[jsnyder7.3]

Have any of you done HID upgrades? Considering them, but don't want to spend the money not knowing if the product is worth it or not.

 

[Htownstroker]

Due to the standard headlight reflector not being designed for the light spread of the hid your actually wasting a ton of light and sending it every where but down the road in front of you, I have the silver star ultras and they do an outstanding job of lighting the road ahead. It's mainly just for looks IMO..I own a searchlight business and have extensive knowledge in lighting ; ) I'm sure some will disagree but facts are facts

 

[jsnyder7.3]

So even the HID bulb upgrades with magnetic movement for high and low beams is ineffective with the factory reflector in the truck? I appreciate the info and am very glad someone has more knowledge than me. I live in the sticks and drive a lot at night with a huge over population of deer that like me to make them splatters in the road and I'm looking for more light....

 

[Htownstroker]

Well if you think about it the top dollar manufacturers charge like 1000$ for Replacment headlights because of the tech that it takes to "focus" a Hid lamp I know the aftermarket kits have come along way but still leave alot to be desired, for instance have you ever seen a set of hid's in a standard headlight bucket, there absolutely blinding compared to say a range rover/BMW/Benz/Porsche etc...

 

[Htownstroker]

Maybe consider some long range driving lights say on or under the bumper set up on a relay system to provide them the power...

 

[96F350Kid]

I got my HIDs for the DD from ddmtuning.com and the whole euro kit off ebay. I have about 200 bucks in the whole thing and they WILL blind the other guy. If you look real close over bumps the magnet will cause them to wiggle a little bit but unless your looking for it you dont see it. They have the raptor kit for 30 bucks and the hi/low option is another 10. I love them and have 5ks. I had 6k before but they were too blue. They come with a lifetime warranty but i havent had a single issue. other people have had the ballast fail and then you have to wait for a new one:/ But like i said i have had NO issues with the kit. And the euro lights off ebay were great too. Clear lens and clear back. Complete performance i know sells them but i don't know how much. In a stock housing they look kinda goofy to me.

 

[Nitro41]

I have the new clear lights and corner lenses in and DDM tuning 55w HID low beam only kit.

4500k color. theyre crystal white, with no blue at all, and super bright. the kit was $70 with the optional relay harness which I would definetly reccommend for our trucks.

The headlight kit was $118 shipped.


I would say I have an honest 60-70 yards of light infront of my truck, defiently dont overdrive them at night.

 

[Htownstroker]

That's what I'm talking about "blinding" oncoming drivers is not the point of headlights!

 

[Patrick Feeley]

Might want to check this thread from just awhile ago: "HIDs The Correct Way - How To"
Cheers!

 

[lowdown89]

I run a low beam only kit on my 94 f150 amd it does scatter some unlike regular lights I never get flashed ny other drivers and they are way brighter than stock I'm running a $35 xentec kit and have absolutely no problems from it! DDM is also good as long as you never have a issue with them... Don't be fooled into people saying the $200 hid kits ae any better because 95% of the kits sold are all made at the same place

 

[Htownstroker]

Thanks Patrick that's a correct and impressive way to run hid's...gotta love psn if you want it, it's on here!

 

[screamnstroker]

I will be doing the projector retrofit in my obs next week aswell when the projectors and clear headlights show up. I put in hid headlights in the stock headlights and it was simply blinding for oncomming drivers. However, I had the 9007 bulbs with the hid/halogen so I could flip my highbeam on if I was passing a car and the hid would shut off. My drl also ran off the halogen(yea Canadian truck, if anyone has a non drl module I'm looking for one before I can retrofit projectors). If you do install hid lights makesure you put a relay harness in, and don't buy the first cheap one on e bay! Trust me. Best of luck

 

[K5383]

I have HID. I LOVE them...

I bought the cheapish clear lights off ebay. Yes, they are bright, and yes I get flashed. However it's no more often that my previous setup (stock stuff)

They have a very distinct cutoff line to them as well.

 

[AddictedOffroad]

DDM's customer service is non-existent. So, their lifetime warranty doesn't mean squat. Research some of their reviews when people have issues and it will tell you enough.

I had one of their kits in my 2000 4runner with the projector lenses. I had constant issues with both ballasts. I replaced four ballasts in three weeks and never did get them to fire correctly and I was constantly having to cycle my headlights on and off to get them to ignite. Its pathetic having to get our of your rig at night to make sure both headlight are on.

I finally gave up and went back to Silverstar Ultras. I just wanted them to be reliable. While I did think that the HIDs were a little brighter, the light pattern was definitely more broken up. I never got flashed by oncoming traffic with them, so the lense still threw a very nice flat look. It was just more broken up than the Silverstars were.

FWIW, there is a brand new Silverstar bulb that just came out that I plan to order soon with the clear headlight lenses. Its a Xenon bulb. Sylvania SilverStar ZXE. This bulb should provide a more consistent HID look, with a better pattern, and much more reliable bulb.

 

[JCart]

I have considered HID's in clear aftermarket headlight buckets but think the way to go is HID with a projector retrofit (in clear aftermarket buckets) as it will provide a better low beam cut off line for on coming traffic as well as better overall lighting (at least from what I read on here and other sites). In the interim (as majority of my driving is rural/remote areas of BC, Canada), I have for distance installed over bumper HID's from VisionX 8500 series (2 X 8.5" 35 watt euro beam) and 6550 series (2 X 6.5" 50 watt euro beam). In terms of lighting up the road in front of you from tree edge to tree edge and as far as you can see down the road these work very well indeed. These lights have literally saved my life on countless occasions. First is through seeing animals not only far out in front but also in the ditches and at tree lines on right of ways of highways. Second because of the brightness game and domestic animals have shown a tendency to stand still. Third less eye strain night driving, as you know when night driving (least for me) I'm always searching the area just at the limit of the lights (stock or low beams) with these HiD's there is a significant area illuminated out front and to the side which provides for much less eye strain because you can see more features at a greater distance, which provides improved decision making options when encountering animals. While traveling home from hunting this fall stock lights on gravel road max safe speed 60 km/h with HiD's on, fast as you wanted to go....

in terms of OP question as to worth it and expense.... for me yes VisionX products are high cost, however when I factor in family safety, animal safety and significant reduction in driver fatigue they are worth every penny to me.

jrc

 

[Binder man]

I just put 5K's in my silver truck with tinted headlights. Will never own another truck without HID'S. I've had all three levels of the silverstars, and they come nowhere close to these. Yes you may lose light because of the reflections, I won't fight that one bit. But it has 50x they light it had to begin with. If you blind people adjust your damn headlights. Got my kit from retro solutions, Digital bi-xenon 55w

 

[BigStroker]

We sell the Retro Solutions kits they are hands down the best HID kit on the market and everything I own has HIDs from Retro.

We sell probably 10 kits a month from Retro.

Customer service is excellent and we have only had maybe 2 problems with anything we have installed from them.