I was surprised with the VVME site - the HID kit was shipped from Hong Kong, and arrived at my house in Ohio four days after I ordered it. That's quick! I ordered
this kit with the 9006 bulb, 4300K (brightest) temperature. I don't like the hyper-blue look, and am more interested in bright lights, so I didn't order the higher temperature bulbs.
The kit comes with two sets. Each set contains a ballast, a bulb, and a wire harness. The wire harness has a waterproof connector that plugs into the connector that the original OEM halogen bulb goes into. That wire runs to the ballast, and is where the ballast gets its power. Another wire, hard-wired to the ballast, ends in two waterproof connectors. These waterproof connectors plug into an identical set of connectors on the bulb itself. You can easily remove the HID kit and replace the original halogen bulb if you wish - none of the truck's wiring harness is cut or modified.
Last night I finally got some time to install it. The install took about an hour and a half. Here's what I did:
First: to remove the light bulb - this is not covered in your owner's manual: On the top of each headlight assembly, you will see two small semi-circular tabs. Pull these tabs upwards - you may have to use a wrench or screwdriver to put some force into it, as they tend to get stuck with road salt and grime. Once they move upwards, about 3/4 inch or so, the headlight assembly will release. You can then pull the headlight assembly forward and out of the truck. It will be attached only by the wires. Rotate the main beam light bulb counter clockwise, and the bulb will come out. Reinstallation is the reverse of removal, and ensures you do not change the headlight's aim when replacing the bulb.
I started on the driver's side. Once I had the bulb out, I removed the battery from the truck. I drilled holes in the inside fender and mounted the ballast bracket. I then slid the ballast in place. I plugged all the wires together, then put the battery back into my truck:
I turned the lights on to test it - and nothing. The passenger side (which still had the original halogen bulb in it) came on, but the driver's side was dead. Swearing ensued.
I got my multimeter out, unplugged the main power connector at the ballast, and checked the voltage. To my surprise, it was backwards - it showed -12V instead of +12V - the positive was on the black wire, and ground was on the red. This meant the plug at the lamp connector was wired backwards.
I clipped these wires, reversed them, soldered them back on and put heat shrink tubing around them. I plugged it back into the ballast, turned it on, and success!
Before installing the second unit, I cut and reversed its power supply cable as well. For the passenger side, I located the ballast in almost the same place as I did the drivers side. In this case, I had to move it upwards slightly, so that the air cleaner cover would clear it when it was removed:
This one went much faster than the first one. 15 minutes later I was done, and both headlights were working.
So what do I think? Well the ballasts do make a hell of a buzzing noise when they first start up, and continue to do so after they have gone to full brightness. However you can only hear it from outside the truck - inside you can't hear them at all.
The lights themselves are startlingly bright - much whiter in color than the original halogens. This can be seen by turning on the high beams, which are still halogen. The high beams look positively yellow in comparison.
The cutoff at the bottom of the light is much more pronounced, and the spread seems wider, which I was not expecting. Overall it is far, far brighter than it was with the halogen bulbs. I drove around the block with them, and the snowbanks positively glowed. I'm very impressed, and highly recommend this kit!
, so what does it do, how is it connected and would I be able to do it, or for the sake of not electrocuting myself should it be done by someone else? thanks for any responses
