Upgrade headlight wiring or HID inserts?

Joined: 17 Jun 2005 Location: Sydney

Hiya all,

I'm about to upgrade my headlights? I was originally going to upgrade my factory wiring and then possibly changing over to HID inserts but now I'm thinking about forgoing the wiring upgrade since it's doubling up on work.

Do the HID kits come with all the wiring from the battery to the lights, or does it use the factory wiring? If I change the factory wiring as first thought then the HID will be even better wouldn't it?

How would the upgraded wiring compare to HIDs, or is more like "chaulk and cheese"?

Cheers,

Joined: 23 Jul 2005 Location: Canberra

Upgraded wiring will certainly deliver the full 12v to the lamp, BUT HID will produce amazing volume of light, improved wiring or not. Drawing only 35w per element, hardly requires improved wiring..... I'd probably do both though ....

Joined: 13 May 2004 Location: Narrandera, NSW

TheOtherLeft wrote:

Hiya all,

Do the HID kits come with all the wiring from the battery to the lights, or does it use the factory wiring? If I change the factory wiring as first thought then the HID will be even better wouldn't it?

Some kits come with their own relay kit, some don't. Depends on the manufacturer...

Joined: 17 Jun 2005 Location: Sydney

Which ebay sellers do people suggest for HIDs?

Are there any other good suppliers?

Joined: 04 Mar 2008 Location: melbourne

i would strongly suggest that you keep away from HID inserts mate. i thought they were the 'be all and end all' and purchased a set with the phillips globes. kit came with globes, ballests, igniters and wiring (they were the high/ low type). put them in my 80 and 2 months later removed them and went back to the original globes.

i had several problems with them:

-it peeved other motorists because they were so bright (and i ended up getting blinded myself)
-they prevented the high beam indicator dash light from coming on (driving lights also stopped working, possibly caused by a reverse polarity switching in the unit)
-drivability i believe was poor. yes they are f###ing bright but totally useless. they seemed to cast deeper shadows which move as you drive - this is very distracting.
-and probably the best reason is $$$$. get a halogen upgrade system, yes it draws more current but its cheaper and down right better to see with.

by the way, im selling mine if you're interested Smile

cheers,

-Dave.

Joined: 07 Aug 2006 Location: Somerville, Vic OZ

There is no need to upgrade the factory wiring if you buy a decent Hid Kit. We only import & stock top quality and harshly tested Hid products. We can't compete pricewise with some of the cheap ebay kits but our failure rate is only about 1% and the kits have withstood the vigours of Outback challene, Cliffhanger and all the others in between. We have headlight upgrades available in 35w 50w and 70w. and they have no moving parts (which are prone to sticking) Please feel free to pm me or call me or check out the web page.
Steve

Joined: 13 May 2004 Location: Narrandera, NSW

djroberts wrote:

i had several problems with them:

-it peeved other motorists because they were so bright (and i ended up getting blinded myself)

Is called 'adjustment'.

djroberts wrote:

-they prevented the high beam indicator dash light from coming on (driving lights also stopped working, possibly caused by a reverse polarity switching in the unit)

Is called a lead with a diode that can be bought from joints for $10.00 that just plugs in. Is a common known issue with Cruisers. Just needed to ask... See, don't have those issues with normal switched lights, like that in nissans. dig dig. Heh heh!

djroberts wrote:

-drivability i believe was poor. yes they are f###ing bright but totally useless. they seemed to cast deeper shadows which move as you drive - this is very distracting.

...erm, is called toyota headlights. heh!
Headlight housings that are designed for halogen need halogen bulbs. Headlight housings designed for metal halide bulbs are just for that.
Take for instance GU headlights... no drama's with shadows etc. And that just comes down to the factory design of the reflector. Even a 100 series headlight housing would be different to that of the 80 series.

Off topic: Is also illegal to put HID bulbs into factory halogen headlights that are designed for HID's.
Is also illegal to put above 35 watters and/or above 4300k bulbs into headlight housings in Australia. As well ya headlight housings which must meet E4 something, must also have headlight washers and have some fancy robotic motorised headlight adjustment thing, that only fancy euro and top notch cars have. But thats all beside the point.
I shoved 35watter 6000k HID's into me ute back in September 2004. Headlights are adjusted down. Have never looked back. Have never ever been flashed once either. RTA and coppers have never pulled me over either with the 6000k slight blue tinge. One day I'll get nabbed but...

Also, what colour did you go with? A 4300/5000k would have filled in the shadows more than say a 6000k+.
The biggest problem with metal halide HID bulbs is the top 10mm to 15mm of the bulb, above the arc. THis is the bit that causes all the grief and all the shadows. I have seen one cheap HID kit that had a very short tip above the end of the arc, around 5mm. They were fantastic in a pair of IPF900's. Was just a normal no-name brand, and due to the short tip, caused very little dark patches/shadows.

djroberts wrote:

by the way, im selling mine if you're interested Smile

How much, what colour, what wattage, what type of bulb? H1 or H4?

Joined: 22 Jun 2003 Location: Location: Location: Location:

With such bright low beams, how do you go when you encounter a foggy stretch of road?

I went wheeling with a guy last year that had HID headlights and he couldn't see a thing towards the top of the mountain as the fog came in.

BTW; not having a go, just curious about this.

Joined: 02 Jan 2008 Location: Mackay, Sunshine State

I'm with bushy, most of the problems mentioned are basically cruiser related. But hey, it is just a cruiser. I've run 6000k bulbs since september, only wish I went 4300k and got bushy's 55w kit from the start. Holy fark those ballasts are good. Also Honda run their projectors without any of the gadgets bushy said (as far as i know so far) Fog hasn't been too bad for me with the 6000k bulbs so they may have an upside.

Joined: 17 Jun 2005 Location: Sydney

So which colour is better - 4300 or 6000k? I think the 6000k are a little bluer, and so would they handle fog better?

If 35W is the max legal wattage, what about the 50w ones then? I realise running HIDs in the first place is illegal too ;-p

Joined: 04 Mar 2008 Location: melbourne

bushy555,

kaixen brand, philips globes, H4 size, 5000k, $520 pairs.

i guess the guy that sells them wouldn't have a biased opinion would he??

Joined: 02 Jan 2008 Location: Mackay, Sunshine State

TheOtherLeft wrote:

So which colour is better - 4300 or 6000k? I think the 6000k are a little bluer, and so would they handle fog better?

If 35W is the max legal wattage, what about the 50w ones then? I realise running HIDs in the first place is illegal too ;-p

Run 35w 4300k in your headlights, found 6000k not too bad in fog but 4300k nicer in normal conditions. In my spots i have 35w 6000k bulbs and bushys 55w ballasts, works a treat. Or go a 4300k 55w kit for your spots.

Joined: 02 Jan 2008 Location: Mackay, Sunshine State

And if your using IPF lights get spread lenses, or at least one. They seem to utilize the available light a bit better. Or try and find the short bulbs bushy mentioned, wish i could find them.

Joined: 13 May 2004 Location: Narrandera, NSW

djroberts wrote:

bushy555,

kaixen brand, philips globes, H4 size, 5000k, $520 pairs.

i guess the guy that sells them wouldn't have a biased opinion would he??

The guy that sells them doesn't drive a cruiser so has no problems The Finger

But seriously, you aren't the first that I've heard about 80 series having drama's. Yes, they indeed aren't the end-all to everything. Halogen has its place in society. So too does Metal Halide HID, Low-pressure sodium, High pressure sodium and Mercury vapor lamps.

If upgrading the wiring and maybe chucking in 130w halogen bulbs cure it, then whats there to complain about?

Doesn't matter anyway. Give it two more years and LED technology will be getting up there. The new american Ford ute thingo has LED's for low and high beam.

Posted: Thu May 22, 2008 10:30 pm

Hey Bushy with your XGT kits is there any reason that the plugs can't be cut off the HID bulb and soldered into the original wiring so that you don't have to drill thru the Plastic external housing?
Also that way you wouldn't have to drill the alloy housing out so far to pass the plugs thru and the bulb could get a snug fit instead of being so sloppy the way it is now.

Joined: 25 Oct 2003 Location: Melbourne Australia

Nothing against bushy but I weighed these up for a long time and in the end decided against the HID, especially for low-beam, primarily for me it's an issue of (a) being considerate to other road users and (b) they aren't legal unless they are self-levelling, which the aftermarket ones generally aren't. Better wiring and GOOD QUALITY halogen globes are the go for me at least. 90/130 or something is very bright anyway.

I think for high beam and even more so for spotlights they are worth considering. The question of the quality/real-world-visibility of the light I can't comment on.

That to one side, if you go with HID then there's no point in upgrading the wiring. I wouldn't anyway.

One other thing, despite what the ebay sellers say if I were getting a set I would go for the yellowest light I could find ie low temperature, 4300k or less. The blue light may add to the UFO look for a car but imho from where I'm sitting there is no way it is as natural for human vision. That is an opinion from seeing them, but not actually owning a set.

Joined: 13 May 2004 Location: Narrandera, NSW

Red04VXE wrote:

Hey Bushy with your XGT kits is there any reason that the plugs can't be cut off the HID bulb and soldered into the original wiring so that you don't have to drill thru the Plastic external housing?

Probably no reason at all. I'm weird and would prefer to destroy a perfectly good $250.00 light rather than cut the lead off a $50.00 bulb.

The only real problem is that you need to insulate and isolate your solder connection very well, in order for there to be no arcing at that point between the two leads upon initial fire up. Remember, you've got 20,000 volts and on an open ended uninsulated wire, she'll easily jump an inch of air space. I just reckon way down the track that once you've cut the original insulation, no matter how much insulation you have on your new solder connection, she'll eventually break down and start shorting out. Add moisture to the equation and it'll happen much quicker.
Is pretty much the only reason why I never went down this path. Certainly have thought about it. Have even gone looking for the original plugs, but have yet to find identical plug/sockets. Narva make something very very similiar, but are indeed just a fraction bit different.

Would be interesting to hear what Steve's (On4toU) thoughts are...

Joined: 19 Jun 2004 Location: Endeavour Hills - Vic

bushy555 wrote:

Red04VXE wrote:

Hey Bushy with your XGT kits is there any reason that the plugs can't be cut off the HID bulb and soldered into the original wiring so that you don't have to drill thru the Plastic external housing?

The only real problem is that you need to insulate and isolate your solder connection very well, in order for there to be no arcing at that point between the two leads upon initial fire up. Remember, you've got 20,000 volts and on an open ended uninsulated wire, she'll easily jump an inch of air space. I just reckon way down the track that once you've cut the original insulation, no matter how much insulation you have on your new solder connection, she'll eventually break down and start shorting out. Add moisture to the equation and it'll happen much quicker.

I've just "cut 'n' shut" a set I have here rather than hacking up the light housing. I've only got about 10mm of join, and it's got a 15mm, a 20mm and a 25mm length of heatshrink over it (ie, 3 layers). I'm hoping that's enough to stop it arcing.

I'll post here if I have any issues. Wink

bushy555 wrote:

Would be interesting to hear what Steve's (On4toU) thoughts are...

Me too.

Joined: 23 Mar 2004 Location: Cairns, FNQ

Guys,
With regard to your insulation issues. There is a tape you can get which is used on HV cabling. If you know someone that works for one of the energy providors, you can ask them about it. I've never seen it on it's own on a roll - only as a part of a termination kit for high voltage cable terminations.

On the subject of heatshrink - clear heatshrink has a higher insulative capability than coloured ( for the same wall thickness ) and you can get heatshrink with a mastic filling that will serve to exclude moisture & dust.

I served my apprenticeship with Energex ( then SEQEB ). There is a bunch of interesting stuff out there - you just have to be able to get it.

M+S