HIDS Lighting
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Junior User
Joined: May 2010
Posts: 92
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From: Edmonton,Ab
HIDS Lighting
Ok I am in the market for getting LED's for headlights, I am just not sure what is the best way to go. I see HIDS lights where you replace just the bulbs and are cheaper than going with the whole headlight assy. I have heard that these can actually melt the headlight assy. What is the best way of doing this? From what I understand I will aslo have to get something done to prevent a code from being thrown or something like that when changing over to HIDS. I won't do the install myself as I am not comfortable with it mainly becasue I suck at vehicle wiring and would rather pay someone to do it.
New User
Joined: Feb 2010
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As someone who has had HID and loved it I say go for the HID conversion, however, make sure that they get aimed properly. Nothing says did it myself better than blinding everybody you drive by. Currently I have Eagle Eyes headlight assemblies and definitely recommend spending a little extra money and getting a properly built, plug and play headlight that looks great. The following link 2009 2010 FORD F150 CCFL HALO PROJECTOR HEADLIGHTS BLK | eBay is where I bought mine at.
Senior User
Joined: Mar 2010
Posts: 336
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Def go with the HID kit. If you only install brighter bulbs they will not be near as bright as the HID's. I have HID's in my car and it wasn't hard to install or adjust the aiming. The kit I bought actually is "pre-aimed" the left bulb aims slightly lower so that it doesn't blind oncoming traffic. I still get high beamed because they are so bright. The higher the Watts you go with the bluer the light will look the lower the Watts the whiter they will look. I personally have 5kW which are just a tad whiter. When you put HID's in a truck be prepared to get high beamed even more because your headlights are higher than most vehicles. And no they won't melt your headlight.
And one word of advice I would give is to find an HID kit with small Ballasts(electrical current controller that varies the Wattage) because it is sometimes hard to find a spot to stick the Ballasts that are required. Hope this helps! Enjoy!
And one word of advice I would give is to find an HID kit with small Ballasts(electrical current controller that varies the Wattage) because it is sometimes hard to find a spot to stick the Ballasts that are required. Hope this helps! Enjoy!
Hotshot
Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 10,459
Likes: 10
From: RVA
Ok I am in the market for getting LED's for headlights, I am just not sure what is the best way to go. I see HIDS lights where you replace just the bulbs and are cheaper than going with the whole headlight assy. I have heard that these can actually melt the headlight assy. What is the best way of doing this? From what I understand I will aslo have to get something done to prevent a code from being thrown or something like that when changing over to HIDS. I won't do the install myself as I am not comfortable with it mainly becasue I suck at vehicle wiring and would rather pay someone to do it.
Here's a link to their site:
DDM Tuning : HID Kits
Their HID kits are pretty popular and mostly reliable. Probably the most reliable for the cost. They have two types of ballast: regular and slim. They also offer two wattages: 35w and 55w, which determines how intense the lights are (meaning how bright the light output is). FYI, 55w would be fine in the headlights, but will likely melt the foglight housing. Most people just go with 35w for both the headlights and fogs. The color as refered to in a previous post is more dependant on the "temperature" of the bulb, rather than the wattage. 4k-5k is the norm on color as this is usually the "whitest" light. A lower temp will be more yellow, and higher temp will be more blue.
Elder User
Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 790
Likes: 3
From: Ontario, OH
just a tid bit of advice. Depending what state you are in, installing HID's may be illegal. having someone else install them may also be illegal. In NC, it is illegal to install or have installed non factory HID headlights.
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Hotshot
Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 10,459
Likes: 10
From: RVA
^^^ Correct, there is that whole legal issue behind it. HIDs are a "run at your own risk" situation for sure. There are some DOT approved projector headlights out there that will accept HID bulbs, which brings you a little closer to the approved law, and keep down the "scatter" that sometimes happens with HIDs in reflector housings.
Good call AWQ! (tried to rep ya, but gotta spread the love around somemore before hitting you again)
Good call AWQ! (tried to rep ya, but gotta spread the love around somemore before hitting you again)
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Junior User
Joined: May 2010
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From: Edmonton,Ab
The big thing for me is to do this the simplest and cost effective way. I am not comfortable redoing any wiring and if it is easy enough I would rather replace the whole headlight assy providing it doesn't cost an arm and a leg. I have priced some out here, to buy them from Ford $1500.00 which is ludicrous.
A couple of places here install them for $500.00 - $600.00. Looking at the ones on e-bay look like the best deal providing installing them is the same as any other headlight.
A couple of places here install them for $500.00 - $600.00. Looking at the ones on e-bay look like the best deal providing installing them is the same as any other headlight.
Elder User
Joined: Jul 2010
Posts: 501
Likes: 1
From: Pacific NW
$1500 bux for headlight assemblies? That's insane! I thought my dealership was pricey at $245 bux per headlight. I'm waiting on a reply from Tasca to see how much it would cost to buy and ship their headlights over here. I'm going to break em apart and put a proper HID projector in there. Probably do some custom LED wiring as well since I've been playing with my protoboard and some simple circuit designs...
Elder User
Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 790
Likes: 3
From: Ontario, OH
^^^ Correct, there is that whole legal issue behind it. HIDs are a "run at your own risk" situation for sure. There are some DOT approved projector headlights out there that will accept HID bulbs, which brings you a little closer to the approved law, and keep down the "scatter" that sometimes happens with HIDs in reflector housings.
Good call AWQ! (tried to rep ya, but gotta spread the love around somemore before hitting you again)
Good call AWQ! (tried to rep ya, but gotta spread the love around somemore before hitting you again)
Hotshot
Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 10,459
Likes: 10
From: RVA
The big thing for me is to do this the simplest and cost effective way. I am not comfortable redoing any wiring and if it is easy enough I would rather replace the whole headlight assy providing it doesn't cost an arm and a leg. I have priced some out here, to buy them from Ford $1500.00 which is ludicrous.
A couple of places here install them for $500.00 - $600.00. Looking at the ones on e-bay look like the best deal providing installing them is the same as any other headlight.
A couple of places here install them for $500.00 - $600.00. Looking at the ones on e-bay look like the best deal providing installing them is the same as any other headlight.
By the way...what she doesn't know, won't hurt her right?? I didn't tell my wife about the custom tune until 2 months later
Hotshot
Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 10,459
Likes: 10
From: RVA
Nope that's not what I'm saying.
Your stock housing is a reflector, not a projector. Ideally HIDs should be in a projector since their light output is higher, and the beam needs to be focused.
You CAN wire the DDM kit directly into your reflector housings without any further modification. You wont have a way to control the beam of the light, so it'll pretty much end up where it wants, without you having too much say in the matter. Is that a bad thing?...probably only if an officer decides it is and issues you a citation. There's also that argument about the scattered light and the effects it has on oncoming traffic.
The DDM kits are around $45-55 a set. You should be able to do both heads and fogs for under $125 shipped.
Your stock housing is a reflector, not a projector. Ideally HIDs should be in a projector since their light output is higher, and the beam needs to be focused.
You CAN wire the DDM kit directly into your reflector housings without any further modification. You wont have a way to control the beam of the light, so it'll pretty much end up where it wants, without you having too much say in the matter. Is that a bad thing?...probably only if an officer decides it is and issues you a citation. There's also that argument about the scattered light and the effects it has on oncoming traffic.
The DDM kits are around $45-55 a set. You should be able to do both heads and fogs for under $125 shipped.