HID - 35w, 55w, headlight and foglights...which to choose? | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

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HID - 35w, 55w, headlight and foglights...which to choose?

Wanting to order a set of HID healights and HID foglights for my 03. I am looking at the kits from DDM: http://www.ddmtuning.com

They offer a 35w and a 55w kit, with a wide spectrum of colors. My headlights are a 9006 and foglights are 9145 (H10). I believe that for the foglights I will need to stick with a 35w, because the 55w puts out a lot more heat. Theoretically I would like the fogs and headlights to match, but for the headlights I really wanted to go with a 55w set.....

I like the 6000k color and brightness. I considered a 3000k fog, but my SUV is lifted and has stock fog lights which are not adjustable, and I do not want to have big yellow lights at rear view mirror height.

Should I just do 35w with the same color for both head and fogs, or if I do 55w heads and 35w fogs, what colors should I have to achieve a 6000k look that matches as close as possible?
 



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55W will be blinding to oncoming cars without a retrofit, or at least a projector of some sort, 35W is bad enough.

Now as I am sure most will just ignore the above fact, I will just go on and help you out. Keep in mind that 55W ballasts tend ot make bulbs more yellow than the color rating. So a 6000K bulb looks 4300K ish, 8000 looks 600KI and so on. It is a rough estimate and if you mix 55W 8000K and 35W 6000k they will look similar in color but WILL NOT MATCH. Of course with kits, QC isn't the greatest anyways and you commonly see bulbs that are slightly different from each other. So with the above information the decision is up to you.
 






I went with a DDM kit....well, 2 kits. A 3000k 35w kit for the fogs (H10 bulbs) and a 6000k 35w kit for the headlights (9006 bulb).

I checked out the VVME's however they pulled more power for the ballasts than DDM's and have read some poor things on here about their products (even though VVME has good customer service).

All-in-all, the DDM's looked better, pulled less power, and the reviews and posts around the web on them all seemed to be pretty favorable. Plus, I really wanted the 3000k's for the fogs, and DDM didn't charge extra for that, VVME was an extra $15 for that.
 






Sweet, cant wait to see what it looks like!

I have 10k in my 92, with clear diamond cut lenses and conrners, theyre literally like driving in the daytime;

I have a 95 now too, and I want to get HIDs for the fogs, but its like the H3 bulb i think, and I cant find them for that style, do you know anywhere that has them?

And get some pics up asap when you get them installed :D
 












Wow man I cant even thank you enough :D:D:D:D:D:D thats seriously been bugging me for so long now, that I wasnt gonna be able to put HIDs in them!

The problem is...I need to get that lower plastic valance that has the fogs in it, mines missing LOL.

Im thinking about just going full out 12k with the fogs lol
 






Good idea on the 3000K for the fogs. Longer wavelengths (think closer to red instead of blue) are less likely to be scattered by Mie Scattering in fog droplets. Meaning more usable light and less glare back at your eyes.

As for H3, go for the H3 Mini's. They get pretty close to the right length and do great for the halogen Hella MicroDE's. Otherwise, look at H3Cs but try to see if you can get a 25 or 30W ballast (hard to find) as H3Cs are actually 27W movie projector bulbs, which means they are pretty heavily over driven at 35W.
 






i run 50W hid kits on all of my lights and almost never get flashed...i also use 6000K all around, the light output is beautiful...ive never tried 3000K's in my fogs, but id like to.
 






Ive heard that the 50 watt HIDs tend to get so hot, that they melt the housings...??
 






maybe in a projector because there is no airflow over the the housing and the bulb is in a confined area...but ive ran my every day for over a year and my housings are still like new...id venture that they produce less heat than even a 55w bulb...my explorer came stock with a 75w in the high beam slot...so idk...these ford housings are pretty tough.



EDIT: it could also be that there are companys that sell 50 watt ballasts that hook up to 35 watt bulbs...those generate a lot of extra heat. My system doesnt seem to get any hotter than my first 35w kit.
 






Thats good to know;(not to steal the thread) but what would you reccomend for my 95, im looking to get the projector lenses, and put HIDs into both low and high beams, and then HIDs for the fogs. I prefer the more blue look, in my 92 i have 10,000k's and I love them, theyre the 35 watts though...what would you reccomend for me in my 95?
 






10 or 12 K's...i had a custom set of 16K's made of my girlfriends honda that are just deep blue as all get out...id stick with the 35's if your worried about melting a housing...the 50 wats are roughy 30% brighter than the 35w's.
 






Yea, my gf's obsessed with pink, so i plan on getting her the pink ones when she gets a car; but idk I want the 55 watt pair now cus theyre even brighter...LOL.

Are the bi-kits any better than the 35 watt bi kits, I had those in my 92, thinking oh yay, Ill still have brights when I get the HIDs, but all it does it change the damn light pattern on the road, and to think I paid like 40$ extra
 






i honestly dont know, ive never used BI-Xenon...but to be honest a highbeam HID is a bit overdone...ive clocked mine out at more than a mile.
 






Thats what im going for :D

Haha, I usually dont flash people, but on the rare occasions that I do, I plan on having two offroad lights behind the grill, so Ill keep those aimed right and use those to flash, but id like to get HIDs in both the high and low beams, and then do the high beam mod, where I can keep both beams on (when I push the MF switch forward)
 






ive never used BI-Xenon...but to be honest a highbeam HID is a bit overdone...ive clocked mine out at more than a mile.

Don't waste your money. They suck. I've had two sets. One was mechanical. Other magnetic. Same effect. They just move the blotchy, hid glare from one spot to another. You're better served with a single beam because you'll never need highbeams again when you get HID.

I just drove 5,000 miles in a span of just over 2 weeks and a lot of that was through the night. I do have halogen highbeams (with top notch Osram bulbs) in my projector housings, but always went back to HID "lowbeams". Easier on the eyes and gives you all the output you'll need. 35 kits are rock solid. I've heard mixed reviews about 55 kits.
 






Got the DDM lights in yesterday, they were very quick to ship (sent me the tracking number the same day that I made the online order!).

Everything looks good in the kits, I love the lens of the 3000k H10's for the fogs....you can see they are going to be yellow :thumbsup:

Will post pics on here when they are done. I will adjust the headlights as soon as my lift is complete next week...I only have the body lift on right now, the RB suspension lift will seal the deal and then I can balance the lights.
 






Lights are in....

The DDM kit was great, incredibly fast shipping, quality parts. The ballasts pull very little amperage, all digital, lights are fantastic. Great deal for some $65 kits....

Here's pics:

DDM 3000k foglights:

picture045g.jpg


DDM 6000k headlights with foglights:

picture050i.jpg
 






Looking good! :D
 



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heres mine with 8000k head and 3000k fogs and i get flashed all the time but who cares. Sorry for the bad pics




 






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