Howdy All,

Well I finally bought the Sylvania Xenarc HID Kit. It's like they STuFFeD several ENiGiZeR BuNNiES into the headlight housing and their all givin Da FiNGeR to the night as they cut thru the darkness.

Unbelievable how much light these project. I am able to light up all 4 lanes of the highway from the left lane and this is in the city. I plan to travel northbound this weekend into the BaLL's of MoTHeR NaTURE and anticipate that once I get away from the city lights that I will be further impressed. I can HaRDLY CoNTAIN MYSeLF. I was concerned that I may be offending my fellow motorist with my new X-Ray equipment. So my friend offered to be Da LAB RAT and drive in front of me and then as an oncoming motorist toward me. He said that they were not offending at all. Course he's now blind in one eye, has been bleached white, glows in the dark and walks with a slight limp.

Unfortunately ran into a SNAFU when my buddy and I were installing the lights. The installation is a breeze with these. The harness that they provide plugs into your existing headlight harness then plugs into the back of each ballast. After that a connection for the Pos and Neg side of the battery, then adjust the headlight aim and your good to go. My SNAFU occurred when we tried to install the driver’s side and couldn't get the harness connector to plug Into the connector on the headlight ballast assembly. The connector was shifted off center slightly. Which would not allow the harness plug to fully seat and engage. Finally was able to get it to seat and lock into place. No BIGGiE called Sylvania and they are sending out a new headlight assembly and a new harness. I must applaud Sylvania's customer service it was EXCELLANT. There was no doubt that these individual truly care about their customers and are lighting enthusiasts.

Wish I had upgraded sooner, to me the kit is definitely worth every penny I paid for it. The kit is engineered and packaged very well and is literally PLuG and PLaY. I had the opportunity to speak with the engineer that designed them and he even commented that he is very proud of how the kit turned out. Mind you I upgraded from the Sylvania Silver Stars, which was also a HuGE improvement over the PIAA's I was previously running all the way around.

 

I had a beautiful HID kit on my cobra with projector headlights.

I was looking at this kit just last week. I was quoted $700 for the entire thing.

I have a few questions.

How is the light output color? Is it blue/purple or white? Im not sure but i think this kit is @ 4700K color.

You still have an upper socket for a high beam, correct? Is it a 9005 bulb up there?

Please post some pics of the lamp assemblies affixed to the truck. Also, some night pics would be kickass too. Thanks.

 

Flying ****,

I just ordered a pair of the Xenarcs and I should have them by the end of the week. From what I have been told, the lights put out a nice bright white color, but if you look at the vehicle they put off a bluish tone. Not sure how much blue, I am hoping they look something like the new Maxima/Altima HIDs. I don't expect them to be Audi/Acura Blue because the pictures on Sylvania's site don't look that blue. If I am not mistaken, there is a high beam bulb seperate from the HID units. You DO NOT lose your high beams with this kit. Word is you won't need the highs, but when you turn them on the lows and highs are on. I had been wanting some since last summer when they came out, and finally broke down and orderd a pair. Hope they are as good as everyone says they are! I'll let you know after this weekend!

 

Hey, i appreciate your input. I talked to the guy over at SUVLIGHTS.COM and i heard there is a 6700K upgrade kit, which will infact make them purplish. I would still like to see some pics of the setup, esp the beam pattern. HID's are a pain and i went through 18 months of headaches before i got them perfected on the Cobra. Thanks again!

 

I didn't realize there was an upgrade kit. Is it made by Sylvania or an independent supplier? How much was it? Also, I checked on Sylvania'a website and they say their HID system puts out 5400K and daylight is only 5250K at noon! So I would think the Xenarc will have some blue to them, especially compared to halogen. The site also says as the temp goes up the color goes from yellow, to white, to blue-white. If the upgrade is expensive it may not be worth the money just to make the lights even more blue. Again, I will let you know how they look as soon as I get them in. Maybe LoNE WoLF could tell us. Overall, I think they are worth the price considering the whole kit is essentially plug and play. Take the old one out and put the new one in and aim!

 

Howdy All,

Ford97Guy is correct the Xenarc HID produces a VERY VERY white light. When they are initially turned on they produce a bluish color. After aprox 15 - 20 seconds you can see the light changing from blue to white.

The Xenarc kit for the F-150 X2010 produces a color temp of 4,100K producing 3,200 lumens. The auxiliary low beam kit X1010 has a color temp of 5,400K producing 2,600 lumens.

The amount of light that is projected onto the road is truly amazing. The one thing that you have to remember is that this is a complete HID system. The HID upgrade kits that are sold for around 400-500 only provide the ballast and a HID bulb. You use your existing housings. Here is where you run into a HuGE SNAFU. If you use the existing housing the refractor was designed to use a halogen bulb to produce its beam pattern. The Xenarc HID kit comes with new headlight housings that have been designed for the HID bulbs thus producing the proper beam pattern.

When you look closely at the Xenarc housing you will notice that each refractor low and high beam has been designed independently of one another. The low beam uses a HID bulb and the high beam is a halogen H9 bulb. Thus producing the proper beam pattern for each.

The Xenarc HID kit is completely plug and play. Can easily be installed in under an hour, that's with taking your time.

Flying **** here's a link for the Xenarc’s for ya

http://www.sylvania.com/xenarc/prodinfo.htm

http://www.sylvania.com/xenarc/hidfaq.htm

Howdy Ford97Guy - Man your going to LoVE those lights. I don't know if you noticed but on Sylvania's website there is the complete instructions on how to install them. Including the modifications you will need to do having a 97' F-150. One change that I made was I didn't like where they wanted you to place the harness. Basically attached to the fan shroud. My buddy took off the radiator cover (big plastic thing held on with the push on fasteners.) Then we removed the hold-downs for the radiator and placed the harness next to the original headlight harness. We had to remove the tape and rotate the clips 180 so that it would hold the harness in place. This weekend If I get a chance I will take a couple of pics so you can see what I am talking about here's the link for the instructions.

http://www.sylvania.com/xenarc/install.htm

Good luck with the install, if you have any questions feel free to contact me.

 

LoNE WoLF,

Thank you very much for your tips! I like your idea alot! I am with you and I don't like the fact they run the wire over that fan. If the clips ever let go, the wire would get pulled into the fan. Not good!! If you could post up some pics that would be great! I have been looking over the instructions on the Sylvania site and I think I don't have the bracket that they require you to modify on the 1997 F-150. My truck was built in April 1997, so it was a late edition to the new F-150 line. I think they are referring to the original 1997's that came out in August-Decemberish of 1996. I put PIAA's in my headlamps over Christmas and I do not remember having a bracket come out with the lights. It looked alot like the 2000 F-150's lights I saw in a how-to project. Anyway, hope I am right there because I do not want to be fooling with cutting up parts of the bracket! Here's hoping. I apologize for reading the Sylvania info incorrectly. The F-150 retro kit does have a lower output than the auxiliary lights! 4100K vs the 5200K. After they heat up, do they look Blue at all? If you look at the truck, are they bluish or just completely white? Just curious! Thanks again LoNE WoLF! You have been a big help! I appreciate it!

 

Howdy FordGuy,

No need to apologize, I'm just familiar with the HID's and have done allot of reading on the different systems out there. Just want to interject that the color temp is lower but the lumens “output” (which is an official measurement of the output of a light) is higher than the auxiliary. The lights produce a VERY VERY white light. When viewed from certain angles they appear bluish. Also from what I have read a light that is projecting a whiter color temp is actually better for visibility. It makes the road markers and signs stand out allot better. Vs a light that produces a bluish color which actual may reduce your visibility.

That would be cool if you don't need to modify anything. Myself I admit that I usually look my buddy up when anything has to be modified. Just don't have the Knack. For me it is strictly removing this part and replacing with this part. Otherwise I end up with a debris pile that resembles a train wreck.

If I get a chance I will post some pics for you. I plan to send them to Sylvania also. Would not be a good THaNG if the harness clips were to fail. No lights, no radiator and a potential fire hazard (electrical short)

Take care FordGuy and have a GREAT Day!. Look forward to your opinions on the Xenarcs.

 

LoNE WoLF,

I noticed that the lumens were higher on the upgrade kit than on the auxillary kit, so that is good! I would much rather have lights that light-up the road more. Thank you for the update on the color! I'm with you, I can do minor modification and maintenance work, but don't ask me to re-wire all the latest and greatest electronics stuff! I think sending the pics and ideas on to Sylvania about modifying the wire location is a great idea. Couldn't hurt. I haven't received my kit, so I don't know what the clips look like and how well they might hold. I did check on the stock wires and they go exactly were you you ran the Xenarc one, so I will definitely see if I can make that work! Thanks again! And I will let you know how I like them! Should be able to install'em on Sat! Take care!

 

Bad news! I got my lights yesterday and one of them got damaged in shipping! The driver's side light was crushed on the outside corner and it cracked the inner reflective material along the entire light. It is no good! I just don't wanta wait anymore! I CANNOT wait to get them installed! I am dying to try them out! So, the waiting continues.

 

Sorry to hear about your escapade with Fed Ex. I had a similar instance with UPS and, to this day, I won't use them to ship anything. Yes, I'm bitter...

But, back to the Xenarcs. I've been kicking around this idea for quite some time. I have a contact that actually works for OSRAM Sylvania (in Versailles, Kentucky) and I'm pretty sure they can get Sylvania products at an employee rate. I'm really really really hoping I can get him to hook me up.

What do you guys think about the Xenarcs? Still pretty happy with them? Did any of you go from Silverstars to Xenarc? I know as far as lumens are concerned, they're not rated much different. Can I justify the $700+ (pending no discount from my contact) to switch from the Silverstars to HID?

Thank folks.

RP

 

 

Suvlights.com has the kit for $700.

 

Does the low beam HID and light up with the high beam as fordguy87 stated earlier.

Rockpick
If your friend can get a set maybe I can you could get two and I would throw in a little extra for his and your troble.

I've priced them at work (Advance) and I think they were lisited at like $899 or $799 can't remember. With my discount that would be $719 or $559, and that's if they sre still available to us. That's a little much for me just in headlights. Maybe all I need is a good set of driving lights.

 

Howdy KYFordFreak,

Contact Mike McClain at Suv Concepts and tell him that LoNE WoLF sent ya. He will sell them for 615 shipped. 1-909-596-7322 He's a GREAT guy to deal with and EXCELLANT customer service. Yep when you switch to the high beams the low beams and the driving/fog lights all stay on.

FordGuy, Sorry to hear about that I wasn't too impressed with the time it takes Fed Ex to deliver, I think UPS is faster. Hope you get your replacement soon

RockPick Yes still very impressed with the amount of light that they project. I upgraded from SilverStars in my heads and driving/fogs and I would say that there was a HuGE improvement with the Xenarc's.

Also the color temp of the SilverStars vs Xenarcs are similar. The lumen output of the Xenarc’s is 3 times the output of a halogen bulb. When they talk about color temp they are referring to the actual color that the light source produces. The whiter light (higher color temp) is what makes the road signs and road markers really POP - Stand out so that you can see them easier.

Take Care All