Thinking out loud here...well online anyway.

Has anyone used the headlight tint film on these trucks or any car? I'm wondering if by adding a light smoked film similar to a 75% window tint over the headlights if it would reduce the glare from HID's. Also giving my lights the dark look without me having to pull them apart.

Usually I'm a big advocate of not using HID's in a halogen style light but I HATE the yellow appearence the factory halogens have. Also please don't tell me to get silverstars, PIAA's etc.....I've had those and they aren't any better.

Example:

http://www.fordf150parts.com/f150-he...ght-film-p-595

 

I dunno, but it's an interesting idea. I have HID's in my heads and fogs and that film is a good price and looks pretty good. You should get it and try it!

 

how bad is the glare from your HID's? Do you get flashed often?


I think I'm going to go ahead and take the plunge and tint the headlights and fogs. Then add 35W 6000k HID's.

 

Sorry, but adding tint film over the headlights defeats the purpose of getting HID's. You are diminshing the extra light (spectrum) with the tint. The issue with the glare isn't going to be fixed much with polarized film, it's an issue of focusing the beam. Get HID projectors and retrofit your reflector housings, then you'll have HID's without galre and a perfect cutoff line.

 

I don't think the glare is that bad on mine. My truck is lifted (6" on 35's) but I don't ever get flashed (wish it was the good kind haha). What I do get tho, is people getting pissed when I pull up behind them at lights. They'll flip me off, and then I put my high beams on and they realize I had my lows on....In drive thrus, I'll turn off my headlights so I don't blind the person in front of me if they're in a little car.

 

I'm running 35 Watt 4500Ks in my Heads and Fogs, and I don't get flashed at all. The glare is actually very minimal looking at them head on. If you aren't getting flashed, don't worry about it.

Sadly, I'm still not sure if I like the 35W in my Heads at the moment. I used 55W in my last truck, and I'm definitely missing the extra lumens. On the plus side, I'm not getting flashed at all with the 35W, where I did get flashed every now and then with the 55W.

 

The added light is not my main purpose here, it's actually getting rid of the yellow appearance from the factory halogens. The factory lights put out plenty of light in my opinion. Plus as soon as I figure out how I want to mount them I have 4 6" off road lights I've converted to 6000k HID for the back roads, which I'm on 90% of the time.

I think it was hopeful thinking that the tint would diminish the HID's enough that they wouldn't glare, giving a better color and keeping close to factory output.

HID projectors are a huge investment that I won't be making on this vehicle, plus the projector in this large of a light wouldn't look "right"

Thanks for the insight

 

Well I believe the investment is something like $400 dollars to have it done for you, half that if you want to do it yourself. They have all kinds of prjectos and projector surrounds that would make the projector look appropriate for the housing size. In any case, it's not any more money than you spent on the 4 off-road lights/HID's. I think Silverstars are you best option if you want a whiter light; but as you already seem to know, they aren't the greatest solution and only tend to last 1-2 years.

 

where can u get ans hid retrofit for 400

 

I went ahead and ordered a set of 6000k 35W Bi-Xenon HID's for the headlights. After they are installed I'll see how bad the glare is and if I'm getting flashed. I'm still looking into the headlight vinyl, I guess we'll have to wait and see. On a side note, I may go ahead with the vinyl and cut out the section where the actual headlight is because I can't talk myself into baking them and painting the insides.

 

won't the heat put off by those hid's melt the film? i dunno because i don't have hid's. but i am an electrician and regular lights that are hid's get extremely hot!!! just thinkin' aloud.