Headlights

[buffmo]

What does everyone think of these?


http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/XENON-HID-HEADLIGHTS-2002-2003-FORD-EXPLORER_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQ_trkparmsZ72Q3a1205Q7c66Q3a2Q7c65Q3a12Q7c39Q3a1Q7c240Q3a1318Q7c301Q3a1Q7c293Q3a1Q7c294Q3a50QQ_trksidZp3286Q2ec0Q2em14QQhashZitem270343265807QQitemZ270343265807QQptZMotorsQ5fCarQ5fTruckQ5fPartsQ5fAccessories

 

[Brandon96]

What does everyone think of these?

Don't do it. They are not HID. I've got a set of them I got from RacingTouch on ebay, except I bought them for 8 bucks They do emit a really nice white light, except, I wouldn't pay more than 10 bucks for them. If you really really want them find a dealer called RacingTouch, they have the best customer service. One bulb they sent me went bad in like week, and I just told them and they shipped a new one to my doo rin 3 days.

Buy Sylvania Silverstar Ultras if you want some really good bulbs.

 

[buffmo]

Whats the difference between the 2 bulbs?

 

[TFCeddieB]

I would not get those either. If you're going to stick with Halogen, get a reputable brand such as PIAA or Sylvania (Silver Star, Silver Star Ultra). Many will report that the no names last for a couple weeks before going poop on ya.

 

[Brandon96]

Whats the difference between the 2 bulbs?

The difference between your stock bulbs and the xenon filled ones you are looking at is merely just color. In my honest experience, The Xenon filled ones emit a brighter more attractive whiter light, but it was all looks, the stock bulbs function better, they light up the road more than the Xenon ones. Especially in rain, from what i've seen so far, when the road gets wet the xenon bulbs are basically useless, the light just refracts off the wet surface and hits other drivers in the face...

Bottom line, the Stock Halogen ones were much more usefull when it came to lighting up the road, but if your looking for the best performers, go with either the Hellas or Sylvanias. I bought these simply because one of mine went out and I didn't want to spend more than 10 bucks on bulbs

 

[symon_say]

Whats the difference between the 2 bulbs?

Most of those "xenon filled" bulbs are just plain halogen with a color paper over to make then look different, most of then seens a lot brighter than stock one, but they are not, is just the color that makes you thing they are brighter, if you want a real upgrade get brands bulbs or save some money and get a real HID kit, they are dirty cheap these days.

 

[buffmo]

Can anyone recommend a HIT KIT?

 

[edgar_88]

Can anyone recommend a HIT KIT?

http://vvme.com/product/detail-20023.html

 

[macknos94]

buffmo just be carefull if the cops are strict by you. its illegal to have an hid kit with out projectors. by me i dont have much to worry about(i live in a small country town) but my old lady went into harrisburg with her tiburon with 6000k hids and got busted. well a warning and she had to show she removed them.

 

[milladog]

I am running a 10000K HID kit from Ebay $60 shipped US seller 2 year warranty and they rock. I would recommend 8000k though as my 10000K are pretty blue lol. Very nice lights though.

 

[celly]

I recommend 4300K. That's what OEM HIDs are in BMW, Mercedes etc. The higher the K value, the lower the lumens (useful light). Higher K values can actually hinder you in some conditions (especially in overcast/rainy days). Anything over 6000K is pretty much for show. Those blue lights are obnoxious.

 

[buffmo]

I liked the look of the 4300k. As far as local law enforcement, i should be OK as long as i don't go with something too blue, than that will give them p/c to start looking. The 4300k is still white and should be good. (helps that i know all the local departments too)

Celly and milladog do you have a link for the ones you used?

 

[celly]

I liked the look of the 4300k. As far as local law enforcement, i should be OK as long as i don't go with something too blue, than that will give them p/c to start looking. The 4300k is still white and should be good. (helps that i know all the local departments too)

Celly and milladog do you have a link for the ones you used?

I forgot to add. Those blue ones are total cop magnets because ALL aftermarket HID kits are illegal in most jurisdictions and the blue light just gives the cop reason to pull you over. They're also oh so ricey.

I bought my kit locally in Calgary from gthid.ca He doesn't do mailorder or anything. I know the GTHid brand is available in the US and elsewhere. I recently scored new bulbs off of eBay because I upgraded my headlights to projectors. Standard bulbs on a 2nd generation Explorer are 9007 and with these projectors it's H1. I scored a set of 4300K H1 (which are in there now) and I have a 5000K set as well which I may try out. 5000K is oh so close to 4300K but a little whiter to the naked eye. Sometimes people complain 4300K appears "yellow" like halogen, but I don't see it. I have one set in reserve this way.

Any way you slice it, most reputable HID sellers will not only carry 4300K, but will recommend them (I dealt with another online seller who said the same thing offline....he actually charges more for 6000K bulbs because of the demand). 4300K are the safest bulbs out there and give you the most usable light. They might not look as "cool", but they are so much whiter than ANY halogen (including Silverstar which look pretty yellow to me). The guy I deal with only carries 4300K and 6000K "in stock" and always recommends 4300K first and sells 6000K for those who want a bit more "blue". He can get any other colour but those are almost always special order. He calls those bulbs "poser colours".

You will see people try and give you compelling arguments for the higher K values, but as soon as they tell you that they're "brighter" than the lower K values, call BS. You can't argue with the science of these things! The only reason people go for the higher K bulbs is for the colour of the light.

One thing to remember is there are MANY sellers of these kits and they vary wildly in quality. I went with a local seller because he stands behind them if there are problems....and I have had issues before. He recently offered me an upgrade to a much better set for a small fee well after the warranty on the first kit expired. I got a brand new wiring harness, bulbs and better ballasts for that fee. He's also there to offer technical advice and there's nothing like being able to bring your car to someone to have them look at it if there are problems. I didn't pay too much of a price premium for my kit either (i.e. over online sellers and eBay). Look around where you live and try and find someone to talk to in person. Don't let them talk you into doing your install because it's very easy to do yourself!

 

[corkey]

i have a set of those bulbs i bought about 3 -4 years ago,, waste of money and time,,

sure they had a blue tint or superwhite they call them, and at first they were not bad, but once my eyes kind of got used to them , they seemed dim,and didn't have a very good pattern, , in snow , which we get alot of up here you think the blue would have been better , not the case,, i put in some Silverstar bulbs, and they blew them away for both brightness and pattern,,

 

[celly]

i have a set of those bulbs i bought about 3 -4 years ago,, waste of money and time,,

sure they had a blue tint or superwhite they call them, and at first they were not bad, but once my eyes kind of got used to them , they seemed dim,and didn't have a very good pattern, , in snow , which we get alot of up here you think the blue would have been better , not the case,, i put in some Silverstar bulbs, and they blew them away for both brightness and pattern,,

I agree wholeheadtedly. If you're going to use halogen bulbs, use a reputable name brand (Sylvania, Philips, GE, Osram etc). Those "HID Like" and "Xenon" bulbs are complete crap. I even question the quality of the PIAA bulbs. They seem to be overpriced for what you get and have a strong "ricer" bias. I scored some 3000K PIAA H1 bulbs (for my fogs) of of eBay a while back and there was nothing special about them at all. I actually prefer the cheaper "Luminics" bulbs.

If you want better light output, get real HIDs. You cannot get HID output without separate ballasts and real HID bulbs. There is no such thing as "HID Like".

 

[buffmo]

The link edgar gave has the seperate ballast. Do you think they are a good light?

 

[Black92LX]

buffmo just be carefull if the cops are strict by you. its illegal to have an hid kit with out projectors. by me i dont have much to worry about(i live in a small country town) but my old lady went into harrisburg with her tiburon with 6000k hids and got busted. well a warning and she had to show she removed them.

please show me one state statue that requires a High Intensity Discharge lighting system to be contained in a projector housing.
I would like specific statute numbers and wordings of the statute. I doubt you will find any.
None of this well my buddy/girlfriend got pulled over for it. I want specific statutes they were written for. I bet is has nothing to do with the lack of a projector housing.
Most likely it comes from a glaring headlight statue. Which is possible. And one can create a nonglaring HID from a standard housing it just takes some focusing time. But please don't tell people that HIDs are required to be in a projector housing because they are not.

Here in KY as long as the light illuminates in the proper distances you are fine. People come up with some of the silliest things that they think are law.

For instance Kentucky Revised Statue 189.040 Front lights -- Flashing lights: Section 5

Whenever a driver of a vehicle approaches an oncoming vehicle within five hundred (500) feet, such driver shall use a distribution of light or composite beam, so aimed that the glaring rays are not projected into the eyes of the oncoming driver. The lowermost distribution of light or composite beam specified in paragraph (b) of subsection (3) of this section shall be deemed to avoid glare at all times, regardless of road contour and loading.

Has nothing to do with how the light gets distributed only the end result. And as stated before one can conform to the limits of the law by putting HIDs in nonprojector housings.

 

[celly]

I don't read specific statutes. Leave that to the lawyers. Why do you think HID sellers love the disclaimer?

"For off road use only."

The interpretation I see mostly about HID kits is that they're not legal if they're not OEM. In other words, if your car isn't available with HIDs from the factory or they are an option from the factory, then the strictest interpretation of most laws in most jurisdictions is they're not legal. Have I researched the statutes? No way. Common sense dictates there is some logic to that interpretation. With bad lighting comes a danger element for others on the road.

This OEM requirement includes retrofits despite the fact they're "safer" if done correctly. That being said, until their are standards are to how to do them correctly, they'll probably remain illegal.

I use a HID kit. Mine are in projectors (albeit designed for halogens). The projectors are in a headlight assembly with DOT stamps all over them. Are my headlights legal? No way. Where I justify their existence is that I spend a lot of time making sure I'm not blinding oncoming traffic and I'm not blinding the drivers in front of me. They're also safer for me and my family because I can see more of the road. The light quality from these projectors is WAY better than what I had previously and I've been taking the time to tweak them. I almost ditched HIDs altogether because with my old setup I was tired of the grief I got from other drivers despite the best efforts of making the beam pattern safer. It was only a matter of time before a cop having a bad day was going to make an example of me.

Too many people don't care about the safety considerations of the modifications they're making. They just want to be "cool" or whatvever.

 

[Donner]

http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/rules/rulings/glare.html
http://fmvss108.tripod.com/statelaws.htm

Here are a couple of links... the first shows the DOT is basically hands off, and leaves enforcement up to each state;

The second link is missing many state pages, however they supposedly address lighting directly related to this subject...

After reading a few additional websites, it appears the legality of lighting can simply depend on how annoying the lighting is... (I was once cursed out beyond belief by an officer for having my lights not angled downward enough. He was on his way to something more import, so he didn't pull me over. But through his windshield I could make out what he was saying as he shielded his eyes).

Hope this helps...

 

[Donner]

Agreed

I don't read specific statutes. Leave that to the lawyers. Why do you think HID sellers love the disclaimer?

"For off road use only."

The interpretation I see mostly about HID kits is that they're not legal if they're not OEM. In other words, if your car isn't available with HIDs from the factory or they are an option from the factory, then the strictest interpretation of most laws in most jurisdictions is they're not legal. Have I researched the statutes? No way. Common sense dictates there is some logic to that interpretation. With bad lighting comes a danger element for others on the road.

This OEM requirement includes retrofits despite the fact they're "safer" if done correctly. That being said, until their are standards are to how to do them correctly, they'll probably remain illegal.

I use a HID kit. Mine are in projectors (albeit designed for halogens). The projectors are in a headlight assembly with DOT stamps all over them. Are my headlights legal? No way. Where I justify their existence is that I spend a lot of time making sure I'm not blinding oncoming traffic and I'm not blinding the drivers in front of me. They're also safer for me and my family because I can see more of the road. The light quality from these projectors is WAY better than what I had previously and I've been taking the time to tweak them. I almost ditched HIDs altogether because with my old setup I was tired of the grief I got from other drivers despite the best efforts of making the beam pattern safer. It was only a matter of time before a cop having a bad day was going to make an example of me.

Too many people don't care about the safety considerations of the modifications they're making. They just want to be "cool" or whatvever.

Mine came in boxes that said DOT approved, and marked, "For o/r use only." But I run them in the daytime from time to time, or when it rains... I just leave the headlamps off, and all the parking (amber corner lights) on... the HIDs are below the headlamps and angled downward...