[V8] XENON Lights, Any Ideas ...

[John Bysinger]

My take on the lighting issue:

I have two very drastically different vehicles with lighting upgrades, the
V8, and my Jeep CJ-7.  On the V8 after a year or so of ownership I lost the
passenger side marker lense (next to the headlight) and the drivers side
managed to do an impression of a little fishbowl with it's habit of
retaining water.  Rather than replacing those, I made the jump to the euro
(LHD) lenses, found a set on ebay.de and ordered them.  My lenses didn't
come with any wiring or bulbs, just the wire harness connector that attaches
the the lense back.  Since I had to make a custom wire end anyway, I chose
to do a full relay conversion for the headlights.  I also, converted the
side marker into a turn signal indicator instead, disconnecting the one on
the bumper, not difficult to do since I'm already making a custom harness.
4 relays, a bunch of wire, a 4-out fuseblock and a waterproof box later I
have drastically improved headlights.  The time and expense was well worth
it.  I can't remember but I do believe I have higher wattage bulbs, but
they're still incandescent, plain bulbs.  No coated 'superwhites' or
anything like that.

On my Jeep, the stock bulbs are full lense circular bulbs.  Horrible light
patterns, and frankly a waste of glass.  Since my Jeep is about a foot
taller than stock between suspension and rubber, it was important to me to
replace the lenses.  I settled on a Hella conversion lense and 100w bulbs
(also relayed, but more because my CJ is old than because I needed to.)  The
hella lenses have probably kept my jeep from pissing off hundreds of people,
they have a very clean horizontal cut off for the low beams that falls about
6" below most car's rear-view mirrors.  They also have a nice wide pattern
that has me very rarely using the floor-stomp high-beam button.

-John

On Sat, Nov 14, 2009 at 3:07 PM, <Etdmail at cs.com> wrote:

>
> Greetings all..
>
> Big, tall vehicles do have difficulty qualifying HID systems
> for obvious reasons, their extra height puts their lights more
> easily into the on-coming driver's eyes..
>
> And of course, driving with extra driving lights on only
> adds to blinding others, even if aligned correctly...
>
> Like many things automotive and otherwise:
>
> If your not part of the solution - your part of the problem.
>
> ~Ed
> (Cambridge)
>
> ----
> 11/14/09 7:48 AM  Paul Jager" <pjager at jageng.com> writes:
>
> V8 low beams are practically non-existent aren't they -
> that's dangerous (to me).   hi's are good.
>
> My Aristo has HID conversion in projectors RHD units no less. You have to
> be careful how they are aimed of course. Excellent lighting. Get the odd
> flash
> from oncoming, but i also run the fogs 100% of the time too. The Range
> Rover
> gets @$#%# blinked as much  or more with "approved" HID, so whatever...
>
> lots of mods that are done contravene the MV act or DOT including
> engine, exhaust, fuel, you name it. people don't give two hoots.
>
> ------
> etdmail at cs.com writes:
>
> Ideas ..
>
> Most would be cautionary about installing Xenon kits.
>
> It is illegal to install them:
>
> 1.) In any non DOT Approved Xenon headlight reflector (even projectors).
>
> 2.) In a car not shipped from the factory with the correct VIN code.
>
> 3.) Upgrade OEM Xenon equipment, without automatic headlight levelers.
>
> - Your state may catch them if installed and reject your car for
> inspection.
> - You may get a fine from the local law enforcement - some are cracking
> down
>  due to many complaints of people being blinded, by the too bright
> retrofit kits.
>
> DOT has been shutting down Internet sites that sell kits (I guess not to
> well).
>
> Read through all of Dan Stern's very good pages...
> He is considered one of the foremost automotive lighting experts:
>
>
> http://www.danielsternlighting.com/tech/bulbs/Hid/conversions/conversions.ht
> ml<http://www.danielsternlighting.com/tech/bulbs/Hid/conversions/conversions.ht%0Aml>
>
> He also has a site where you can buy the better bulbs directly:
>
> http://store.candlepower.com/
>
> He also sells relay kits somewhere on his site. (Have not compared
> pricing).
>
> The "Silverstars" that are sold at the local FLAPS are among the worst,
> rated
> in terms of actual lumens and some of the shortest lived in terms of
> runtimes.
>
> The Osram Silverstars (Not Sylvania's) are much preferable ...
>
> Amazon.com could also be another good place to check.
>
> HTH
> ~Ed
> (Cambridge)
>
> -----
> </HTML>
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-- 
john at bysinger.net