hid longevity

good news. As you had upgraded your headlights with HID did you have the need for aftermarket spot lights or was that bright enough?

With the H4 Hi / Lo you have to aim the light low and high beam and low beam are aligned together so while the high beam gives a good spread and extra length it wont replace the spot. If you have separate high and low beams then yes the high beam is a good alternative but as you can see I still have both. I like it really bright, it is so much less tiring on your eyes.

A couple of other things.

Regardless of what anyone tells you, do not get 6000K or above, they are too blue and don't match your other (non HID) lights. They are also 15% less bright than the 4300K ones and look stupid IMHO. The 4300K, 6000K, 8000K etc relates to the colour of the light, 4300 is whiter than Halogen and 6000K look blue. And while they are supposed to be the same colour as daylight, trust me they are blue. I am sure they look great on turbo'd Mitsubishi evos with big exhausts and lights under the doors.

Also be aware that they take 5 - 15 seconds to reach full brightness when cold, and 0 - 5 seconds when warm. This is no issue on low beam but you will find it distracting for a while on high beam and driving lights. You get used to it.

Also if you run HID as well as your other lights ( eg headlights) they will look like an old candle in comparison.

50W HID are fantastic.

I totally agree with Boobook....Now, wait for all the do-gooders to chime in with : "HID is illegal unless factory fitted".... blah blah blah..... The list of "illegal" mods is never-ending and I reckon I could find something technically illegal on just about every rig that people on a forum like this are likely to drive. As an example, here in SA (and most other states AFAIK), "technically", 265/75R16 tyres are illegal on a 2000 Nissan Patrol, yet 99% of Patrols would be using this size tyre (or bigger).

I love my HIDs and I love to see where the hell I'm going at night. You need to have them properly set so they don't dazzle oncoming drivers (of course).

Roachie

Fitting HID aftermarket globes in non HID headlights is HIGHLY ILLEGAL and any one doing it should face a firing squid, the are an flamboyance for on comming drivers and animals trying to sleep in the middle of the road.

Plus why drive at night, when it's dark nobody should be driving, there's plenty of time during the day to do that.

I'm against HID's and an upstanding citizen like you Roachie should be ashamed of your ILLEGAL actions.

"You need to have them properly set so they don't dazzle oncoming drivers (of course). "

And therein lies the problem. Too many of them are NOT adjusted correctly as they have no self leveling mechanism. Load the 4B up and blind everyone ;-(

G'day Richard.... "Flamboyance"///.... Yep, I reckon that describes me to a T...hahahaha

MrBitchi....... The problem with cars that have self-levelling headlights is that they STILL do blind people whenever the approaching vehicle is not on the same plane as they are. This is particularly noticeable here around where I live on the Yorke Peninsula of SA. Although the main roads around here are all bitumen sealed, driving on them can be as much fun as spending a day at a Gold Coast theme park. These roads are so undulating that the lights of approaching Mercedes/Audi/BMW etc type cars are shone into the eyes of oncoming drivers just as much as those of my vehicle approaching them.

I have considered (but have not got a "roundtoit" yet), fitting full air bag suspension so that when I load my beast up I can simply self-level it. However, in my case it really isn't necessary as it is set-up purely for touring and is ALWAYS FULLY loaded, with the exception of the ball weight of the camper trailer (the front of which I can lift, so I guess it's around 60kg max).

To be strictly legal you also need to have washers fitted to the headlights (as I understand it). This is easily achievable on my particular vehicle (a dual cab Patrol, cut down from a wagon), as the plumbing is still there that used to go to the rear window washer. I have already experimented with fitting washers to the headlights and it worked successfully with the exception that I needed to fit a check valve to prevent the washer water from draining out from the action of syphoning. That's another "roundtoit" type job for another day!!

Roachie

Just fit them in to your high beams only and there will be no problem with blinding people(unless you don't dip your lights, in which case you'll blind people hid's or not).
If your vehicle has combined H4 Hi/Lo globes (like mine) the best solution is to just fit a set of driving/spotlights and throw a set of hid's in them. I just bought a cheap Chinese set of spotlights for about $60 and put an $80 set of HID's in them, and by hell, they've got to be the best bang for your buck spotties around. They do make a mockery of the factory headlights though.

Bill it should of been annoyance but the spell checker changed it before I sent it.

I find the LEGAL HID"s in our car are more dazzling then the ones in our Hilux and yes we have adjusted our light down.

olcoolone posted:
Fitting HID aftermarket globes in non HID headlights is HIGHLY ILLEGAL

Is that as opposed to lowly illegal, or even just Illegal?

It is also illegal to shoot people. But I didn't see anyone on this thread ask that question either :-)

I should point out that I have no issues whatsoever with HID spotties. Wish I could justify a set myself ;-(. But having been followed (and blinded) on numerous occaisions down the freeway in Brisvegas by cars with obviously illegal HID low beams, both 4B's and others, I still believe you should not use them in low beam, unless factory fitted.

Yes Bill I realise that even self levellers aren't perfect, but cars with them fitted have properly designed lights to start with, which would cause less of an issue than bulb replacement "upgrades".

"even self levellers aren't perfect, but cars with them fitted have properly designed lights to start with,"

I have manufacturer-fitted HID low beams with extremely sharp cutoff, with self-levelling and washers - but I still frequently blind oncoming vehicles because I don't drive in Holland.

In the real world there are crests and dips in the road - Blind Freddy should be able to work out that the intense beam will shine in drivers eyes then.

The person who decided that HIDs should have washers and self-levelling should have been replaced by someone who has a Drivers Licence.

Far enough Mike, but I'd sooner have you behind me on the freeway with properly designed lights than some bogan with 50w HID lo-beams with no cut-off.