alright, so i have a 97 single cab xlt. i've been wanting HID's for a little while. i finally have the money to afford them and all, so i'm asking you guys as to where to direct me. i'm hidnation right now. dont really know too much about HID's either. just want to buy them off a good company that will work good with a ranger. please give me your input!

 

if you want HIDs and dont want to get flamed put them in projectors...retrofit them into your stock housings...not hard to do

 

flamed? and projectors? lol dont know much when it comes to headlights period.

 

flamed=people telling you what you did was wrong and stupid

these are projectors

 

ohhh ok i gotcha now. basically halo headlights right?

 

yea...halos are optional

 

i see i see, well alright. so the projectors give the hid i look, but their not actual hids?

 

projectors are the lenses themselves. HID is the bulb type that goes inside any housing.

Projectors are cool, but just ignore those that try and say that projectors are the only way to put HIDS. I've got 'em without. Other people have 'em without.

It's your truck.

 

projectors basically optimize hid's or regular halogen bulbs as well. they have convex much like a binocular or micro scope. inside they also have a cut off to help prevent glare for oncoming drivers, picutured here




however you dont have to have them. i dont and am running 55w ballasts. a lot of people bitch about them on here, but honestly i compared them right next to my buddys 35's with the same bulb color and it was brighter but not over kill. they are damn nice to drive with.

being your truck is a 97 you will need to get clear housing lens or just the housings them selves to get the whole effect. you can get awesome deals on ebay for corners and housings for cheap.

 

these are my projectors with 35W 6K HIDs

low beams


high beams



pics from the drivers seat

 

hell yeah, well alright cool. money just went tight again, gotta love it. although, motocross is quite an expensive sport. cant complain though, i love it! but yeah gotta decide on what to buy now and what can wait

 

Projectors cost a lot, plug and play HID kits don't.

If you aim your headlights well enough, you won't bother most people

 

What shrouds are those?

I am doing my mini d2s projector retro here probably this month. I have gattling gun shrouds with mine.

-Nigel

 

theyre the gatilin gun 2.0s

 

Correct, not the only way, but its the right way.

 

meh.

"right" way... WHO'S right way? I personally LOVE projectors.... one main reason why I bought two R6 bikes. I have yet to see any projector setup on a Ranger that I would rock.

 

it's not debatable that it's the right way. it is. yes you can do what you want and you might be fine but it WILL bother other drivers if they aren't in a proper housing.

you don't get projectors for looks or to be "cool" you get them so you have a proper beam pattern.

 

I would have to dis agree, some people complain about stock bulbs being to bright in some cars, even with projectors. You get them to say you spent the extra money for the look and more factory style, not because it is correct, It's just more accepted. I say go with just a $40 HID conversion kit and they will look great, maybe not factory, but who mods their truck to look factory.

The kit you need is a 9007 HID conversion kit.
the temperature is up to you:
3,000k is yellow
4,000k-6,000k is white
6,000k-8,000k is slight blue tint
8,000k and up is blue and can be considered illegal in some states
30,000k is purple

35 watt vs 55w is the brightness, the more power, the brighter and further they will go.

for the money, I would go with 35w 6,000k 9007 HID Conversion Kit like this one:

 

It is CORRECT. There is no questions about that.
If you have the correct bulb for the correct housing then it's correct. There is no argument here at all. Just because people want to use a cheap chinese HID kit like the one that you linked in their reflector housing because they think it's great and have awesome lighting is incorrect. Yes there is more light, yes it's brighter.. but where you are putting the light is just awful. Our stock headlights blow as far as output.

It honestly is pointless to argue this topic because those that want to have HIDS in their reflector housing will do it will no thought on to doing it the safe and proper way. It's like getting a ton of engine work done and putting a turbo on a car and then doing ZERO engine mangement thinking that all the bolts ons will just instantly make power and work together... Reguardless it is what it is.

Just to prove to people how silly they are thinking... proof's in the pics:

Projector with HID:


You will NEVER get the above by just putting an HID bulb into a reflector housing...


Here are some pictures so you can actually see the difference: So people can stop saying "my headlights don't make glare because I aimed them down"



Real HID Projector Output:

No light above the cutoff line






Halogen Projector(with halogen bulb) Output:

No light above the cutoff line





Halogen Projecor(with HID bulb) Output ...

This is a common mistake: Notice the squirell spotter glare in the upper portion... It's amplified with HIDS where as with normal holgen it's not. Normally you would then bake the headlights and cover the squriell spotters completely, via jbl and small piece of metal.





HID in reflector Housing:

By far the worst output and looks like ****.

Has the worst output. The is no evidence of a cutoff line.Thats why the oncoming traffic gets glare in their eyes. No matter how much you aim the damn headlights down there is STILL GLARE.




The upper light not the bottom yellow foglight.


They do make reflector housings that CAN take HID's, but normally it's a D2R bulb with a type of coating on the bulb to act as a cut off shield so that stray light isn't like how it would be in a normal housing.


Check out hidplanet if you are really seriously about having better light..... it's amazing to see how **** they are on light output. If it doesn't interest you at all and you just want to have shitty light out put then slap some HIDS in your stock housings and go with it.

-Nigel

 

This thread won't go anywhere unless the OP is willing to invest the time and money in the retrofit.

 

Did you go mini D2S or H1?

I went with D2S's because of teh smaller space in our headlight. I've read H1 have to cut way more of the headlight housing to make them fit..etc.

Looks really good!

I am putting amber LED halo's behind my gatling gun shrouds and using them as parking lights. Should give a cool affect:

I will have to update with a picture when I get home cause photobucket is blocked:
But I am doing this with amber behind the shroud:




-Nigel

 

^theyre DS2s...i bought them already retrofit off of a member from F RF