HID Headlight Bulbs / HID Projector Retrofit

[backstay]

Further to that side note, it's illegal to put HID in ANY housing, reflector style or projector style, that originally came with normal halogen bulbs. 

[Perseus]

I don't believe those statements are accurate. For example. It isn't illegal in IL Veh Code

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[truckguy82]

On 5/3/2018 at 4:20 PM, Perseus said:

I don't believe those statements are accurate. For example. It isn't illegal in IL Veh Code

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Borrowing $100 from a friend and stiffing him isn’t illegal, but it’s a dick move, kinda like high powered headlights in halogen housings.

[sk]

On 5/3/2018 at 4:20 PM, Perseus said:

I don't believe those statements are accurate. For example. It isn't illegal in IL Veh Code

Actually it's illegal by Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 571.108. 

 

That is a HUGE spec that controls everything about lighting, bulbs, reflectors, and how they need to be marked.  Basically a vehicle and/or lighting system is designed and submitted by a manufacturer.  Once the government tests and approves the setup it is meant to be used that way.  Putting other bulbs in housings that were not designed, tested, and approved for them is illegal.

 

Most police departments have better things to do than crack down on this so you see a lot of aftermarket bulbs, etc running around but that does not make it legal. 

 

There is also some really good info behind the reasoning of the spec here:

http://www.danielsternlighting.com/tech/bulbs/Hid/conversions/conversions.html

http://www.danielsternlighting.com/tech/bulbs/superwhite/superwhite.html

[Pbjayyy]

On ‎5‎/‎1‎/‎2018 at 12:51 PM, MegaCode360 said:

Looking to install the morimoto Silverado hid kit on my 15 Silverado LTZ.  Lots of people on this fourm complained the dust caps don't fit back on because of the bulb/bulb connector length.  I did notice that these posts were over a year ago.  Did morimoto change the design recently?  Anyone with the same truck as me do the install and have any issues with the dust caps and bulb length?  Thanks!

 

I just purchased the Morimoto retrofit kit for my  14 Silverado LT.  The design has changed on some of the projectors, however you still have to drill a hole in the dust cap and seal it with the included sealant that comes with the kit.  I ended up returning the kit because I did not have the patience to bake and pry open my lenses.  Instead I installed the Anzo U bar projector headlamps for the Silverado that come already assembled and upgraded the lights to LEDs.  So far I am very pleased with the output and alignment and they only took about an hour to install.

[slj2008]

5 hours ago, Pbjayyy said:

I just purchased the Morimoto retrofit kit for my  14 Silverado LT.  The design has changed on some of the projectors, however you still have to drill a hole in the dust cap and seal it with the included sealant that comes with the kit.  I ended up returning the kit because I did not have the patience to bake and pry open my lenses.  Instead I installed the Anzo U bar projector headlamps for the Silverado that come already assembled and upgraded the lights to LEDs.  So far I am very pleased with the output and alignment and they only took about an hour to install.

Look's good

[Fireguy63]

Of you are referring to the cap on the back of the light house of not sure if yours has it mine was a Gmc with projector lights drill a 1” hole and feed wires threw it and the kit should come with a gromit to cover hole that keeps all the crap out of light houseong 

 

 

and I had all hids and leds in my truck never an issue with them being leagel or illegal cops don’t care about head lights that whole law thing is a joke and it’s state by state  and they must be fine since I pass inspection every year with them 

[BluEyeItln]

I've done a few upgrades on my lights.  They have slightly smoked lenses.  I love the look.

[MHPrior80]

On 5/11/2018 at 2:07 AM, Pbjayyy said:

I just purchased the Morimoto retrofit kit for my  14 Silverado LT.  The design has changed on some of the projectors, however you still have to drill a hole in the dust cap and seal it with the included sealant that comes with the kit.  I ended up returning the kit because I did not have the patience to bake and pry open my lenses.  Instead I installed the Anzo U bar projector headlamps for the Silverado that come already assembled and upgraded the lights to LEDs.  So far I am very pleased with the output and alignment and they only took about an hour to install.

I have these same headlights. Which LEDs did you use for this??  Thanks!!

[Pbjayyy]

17 hours ago, MHPrior80 said:

I have these same headlights. Which LEDs did you use for this??  Thanks!!

Here is a link to the bulbs I purchased. 

 

https://www.carid.com/lumen/g8-led-conversion-kit-h7-mpn-h7xxhlc-g8.html

[AfflictChaos392]

I have a 2016 Silverado LT and was trying to get brighter HID. Anyone have any info on the brightest I can get and how to do it ?

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[Waterfowler41]

Anyone upgrading their Sierra to HIDs I have-

2 x 9012 XB 35W 5,500K bulbs, ~ 2 months old just upgraded from 4,500K

2 x AMP: Morimoto XB Igniters, ~2 years old, just came back from TRS testing and they are good to go

I’m going to be installing TRS’s retroquick system which switches me to D2S bulbs.

PM me if you need this stuff.

[EDL]

On 5/3/2018 at 2:41 PM, sk said:

If you don't add projectors you will be disappointed with your HID's.  They are NOT designed to work correctly in reflector housings (as a side note it's also ILLEGAL to put them in reflector housings for this reason).

Not to mention, you're blinding the begeebus out of everyone heading the other way.

 

Now, with that said, if you want to go grab a set of cheap Hella 700's at Wally World and retrofit with some DDM 55W HID bulbs for back roads use, you'll be quite happy.

[EDL]

Been reading through a lot of the posts here on lighting and just wanted to share some of the info I have about lighting in general what I've learned over the years and from experience:

 

First, why are HID bulb retro fits to standard housings bad?  Well, for one, they are illegal as per the National Highway and Safety Administration.  They are not DOT approved, and the fact you haven't been pulled over for it or managed to pass inspection with them is irrelevant.  If you do get pulled over and the cop notices, it is something else they can tack onto a ticket (and they will).  I personally know a number of people who have been popped for it and depending on your state, we're talking upwards of a $250 fine and a time limit to "get them fixed."  If you don't care, that's fine, but don't be surprised if you get stopped for it.  Secondly, HID bulbs in standard housings blind the holy heck out of oncoming traffic.  Standard housings with halogen (incandescent) bulbs do not focus the light like projectors do.  They scatter it all over the place, but because halogens are not nearly as bright as HID, you end up with a brighter area toward the middle and spilling of light all around it.  There's not enough light to blind oncoming traffic.  Now, pop in some HID bulbs and all the scattered light is blinding everyone else because they are so much brighter.  One other issue with standard housings, the placement of the light emitting portion of the bulb has to be in the right spot for the housing to reflect and focus the light properly.  Many of the HID bulbs, while they fit a certain halogen bulb number, are not the same in terms of the physical bulb dimensions so don't always set this light emitting portion of the bulb in the correct place, further making the issue worse.  When I had my lifted Ram 2500, I took a pair of cheap Hella 700's and retro fitted a pair of 55W HID bulbs, but I had to make some stand off brackets to back the bulb out a little to get the light emitting point of the bulb in the right place.  They worked great, but only for back road driving, of course.  All in all, I particularly despise people who put HIDs in standard housings.  Seems every 17 year old kid for miles around feels the need for 12K HIDs in their '89 Civic. 

 

If you want HID you need a full retro fit of a proper projector unit.  They are designed to work properly with the HID bulbs and have the cutoff shield to create the distinct line where the light is cutoff horizontally so as not to blind everyone coming toward you.  Projector units for halogen bulbs also will not work properly with HID because they don't have the cutoff shield.  They are slightly better than standard housings, but will still blind everyone else.  Many don't like the cutoff of HIDs because it appears not much light gets beyond it and it seems like you can't see as far as with halogens.  To some degree this is not true, but it's really an issue with the human eye.  The effect is much like walking from a brightly lit room into a darker room, you can't see diddly, even though there is still light in that room.  We have pupils that dilate and constrict based on how bright the ambient light is, similar to how a camera lens has a diaphragm that can be opened or closed down to control the amount of light entering the lens.  Our pupils don't constrict and dilate instantly and they can't be both open or closed down at the same time.  All that bright HID light below the cutoff line constricts your pupils, so any light that is actually making it beyond the cutoff is not visible.  Some factory HID systems include a control in the vehicle that lets you control the cutoff shield so you can set the placement of the cutoff line (my wife's 2012 Mitsubishi Outlander Sport, for example has HIDs and this control).  They are great for darker roads, you can crank up the cutoff a fair amount and really see, but you have to turn them down in oncoming traffic or you'll get flashed.

 

If you do decide to convert and you do get a proper projector unit, don't get the ridiculous 8+K color temp bulbs because you think blue or purple is "cool" looking.  The fact is, light at that end of the spectrum is the hardest for the human eye to focus and our retinas are less sensitive to this temperature range, so although they are brighter, you cannot see as well with blue lights.  The sun's light is approximately 5800K, so I wouldn't recommend anything over 6K, and personally prefer somewhere down in the 4K range at most.  I find 6K light to to be "too white" and while it looks really bright, I actually see less than something more toward the 4K range.  To my eyes, a 6K temp looks more like an over exposed photo, it's just too harsh and lacking detail.  Even though 6K more closely resembles natural sunlight, at night it is too white and too stark of a difference compared to the dark surroundings.  Of course, everyone's eyes are different and you might be happy with 6K bulbs.

 

Some factory HID systems use a second set of lights for the brights instead of a variable cutoff shield.  I find these to be the best set up mainly because when you turn on the brights, the low beam HIDs stay on as well.  HIDs take a few seconds to reach full brightness when you turn them on, so they don't get turned off when you hit the brights.  I also like the fact you can physically adjust the height separate from the HIDs.  I've driven a lot of vehicles with HIDs, some factory, some converted and as odd as it sounds, my wife's Outlander Sport has the best factory set up of any of them.  Separate brights, low beam HIDs that stay on all the time and vertical adjustment via a knob in the car.  They're simply amazing.

 

LED is the new rage and they are a simpler system than HID, but they too require a proper projector unit.  They will suffer from the same light scattering and blinding issues in standard housings for all the same reasons.  LEDs also require a difference in the reflector itself as the placement of the light emitting portion varies from bulb to bulb.  Some bulbs have a single LED, some have multiple ones placed in various positions around the bulb. The only issue I have with LED in the current vehicles I've seen with them is that it seems none have the adjustment knob to alter the cutoff shield for driving conditions.  It also seems the factory systems, at least from what I've experienced, have too high of a color temp.  In fact, my 2018 Sliverado's LED lights give me that too white over exposed look.  It's not as bad as some high temp HIDs I've seen, but still leaving me wanting a temp in a lower range, and definitely the cutoff aimed a little higher.  The problem there though, is the brights are not a separate set of lights.  The system just opens the cutoff shield and you get the full light as your brights and it seems they are aimed a little too high.  I will have to drive it more at night though before I really make any considerations about that.

 

 

 

 

[truckguy82]

Imo whenever telling someone not to install hid’s in stock non-projector housings, I don’t think the illegal arguement is much motivation.

 

the real reason not to do is because it makes you an a-hole

Edited June 24, 2018 by truckguy82