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1Gen-TundraGeneral discussion forum for the 2000 to 2006 Toyota Tundra.
This is a discussion thread titled "Who else wants HIDS?", within the 1Gen-Tundra forum, part of the Truck Forums category.
mine are just the low beam, i have no high beam. that was my choice though, you can get a high/low beam kit. it will cost more but the option is there. i don't see the need for high beams the lows are bright enough. but its personal preference really. just consider how much you actually use your high beams, for me it was never so...
Are these retrofit HID bulbs Hi-Low beam? If not how is high and low beam accommodated ?
the high/low beam retrofits are garbage most of the time. they work by actually mechanically moving the capsule(there aren't filaments like halogens so they can't have a second light source for high beams), and they're usually of lower quality than others. none of the big names make the high/low combos, so you're gonna get the japanese garbage special.
the only real way to get high/low beams from a single bulb is if you have a retrofit projector, namely the ones from an acura tsx that has a small plate that moves up and down over the bottom part of the projector(convex lenses flip images, and light), that will cut off the beam at a certain level, then pulls the plate down and lets light shoot upwards as well.
Shouldn't this thread be titled "who else wants to be able to see really well at the expense of all the other drivers on the road?" Just my $.02. I'm all in favor of good lighting but not when it imposes a safety risk and I've had more distractions from HID lights than anything else at night... aside from freakin cell phone drivers... but that's another thread.
Ya know, I get real tired from posting about how these conversions aren't legal and all the whys and wherefores. It falls of deaf ears. Its not about what is best, just what they want. I hear ya, most of these other guys dont. Maybe some day...
it seems to be a ridiculous conversion. Abandoning low beam for high or vice versa, what's the point?
i'm a huge HID advocate because i've used them on almost all of my vehicles without problem. HID'S CAN WORK WITH REFLECTOR HOUSINGS! they just need to be aimed properly. if it was a futile situation, then why would cadillac put hids with reflectors in their escalade? why would toyota retrofit them into a prius? why would acura put them in their previous generation TL? all those have reflector housings, not projectors. and i know for the fact that with the latter two, the hid system is an option and is retrofitted into their standard housings.
hid bulbs have a significantly higher light output, longer life, and are much less yellow than halogen bulbs are. now if you're a moron and don't aim them right, they're gonna blind oncoming traffic. the point of abandoning the high beams is that the low beams with hid bulbs have such a good light throw i've never even missed my high beams. i use the low beams for 99% of my driving, so whats the big deal in sacrificing 1% of my driving needs to get a 50%+ better output on the beam i use 99% of the time?
half the crap people do to their vehicles is illegal; changing a cat to a high flow model before the stock one fails emissions is illegal but i don't see anyone harping about those scofflaws in those threads.
i'm a huge HID advocate because i've used them on almost all of my vehicles without problem. HID'S CAN WORK WITH REFLECTOR HOUSINGS! they just need to be aimed properly. if it was a futile situation, then why would cadillac put hids with reflectors in their escalade? why would toyota retrofit them into a prius? why would acura put them in their previous generation TL? all those have reflector housings, not projectors. and i know for the fact that with the latter two, the hid system is an option and is retrofitted into their standard housings.
Better check your facts. OEMs do not simply reuse halogen headlights and install HID bulbs. Go to any Toyota or Lexus parts department and you'll find different part numbers for HID and halogen headlight assemblies for the same vehicle.
Since you mentioned the Prius,this was from an online Toyota parts dealer...
The part #s aren't listed,but notice there are w/o HID and w/HID descriptions.
The reflector design in a halogen headlight is different than those in a HID headlight. I have both halogen and HID headlights for a GS300 and the reflector "facets" and bulb shields are totally different. Obviously the bulb sockets are different,you cannot simply interchange an OEM D2R bulb with a halogen 9006. The HID housing also has an autolevelling motor and plastic cover at the bottom for the ballast,you won't find them in a halogen housing.
Again,different listings for halogen and HID
Yes HIDs can work in a halogen reflector housing,but don't expect the same results as a true HID reflector headlight when it comes to glare or beam pattern. In fact I have 3000K bulbs in my fogs,since they sit low in the bumper the only ones I'd blind are lawn gnomes Aiming HID-"kitted" headlights to compensate for the glare is kind of a bandaid in my opinion though. I've gone through god knows how many HID setups in my Tundra's headlights...I'm all for projector retrofits now.
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Better check your facts. OEMs do not simply reuse halogen headlights and install HID bulbs. Go to any Toyota or Lexus parts department and you'll find different part numbers for HID and halogen headlight assemblies for the same vehicle.
Since you mentioned the Prius,this was from an online Toyota parts dealer...
The part #s aren't listed,but notice there are w/o HID and w/HID descriptions.
The reflector design in a halogen headlight is different than those in a HID headlight. I have both halogen and HID headlights for a GS300 and the reflector "facets" and bulb shields are totally different. Obviously the bulb sockets are different,you cannot simply interchange an OEM D2R bulb with a halogen 9006. The HID housing also has an autolevelling motor and plastic cover at the bottom for the ballast,you won't find them in a halogen housing.
Again,different listings for halogen and HID
Yes HIDs can work in a halogen reflector housing,but don't expect the same results as a true HID reflector headlight when it comes to glare or beam pattern. In fact I have 3000K bulbs in my fogs,since they sit low in the bumper the only ones I'd blind are lawn gnomes Aiming HID-"kitted" headlights to compensate for the glare is kind of a bandaid in my opinion though. I've gone through god knows how many HID setups in my Tundra's headlights...I'm all for projector retrofits now.
good can you rig my truck with projectors and shoot me a pm on how much it would cost me.
ERik
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I carry a high powered LED flashlight....i like to shine it at people who are behind me with their "HID kit" and are blinding me with their scattered light.
I'll look forward to having my 55w HID retrofit lights in my truck, so i can flash those high beams at people! Those are so F'ing bright!
I second you all who are saying these HID kits are not properly designed. I almost got suckered into buying one too since it was so cheap, but I did a little research before I bought. Anyway, I posted the below reply to one of the other HID threads I read, and somehow, the whole thread seems to have been deleted within 15 mins! I'm not sure what is going on with this board, but rather than telling people what works and what doesn't, how about a youtube video instead?:
Anyone thinking of converting to HID using one of the ebay kits, or who has already converted, should watch this video first.
Although this is a british video, the same concerns would seem to apply in the US.
The thing is I too almost bought one of these kits on a whim, then after doing the research, I found out they are not properly designed. I also hear the NHSTA may be trying to ban the sale of them.
If you think about it only OEM HID is legal and properly designed. I think you are playing with fire and potentially setting yourself up for some legal problems if you ever cause an accident with one of these kits.
I think the maker of these kits will claim they were only intended for off-road and not street use, so you would be the one breaking the law if you install it.
You can also tell from this video how focused the OEM HID is compared to the Halogen converted one where the beam looks very glaring and scattered all over the place. (they have one section at the beginning of the video where the 2 cars are side by side). To me the converted one doesn't look as "cool" as the oem one. It looks like an unfocused and glaring light shooting out all over the place, where the OEM one looks very aesthetic and focused. If I was going to get HID's, I'd want it to look like the OEM pattern.
I want HID in my car badly too, but unfortunately I think I have to wait until I get my next new car where it is an OEM option I will look for.
Until then I guess I am stuck with those "fake" "HID-look" halogen bulbs where the color temperature is higher and closer to white than a regular halogen bulb. But at least the headlight housing on the Tundra is properly designed for the light output from those type of bulbs vs. the "true" HID kits on ebay.
Even though projector housings may help in an aftermarket retrofit, some of my initial research on the web indicated that although much safer, even a complete HID projector retrofit still may not be technically street legal. Plus, the added cost of the housings would not make such a HID retrofit very economical, which is the main selling point of the ebay kits.
Bottom line: These HID conversion kits on ebay may be cheap, but you get what you pay for. In the case of the ebay kits, in my opinion, you ARE getting "real HID" bulbs and ballasts, though it is still a conversion which is not correctly designed for a halogen headlight housing, and most likely illegal for street use which could cause problems for other drivers.
Last edited by 05TundraDC; 03-03-2008 at 03:57 PM.
I bought a set from O-nex back in June and love them. Very easy to install, took me about 20 minutes total. Have had no problem. These come with a shield which help the glare out tremendously.
thanks guys however you guys keep saying there bad the glare is going to kill someone, its those people whom dont aim there lights right will, but the people whom aim them right love them!
With HID's you are always going to have a glare, there is no way to getting around it. If you adjust your lights, it will reduce it. Some people go overboard on the glare. It has never been terrible. Alot of people complain about it. With me, why are you looking at the headlights anyways. That is just my thought though. Also, anytime that I see that lights are to bright, I look at the lines that are for the shoulder.
thanks guys however you guys keep saying there bad the glare is going to kill someone, its those people whom dont aim there lights right will, but the people whom aim them right love them!
Well i would tend to agree that adjusting it would help reduce glare but not elminate it like the previous poster says.
And i'm sure from the DRIVER'S perspective they are great and may seem to light up the road much better than halogens.
But if you look at the video i posted, at the beginning they show the OEM HID car next to the converted one and if you look at the lights you can see the HID light bouncing all over the place. It looks more like how when you see the sun it is a ball of fire. The converted HID's look like mini balls of white fire head on, or like a "floodlight" bulb. The OEM HID projectors on the other hand look like a flashlight or spotlight (instead of a flood light) and look like they are focused light.
I've seen a guy running a kit like this at night in a Lexus on the freeway, and even though the headlights may have been aimed them down -- the beam pattern looked terrible even on the ground in front of the car. There was like a bright spot on the road closer to the car, and the lighting pattern looked very uneven. In fact it is as if you could see some facets of the halogen housing projected on the road. I am pretty sure it was not OEM because it didn't look good at all even though the light was white and strong.
Admittedly, in the pics above, the beam pattern on the road does look pretty decent and not too spotty (not like the lexus I saw), however, in the head on pic you can see that the light seems to be coming out of the housing in all directions and is not properly focused.
So my point is that even if you can reduce glare SLIGHTLY by aming them down, this doesn't solve the fundamental problem in that the beam pattern is still incorrect. Plus they are still illegal. So again, the beam pattern is no where NEAR how a proper OEM HID system would look with the correct projector housings and cutoffs. Plus I read something about the reason real OEM HID's usually have a motorized cutoff plate for adjustment within the projector housing. I believe this motorized plate also changes the angle of the bulb for low/high beams.
Maybe I just have higher standards as far as what I consider decent lighting. I think these kits do a pretty good cost-effective job of "mimicking" OEM HID, and even though it might be closer to "real/OEM" HID than halogen, it is still nowhere close to the real mccoy.
So what if you get more light with these conversions? Isn't it also the QUALITY of the light and not just the quanity that matters?
Well, like I said, I think you pay for what you get... And also I don't mean to put down anyone, just expressing my own opinion and pointing a few things out. Just compare how the above conversion looks to the pic below where the car has HID projector housings. Much LESS glare just by looking & comparing the 2 pics side by side.
Part of the appeal of HID is that they are percieved as expensive, high-end lighting. However, once you study how the conversions look, it is easy to tell who has "real/OEM" HID and who has fake/low cost conversions. So again, you pay for what you get because you think you're getting expensive HID lights but anyone who knows even a littlle about what true HID looks like can tell you bought a cheap conversion kit. I would say that MAYBE kits might be worth it if someone coudln't tell the conversion from the real thing, but when you look at the headlights head on, you can easily tell which is OEM and which is a fake conversion. In the case of HID, the fake doesn't even come close to how a CZ can mimick a diamond.
I also believe in - to each his own..
Last edited by 05TundraDC; 03-03-2008 at 09:52 PM.
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2003 Tundra- stock "Family" truck
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That's one of the nicest Tundra retrofits out there. LS430 projectors have such a wide beam pattern and Larrry made them even better by modding them to bixenon If I had more money to spend at the time I would've had him do my retrofit.
That's one of the nicest Tundra retrofits out there. LS430 projectors have such a wide beam pattern and Larrry made them even better by modding them to bixenon If I had more money to spend at the time I would've had him do my retrofit.
Yea, I would agree, a conversion like that is the closest you can get to OEM HID. But the problem still may be that retrofits are still technically illegal. Plus it is probably more time consuming and costly than if it had been an OEM option add-on, and a LOT more time consuming and costly to install than those HID bulb/ballst only conversion kits.
I think a lot of people have been buying the "bulb/ballast only" HID conversion kits because they are so cheap now ($75-$100), where they used to be double or triple a few years ago. Plus they are relatively EASY to install and reqiure minimal effort and time.
Unfortunately I think they are being duped (as I almost did) if they are going for high-end lighting "looks" because I don't think those kits look good on the cars (personal opinon). All it does is look like a super bright (like 5 times brighter) lighting source in the halogen housing. It is NOT focused properly (and looks nowhere near as cool, in my opinion) like true HID projector headlights. You may get the same cool "start-up flicker" of the true HID headlights, but that's where the similarities end and the major differences begin to show up. They actually look a bit silly in my opinion, because I myself do like the high-end HID-look found on real HID's in BMW, porsches, etc. and these kits look no where close to real HID head on.
On the other hand to be fair, from the driver's perspective the light output is significantly higher from these bulb/ballast only conversions, a much whiter and/or bluer light than regular halogen, and probably lights up the road a LOT more than halogen. But then again, because the light from the HID bulbs is not properly concentrated and focused in the halogen housings, this is the reason they are said to be unsafe in causing glare to others. With the tundra being so high compared to other vehicles, how far down do you have to aim the lights so as not to blind other drivers in oncoming traffic? I think unsafe glare would still be caused even if you aimed them down, because it still will be a VERY BIG and bright and unfoucused light source at the front of your vehicle (where HID projector housings seem to concentrate and pinpoint the same light into a much smaller source).
I myself hope someone could come out with an "affordable" aftermarket HID conversion solution that includes hid bulbs, ballasts and projector housings for any make and model of vehicle on the road. If something like that was available and legal, I would retrofit all three of the existing vehicles I own. Unfortunately this is probably more than not, just plain old wishful thinking.
I was originally drawn to these low cost bulb/ballast only kits as well, but I quickly realized they are a cheap, improperly designed band-aid solution to the real thing.
Last edited by 05TundraDC; 03-05-2008 at 04:30 PM.
Re: Who else wants HIDS?
Aiming HID-"kitted" headlights to compensate for the glare is kind of a bandaid in my opinion though. I've gone through god knows how many HID setups in my Tundra's headlights...I'm all for projector retrofits now.
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If I had more money to spend at the time I would've had him do my retrofit.
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