HID install (pics)

[VPRVENM97]

Just finished installing an HID kit from hid-online.com. The kit consisted of a pair of Philips ballasts, Philips bulbs and a pair of relay harnesses. The components fit nicely in the lightbox and the installation was pretty straight forward. The only issue that I had to deal with was the polarity to the relay harness did not match the OEM light harness. It only took a couple minutes to switch it over. I went with the 4100K/9005 kit. An upgrade well worth doing (for off-road use of course) .

[sbkim]

Dave - looks great! It's amazing how much better you can see with HID's. I also have the HID on line kit but in 6000K - slightly more bluer.

[Viper Specialty]

Did you have any problems fitting the back cover over the "straight" style bulb base? there isnt a whole lot of room between the back of the projector and the cover...

[VPRVENM97]

Dave - looks great! It's amazing how much better you can see with HID's. I also have the HID on line kit but in 6000K - slightly more bluer.

sbkim,
Thanks, the HID's are so much better. It was so easy to outdrive the stock head lights. I considered the 6000K since the blue tint looks cool but I went with the 4100K for maximun lighting. Either way you can't go wrong.

[VPRVENM97]

Did you have any problems fitting the back cover over the "straight" style bulb base? there isnt a whole lot of room between the back of the projector and the cover...

Daniel, no problems at all with the clearance. The only clearance issues I thought I was going to have was with the ballast. As it turned out, it cleared without any problem.

[2MANYTOYS]

Sweet setup!! I think Ol'Yeller need some new eyes!!

[slaughterj]

What's the price on that?

[Yellow Fever]

Definetly on my list of things to do !! Great pics Dave

Thanks for posting !


Jeff

[Ulysses]

Nice looking kit. Do the relays get power straight from the battery or do they get fed from the stock harness?

Thanks,

Ulysses

[VPRVENM97]

Sweet setup!! I think Ol'Yeller need some new eyes!!

2manytoys,
Yep...The new eyes will let Ol'Yeller slither better in the night!

What's the price on that?

SlaughterJ,
$495 plus around $15 for shipping. I remember Sean Roe selling his kit for a little less then that. Right around the time I decided to buy them, he stopped selling them. As I recall the Roe kit was also high quality Philips components.

[VPRVENM97]

Definetly on my list of things to do !! Great pics Dave

Thanks for posting !


Jeff

It's been on my list of things to do too. Just been putting it off for several years. Now that it's done I think it's one of the best 500 bucks I've spent on the car so far.

[RedGTS]

That kit looks just like the one I used, except mine didn't come with the relay harnesses. What do they do anyway?

[VPRVENM97]

Nice looking kit. Do the relays get power straight from the battery or do they get fed from the stock harness?

Thanks,

Ulysses

Ulysses,
The power supply that the system uses comes from an independent 12V source. The relay is activated by the 12V from the stock harness. I ran a positive lead to the connector in the image below. I covered it with corrugated flex tubing and ran it along an existing wire loom. The photos should explain it better.

That kit looks just like the one I used, except mine didn't come with the relay harnesses. What do they do anyway?

Ronnie, here's an explaination for the relay.(Your kit may have been designed to work without the relay. Its certainly easier and cleaner without it.)

"How can I ensure that I do not fry my cars internal headlight harness?"

"During normal HID operation, you use only 42 watts (35W to run the bulb plus 7W in heat losses in ballast) instead of the 55 watts that the halogen bulb uses, which is less, but, during HID cold startup, and for the first several seconds during warmup, the HID system can draw up to triple the normal operating power to run the ignitor circuit during that time. As the bulb warms up, the current draw tapers down to the normal running level. By powering the ballast through a relay straight from the battery to HID ballast, the heavy load is removed from stock headlight curcuit. Triggering the relay only requires 0.1 amps, so stock headlamp curcuit has no problem powering that. A relay is just a remotely mounted heavy duty switch, and the trigger power that goes to it just draws a small amount of current through the headlight switch to run an electromagnet that mechanically closes the contacts inside the relay which in turn hooks battery power strait to HID ballast power terminal. This insures that you wont ever overdrive the ratings of your vehicle's harness."

[RedGTS]

Thanks. Now I'm wondering where I can get a couple of those harnesses.

[Ulysses]

VPRVENM97,

Thanks, that's the kit I want.

[Viper Specialty]

REDGTS- you can build your own, easily. Just pick up a set of diodes, a set of HELLA 15 Amp relays w/internal fuses, and either run a single 12 gauge power wire up front from the battery terminal, or dual 14 gauge power wires. hook the relays up as an "on/off" switch, and power the relays from the stock harness. install the diode in the relay powering wire, to keep you from cooking the cars's stock headlight relay. ground the ballasts to the cars frame.

[Snakester]

I had done an HID install about a year ago and the clarity and light dispersion is great with the HID lights.
http://vca2.viperclub.org/forums/sho...rue#Post264291

The only downside was that I needed to aim my headlights a bit lower as I kept getting people flashing their lights at me, thinking that I had my brights on. Since I re-aimed them a bit lower it's been fine, and they definitely look better at night, especially reflective signs and road markers which now glow.

-Dean.

[AJT]

Is there any danger of melting headlight case or discoloring the plastic front clear lens? I had read of people having to drill a hole somewhere to let heat out? Any problems like that??

Thanks
Andy

[VPRVENM97]

Is there any danger of melting headlight case or discoloring the plastic front clear lens? I had read of people having to drill a hole somewhere to let heat out? Any problems like that??

Thanks
Andy

Andy,

There's no danger with melting headlight cases or lenses with the HID set up. They actually run cooler then your stock halogen lights. HID's only use around 42 watts instead of the 60 watts used by the stock halogen bulb. What causes lenses and cases to melt is when you replace your 60 watt bulb with a higher wattage halogen bulb. HID is the way to go.

I had done an HID install about a year ago and the clarity and light dispersion is great with the HID lights.

The only downside was that I needed to aim my headlights a bit lower as I kept getting people flashing their lights at me, thinking that I had my brights on. Since I re-aimed them a bit lower it's been fine, and they definitely look better at night, especially reflective signs and road markers which now glow.

-Dean.

Dean,
Thanks for that post back then. It got me motivated to switch over to HID. It's just been hard trying to find a vendor.

Where do you have the bubble set on the headlight level? I have mine leveled out at zero bubble according to factory specs.