ShadesOfGrey

Installed my HID lights in both the headlights & fogs yesterday.

Was pretty quick & painless. I went with the DDMTUNING kits. (5000K)

(H13 Hi/Low for the headlights & H10 for the fogs)

I got the ready made "error eliminators" just to make it quick & water tight.

WHAT A DIFFERENCE!

The DDM kits were only $49 for standard kits and $69 for the Hi/Low ones. The Hi/Low kits also come with a free harness you can use to power directly from the battery. When I did the heads & fogs in my GTO in 2005 the kits were like $325 each and that was a group buy price!. I used McCulloch ones at the time.

I think the "error eliminators" were like $20 for the pair. (You only need them on the headlights, not the fog lights)

All the plugs were plug & play and completely water tight so I should have no problem fording deep water.

The Ballasts were nice and compact Digital units, very low power draw even at startup.



I am totally satisfied with the install. And it didn't take long either. A buddy and I did both headlights & fogs in his F150 and my JK in around 2 hours.

Basically just pop the plastic pins holding the top of the grille on & take the grill off. (There is 2 friction pins on the lower part of the grill, just gently tug the grill straight towards you and it will pop out.

Then remove the 4 screws holding the headlight in place and you'll have easy access.

I didn't take 'before' pics since you KNOW what before looks like if you own a jeep... I hope to get some after pics up in a day or two.

Highly recommended mod! If you decide to do it, check your headlight alignment afterwards to be sure your not blinding other drivers.

I've had HIDs in my GTO for 5 years so far, never had a problem with the lights, and never been pulled over or flashed by other drivers. We'll see if I have the same luck with the JK.... With the larger tires and lift the truck is a few inches higher than standard so I'll be watching to be sure the beams don't need to be adjusted down at all.

GoodysGotaCuda

I love mine, but being a little bit higher than stock I cant aim my headlights enough. I like them, other people probably not so much. But I'm just one of many out here with a lifted vehicle and bright lights i guess

beamme84

do you have some beam pattern shots? i want to see how well (or badly) the stock reflector handles HID bulb.
And make sure you re-aim the headlight. If it's lifted, the top of the beam should be at max 36" from the ground at 25 feet away from a wall. I aimed mine at 30" and it's perfect when the Jeep is loaded.

Big Bear

I wonder if an e-code lens would help better direct the light? I am thinking these installed in Cibie housing would be the way to go.

jkMatt

Did you go with the 35w or the 55w ones? My buddy put those from DDM in his new C300. I am looking at putting them in mine too. I cant wait to see the pics. I havr HIDs for 2 years and on of the HIDs went out. They were not bi-xenon so I just took them out so I can get bi-xenons.

bkw

Can you take a pattern shot against a wall please?

Do these hi/lo HID's have a shield surrounding the bulb that moves up and down or is it the bulb that angles up and down? If the latter, then I don't really see the benefit in regular reflector type housings since the light coming off the bulb goes sideways to bounce off the reflector and not straight ahead. Don't get me wrong -- theyre very much brighter than stock, but youre still blinding folks in the 'lo' position.

I'm running their cheapie Raptor kit in my fogs. Have had them for a few years now and have submersed the ballasts without issue. The bulbs on the otherhand.. well they dont like getting wet. Good thing DDM only charges $15 for replacement bulbs

ShadesOfGrey

I'll take a pattern shot tonight. I want to adjust them some to make sure i'm not annoying other drivers. I went with the 35watt DDM version. They are insanely bright compared to stock & I cant even imagine what the 55w ones look like...

I would consider the 55w ones in an off road light maybe, but it would be blindingly brilliant in our stock headlight.

I put the DDM kits in my uncles truck (F150) about a year ago and they have been flawless. This go around a friend & I put them in my JK and his (Lincoln version of the F150.)

Even my mother wants them in her new Chevy Malibu now after seeing the difference it made in the JK...

About to look up proper aiming guidelines. I should have the pattern images up tonght if it doesn't start pouring rain.

Hilldweller

Doesn't it matter to you that it's not legal to install that "kit" in your halogen reflectors?

links:
Daniel Stern on HID

Discussion on a lighting forum

General headlight thread that's relative

jcole

LoL those are just words. At the end of the day if you're not blinding other drivers, it doesn't matter what the "laws" are.

Hilldweller

Well, yeah. Laws are just words, rules, etc. And it's only illegal if you get caught, like speeding.
Only thing is that it's a $10,000.00 fine in the US ---- so far only a couple of vendors have been fined.
But some states and jurisdictions are taking it more seriously than others.
I wouldn't drive VA interstates at night with illegal HIDs....