10k:headlights only, at night

10k:heads lights and fogs during the day

 

I regret putting them in. Rather, I regret wasting my money on the sub par products that the kit companies hand out. I wish I had taken that money and put it towards a full retrofit, instead.

If you are going to put in HID's, please don't go higher than 6000K colour temperature. Colour-wise, 4300 is what OEM's use, the blues and violets you see when passing an OEM car with HID's is caused by the prism effect when the light passes through the projector's front lens. You will not be able to achieve those types of results by throwing a kit bulb in your stock reflector. 4300K bulbs are about 3200-3400 Lumens, as you get higher in colour temperature, that amount of light goes down. 6000K is roughly 2700 Lumens, 8000K is roughly 2200 Lumens, 10000K is roughly 1600 Lumens (worse than halogen), 12000K is roughly 1200 Lumens. This continues all the way up to 26000K (ultraviolet) that is 0 Lumens, useless - unless you are using night vision.

That's just colour-wise. Performance-wise, don't expect the same results as a BMW, Mercedes, Lexus or Acura. You will get more light, but a lot of it will just end up glaring at other drivers and not being put on the road (where it's helpful).

Lastly, with regards to the law, HID kits are not legal for use on public roads. While most people do not have problems with the 5-0, there is always the off chance of getting a ticket.

Check out HIDPlanet. There's a lot of good information there with regards to HID's and HID retrofits. In case you didn't know, a retrofit is taking the parts from an OEM vehicle that has HID's, such as Acura, and integrating them into your stock headlights.

 

i know that h13 fits the headlights of a 2006 f150 fx4 but what about the fogs?

 

The bulb is a 9145, or if you want brighter halogens, modify the base of a 9005. There's only a slight difference. I modified the base of mine with a pocket knife.

 

For those who have the 6,000k were they hard to install? What brand did you get? Is there a good website to get it from? Did you also change out your fog lights? Thanks.

 

FWIW, all color bulbs install the same. But do not disregard mtylerb's remarks. I did a retro on my Ranger and loved it. I got comments from drivers about my lights and other ranger drivers asked where I got them. As far as I know I was the only guy with them. There was one guy/company that made projector lights for '01+ rangers but it was in excess of $700 and I had never seen them. I spent a fourth of that and had semi-legal OEM lighting that did not blind others. I ended up selling them to another ranger forum member when I sold the truck to upgrade to my F-150.

One day cops will crack down on those who have no regard for others on the road with regards to lighting. I can't wait.

 

I just put my 5000k's in last weekend, what a world of difference. Definitely a great mod!

 

whats the difference between HID's and halogens? and between the numbers (4000,6000)? sorry for the dumb question

 

Some personal recommendations:

1) Spend the lil bit extra for 55W bulbs and ballasts and not the 35W versions.
2) Spend the lil bit extra for digital ballasts.
3) Stay <= 6000K on the color to avoid drawing too much attention to yourself. If you get too blue, LEOs may pick you out.

 

There is way too much to cover with this question. In summary, halogen uses a wire coil that, when energizes lets off light and a lot of heat. HID's use an arc that jumps from one wire tip to another wire tip. Between the wire tips is a mixture of salts that, when heated, make the light very bright. OEM HID's are far more efficient than halogen and produce less heat, while producing more light, with less power (35W). This isn't always true with Kits, though.

35W is the only legal power that HID's may run at. Anything over that is meant for Airline and other off road usage. OEM HID's at this power setting produce ~3200 Lumens (compared to the average halogen bulb at 55W producing a mere 1800 Lumens). HID's are legal only in a DoT approved HID projector (Halogen projectors are not approved for HID use).

The numbers you see with a "K" afterwards are colour temperatures:

Yellow:
1500 k Candlelight
2700-2900 k Yellow painted fog halogen bulbs
-------------------------------
Yellowish white:
3200 k Sunrise/sunset
3200 k Premium H7 non painted halogen bulb
3400 k 1 hour from dusk/dawn
-------------------------------
White:
4100 k Philips/Osram OEM HID D2S
5500 k Bright sunny daylight around noon
----------------
Blueish white
5500-5600 k Electronic photo flash
6000 k Philips Ultinon HID D2S
6500-7500 k Overcast sky
-----------------
Blue:
9000-12000 k Blue sky
-----------------
Purple:
28000 Northern sky
12000-30000 k Ultra Violet light (black light)

The higher the number, the less light output you'll get from ~3200 Lumens at 4300K down to 0 Lumens at 26000K (useless unless you have night-vision on). This list of colours is not subjective to the company you are buying from, it doesn't change, just like an inch is not different from Ford to Chevy. Also note that it isn't 6K, it is 6000K. The latter is the proper way of describing a light colour, while the former is the slang that most people use out of either laziness or ignorance of the topic (no offense intended to anyone in their chosen usage).

I STRONGLY suggest reading more on HID's at HIDPlanet and specifically their HIDPlanet University: HID newb crash course [Learn the basics here].

The kit companies will lie about legalities and they will lie about their colours and colour scales, just to get your money. HID Kits do glare and cause discomfort to other drivers (not to mention the dangers of being temporarily blinded). Some of the users here have adjusted their headlights to aim lower, though I fail to see the point. What's the point in having extra bright lights if you have to limit their distance?

In the end, the decision is up to you, but learn what it is that you are buying, don't just buy blindly. I would also heavily look into a full retrofit, which is taking a legal HID projector from an OEM application (such as an Acura TL) and integrating it into the stock headlights. While a full retrofit is not fully legal, most places cannot tell that they aren't stock. They provide the cutoff necessary to stop the HID's from blinding most oncoming drivers and harness the light into a consistent, wide and uniform beam of light.


1. Like I said above, even though Kits are not legal in any way, 55W is less legal than a 35W version.
2. With kit companies there is no such thing as a digital ballast. Oh, they claim theirs has a micro computer in their ballast that saves your headlights from hot-restrike (turning on the bulb without giving it enough cool down time after shutting them off) damage, but if you open it up, it's no different than any other cheap Chinese ballast.
3. Agreed, stay around the 4300K if possible. The blues you see when passing an Acura or BMW, etc, is called prism effect. The prism effect is produced when the light passes through the HID projector's front lens. This is NOT the colour of the light. The true colour of the light is White with a tint of yellow. You cannot achieve this effect without retrofitting an HID projector into your headlights.

Please note, also, there was no attempt here to attack anyone on the board for their choice of headlights. This is just information and should be taken as such. Your choice is your choice and nobody else's. I don't judge you for your choice, the Police do that enough already.

 

Any recomedations as far as brands and websites?

 

55w bulbs and ballasts are much brighter than the 35w agreed...but they also wash out alot of the color... so a 8000k 55w would have as much color as a 6000k maybe less....and putting them in the fog light housing is not recommended because they create more heat than the regular 35w hids and can cause it to burn

 

Really? Just find the cheapest one you can. None of the after market HID Kits have any sort of quality control. Get the cheapest one you can, preferably with a lifetime warranty. Brand to brand, they're all the same internals when you open them up. They may last you 5 years, they may last you 5 hours.

Some videos on OEM HID's (Read: NOT Kits):

Hella Germany Videos:
Halogen vs. Xenon
Bi-Xenon
Cornering Light
Bending Light
AFS (Adaptive Front-Lighting System)

AutoExpress UK Video:
Xenon test: Blinded by the light

And, here's an image comparing a HID Kit, in stock headlights, to an OEM Retrofit in the same vehicle:


Just some more thoughts for you. Cheers!

 

What are those lights that your running i wanted to pick up a set for an F250 but didn't know what to run as far as wattage and bulb size !!! thanks


also For the F150 get 6000k if you want a nice blue tinit that looks nice not blue and get the 50W they make ALL the difference i will never go back also picked up the sliders they are AWESOME they simply move the ballast to focus the light differently

i am also running 50W 6000k 9005's in my lower fog's they are wired to the ignition so Always on....i have the rectangular shaped fog and they don't get too hot i've ran them for 6 hours straight no problems at all

 

Old thread for the OP but to anyone else reading this for info, I'd stick with 6000K if going with HID's.