Replace fog lights with HID's
10-22-2001, 02:34 PM
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Replace fog lights with HID's
How many people have pulled out the halogen bulbs and replaced them with HID lights?
Some of my thoughts and questions?
Some manufacturers sale lights that are blue-ish in color and others offer a purple-ish color. What do you think is closer to the headlight HID color. I reallize the light surround has alot to do with the final color of the HID light?
Where did you mount the ballasts?
Looking at the stock fog lights with the halogen bulbs inside, I see a black colored ring aound the sides of the bulb. Did you take this ring piece out when you installed HID's? I would think you would have to.
Do the HID foglights blind on-coming traffic?
Does it look like the focus in the fog lights is as good as the head lights?
Ideally after replacing the halogen lights with HID lights, the look and color would be the same as your head lights. Is that what you have?
Are you happy you spent $500 investment to make this swap?
Some of my thoughts and questions?
Some manufacturers sale lights that are blue-ish in color and others offer a purple-ish color. What do you think is closer to the headlight HID color. I reallize the light surround has alot to do with the final color of the HID light?
Where did you mount the ballasts?
Looking at the stock fog lights with the halogen bulbs inside, I see a black colored ring aound the sides of the bulb. Did you take this ring piece out when you installed HID's? I would think you would have to.
Do the HID foglights blind on-coming traffic?
Does it look like the focus in the fog lights is as good as the head lights?
Ideally after replacing the halogen lights with HID lights, the look and color would be the same as your head lights. Is that what you have?
Are you happy you spent $500 investment to make this swap?
10-22-2001, 07:47 PM
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I at one time was the president of CLUB SOL (Honda club del Sol international with 20K+ members). At that time I became an authorized CATZ lights dealer because the MSC model fit directly into out AUX light mounts. They could use the stock wires. I was able to sell the base units (without wires and all the switches) at my price which was massively less then what they wanted for MSRP. The fit was awesome! I'm planning on testing this on my TLs with factory mounts. I'm thinking the MSX units would fit and they were always my favorite. The "Hyper White" models would look in color similar to our HID. If anyone has experience installing lights or has pictures, I would like to see them before I take my bumper off.
10-22-2001, 07:57 PM
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The only other question I had was about the wiring. Alot of the sets come complete with a relay. The only really high electrical draw for HID's is the moment you turn them on. After they are on the draw is only 35 watts, versus 55 watts for the halogen bulbs.
Will the stock wiring for the halogen fog lights need to be suplimented with a relay in order to hook up HID's? Can you hook up the stock fog light wiring directly into the new HID balasts without any problems?
Will the stock wiring for the halogen fog lights need to be suplimented with a relay in order to hook up HID's? Can you hook up the stock fog light wiring directly into the new HID balasts without any problems?
10-23-2001, 12:09 PM
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Yes you can directly connect stock wire to HId wire.
check this web site:
http://www.autolamps-online.com/gas...ge/totalkit.htm
you need to buy the 9006 kit for your fog light. I'm still thinking if I should spend extra $600 to upgrade my fog lights.
You might have to buy the case for the ballast too. http://jen.liu.tripod.com/suvlights/id2.html
good luck
check this web site:
http://www.autolamps-online.com/gas...ge/totalkit.htm
you need to buy the 9006 kit for your fog light. I'm still thinking if I should spend extra $600 to upgrade my fog lights.
You might have to buy the case for the ballast too. http://jen.liu.tripod.com/suvlights/id2.html
good luck
10-23-2001, 12:47 PM
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Everyone thinks the Phylips ballasts/bulbs are the best. The problem with the bulbs is that they are not tuned for the plug and play application. Meaning if I buy a 9006 bulb for my fog lights it is the same bulb(D2R) as a H4 or 9004, etc.. The only difference is the base that is put onto the bulb so it fits your application. You can look at it like using a mag-light, you know how you adjust the beam by turning the housing. Alot of times the Phylips bulb is out of fucus. Alot of companies now are starting to put more time into the light setup by tuning the bulbs for the diferent applications. Phylips has not made it there yet.
I was going to buy the #9006 Phylips setup complete for $400. It sounded like a real good deal untill I started leaning about the other companies and what they are doing.
I was going to buy the #9006 Phylips setup complete for $400. It sounded like a real good deal untill I started leaning about the other companies and what they are doing.
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03-08-2005, 04:02 AM
#8
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If you want to match your stock bulbs u'd have to get a 4300k 9006 conv. kit but if u have the money go with a 6000K or 8000K fog conv. and then match the D2Rs. make sure that they are the same brand cuz kelvin ratings between diferent manufacturers are nat always the same. (example: my Piaa D2R are rated at 6600k yet they match my SPW 9006's which r rated at 7300k)
Be awair that your fog housings are not corrected and were not ment to house HID's. The beam paturn is extremely wide will extend far into oncoming traffic.
The 9006 HID Conv kit is very easy to install unless you get fancy with the ballest. Some people mount them in the bumper which is probably the best place for them as far as fairing the elements. But if anything goes bad and needs replacement (which happens all the time) then you have a hell of alot of work to do again.
I don't know who makes a quality conversion kit anymore since they becaame illeagle to sell in the US. The taiwanese and korean kits are crap so watch out for them they're all over the net. I think u can still get your hands on hella ballests, philips bulbs are good if your lucky but there expensive as hell, CATZ used to make a good kit but they're not available anymore and SPW's are gone.... check out this forum
Anyways, it was a lot of money for a couple of lights but it looks hard as hell and I'm glad that its done
Here's a pic:
Be awair that your fog housings are not corrected and were not ment to house HID's. The beam paturn is extremely wide will extend far into oncoming traffic.
The 9006 HID Conv kit is very easy to install unless you get fancy with the ballest. Some people mount them in the bumper which is probably the best place for them as far as fairing the elements. But if anything goes bad and needs replacement (which happens all the time) then you have a hell of alot of work to do again.
I don't know who makes a quality conversion kit anymore since they becaame illeagle to sell in the US. The taiwanese and korean kits are crap so watch out for them they're all over the net. I think u can still get your hands on hella ballests, philips bulbs are good if your lucky but there expensive as hell, CATZ used to make a good kit but they're not available anymore and SPW's are gone.... check out this forum
Anyways, it was a lot of money for a couple of lights but it looks hard as hell and I'm glad that its done
Here's a pic:
03-08-2005, 09:53 AM
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So does the beam actually resemble the halogen fog light beam or is it just scattered light that will only be good for looks and not functionality? That is my big question. Does it provide better light for directly in front and to the sides?
03-08-2005, 10:00 AM
#12
Originally Posted by CJITTY
So does the beam actually resemble the halogen fog light beam or is it just scattered light that will only be good for looks and not functionality? That is my big question. Does it provide better light for directly in front and to the sides?
off topic - Still got the fog light housings?
03-08-2005, 07:28 PM
#13
Burning Brakes
Originally Posted by Las Vegas TLS
How many people have pulled out the halogen bulbs and replaced them with HID lights?
Some of my thoughts and questions?
Some manufacturers sale lights that are blue-ish in color and others offer a purple-ish color. What do you think is closer to the headlight HID color. I reallize the light surround has alot to do with the final color of the HID light?
-4300k is stock and will directly match your stock HIDs
Where did you mount the ballasts?
- Ballasts can be mounted directly bellow the stock ballasts. The install requires you to remove the front bumper... if you do a search you will find a good DIY for this.
Looking at the stock fog lights with the halogen bulbs inside, I see a black colored ring aound the sides of the bulb. Did you take this ring piece out when you installed HID's? I would think you would have to.
- I used a dremel to customize the HID bulb so that it fit in to the stock fog light enclosure. To seal the bulb in place I used a rubber band and silicone.
Do the HID foglights blind on-coming traffic?
- The HID foglights are quite bright and people will high beam you occasionally because of the beam pattern and the brightness.
Does it look like the focus in the fog lights is as good as the head lights?
- The focus is good but the center of focus is much lower then stock head lights due to them being from the fog light encloser. The fog light enclosure produces are REALLY wide beam.
Ideally after replacing the halogen lights with HID lights, the look and color would be the same as your head lights. Is that what you have?
- I have 4300k's in my fog lights and they are a perfect match
Are you happy you spent $500 investment to make this swap?
Some of my thoughts and questions?
Some manufacturers sale lights that are blue-ish in color and others offer a purple-ish color. What do you think is closer to the headlight HID color. I reallize the light surround has alot to do with the final color of the HID light?
-4300k is stock and will directly match your stock HIDs
Where did you mount the ballasts?
- Ballasts can be mounted directly bellow the stock ballasts. The install requires you to remove the front bumper... if you do a search you will find a good DIY for this.
Looking at the stock fog lights with the halogen bulbs inside, I see a black colored ring aound the sides of the bulb. Did you take this ring piece out when you installed HID's? I would think you would have to.
- I used a dremel to customize the HID bulb so that it fit in to the stock fog light enclosure. To seal the bulb in place I used a rubber band and silicone.
Do the HID foglights blind on-coming traffic?
- The HID foglights are quite bright and people will high beam you occasionally because of the beam pattern and the brightness.
Does it look like the focus in the fog lights is as good as the head lights?
- The focus is good but the center of focus is much lower then stock head lights due to them being from the fog light encloser. The fog light enclosure produces are REALLY wide beam.
Ideally after replacing the halogen lights with HID lights, the look and color would be the same as your head lights. Is that what you have?
- I have 4300k's in my fog lights and they are a perfect match
Are you happy you spent $500 investment to make this swap?
In terms of wiring the stock setup will support the HID swap with little or no recabling. Some members have mentioned that the fuse utilized by the fog lights is to low for HID's under extremely low temps. I can attest that this is true due to my HID's temporarily failing while I was up in NH this winter (They now work fine since it's much warmer in DC) This problem can be fixed by upping the fuse from 10 to 20 amps. I spliced the stock wires with the wires used by the HID kit and have no problems yet.
Drop me a line if you have any questions about my install.
03-09-2005, 01:00 AM
#14
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Originally Posted by death
- I spent $250... and have been happy with the swap.
In terms of wiring the stock setup will support the HID swap with little or no recabling. Some members have mentioned that the fuse utilized by the fog lights is to low for HID's under extremely low temps. I can attest that this is true due to my HID's temporarily failing while I was up in NH this winter (They now work fine since it's much warmer in DC) This problem can be fixed by upping the fuse from 10 to 20 amps. I spliced the stock wires with the wires used by the HID kit and have no problems yet.
Drop me a line if you have any questions about my install.
In terms of wiring the stock setup will support the HID swap with little or no recabling. Some members have mentioned that the fuse utilized by the fog lights is to low for HID's under extremely low temps. I can attest that this is true due to my HID's temporarily failing while I was up in NH this winter (They now work fine since it's much warmer in DC) This problem can be fixed by upping the fuse from 10 to 20 amps. I spliced the stock wires with the wires used by the HID kit and have no problems yet.
Drop me a line if you have any questions about my install.
03-09-2005, 01:28 AM
#16
First off... istnalling the ballasts under the bumper is probably the best way to go about this project. I've done that for 2 years now and have yet to experience a problem. And even if there is a problem removing the bumper is about 15 mts. no more that that. Its very SIMPLE!!
Now as far as glare issues are concerned, the fact that our fog housings arent' tuned to take the HID's will cause glare to oncomming traffic. But this can be eliminated or toned down dramatically by just making a slight adjustment on the fogs housing to point the beam slight downward. This can be done by rotating the rotary knobs on the back of each fog housing, its as simple as that.
As far as matching our stock Headlights, 4300K by phillips is the way to go. If you do have money then I recommend going with the 6000K on top and bottom which is what I have and wont' have it any other way. And like others have said, stick with the same manufacturer since Kelving temperaturs and the colors that correspond to them vary with each manufacturer. Clear examples can be seen on this forum when comparing Philips 6000K with some other 6000K makers. Philips has a tinge of purple to it, which make is look like the Audi's and BMW's and the other manufacturers lean more towards being bluish green. IMO I think the Philips look much better but its a matter of preference.
I am also posint these three links cuz I think many of you will find it useful:
DIY Fog Light Removal
DIY Bumper Removal
DIY HID Fog Light Conversion
Another worth while mod doing if your doing the HID Fog conversion is the Fog Light Mod where the fog lights can turn on indpendantly with just the parking lights being on. This will be good especially during evening drives where you dont need to have the Headlights on but just need a little bit of light. Or just when you wanna look pimp.
DIY Fog Light Mod
Now as far as glare issues are concerned, the fact that our fog housings arent' tuned to take the HID's will cause glare to oncomming traffic. But this can be eliminated or toned down dramatically by just making a slight adjustment on the fogs housing to point the beam slight downward. This can be done by rotating the rotary knobs on the back of each fog housing, its as simple as that.
As far as matching our stock Headlights, 4300K by phillips is the way to go. If you do have money then I recommend going with the 6000K on top and bottom which is what I have and wont' have it any other way. And like others have said, stick with the same manufacturer since Kelving temperaturs and the colors that correspond to them vary with each manufacturer. Clear examples can be seen on this forum when comparing Philips 6000K with some other 6000K makers. Philips has a tinge of purple to it, which make is look like the Audi's and BMW's and the other manufacturers lean more towards being bluish green. IMO I think the Philips look much better but its a matter of preference.
I am also posint these three links cuz I think many of you will find it useful:
DIY Fog Light Removal
DIY Bumper Removal
DIY HID Fog Light Conversion
Another worth while mod doing if your doing the HID Fog conversion is the Fog Light Mod where the fog lights can turn on indpendantly with just the parking lights being on. This will be good especially during evening drives where you dont need to have the Headlights on but just need a little bit of light. Or just when you wanna look pimp.
DIY Fog Light Mod
03-09-2005, 01:32 AM
#17
Also I forgot to mention that, you should use a relay and hook up the power cable to the ballast to draw current directly from the battery bypassing the stock wiring so this way you dont burn the stock wires over time. This isn't neccessary but would be uselful to do. I am not to knowledgeabel on how to do this, Bxscig was my expert who did this for me, and is the tech guy to go to with these type of questions.
Also remember, the higher you go up in Kelvin, you lose usable light on the road. With this being said... I have no bad things to say about HID fogs, I absolutely love them. I woudlnt have it any other way on my TL. The look from head on is just pimp and the amount of light that is being thrown on the road is great. One of the best investments and mods that I've ever done.
And also would like to give credit to those members who took the time and effort to write up those DIY's and making it easy for all us members.
Also remember, the higher you go up in Kelvin, you lose usable light on the road. With this being said... I have no bad things to say about HID fogs, I absolutely love them. I woudlnt have it any other way on my TL. The look from head on is just pimp and the amount of light that is being thrown on the road is great. One of the best investments and mods that I've ever done.
And also would like to give credit to those members who took the time and effort to write up those DIY's and making it easy for all us members.
03-09-2005, 06:21 AM
#20
Burning Brakes
Originally Posted by akinaboy
I know you mentioned that you secured ballasts right below the factory ballast is, but how did you secure it there? using what? I'm planning to use philips 3000k bulbs for fogs, and upgrade my low beam for 6000k. Any idea how that would look?
For securing the ballast and the entire assembly I used a combination of double stick velcro (heavy duty - can be found at home depot) and a couple draw tight plastic ties.
Here is a picture of my install with the front bumper off.
03-09-2005, 08:54 AM
#21
I just used zip ties and held it right under the OEM ballast. There is JUST enough room to fit a ballast in there.
Like Elefant Type S said, it is better to hook it up directly to the battery because first the ballast gets all it power faster, no flicker or struggle to start. The wires used should be thicker, lower guage. The OEM wires when they are hooked up inline with the fog light harness is really thin, compare it and think about pushing 3 times the power thru that think wire.
Elegant Type S, I setup your hids to work directly off your battery for better current draw?
Like Elefant Type S said, it is better to hook it up directly to the battery because first the ballast gets all it power faster, no flicker or struggle to start. The wires used should be thicker, lower guage. The OEM wires when they are hooked up inline with the fog light harness is really thin, compare it and think about pushing 3 times the power thru that think wire.
Elegant Type S, I setup your hids to work directly off your battery for better current draw?
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