H.I.D. light installed

[aviationfred]

I purchased a used H.I.D. headlight from a fellow member awhile ago. Finally got it installed. I am not sure what the brand is, it only has low beam capability. I don't think I need to worry about high beam though, WOW is it bright.....








Fred

[FJmonkey]

Only the HID owners know the meaning of "Seeing the light", or if you are one of the poor F$%&$ that get in front of us at night. I have the DDM kit with high and low beam, I rarely use the high beam. Be warned, at night you can be distracted by the tiny flashes of bugs vaporizing as they succumb to the intense radiation of the HID. Don't target fixate on the fireworks, just enjoy the added field of view at night. It is also visible from farther away in the day time as well. 

[Capn Ron]

It is also visible from farther away in the day time as well. 

And from space!   

Cap'n Ron. . .

[yamaha fj rider]

Way to go Fred. Looks good, I may jump on that band wagon also.

Kurt

[roverfj1200]

How is the bulb longevity with HID I am keen to upgrade but have heard the bulbs don't last.


Cheers

[FJmonkey]

Not sure if this answers you question but DDM offers a lifetime warranty. I have replaced mine once in the last 5 years. The DDM requires no wiring mods so if I am out on the road and it fails. I can put any H4 lamp in and get home.

[rktmanfj]

It is also visible from farther away in the day time as well. 

I've been told that this makes them an excellent lidar target, too.     

[aviationfred]

Here is the difference between the HID light low beam and a standard Halogen bulb on high beam.




Fred

[FJmonkey]

The white color of the HID also makes it even better. Our eyes are accustom to the color of our sun , the closer the color spectrum is to that range, the more efficient our eyes work. Noon day sun is around 4500 to 5500 kelvin, lower and the color looks yellowish then orange, red then infrared. Higher it turns blue, violet, then ultraviolet.

[simi_ed]

I run a 4300K HID in my FJ & my car. I think 4300 is ideal, as it is a more yellow light, rather than the typical blue-ish white of the 5500K.

JMHO

[Joe Sull]

Looks some nice Fred.

[Arnie]

Although some here have reported great results with HID lamps, I have been hesitant about installing one in my FJ since it has only a single H4 globe.  The DDM (and others) that move the arc for high and low seem to have a possibilty of failure.  But I wanted more light!!

So, I installed a pair of 10W LED bicycle lights near the top of the windscreen.  Here's the results:

Low Beam


High Beam


High Beam with LED lights


At night with High Beam


At night with High Beam and LED lights

[RD56]

How is the bulb longevity with HID I am keen to upgrade but have heard the bulbs don't last.


Cheers

My experience with Xenons goes back many years and is car related, so things may have changed. The quick answer is, theoretically, as long as the bulb remains intact and you have a functional exciter (ballast), your lights should last indefinitely. There is no filament to burn out, it is a gas filled bulb with a very high voltage ballast that excites the gas, hence the initial delay in ramping up to full brightness. Once ignited the lights use very little power. As Monkey says the spectrum of these lights is very close to the spectrum of daylight, so riding at night is a real treat. Difficult to out run these babies. The color is calculated in Kelvin degrees. The white light is the best and if I remember correctly were about 4000K, lower values tend towards a yellow spectrum and higher to a blue spectrum. In this case higher is not better. Stick with the white, not only are they brighter, they throw light farther.

With the success of these lights, everyone started selling "Xenon" lights. What most people got were blue dipped halogen lights. Every nitrous Honda Civic in the country had blue "xenons". I think what probably happens is that real Xenon bulbs suffer all kinds of indignities in the light housing of a M/C. Vibration probably leads to their demise as the structional integrity of the bulb declines. What we found at Porsche was that the majority of problems were electrical, not the bulb itself.  But I can promise you this, if you ever use them you will never go back to halogen. A proper set of Xenons that is.

Rick

[wyraider]

That's redonkulous, I need that, my silver star is pretty bright though

[Tiger]

  I installed H I D to my '85 FJ the winter before last...what a great up grade it is!! You have this bright white light waaay out there, it's superb

John.