HIDs versus OEM headlights

[gordhunt]

I'm going with ducati kit who cares if they are $750 at least they are done right blows my mind on here the way guys put cheap shit on their expensive truck

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus

 

[Drewa]

So let me get this straight, the different headlite housing does not actually increase light output, it actually limits it? Why on earth would anyone pay a lot of money, to reduce the light?
I want as much light out of my headlites as possible, and wider is good to, not everything is standing directly in front of you, that moose can be a bit off to the side and if the lights do not light it up, you stand a better chance of hitting it.

This seems a little like buying a good driving lite, and then taping a sheet of paper over the front of it, to reduce its lite output...............what a dumb idea that would be.
If your HID's are putting out too much lite, go back to the stock bulbs, and save a crap load of money and wasted time swapping out lite housings with expensive after market ones. I checked, and here in Canada, a good set of housing and the HID's bulbs, ballast etc is going to cost $1200 with taxes, and thatis not even installed yet. For just 20% of that price I can buy the kit, slip it into the stock housings, and get a lot more lite output.

 

[DEADEYE]

You're not blocking the light , you are directing it to where it is needed most . This is the purpose of the projector.
With a proper HID projector set up You actually have far better light forward and to the side / width. What you are controlling is the cutoff of the light .
All you have to do is see it once for yourself or drive a vehicle with good HID projector lights and it will answer all your questions. I know I could not go back .
As an example when driving at night ;The stock lights are liking driving in the moon light , once converted to HID with projectors it is like driving at high noon .


---------- Post added at 07:42 AM ---------- Previous post was at 07:27 AM ----------

People with a product to sell do not represent the whole story & not being delusional about what I have, just letting people know they don't have to shell out a ton of money to get a decent set of lights.
Adjust your headlights & DO NOT remove the stock deflectors....It'll work just fine. I have yet to be flashed or noticed by anyone as having "blinding" lights........Sounds like a sales pitch to me.

You need to read up on this . In this case these lights started being done as dam near a favore and I suspect the person has dam near had it with opening lights up . I know as I have done this mod my self and I would not do it for any where near the price being provided.

 

[Nick@Apollo-Optics]

I'm not bashing the idea of retrofits, although I'm not fond of the "bug eyed" look. But I really think that this whole projector/non-projector thing should come down to personal preference and budget.

Ok, lol, so 2 cars did it 10 years ago and thats a dealer option, didnt come from the factory like that.

Show me a recent vehicle that has HID bulbs in halogen reflectors. You cant because they dont exist.

You might as well just put a huge wing on the back and get it over with...

It was not a dealer option. It was a factory option. Sorry my examples were not recent enough for your preference, despite you having no idea that HIDs were even offered in factory housings to begin with...

For the little amount projectors cost it's well worth it.

Little amount? What planet are you from? Most HID retrofits are anywhere from $750-1000...

maybe the F150's arent bad, but some vehicles are freaking terrible.

it will ALWAYS be better with projectors. No matter how "ok" it is in stock housings.

Just like an F150 is Better in Raptor trim vs FX4 trim.

why settle for second best when you can have the best for barely any more $$

Its not a sales pitch, I dont sell em, so whats you excuse now?

Sure, some are better than others. But just because you may have a $50K plus vehicle doesn't mean you should pay top dollar for every mod just because you can. I don't see the logic there.

$750? Maybe if you buy a complete headlight already retrofitted.
Buy the kit an do it yourself.

Http://www.theretrofitsource.com has full kits ready to go if you wanna save money and do it yourself.

I don't think you realize what a royal PITA it is to do it yourself.

 

[6.2]

Well idk about f150's but it's pretty damn easy on a ranger lol

Put headlight in oven.
Take apart
Drill hole bigger
Insert projector
Tighten down with provided hardware
Re-seal everything
Plug in all provided harnesses

Boom done.

And even if you do buy them 100% done and ready to install, $800 isn't all that much.

You use your lights Everytime you drive. It's a one time purchase.

But what do I know. Im just a kid with a ranger lol.

 

[CineSLR]

You are not limiting the light output by using a projector. Far from it!
Instead you are controlling the light and placing it you need it and preventing it from going any further than what is allowed by the USDOT. These trucks are STREET vehicles. Made to be driven on public roads.

I like to plan for the worst, and hope for the best. What would you rather have installed when its raining at night (when headlights have exponentially more glare and are virtually useless) and a 60 year old lady with bad night vision is coming the other way on a 2 lane road. My eyes with better than 20/20 have a hard time sometimes with non-HIDs. Also, ask any police officer. What happens at night when people are tired and they see a bright lights. They look at them! The unwanted byproduct of that is when you look at something while driving, its very easy to drift towards whatever it is without realizing it. If your truck is only for off road use and just a play toy that comes out of the garage from time to time I could see just dropping in some HID kit and be done with it. Seriously folks how can people not bat an eye at spending $750 on wheels which give absolutely zero benefit other than looks but $750 on a hand made custom headlight (which is a STEAL, other places will nickel and dime you over $1000 for the same options Duc is including) that looks good, you use almost every day, is functional and can help you be a safer driver at night is too expensive?

I will give it to you guys that the current F150 reflector housings are a lot better than most at handling the HIDs. That said though, its still a big housing which creates a BIG bright ball of headlight which messes with oncoming traffic's night vision a lot more than a projector ever would. That is not even taking into account light spill and glare. As for the early OEM HID setups, those were lazy/quick attempts to get something out quick to compete with Europe and none of them lasted long. The next generation of both of those trucks posted now have projectors. They also had to have special baffles installed into the lights to prevent light spill. Do you think its any surprise that ALL new Fords are now coming with projectors!?

As for Ducati's comments...
If you think he came on here to hock a product, you must be new here not know him very well. He is doing that service for us as a favor because so many people asked him for it. We all (including him) had high hopes for the recons but they might as well be door stoppers. He found a solution, posted detailed install walk through and offered to help anyone wanting to do it themselves. He still will happily help anyone wanting to save some coin and do this themselves. There are countless tricks that he has learned from doing all these retrofits and is happy to share them! He has offered them to me multiple times. The kit he uses (which is all top quality, I have done the research) is about $300. Not bad considering a factory HID setup is over $1000.

---------- Post added at 10:42 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:40 AM ----------

I don't think you realize what a royal PITA it is to do it yourself.

THAT is what your paying for with a retrofit, the lights/projectors are the easy part...

 

[Nick@Apollo-Optics]

THAT is what your paying for with a retrofit, the lights/projectors are the easy part...

Agreed.

 

[Vash]

The point of a projector is to project/focus light out in front of and to the sides of a vehicle while maintaining a precise horizontal cutoff. Regardless of type of light housing a big annoyance on the road is people with improperly aimed lighting. The stock reflector housings were not designed for the output and beam profile generated by an HID bulb. If you think that a reflector housing is just as good as a proper projector beam setup then you should read this: Daniel Stern Lighting Consultancy and Supply

 

[Reptar]

There are so many cars sold like that though. Toyota, several Lexus, Mercedes, Infiniti, all had hid bulbs in reflectors. From the factory

THere IS a difference between reflectors for halogens and reflectors for HIDs. You don't need to have projectors to have legal HIDs.

Sylvania's Xenarc line was exactly that. DOT LEGAL HID's with reflector housings. It did NOT use your factory housing though. It was a full new assembly. They had a few different models but they did have one for the 97-03 F-150's. It was an entirely new housing with different designed reflectors for the HID's, and actually only used the upper half of the headlight assembly for HID output, the lower half was a separate reflector for halogen high beams. They ran over $900 though so they weren't a huge seller and when the f150 line was updated they dropped the product. They were the only DOT legal HID setup for the 97-03 F-150.

Since there are no HID reflector housings available for these trucks (our Raptors), projectors are the only way to go for HID retrofitting.

I own the Sylvania Xenarc HID's on my 00 HD truck and they are INCREDIBLE. All the benefits of the stronger output without the negatives of a halogen reflector throwing light everywhere it shouldn't be. We also have OEM HID's in projectors in our 11 GT, which does have a much better beam pattern with the projectors, so it is the best route to go with, just wanted to point out you can have DOT legal HID's in housings with reflectors if the reflectors are specifically designed for HIDs.

Couple pics attached of the DOT Legal Sylvania Xenarc HID lights for the 97-03 F-150 in my 00 HD below. You can see the difference in the housings compared to stock. The HID is only the upper portion, the lower portion is a separate halogen reflector for halogen high beams.

 

[Nick@Apollo-Optics]

THere IS a difference between reflectors for halogens and reflectors for HIDs. You don't need to have projectors to have legal HIDs.

Sylvania's Xenarc line was exactly that. DOT LEGAL HID's with reflector housings. It did NOT use your factory housing though. It was a full new assembly. They had a few different models but they did have one for the 97-03 F-150's. It was an entirely new housing with different designed reflectors for the HID's, and actually only used the upper half of the headlight assembly for HID output, the lower half was a separate reflector for halogen high beams. They ran over $900 though so they weren't a huge seller and when the f150 line was updated they dropped the product. They were the only DOT legal HID setup for the 97-03 F-150.

Since there are no HID reflector housings available for these trucks (our Raptors), projectors are the only way to go for HID retrofitting.

I own the Sylvania Xenarc HID's on my 00 HD truck and they are INCREDIBLE. All the benefits of the stronger output without the negatives of a halogen reflector throwing light everywhere it shouldn't be. We also have OEM HID's in projectors in our 11 GT, which does have a much better beam pattern with the projectors, so it is the best route to go with, just wanted to point out you can have DOT legal HID's in housings with reflectors if the reflectors are specifically designed for HIDs.

Couple pics attached of the DOT Legal Sylvania Xenarc HID lights for the 97-03 F-150 in my 00 HD below. You can see the difference in the housings compared to stock. The HID is only the upper portion, the lower portion is a separate halogen reflector for halogen high beams.

I believe the 2007-2009 Shelby GT500s had the same HID in a reflector housing as well.