H3 HID recommendations?

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dan73-05

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Joined
Feb 2, 2012
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Good morning to the dayshift crew.

I've got some cheapo walmart "driving" lights. They are on my raptor, and definitely help in the sand dunes... but I'm greedy.

Do you guys know of any decent yet cheap kits to put some HID's in? also, the housings are rather small, would I have issues with melting?

Link to lights same size as what i have.

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Driving-Light-Kit-with-Hid-Style-Lenses/16680055

Thanks,
Dan
 
Remember the starting voltage on an HID is enough to tickle your chest hairs at a decent distance - do you trust your build skills to run kilovolt-carrying wires from the ballast to these? What you have are housings for halogen bulbs - the wires are 12v, and have to handle a few amps. An HID bulb would produce more light and less heat at the same wattage, but wiring the ballasts to these housings doesn't strike me as a good idea off-hand. HID kits that come complete with ballast, premade wiring runs and sockets, are probably your best option. Even with the being properly insulated, the voltage can interfere with power steering while the lights power up. This is bad-news for DIY-ing a retrofit.

I also can't imagine you'll get anything like a desirable beam pattern out of those housings with an HID bulb. "HID Style Lens" here means that it is dome-shaped. You can tell in the picture that there is no projection effect, or else the halogen bulb wouldn't be visible inside the case.
 
I would consider scrapping the cheap walmart toys and spend the money toward a good used pair of Cibie Oscars/ Super Oscars sourced from Ebay,install 100 watt quality bulbs in them and enjoy the benefits of a properly designed, high quality lighting system.
 
dan73-05 said:
Good morning to the dayshift crew.

I've got some cheapo walmart "driving" lights. They are on my raptor, and definitely help in the sand dunes... but I'm greedy.

Do you guys know of any decent yet cheap kits to put some HID's in? also, the housings are rather small, would I have issues with melting?

Link to lights same size as what i have.

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Driving-Light-Kit-with-Hid-Style-Lenses/16680055

Thanks,
Dan
Click to expand...

Don't...first the lights from Mal-wart are totally junk from some dirty factory in some far east country where pople die from a toxic work enviroment. Just say no to an HID "kit" in these...you'll just be wasting your money and supporting a company that doesn't care about anything but profits.
 
AnAppleSnail said:
Remember the starting voltage on an HID is enough to tickle your chest hairs at a decent distance - do you trust your build skills to run kilovolt-carrying wires from the ballast to these? What you have are housings for halogen bulbs - the wires are 12v, and have to handle a few amps. An HID bulb would produce more light and less heat at the same wattage, but wiring the ballasts to these housings doesn't strike me as a good idea off-hand. HID kits that come complete with ballast, premade wiring runs and sockets, are probably your best option. Even with the being properly insulated, the voltage can interfere with power steering while the lights power up. This is bad-news for DIY-ing a retrofit.

I also can't imagine you'll get anything like a desirable beam pattern out of those housings with an HID bulb. "HID Style Lens" here means that it is dome-shaped. You can tell in the picture that there is no projection effect, or else the halogen bulb wouldn't be visible inside the case.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I was thinking a kit, but I'm fairly confident in my abilities with electronics. Doesn't mean I won't F something up, but if I do because of lack of knowledge, I just learned something.
Dan
 
Qship1996 said:
I would consider scrapping the cheap walmart toys and spend the money toward a good used pair of Cibie Oscars/ Super Oscars sourced from Ebay,install 100 watt quality bulbs in them and enjoy the benefits of a properly designed, high quality lighting system.
Click to expand...

I dont think I want to work the charging system on the wheeler that hard. I had a single 4509 on the front, because dad had a few laying around, and it didn't really seem to like it. Thats why I am thinking about HID, getting such high output from the light, for less draw sounds like a win, I'm just not sure on spending too much on lights when I only ride at night maybe 3-4 nights a year.
Dan
 
I only bought those, because they were available the night before we left, and I didn't think of putting extra lights on until then. I knew they wouldnt be that great, but they were definitely a help over just stock. But now that I have some time. I would like to do it right.
 
An "H3 HID kit" will never be even close to doing it right even if these lamps are only used off the public roadways.
 
Agreed, that's more the cheap side of me coming to head.

Any decent offroad lights out there cheap? I like the idea of internal starters and ballasts, then i could move the lights from one Wheeler to the other with just connectors. but for the use they will get, hellas aren't really affordable.
 
Cheap...duct tape a few sealed-beam headlights on? At least that'll match your present output (and power consumption) but with a much more useful beam.
 
That's a waste of good duct tape... Lol
So, there is no magic wonderful perfect world solution, i guess that's normal though.
Dan
 
Grote makes some nice white (5000K) LED driving lights (not for use in traffic!)...just saw some at a truck shop today...I'm sure they're expensive, but they would probably do what you want, and have very low current draw on your charging system.
 
What do those Grote LED lights cost? I'm thinking that the effort to go low budget just about shuts out any decent LED or HID lights. My little Soltek Fuego HID lights were not cheap (buying for motorcycle, where both physical size and low drain were important). If I recall, the Raptor is a "go-fast" quad, not a "go-hunting" quad. Actually, if the buckets could be had cheaply, a couple of good quality halogen sealed beam headlights might be useful. And they'd be weatherproof; that's always a consideration where I live.

If you get a pair of Grote or Dietz 5-3/4" round housings, you can use anything from the curved lens or flat lens Cibie high beam headlights, to inexpensive sealed headlamps, to spotlights, to.... well, any 12V 5-3/4" lamp. Put in a couple of 80 watt H7680X or H7680 halogen HIR sealed beams, and you'll reach way out. Personal experience: The H7680X is the spotlight bulb on my 2000 Crown Vic former cop car. Using it at night on a long deserted straight stretch confirms it reaches out. But it's not a driving light, does not help on curves and really doesn't belong on public roads. Still, if you're racing around offroad with the Raptor, maybe a pair of those beams, aimed side by side, might work. You won't outdrive them. Just remember, they're no good in fog or dust.

Once upon a time in my impoverished past, I got a couple of Unity spotlight buckets for cheap at a surplus dealer. Mounted 'em on my pickup bumper (getting them aimed and having any sort of adjustment took some creativity), installed curved lens H-! Cibie high beams, and was happy.
 
Hamilton Felix said:
Put in a couple of 80 watt H7680X or H7680 halogen HIR sealed beams, and you'll reach way out.
Click to expand...

I like the idea, but from my research the raptor, which is a go fast, only has about 240w of available power, minus the requirements to run the EFI, and I would also have to run with the main lights on, due to needing the tail light. I could disconnect the main lights, but then when I am driving through the camp area to get back to the campsite, I'm the annoying guy. Hence my draw to the HID...
Dan
 
Hmm.... talk to Hilldweller about his adventures with inexpensive (Schuck's/O'Reilly's, I think) HID lights on sale, and using Duplicolor Metalcast to alter the bluish light on some. If you have friends in the business (chain auto parts stores), you might grab a closeout deal on a cheap HID lamp or two.
 
dan73-05 said:
I like the idea, but from my research the raptor, which is a go fast, only has about 240w of available power, minus the requirements to run the EFI, and I would also have to run with the main lights on, due to needing the tail light. I could disconnect the main lights, but then when I am driving through the camp area to get back to the campsite, I'm the annoying guy. Hence my draw to the HID...
Dan
Click to expand...
It's darn easy to add a board of rocker switches to cut on/off whichever lights you want. Running wires is easier if you use relays, but then relays cost about as much as the thicker wire runs.
 
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