts. I replaced them with Sylvania Silverstar and have much greater visibility, however I was wondering if anyone has taken the next step and gone to true HID lights.... How much of a difference is there?

duner

about 1500 dollars worth

durasmack

is the cost worth any benefit?

Lil Dog

IMHO trying to retrofit an HID system into the existing headlight lenses is not worth the cost. Brighter lite with poor control of the light pattern would probably just look brighter and not hit the road.

There are cheaper versions out now from KC and PIAA that are retrofit kits for your headlight/driving lite systems. I don't have a price however.

J-eh

LanceD

its not 1500 dollars, you can get a good set of Hella or a good brand of HID conversion lights from ebay, just do a search for HID kit. they range from 3 to 500 bucks and they are made to fit into the same spot where the headlight bulb goes with no modifications. I am going to get a set when I get some sport lights to replace my headlights.

heres one:
HID kit

duner

i don't know about those prices, here's a place to look.
http://store.yahoo.net/hidfactory/index.html

hellotbone

http://www.misterjung.com/
I have a buddy with this kit its not cheap but the light is UNBELIEVEABLE I was looking at it but don't drive much at night but man they are the brightest lights I have ever seen.

Joe Diesel

That would be me!!
I have the mrjung kit, its been 1 1/2yr now with no problems. The kit is worth the money, its a Hella kit which is the same ones in the acuras and bimmers. i have the sport lights on my '02 Ram so it was a plug and play system, I wouldn't recommend putting them on the lenses that are frosted or the beam pattern will be scattered and not focused. My best mod to date

HOHN

HID conversion kits are not the way to go. While you CAN get a brighter light, the HID capsules are NOT designed to work with the existing lens housings. Because the capsule is not in the exact same spot as the regular halogen filament when installed, the alignment within the lens is way off.

The result is a nice bright light that makes a lot of glare and doesn't help visibility much.

If you have your heart set on HID, I would STRONGLY encourage you to look at just adding on standalone HID lights.

The Lightforce HID blitz is the best light on the market, but it's also huge and sometimes hard to fit. This is about $1400 for a pair.

The PIAA HIDs are great, as are the Hellas, but they both use a little older technology that has standalone ballasts, while the Lightforce lights have an internal ballast and are waterproof.

The Lightforce lights are THE ONLY WATERPROOF HID LIGHT ON THE MARKET. They are the favorites of Baja champs, and as tough as you could ask for.

Raybrig makes an excellent HID light, but they target more the road racing market. Their lights *MAY* not be up to the rigors of riding on a big truck.

If you can't afford HID, I would STILL recommend the Lightforce lights. Their reflectors are so much better that you get a LOT more light for the same wattage and bulbs.

Example: The Lightforce Halogen 100W gives you more light than any other 100W halogen. Even more than some 130W halogens.

It's not just how bright the light is, but how it gets out and how efficiently it does.


www.lightforceusa.com


Justin

** I don't own any Lightforce lights, but I have read more on this topic than you EVER want to read**

LanceD

Actually, the most of the ones on ebay ARE designed to fit where the factory bulb was originally, and most of them are the same length so the focal point where the light comes from is in the same spot as the filament would have been on the stock lamp.

I would love to see someone get away with using the Lightforce "stadium lights" as an everyday use primary light. don't get me wrong, those are the brightest lights you can buy, but those will be shining up into peoples eyes and I guarantee they are not legal for highway use.

Most the HID kits on the net use McCulloch, Phillips, Hella, brand ballasts which are used in the factory HID cars and all of them are waterproof. I own a pair of the Phillips HID lights and I have had them for about 8 years on my S-10 and never has a bulb burnt out, or a ballast gone bad. plus they look absolutely awesome. and they are easy to hook up, all you do is take out your low beam bulb, unplug it, plug that wire into the ballast, then mount the ballast somewhere close to the housing then stick the HID bulb into the light housing and turn them on. thats it. I would highly reccomend these kits and the prices just keep getting cheaper! I think I am going to get a H3 kit to change out the bulbs in my fog lights next.

HOHN

"Ask a man who owns one"......