HID Conversion Kits

[cgrey8]

I've been considering doing an HID conversion on my truck's headlights. But like anything, I'm finding there's a lot to be aware of. And so I'm wanting to know if there's anybody on this board who has actually used one of these kits in the stock headlamp case...and would they recommend it?

For those that are not familiar with these kits, here's a brain-dump of what I've found and things to be aware of. Note this info is as it relates to replacing a 9004 or 9007 dual filament halogen bulb with an HID conversion bulb.

• True HID systems use a Ballast to ionize Xenon gas inside filament-less bulbs. The ballast produces a very high voltage similar to sparkplug ignition voltages to ionize the gas and get it to emit light. It takes about a second or two for the ionization, but once the Xenon has ionized and is emitting, not nearly as much voltage is required, and the ballast maintains the light at roughly 85v. So there is a delay between turning the lights on and actually getting light from them.
• True HID bulbs & ballasts draw around 35w sustained as compared to typical halogen dual filament bulbs that are 45w(low)/65w(high).
• There are fake HID bulbs out there that claim to be Xenon bulbs, but are nothing more than normal halogen bulbs with a tinted glass to give them a color. Although most of these bulbs do run a much higher wattage like in the 80w(low)/100w(high) to make up for the dimming effects of the tint. There are some that even run in the 100w/130w range to get more brilliance. I've used the 80/100 bulbs and in fact have them in my truck currently. For not much more than the cost of plain replacement bulbs, they aren't bad...and for all I know, the gas inside them is Xenon.
• Cheaper 9004 & 9007 HID conversion kits are low-beam ONLY. Thus you loose your high beams.
• More expensive HID conversion kits are called Bi-Xenon or Hi/Lo kits. There are a few derivatives in this family. The two that I know of are:
  • Magnetic arc relocation systems that literally "move" the emitting arc of light over to where the high-beam filament would be so that you get a high-beam like effect. The plus to these is there's no delay in transition between low and high since it's the same ionized arc just physically moving.
  • Dual filament bulbs which normally consist of a true HID bulb for the low beam and a normal conventional halogen filament for the high beam. I don't know, but I suspect the HID stays burning while the high beam is in operation, but I can't find anything that confirms this. I suspect this because of the delay inherent to turning on a true HID bulb.
• HIDs are rated in Kelvins and Lumens.
  • Lumens are a measure of how much light is being produced. This is similar to a candle-power, but are evidently rated and measured differently (haven't researched that).
  • The Kelvin scaling is an indication of what color light the bulb will emit. Higher the Kelvin, the more blue or purple the light, but also the dimmer the light.
  Optimal light production is gotten with HID bulbs rated around 4700-5000k which produce an extremely white light. Any higher or lower, and the Lumen count seems to go down. Lower Kelvin bulbs produce a yellow or gold tint and are rated around 3000K. To get a faint blue with only minimal reduction in light you can go to the 6000K and 8000K bulbs. Any higher than this, and you take a significant reduction in Lumens but get a very distinctive blue or purple light. Note that the Kelvin rating is actually a temperature rating...but interestingly not the temperature of the bulb. It's the temperature the sun would have to burn at to produce the color light the bulb will produce.

If anybody else has some good info or 1st hand comments on these kits, I'd sure like to hear about those experiences.

[cgrey8]

This web page put me off to the conversion kits:
Thinking of converting to HID?

Some really good info in that article and it answered a lot of my suspicions about those kits. I wondered how they compensated for things like arc location, but as this article alludes to, they simply don't. I'd still like to hear from somebody that's actually used one of the kits. I realize the science behind these kits is probably not the best, but that doesn't mean it wouldn't be completely unusable. But for the time being, it does discourage me from considering them.

One thing I did consider was ripping the OEM HIDs out from a vehicle and somehow mounting real HID projectors in my frames. I have no clue how well this would work, but it would be something unique...and it doesn't seem like it would be that difficult to do.

Continuing to look, I have found quite a few auctions selling various HID projectors that appear to be pulled from various vehicles that had them stock (Lexus, BMWs, Cadillacs, etc). Some auctions just include the projectors. Others include projectors, bulbs, and ballasts. The question would be how easily these could be adapted to my current headlight frames. If I did this, I'd want to buy new cases to put them in since the plastic face of my old truck's headlights are showing their age by getting cloudy. This could be a really interesting weekend project if I decided to try it. I was just hoping someone had already found a kit for 89-92 Rangers that would look far better than what I could come up with reusing stock equipment. The newer Rangers and even the older Rangers have such kits. But 89-92 seems to be left out.

[MalcolmV8]

The video on that page pretty much sums it up. Don't do a rigged conversion.