To HID or Not To HID

[SANTEEN]

Thanks mate, so what does the ####K number actually represent? Just that between you guys the 6000k is the blue light, the 5000K is the white light and the 6500K has just a hint of blue while the 8000K is the whitest lol. Seems 06 is the good year to have lol. I read in one of the "how to" posts over at dodgetalk about having to bake the lights and pull them apart like that, WTF?? Is this how all of them are done? I haven't heard or seen that in any searches here. Sounds like a lot of work if so. Either way, it sounds like the bulb out warning light isn't an issue and if it is, theres a fix using the Xenon & Twiggy setups. The flickering also seems non existent. Thanks for the help guys, good info to know.

The baking is to seperate the housing if you wnt to instal Angel Eyes. No need to bake or seperate for HID install. And yes, the ####k is the color output. The 3000k's I have in my fogs are yellow and the 8000k's that I have in my headlights, are white with a purplish hue.

 

[johnnybravo]

They sure do look good/awfully tempting. What did the full set (headlight and foglight) combo set you back? :dontknow:

They cut me a bit of a deal if I remember correctly. I think I paid a little under $200/set. Not the cheapest, but definitely got what I paid for in quality and support. Also her's the thread on installing the kit and fixing the lampout. And the #K is exactly what Santeen said. It's the color temperature in degrees Kelvin. The lower the number, the more yellow light, the higher, the more purple/exotic look.

On a side note, I think you should get a massive spot light and put the Bat Signal in it!:rock:

 

[Carlwalski]

Thanks guys, after some more google searching (reputable sights) I found out the inside scoop on the ####K numbers, in Layman's Terms. :rock:

Is 8000K brighter than 6000K?

No. The Kelvin scale is a measure of colour temperature, not intensity or amount of light. HID setups that produce maximum light output are around 4100-4300K colour temperature, and the higher you go, the less light output. A 12000K HID kit will be dimmer than your stock halogen lights. 4100-4300K kits will have the colour of all the HID lights you see on cars that come equipped with them (like most BMWs, Mercedes-Benz', and other luxury vehicles). The colour is very white, while light output becomes progressively bluer as colour temperature rises; 6000K is white/blue, 8000K is very blue, and above that you go towards purple.

Using the info above (ie: 4100-4300K having the highest light output) I was going to pick XenonDepot's 4300K kit (below link, top row, middle option). However, although it admits the highest output, that light is still yellowish or not as crystal clear as the 5000K-6000K HID lights. At this stage I'm leaning towards XenonDepot's 6500K kit. If I run a HID fog lights, do I need to get a whole new kit including ballast etc meaning more wires and boxes? Which makes it around $400 for the full front end kit, no?

http://www.kbcarstuff.com/Xtreme_HID_Kits_Digital_HID_Quality_Proven_since_2001_s/21.htm



Cheers,
Carl

 

[SANTEEN]

Thanks guys, after some more google searching (reputable sights) I found out the inside scoop on the ####K numbers, in Layman's Terms. :rock:




Using the info above (ie: 4100-4300K having the highest light output) I was going to pick XenonDepot's 4300K kit (below link, top row, middle option). However, although it admits the highest output, that light is still yellowish or not as crystal clear as the 5000K-6000K HID lights. At this stage I'm leaning towards XenonDepot's 6500K kit. If I run a HID fog lights, do I need to get a whole new kit including ballast etc meaning more wires and boxes? Which makes it around $400 for the full front end kit, no?

http://www.kbcarstuff.com/Xtreme_HID_Kits_Digital_HID_Quality_Proven_since_2001_s/21.htm



Cheers,
Carl

The 6500k is a good choice. To get that nice HID look, without sacrificing brightness, would stay between 6000k - 800k.

 

[Django]

I replaced the stock lowbeams on my Z with the Volt system from Xenon Depot.

They had a few quirks that had to be addressed. But once we tweaked 'em, they were brighter and I could see better....

They cost about 100 bucks.... A guy with more money might opt for more, but these work fine.

Xenon Depot can be hard to get on the phone when you need them... But, they're pretty good folks.

D

 

[Troy's QC SRT]

Hey Carl your info is alittle incorrect, first of all i have purchased hids from Twiggy off the dodgetalk forums for my old hemi....His product is hands down the best iv'e seen and he has little to no complaints! Now for the bad news....Yes he has retired from the hid business but he recommends everyone that still wants them to one place and one place only. Now as far as the kits and the brightness...6k is about the whitest your going to get not 8k! 8k will be blue my friend....6k is white and the lower you go from there the more yellow youll get...5k is very white too but alot of people dont make 5k so 6k it is....I have 6k and thats the best ive seen so far. Now i have twiggy's 6k fog lights and with that i don't even need to turn on my headlights! I got them right as he was retiring so i still have oem headlights....I will be going with the place twiggy recommends with the same 6k kit hands down..http://www.retrosolutionsllc.com/ser...02-2003/Detail..I would suggest you do the same. Twiggy says to type in "dodge" in the promotion code for a member discount!


Now Carl if your reading thins you should be on their website ordering a 6k kit for fogs and mains now!

 

[ZCx]

so bottom line is anything from 4300-6000K is the best range you could actually see better with ???????

would it be best to run the same in the headlights & drivin lights or go higher for the headlights & lower in the drivin lights or vicey on the versey??????

 

[Troy's QC SRT]

so bottom line is anything from 4300-6000K is the best range you could actually see better with ???????

would it be best to run the same in the headlights & drivin lights or go higher for the headlights & lower in the drivin lights or vicey on the versey??????

Yes sir but 4300 will have a yellow tint....I you want white i would stick to either a 5k or 6k kit only.....6k has a slight slight blue tint. And yes thats the brightest your going to get, anything under or over you will lose sight. I'll have 6k in both fogs and mains because i want mine to match. Ive seen some people put more o a yellow in thier fogs but I like mine to match:rock:

 

[Coley 1334]

i used to hate HIDS then i rode in a truck with them and fell in love
when u buy ur kit make sure its from a legit guy that stands buy his product u get what u pay for
dont get the 70$ ones off ebay either
i got mine from twiggy an di havent had one problem not even a lamp out light :rock:
i have 8k they are slightly blue but u can see a lil better than 6k that is pure white i think i am gonna go 4300 for yellow fogs

 

[Troy's QC SRT]

i used to hate HIDS then i rode in a truck with them and fell in love
when u buy ur kit make sure its from a legit guy that stands buy his product u get what u pay for
dont get the 70$ ones off ebay either
i got mine from twiggy an di havent had one problem not even a lamp out light :rock:
i have 8k they are slightly blue but u can see a lil better than 6k that is pure white i think i am gonna go 4300 for yellow fogs

Yea Coley I was telling them about Twiggy from the dogetalk forum and gave them a link to who he now recommends since hes changed professions:rock:

 

[Carlwalski]

Thanks guys for the input. There is NO DOUBT HIDs are brighter, 100%. Just the quirks that still concern me just a little. Yes, there are fixes but I've received 2 or 3 personal messages with those who have/had HID kits and they seem to all say that you can still get issues anywhere along the line. I'm not saying one set up (HID vs bulbs) is right OR wrong, I'm just using all the input and opinions given to go away and think about it so thanks to everyone, keep the input coming.

At this stage I'm leaning towards getting the bulbs and if I don't like them, then look at changing to HID. Just too many quirks and after mucking around with the battery kit and it's quirks, I'm not going to start mucking around with another kit. I don't like the "modding the mod" factor either, should be sold as a 100% working kit with nothing needed to be done but install it. The only thing with going bulbs is some have said the wires have heated up, that's it, no quirks or other concerns.


Cheers!

 

[Troy's QC SRT]

Of course yo can have issues with any hid kit (mostly flickering or a ballast go out) but all kits arent created equally and there are some that are made a hell of alot better than others! The link I posted, have dodge ram specific kits that are some of the best known in my old forum dogetalkdotcom......There are a shit ton of people running them without many complaints at all if any....I'm not telling you to go with hid but if you want to try them go through them!

 

[viperpwred]

a buddy of mine was saying that theres an adapter between the ballast and the bulb that is missing ($20/pair) that helps with flickering and all that...

 

[BLWNSRT]

I love my HID kit I have 6000k headlights and fogs I went with GT Hid it came with the harness and everything. Looks factory very clean install.

 

[Carlwalski]

Thanks guys, still weighing up which route I'll take, both have pros and cons, the HID more cons but yeah, just sitting on the fence for now.

In terms of reverse bulbs, I'm looking into these badboys (link below). They are Putco 3157 bulbs (same as the factory 3057 bulb fitting) and 360 LEDs, they seem like a plug and play, surely there is no need to wire these bulbs in like the front HID style lights with ballast etc? They have the same fitting so I assume they simply just "clip" in like the OEM bulbs, right? The also don't mention anything about other required items in the blurbs I've seen. Just triple checking is all. Pricey ($60) but they look very worth it, they look like they are 2 times the power of the OEMs.

The other option for $15 each are the 2 different ones below the first image, which at this stage of those 2, I like the top image as on paper the light is shining out which make sense for reversing, unless the actual light housing helps increase light? Opinions? Input?

http://cgi.ebay.com/Putco-LED-3157-...emQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item20aded412a

 

[Carlwalski]

Well, after a few phone calls to mates, weighing up the options, taking all the posts and PMs into consideration, I'm going to replace the bulbs and not go the HID route. Too many "ifs" for me and I'm not a fan of modding a mod, I like to buy kits that are guaranteed, 100%, no issues, why else would we buy them?!?. After having just mucked around with a battery kit to no avail and removing it all, it's not something I wish to do again with another product. I am going to run the Silverstar High Performance Lights which is as bright as they come for the H13 bulbs, part # H13ST/2 (twin pack) and for the fogs I'm going to run the Ultras, part # 9006SU/2 again, for the twin pack. For the amount of driving I do at night (10%) this setup is perfect. 35-50% over stock light without the hassle or quirks of HID is very appealing. The only concern I've seen about bulbs is the can warm up the wires a little if left on for a while, that's no concern and the only "issue". IF, and I mean IF they are a big disappointment, then I "may" look into HID. Thanks again for everyone's input and help. I have included photos and part #s in this post to help anyone in future who maybe searching for bulb upgrades.



Cheers,
Carl



HEADLIGHTS - Part # H13ST/2

FOGLIGHTS - Part # 9006SU/2

LIGHT CHART. 1st Bulbs = Foglights, 2nd Bulbs = Headlights

 

[ZCx]

Thanks guys, still weighing up which route I'll take, both have pros and cons, the HID more cons but yeah, just sitting on the fence for now.

In terms of reverse bulbs, I'm looking into these badboys (link below). They are Putco 3157 bulbs (same as the factory 3057 bulb fitting) and 360 LEDs, they seem like a plug and play, surely there is no need to wire these bulbs in like the front HID style lights with ballast etc? They have the same fitting so I assume they simply just "clip" in like the OEM bulbs, right? The also don't mention anything about other required items in the blurbs I've seen. Just triple checking is all. Pricey ($60) but they look very worth it, they look like they are 2 times the power of the OEMs.

The other option for $15 each are the 2 different ones below the first image, which at this stage of those 2, I like the top image as on paper the light is shining out which make sense for reversing, unless the actual light housing helps increase light? Opinions? Input?

http://cgi.ebay.com/Putco-LED-3157-white-360-bulbs_W0QQitemZ140356960554QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item20aded412a

don't forget to get a flasher that works with LEDs so the turn signials work correctly:rock:

 

[Carlwalski]

don't forget to get a flasher that works with LEDs so the turn signials work correctly:rock:

Not sure I follow sorry? :dontknow: Turn signals for the reverse lights? The reverse lights don't go on when I indicate, only the main LED red lamps.

 

[ZCx]

oops. missed the back up light part

 

[Carlwalski]

All good brother, thanks for looking out for me anyway.

What do you think of those LED bulbs, the $60 pair?