All HID guys jump in.
#1
All HID guys jump in.
Well heres the story. I finally got my HID kit of e-bay today. So i have decided to install them right away. Anyways after installation i turn my headlights on and was amazed by a light output so im like ok why dont i drive around the town and see how it looks like on the road. Well my excitment got wiped off by incoming traffic flashing me. So im like ok i guess i got to lower my headlight beam, well i did that but im still getting flashed by around every 10th driver. I'm preatty upset about that cause i have a lot of respect to people on the road. How youre guys solved that problem except doing retro of course??
Oh yeah i have only single-low beam so i cant show people that i'm driving on lows, so everytime i have to turn off lights and turn them back on. Btw i lowered beam more than specs says. color 6000k
Oh yeah i have only single-low beam so i cant show people that i'm driving on lows, so everytime i have to turn off lights and turn them back on. Btw i lowered beam more than specs says. color 6000k
#2
1) listen to what EVERYONE is saying about HID kits in stock housings. They will glare like a B!TCH.
2) aim your headlights lower is the only thing you can do, besides a retro or ditching your housings for some OEM cefiros, both of which would require you to sell at least your bulbs and get different kinds.
3) do NOT turn your HIDs off and on within less than a couple minutes. The ballasts you're using in your kit are most likely cheap enough already, flashing your lights on and off is bad bad BAD for the ballasts.
good luck.
2) aim your headlights lower is the only thing you can do, besides a retro or ditching your housings for some OEM cefiros, both of which would require you to sell at least your bulbs and get different kinds.
3) do NOT turn your HIDs off and on within less than a couple minutes. The ballasts you're using in your kit are most likely cheap enough already, flashing your lights on and off is bad bad BAD for the ballasts.
good luck.
#4
What K did you get? If you got those crazy 8000k and up lights then thats one reason why people are flashing you. If I remember correctly blue light tends to bleed and get into peoples eyes more than white and yellow. Retrofit is by far the best option for hids but if you don't want to go that route the only stockish lights that have good beam pattern and doesn't glare nearly as much are the AE glass headlights sold on ebay. I ran that setup with my 7000k and never got flashed at all. I have a thread about them if you want to look them up.
#5
Originally Posted by 97MaximaSE97
What K did you get? If you got those crazy 8000k and up lights then thats one reason why people are flashing you. If I remember correctly blue light tends to bleed and get into peoples eyes more than white and yellow. Retrofit is by far the best option for hids but if you don't want to go that route the only stockish lights that have good beam pattern and doesn't glare nearly as much are the AE glass headlights sold on ebay. I ran that setup with my 7000k and never got flashed at all. I have a thread about them if you want to look them up.
#6
Blue light has what we call a very high diffuse density, which causes it to radiate outwards as opposed to forwards. What results is a wide glow of light outside the beam pattern that is blinding to motorists you share the road with. A blue HID bulb will produce color bleed around the headlight, around the objects it lights up, outside of the beam pattern, and around the cut off line. This is effect is known as "glare", and these illegal and improperly installed HID kits are the reason why HIDs get a bad wrap. As common evidence of glare, observe a traffic light at night in a dimly lit area. There is red light and green light. Red is opposite blue and green is next to blue, thus we can substitute green for blue. If you observe the aura, or glow, of light around a red light and compare it to that of a green light, you'll notice that the green light produces much more glare than red. Blue is even worse. Purple, the worst.
This is the article I read on clublexus. Here's the link to the whole article. Its pretty good!
http://www.intellexual.net/hid.html#hid
This is the article I read on clublexus. Here's the link to the whole article. Its pretty good!
http://www.intellexual.net/hid.html#hid
#11
I agree with 99se5speed, I would just lower them more. (Not that I know from owning HIDs..yet) The only thing you can do is take some of the 'focus' of the light away from other drivers' eyes unless you do more modding like other said previously to reduce the 'glare' as well. But keep in mind, there will always be people flashing you, some people's eyes are very sensitive to light compared to others'. I get that with just my silverstar H4s.
I have Cefiros installed now and was going to buy 5000k bi-xenon HIDs next (I want the H/L beam). I do not want to retrofit a projector in though - more work/ money than I am interested in doing. I would do LED tails before I did a retrofit. (Dont get me wrong, retro looks b$#a$$). Will I need a different casper shield, or can I use the existing one? I don't know if its deep enough for the HID bulb compared to the H4.
I have Cefiros installed now and was going to buy 5000k bi-xenon HIDs next (I want the H/L beam). I do not want to retrofit a projector in though - more work/ money than I am interested in doing. I would do LED tails before I did a retrofit. (Dont get me wrong, retro looks b$#a$$). Will I need a different casper shield, or can I use the existing one? I don't know if its deep enough for the HID bulb compared to the H4.
#14
Man this is great info but question because im running 8k in the stock housing, I have no low or high option, how in the hell do u lower the beam on a stock housing? I would greatly appreciate it.
#18
i have the stock housing and never got flashed yet. well over a year. i have 8k. you just need to aim the lights both up and down and sideways. i aim mine directly at my hood line from my seating postion. when i sit in the car. my beam is lowered to right in front of my hood line. i still see far and on the sides. dont forget that you can angle the lights inward so the lights will be even more focused. i have it focused where both sides meet in front of my driver view point. i have got thumbs up for my lights and the brightness but not the glare. i do agree if i tailgate then it does glare blinding b/c they way i focused it. but at least they move out my way. that was my point for aiming.
#19
Senior Member
iTrader: (7)
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Alexandria, VA, & Central Jersey
Posts: 2,647
Originally Posted by Karim
Originally Posted by ImmaSquashYou
you can try getting eye lids for your headlights.....i have 12k HID's..but i also have cefiros......but i get flashed occasionally
Originally Posted by jltibbs
i made my own eyelids and the flashes have tremendously reduced. best opt is to retro. look in sig for details on lights
#20
eyelids dont work for one reason. the glare is being reflected from the bottom of the headlight housing towards oncoming traffic. cheap fix is making your own glare shields. i used a coke can and some aluminum duct tape to make mine.
#22
i got mine from the group sale w/ bixenon. the only time i get flashed on when im doing my mountain run on single lane roads. The glare is there but is not as harshed. i havent made any adjustments to mine but seems like its perfect setup.
#24
Senior Member
iTrader: (7)
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Alexandria, VA, & Central Jersey
Posts: 2,647
Originally Posted by huyqvu
eyelids dont work for one reason. the glare is being reflected from the bottom of the headlight housing towards oncoming traffic. cheap fix is making your own glare shields. i used a coke can and some aluminum duct tape to make mine.
#28
Originally Posted by MorpheusZero
Define bixenon HIDs. Glare will depend on whether you use a projector or a housing that is designed for HID, not whether you use single or bixenon.
#31
Senior Member
iTrader: (7)
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Alexandria, VA, & Central Jersey
Posts: 2,647
all hid bulbs come with a lil shield to reduce glaring......well..at least most of them.....but bi-xenon allows you to have high beams which is sometimes a plus if you're driving in very secluded area....i wish i had that sometimes when i'm driving to VT for a ski trip...
#32
so when i do my retro, should i mount them towards the front of the light to keep them from hitting the chrome on the inside of the housing? i was wanting to mount them back a little like where the normal bulbs are for a more sleek look. but i am worried that i will be sacrificing the projector beam if i do that. can i mount them back and paint the inside black or will i need some of the chrome to complete the beam???
#33
jltibbs: paint the stock reflector black...its the easiest way to reduce unwanted light causing glare.
ImmaSquashYou: you need to do more research. D2R bulbs come with a minor shield thats designed to work with HID reflector housings. D2S bulbs come with no shield. The projector is where the shield is at to get the proper beam cutoff. With Bi-Xenon projectors... the shield is connected to a hinge and moves through the use of a solenoid. The shield moves out of the way and allows light to go above the tradition cutoff line and creates a proper beam for high beams.
ImmaSquashYou: you need to do more research. D2R bulbs come with a minor shield thats designed to work with HID reflector housings. D2S bulbs come with no shield. The projector is where the shield is at to get the proper beam cutoff. With Bi-Xenon projectors... the shield is connected to a hinge and moves through the use of a solenoid. The shield moves out of the way and allows light to go above the tradition cutoff line and creates a proper beam for high beams.
#39
There's a lot of glare in the 9004 housing so you will get flashed occasionally. Some people suggest to make a sheild or something to reduce it. If you really want to improve your output, save the money for a good retrofit.