Replacing stock halogens with HID's?

[The CEO]

Thanks, i appreciate it

 

[explorer2003]

excelent idea

My '06 Limited has everything except my favorite option... HID XENON HEADLAMPS! I have seen replacement kits for cars hat come with halogens and I am curious as o the problems that might crop up if I replaced the halogen bulbs with a xenon kit. Does anyone know or have done this??

hello friends,i just buyed to my explorer `03 the hid system and believe me you dont have any kind of problems,my explorer looks awsome like lincoln aviator it`s the same color sky blue,you find this product on ebay this guys hkimports very good seller and the price very good about $200.00 with all complete kit. what are you waiting for?

 

[explorer2003]

be sure go to ebay you will find all hid kits,i buyed the blue thunder sky blue and you dont need other wires or bulbs because this kit it`s ready to install ok take care

 

[The CEO]

But its not a bi-xenon kit, right?

 

[explorer2003]

no it`s like the oem kit check on ebay and you will find the complete kit,good luck

 

[bojans]

Hid

So anyone want to share an impression of how the HID kits are working and what brand you got? I did find a hi/lo option...

http://www.xtralights.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=31

 

[chispas109]

So anyone want to share an impression of how the HID kits are working and what brand you got? I did find a hi/lo option...

http://www.xtralights.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=31

It is my understanding you found a kit with both hi/lo on the same bulb and installed it on your 06 ford explorer. After installation, did you get a message on the message center to check both left and right headllamps? Did the vehicle recognize the HIDs? I had HIDs on my 06 explorer but removed them cause I could not get the vehicle to recognize them?

 

[chispas109]

My '06 Limited has everything except my favorite option... HID XENON HEADLAMPS! I have seen replacement kits for cars hat come with halogens and I am curious as o the problems that might crop up if I replaced the halogen bulbs with a xenon kit. Does anyone know or have done this??

I installed HIDs on my 06 explorer. They looked great, however I decided to uninstall them because the on board comp. was not recognizing the HIDs so I was getting the "check left/right/high beams/headlamp message on the message center. and even after reseting the message, it would come back on after switching the ignition off and on.

I am trying to find a way to block these messages from appearing on message center. if someone can figure this out, I will put them back on.

 

[chispas109]

Crizz, since you live in Germany could you look around and see if Hella or Bosch or any of the other big name lighting companies produce a h13 bi-xenon kit? Thanks!

If you want a h13 bi-xenon kit, order it from

www.xtralights.com

They have it there, but one question how are you going to get away with
the message that's gonna show up on the message center for burned out headlamps?

 

[Crizz]

like I wrote before : use a additional resistor, switch it parallel to the HID-ballast.

To figure out how many ohms you need : at first use a DMM and check the how many amperes are taken by the ballast. A normal halogen bulb with 55 / 60 watts will take r.a. 4 - 4.5 amps. This is the current you need as total. For example : If your HID-ballast´s current is 2 amperes, you need a 6 ohms resistor switched from the "+"-bulb-wire to ground to get a total current of 4 amps.., 5.5 ohms for 4.5 amps. and so on ( R = U : I for U set a voltage of 13.4 V , 12 V you only w/o engine running , I is the additional current needed to be terminated by R esistor ).

 

[chispas109]

My '06 Limited has everything except my favorite option... HID XENON HEADLAMPS! I have seen replacement kits for cars hat come with halogens and I am curious as o the problems that might crop up if I replaced the halogen bulbs with a xenon kit. Does anyone know or have done this??

I added HIDs to my 2006 ford explorer and they look great and will be replacing the fog lamps with HIDs as well. The only problem you might experience is the onboard computer not recognizing the aftermarket lights and thus sending a message to the message center to check headlamps and highbeams. I got away with that by ordering the kit from www.xtralights.com as they have a special computer chip built into the ballast that tricks the vehicle onboard computer.

I will be posting pictures soon.

 

[Y2KFirehawk]

like I wrote before : use a additional resistor, switch it parallel to the HID-ballast.

To figure out how many ohms you need : at first use a DMM and check the how many amperes are taken by the ballast. A normal halogen bulb with 55 / 60 watts will take r.a. 4 - 4.5 amps. This is the current you need as total. For example : If your HID-ballast´s current is 2 amperes, you need a 6 ohms resistor switched from the "+"-bulb-wire to ground to get a total current of 4 amps.., 5.5 ohms for 4.5 amps. and so on ( R = U : I for U set a voltage of 13.4 V , 12 V you only w/o engine running , I is the additional current needed to be terminated by R esistor ).

Anyone accomplish this? I really want to put some HID's in my '07 but I also want to add a projector, seeing as no one sells a headlight for our trucks with a projector in it already. HID's in reflector housings (stock headlight) look like in my opinion...

 

[ladmarines]

cqlight.ca

 

[Y2KFirehawk]

cqlight.ca

That would just be putting a D2S bulb in a reflector housing... bad sauce IMO.... D2R would be better, but still not as good as a projector setup.

 

[JBHorne]

Xenon

Hey, I just saw this thread. I was looking at this company a while ago.

http://www.xtralights.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=31

They seem to be a very reputable HID manufacturer. They offer the H13 kit in a hi/low beam (bi-xenon???) version. You can purchase them in 4 different color temps, from yellow to violet. They are $500 for the dual beam version. Do the explorers need the override to disable the warning (ie. If you remove a bulb or it burns out, does the computer know?)

I am thinking about getting them eventually. I just wish there was more information on this company. The main problem with xenon kits are that some are crap and when you need to get the bulbs or service, the company is nowhere to be found anymore.

 

[Y2KFirehawk]

JBHorne - I would suggest not going with a company like that.... the problem with a lot of the kits that those companies sell is that they are proprietary parts, thus making it impossible to replace things 5-6 years down the road. Also you will be putting D2S bulb into your halogen reflector housing, which is illegal on all fronts in addition to blinding other drivers.

Someone just needs to come out with true projector headlights for our truck with an D2S bulb housing and we would be in business... but I don't see that anytime soon.

I am in the process of purchasing 2 stock headlights and I will retrofit bi-xenon projectors in to them.... but obviously everything in this project will end up to be 100% custom...

Moral of story: slamming xenon bulbs in to a reflector housing = bad sauce, retrofit projectors in to stock housing and then installing bi-xenon HIDs with working hi/low shutter = FTW When purchasing HID equipment it is best to go with OEM solutions (i.e. BMW, Merc, Audi ballasts, etc.), as they are built to last and have accessible replacement parts..

 

[Y2KFirehawk]

I'm shooting for my end result to look something along the lines of this:

Sadly that image was Photoshop'd otherwise I would just buy that headlight!

 

[Crizz]

Would be a nice setup, I would buy ´em, too. Looks great. Alternatively dual-projectors for hi/lo in one case and turnlight in corners ( fullsize )

 

[JBHorne]

Are you saying that ANY aftermarket HID kit is the problem? What about the kits sold from PilotHID?

I have two other cars both with true HIDs (a Lexus RX330 and a Cadillac SRX) and obviously they are larger center bulb sytle, however you describe it.

I understand that any HID kit is "for offroad use only" but I see them on the road a lot around here (many ricers use them). I do realize however that my beams are high off the ground and at the perfect height to hid sedans rear-view-mirrors directly.

I guess my question is, besides the replacement parts, what is so wrong with simply shooting a xenon filament through the normal halogen mount?

Thanks guys!!!

 

[Y2KFirehawk]

Both of those cars with HIDs are using a projector to display the light, they are not in reflector housing, thus you get the nice clean cut-off which controls the light from not being in the eyes of other drivers.

The Explorer has reflector housing, which is designed for halogen bulbs. D2S bulbs are DESIGNED to go in a projector which has a built in shield to make the cut-off so light does not go in to the eyes of other drivers. D2R bulbs are designed for reflector housing, but still blind other drivers in non-HID reflector housing. All the kits you see being sold are primarily D2S and the ricers don't care about blinding other people, so they just throw them in their reflector housing and see the blue light... they also think 10K bulbs are brighter..... (sarcasm)

Any after-market kit you put into the reflector housing in your Explorer is illegal, as the reflector housing in our vehicles are not designed for HID light patterns. The only way to achieve semi-legal (still not truly legal as you are changing your stock lighting system... blah blah) is to put a projector inside the stock reflector housing in our trucks and then put the bi-xenon inside the projector.

Can you tell I have been reading a crazy amount about HID bi-xenon lighting recently?? When all is said and done in my project, I want it to look like my Explorer CAME with the lights stock...