We were having a heated debate on the safety on non-OEM hid kits that are not DOT approved.. like the kits you would find on ebay or craigslist..

What are you all's feeling on the HID lighting retrofit kits people can buy? are they safe? have you been blinded by a ricer with the kit that didnt know how to put in a sparkplug let alone adjust a headlight?

Or have you had great experiances with aftermarket hid

 

from a law enforcement forumn

"NHTSA has threatened to fine sellers of "HID conversion kits" $10,000 per kit sold. You CANNOT install a HID bulb in a headlight designed for a halogen bulb. There is no way you can control the light output properly and you end up blinding oncoming cars and you cannot see properly yourself. Read the fine print on some of these websites selling them..not legal for on-road use....where else do you use a car? They are an illegal & unsafe install."

 

Illegal EBAY and CL HID kits are dangerous garbage! They do little more than blind oncoming drivers when used in the enclosures meant for std. halogen lights

If you are going to do HID, do it right and get HID specific enclosures. There is a reason they are illegal.
I have barely contained myself from doing a 180, and running down one idiot with these BS lights.

 

I agree anymore, i just steer into the light, cause i cant see a damn thing, so if im gonna die so are they! adn if we live I will let a court of law decide why i couldnt see to drive. when they inspect the offenders headlamps after the accident.

 

If you look at some high end import like a mercedes with stock HIDs in HID specific enclosures, you will NOT be blinded by them anymore than std. incandescent.....
Put these BS kits in standard halogen enclosures, and it a recipe for causing a bad accident or having someone follow you and kick your azz!
Standard halogen type headlight enclosures diffuse and aim the HID light incorrectly, causing grief for everyone else on the road......just ask a truck driver what its like encountering these things.

 

I've been on that kick for a few years now. HID lamps give off light in a different plane, incandescent lamp reflectors are deigned around the bulbs filament and cast a different pattern. With modern head lamp assy's the focus of the beam is all set by the reflector and no longer by the lens, so changing the orientation of the light modifies the pattern.

It's going to end up just like the all clear tail lights from 10 years ago. Someone will come up with a HID conversion that fits into NHTSA's rule book once they start handing out fines.

 

Well over the past couple of weeks I've read all the treads I could find on increasing the light output in the Super Duty/Excursion line. Everything from higher wattage bulbs to installing HID's in the stock headlight housing and even installing projector HID's in a modified headlight housing. I have to say that the projector beam in the modified housing had a very clear light pattern cut-off. This person went to great pains to come up with a solution that would improve their vehicle lighting without blinding oncoming drivers. I would really like to see one of the after market truck vendors come up with a projector beam in a modified headlight housing - for off road use only, of course. There has just got to be a way to improve our night driving without concern for oncoming traffic.

 

heck ya im all for brighter lights as long as they are not blinding people. thats why i would just use the stock lights, then have some hid aftermarkets on a switch when there is no other cars around.. i think thats the best idea.

 

Time for me to chime in....as I have tried a few different options in my '07 expy as I was super unsatisfied with the light output on Hi beams!

I tried:
-Silverstar Nighthawks bulbs: decent light on low, but still crappy on high beams.
-PIAA Extreme White bulbs: the blue tint of the lens made the colors wash out on the road...especially the bambi's!

And then, I tried an aftermarket HID kit that went in the reflector housing. (I can hear the grumblings now... ...) I'd like to point out that they were actually not as glaring as you would think (atleast for the Expedition! I agree that other kits are awful). I aimed the lights into the proper position and tested the glare out by having my wife drive the truck while I drove the van...even had a friend do the same and it was concluded that there was, luckily, no glare. BUT! The light being reflected to the ground was horrible. My night vision was completely ruined because of how much stray light was being reflected onto the pavement right in-front of the truck. When I went to Hi Beams, it was still just as bad as before. I concluded that it was the crappy reflector design.

Would I recommend the HID upgrade: HELLS NO! The reflector is not designed for the high intensity of the light! The bulbs ARE the exact same size, but clearly the light output is not.

And here was the next step….and start of an epic fail!!!!

I ordered up a set of Eagle Eyes Halo/Angel Eye Projector headlights…these were about $300 for the pair. The original bulbs in them were Halogens with separate Hi and Lo Beam bulbs (H1 and H7). The way the wiring harness splits the leads, when the Hi Beams are selected, the Lo beams go out…. Not bad for Halogen, but totally scary when I put the HID bulbs in!!!

The other major concern was the beam pattern of the projector. There was no light going to the sides because of an even crappier design! Here is a link to my album showing this mod:

Ford Truck Enthusiasts Forums - freerider's Album: Projector Headlight Assembley with Angel Eyes - FAIL

The lights look very cool, and are OK in the city and decently lit areas. But on the Highway, in the middle of Timbuktu, THESE ARE A MOJOR SAFETY CONCERN! DO NOT BUY!!!!
I am currently awaiting a “real” set of projectors from The Retrofit Source which will actually mount in my existing OEM reflectors. These projectors and HID’s are the same as from Lexus and BWM and will provide DOT approved light! The only hinge is that I have to remove the lens cover from the OEM assembly and then get it back on… there are tons of write up on how to do it and it is the only safe modification I would recommend.

 

interesting! and some real world testing! good info. i was thinking about trying some but i dont want no worse night vision.

 

actually i had no problem with them. when i installed them i closed my garage door and noticed they pointed up more than the stock halogens, so i aimed them down. i could see good and they didnt blind people(i know because i drove by it in my bro's truck to make sure they wouldnt)

 

only street legal hids that were available were the Sylvania Xenarc hid's. They were available for ford and chevy as full headlight housing replacements. I had them on my 97 and currently still have them on my 98.

 

subscribing... will chime in later.

 

hids on factory fords are horrible for scattering light.

projectors are a must

 

probably safer to drink and drive and have just you impaired then to install a hid kit and impair everyone in oncomming traffic.