HID conversion tommrow.

[dothedeww]

Im getting HID's installed tommrow...ive been debating on doing them myself, but i just dont have the time.

So a couple questions for when I go to the shop tommrow:

2006 Explorer XLT

Do they use the stock headlight housing?
Do I need to be worried about melting wires/housing?
What ...brightness should i get? (ie 8000k)?

Any other things I should ask?

 

[Andy96XLT]

They are just replacing the bulbs with new bulbs and ballasts- from the outside it will look the same- i.e. same housings

You shouldn't have to worry about burning wires, HID's actually use less wattage than your stock bulbs (usually 35 watts for HID vs 55 for stocks)

Brightness is up to you. 6000K is pure white-8000 hint of blue-10000 cool blue-12000 purple. The more color the less actual lightput you will get.

Hope this helps!

 

[BrianDye]

8000k looks amazing and is my fav, id go with that

 

[dothedeww]

Helps a lot..thank you. The stupid Ford Tech was like....U cant do HIDs cuz its too much amperage and itll melt all your wiring. ...then he said, "by the way, what are HIDs?"....Gotta love the stealership

 

[Andy96XLT]

I am by no means an expert, but I believe you get the same amps to the ballast, and than the ballast ups everything, which is why those wires are thicker. I very well could be wrong though, it wouldn't be the first time ha. I however have installed HID's on about a dozen cars over the past couple of years including my explorer and have never had any issues with fire, smoking, melting wires, or anything like it.

 

[BrianDye]

Wow what a dumbass lol.

When they install them, its actually really easy, only about a 25-30 minute process, if your taking it to the dealer they'll probably stretch it out to about 3 hours, hopefully not haha, but they install ballasts, which are like little converter boxes, those plug into the battery, and then the harness that goes to your stock bulb, plugs into that, then you put the HID bulb in, just like the stock bulb, but you use the output harness from the ballast. There will be 2 ballasts, basically mounting them is what takes so long, otherwise you could have it done in about 10 minutes, hope that helps.

Oh yeah, They go all the way up to 25,000k, thats too much, not enough light though.
8000k gives you the good deep blue color, yet a ton more light than stock, so those are my fav's, im actually buying an upgrade kit for my 92, with the 8000k set.

What are you paying to get that all done?
What "k" are you going to go with?

 

[BrianDye]

Helps a lot..thank you. The stupid Ford Tech was like....U cant do HIDs cuz its too much amperage and itll melt all your wiring. ...then he said, "by the way, what are HIDs?"....Gotta love the stealership

I bet the retard thought you meant like splicing the HID bulbs into the stock harness'es haha. That would be a very "not good" idea

 

[Andy96XLT]

here is a link to a picture with my truck with 10,000K. It should be on the second page so you can see a color.
http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=209518&page=1

 

[dothedeww]

Well my local dealer doesnt install HID's..I asked a couple different people and teh response was "huh?". I even showed a website of a kit.

But this dealer is fairly stupid.


Ill prolly go with 8000 since most peopel say thats the best.

Im only paying $20 for the install..and its guarenteed for life...so I figured it was worth it.

what should I end up paying for a kit?

 

[dothedeww]

Hey, andy. those are the rims Ive been looking to get on your X? What kind are they and where did you get them/price?

Thanks!

 

[BrianDye]

Well decent ones on eBay go anywhere from 80$ to 200$, on the websites that sell them they're around $250, So I guess anywere from 120$ to about 250$

Good choice though ;D

Do you have stock fogs too?
You can convert those too, that makes a HUGE difference from what ive seen...

 

[dothedeww]

ya. I have stock fogs. I think the shop said they would do the fogs for me too. Not sure. they sell the kits from $150-$250 and apparntly have pretty good reviews.

 

[Andy96XLT]

I got them on ebay about 2 days after I got my ex for $50 lol, They are American Racing rims though, I can't remember the name but Im sure I can dig it up fairly quickly so i will post it once I get it. They are pretty common so you should be able to find them fairly easily. I'll check for you right now on the name...

 

[dothedeww]

k. If you see any anywhere let me know. What size are they? I want to keep my stock size (16's)

 

[BrianDye]

Yeah, Do the fogs too, usually people get likw 3500 or so K for the fogs, like way lighter than the headlights, but if i had stock fogs, id deff go with like the same k, it seems like it would look better.

 

[Andy96XLT]

here they are on the website... http://www.americanracing.com/browse_ar.asp

page 3, 3rd from the end

Mine were 15x7 but i am sure they have them in the size you need

 

[dothedeww]

Ya. I saw an 08 limited with the same head/fog and it looked awesome

 

[celly]

Go 4300K. Anything higher is purely for show. 4300 has best output and doesn't look obnoxious.

 

[BrianDye]

Go with the 8000k the blue looks way better than white haha

 

[dothedeww]

yaaa...I reallywant the blue