HID headlights

[Pirate16]

Hey guys, its been a long time since I have posted on here! but I just had a quick question. I was wondering if anyone on here had changed to HID bulbs on a 04 superduty? I found a great deal on the bulbs for less than $100 and am planning on putting them in my 04. I know they won't be as good as reflectors designed for the HID bulbs but I think they will still be brighter! Thanks, Marc

[adamss]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't there a difference between HID type bulb and true High Intensity Discharge bulbs? A true HID system should be around 500 bucks and require special lenses. Take a look at the true HID system on an Acura, BMW, or Mercedes. and notice the round lens focusing the HID on the road. Be carefull. Let me know if the HID system required changing out your headlight assembly.
Thanks

[jnobles06]

Originally Posted by adamss

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't there a difference between HID type bulb and true High Intensity Discharge bulbs? A true HID system should be around 500 bucks and require special lenses. Take a look at the true HID system on an Acura, BMW, or Mercedes. and notice the round lens focusing the HID on the road. Be carefull. Let me know if the HID system required changing out your headlight assembly.
Thanks

i dont think you have to change out the headlight assembly. i had an 04 g35 with hids from the factory and it didnt have the projector style assembly in the headlights that you are refering to.

[wiingnut]

Pirate, Be careful, a lot of those bulbs draw more current than your harness and connector, are rated for.

[Pirate16]

yea they have full HID setups but these are just replacement bulbs so they are the HID color and brightness and are 9007 bulb size so i am just replacing the bulb itself. The full setups are better but this is a step in the right direction. Just wondering if anyone has put these in.

[jnobles06]

Originally Posted by Pirate16

yea they have full HID setups but these are just replacement bulbs so they are the HID color and brightness and are 9007 bulb size so i am just replacing the bulb itself. The full setups are better but this is a step in the right direction. Just wondering if anyone has put these in.

so are they just the xenon bulbs? they have the hid kits with the ballasts, bulbs, and the projector headlight kits on ebay for about 160 bucks.

[riggz]

$100 for just colored bulbs is way over priced. They are still halogen bulbs. What brand are they? Most of the time the light output is actually decreased even though the color makes it look like they are brighter.

[adamss]

I bought the blue tinted bulbs from a website called eauworks.com. It is a small outfit. In fact, every time I call I get Jason and he told me he is the guy who mans the phones. Anyway, I bought the extra bright 65 watt low beam/100 watt high beam (H13) for my 06. Wiingnut is absolutely right about the damage to you harness. I have a tremendous amount of experience here melting harnesses. Fortunately eautoworks.com sells heavy duty replacement H13 harnesses for about 10 bucks each compared to the $100 plus price at the dealership.

So, after melting my 65/100 watt bulbs to the stock harness. I recommend this approach:
Get the 55/60 watt bulbs you in the color you want so they don't tax the feeble Ford wiring system. Then get a set of after market lights and mount them on a light bar so they can produce the extra light you want. Lets face it, do you really need all that light for daily around-the-town driving? Beside, it is always best to let specialized equipment do its job. That's why external amplifiers sound and produce better the internal amplifiers. Just a quick tour down electrical ave: Wattage is not the intensity of light (thats a Lumens thing). Wattage is the amount of heat dissipated by the work being done. This is why the same amount of light from a compact flourescent bulb is cooler to the touch than a standard incandescent bulb. To determine wattage, here is the formula: Watts = Current x Volts or PIE (P = power, I = current, and E = voltage) P = I x E. If you opt for 100 watt bulbs, it doesn't mean they are just as bright as all other 100 watt bulbs, just that they consume the same amount of energy producing the same amount of heat. A 100 watt bulb divided by 12 volts draws 8.33 amps. the extra draw will stress your wires and harness. The natural thing to do is replace you fuses. Well, if you have both bulbs drawing on the same fuse (I don't think the Fords do that), you now have 16.66 amps drawing on the stock 15 amp fuse. OK, time to get off my soap box.
Spencer

[Pirate16]

No these kits have everything already wired. it includes the bulbs, ballast, and mounting bracket. I am getting them from a guy on a jeep fourm and he has had them in his jeep for 2 years with no problem, so i don't think they will melt the harness.

[adamss]

Please let us know how they wok out. Whether or not they put out that pure white light. Who makes them?

[aldridgec]

Pirate you are contradicting. First you said they are just the bulbs, not the full HID setup. Then you said they are a kit, the bulbs ballast and bracket. That is pretty much a full HID setup, minus a specialized housing that so many adamantly believe you need.

Personally, I think HID (meaning High intensity discharge, not HID look a like blue tinted halogen bulbs) lamps are a good step up. If the bulbs are made well, they will have less glare. While they will never be perfect in a halogen housing, they will be better than a higher wattage halogen or a blue tinted bulb.

[riggz]

Also keep in mind putting the true HID bulbs in halogen housings will BLIND oncoming vehicles. I've seen them in SD trucks and while they are bright as hell they are dangerous to oncoming drivers. True HID bulbs need projectors and/or reflector shields that cut off the light at a certain level.

[aldridgec]

Really it's the crappy factory lamp housing. Poorly made HID bulbs can contribute to this too, amplifying the real problem, the original housing. I'd wager, and I can only wager since i've never tried myself or seen any, that a much brighter halogen bulb would cause an increase in the amount of glare. I noticed with the original halogens there was a fair amount of glare off to the sides, but it wasn't really bright enough to cause concern.

The problem with the 02-04 housing can be noticed when upgrading to 05 up lights. Better housing, more light on the road, less glare.

[Bear River]

Ok, you guys all need to go back to square one and do your homework.

The best lights you can get a brighter halogens. You can also get filtered HID lights that remove some of the blue tints. Blue light appears to be brighter because it refracts more than other frequencies and it contains more energy per photon. The problem is that is focuses in the eye in front of the retina causing it to be slightly out of focus. This means that edges are indistinct. It also makes things appear to be farther away than they really are.

But more importantly, it floods the rod cells in your eyes. These cells cannot differentiate colors, but they are sensitive to low level light, allowing us to see in the dark. Because they get flooded, this removes that sensitivity, and makes us unable to see what is in the shadows. So we think we can see better with a slightly bluish or balanced white light, but it actually impairs our vision in the dark. A bright halogen produces a lot of low frequency light in the yellow bandwidth. Yellow light focuses directly on the retina, making objects clear and distinct, and we can better judge distance. Because yellow light has a lower energy value, it does not flood the rod cells, making our ability to see things in the shadows much better. This is made evident by the previous post which states that there was "glare to the sides". The glares is still there, but you just cant see it due to the sheer volume of blue light being cast in front of you.

And the subject of glare, lets talk about the effects of refraction and glare.

Glare occurs when the light refracts at extreme angles. It tends to reason that light frequencies that refract more glare more. This assumption is correct. Yellow light refract little, which means that when it encounters water, ice, fog, or a glossy road surface, it will bounce off the surface at a similar angle to its original strike. Blue light on the other hand bends a lot. It scatters when it encounters those kinds of objects. It bends so much that a lot of that light will come right back towards the light source. This means that in the rain, instead of cutting through the raindrops and illuminating the road and signs and objects, instead illuminates the raindrops themselves. Same with fog and snow. Yellow light tends to cut straight through those things.

Some quick facts about HIDs and the requirements.

HIDs do require special projectors or at least a reflector intended for HIDs. Halogen reflectors are unsafe and cast the light in the wrong directions.

HIDs output a lot of light in a full spectrum. they do output a lot of blue light, and you can get HIDs that filter some of the blue out.

HIDs if designed properly consume less power.

[aldridgec]

While all of the above may be true, accurate and right, I have HID's, minimal glare no objections from on coming traffic. I'm happy with them and wouldn't go back to anything else. I may go to a lower K bulb, but that is it.

Higher wattage halogens require an upgrade to the wiring to be fair. If I wanted IMO the best lights I would get Hella H4 w/ 100/85 bulbs and go back to sealed beam type. But I don't like the look.

I still maintain the lamp housing is pretty crappy regardless of what "bulb" you put in there.