Headlights??? Which ones should I go with? There are so many! Halos, HID, Projector??

[Hazieview]

So I need some headlights.....

I am willing to spend a little extra money if it is worth doing. I have an '81 Chevy with 2 square headlights on each side.

I want to be able to see better than just the yellow haze that my old headlights gave off but I DONT want to blind people. I also DONT want purple, green, blue, or any other color. Plain WHITE will do just fine.

What do you guys recommend?

I was thinking the LMC heavy duty harness with halogen bulbs and bran new head light lenses.

However if I can get better lights for a little more cost I would prefer that. Any advice you guys can give would be great.

[JRANGER]

I bought my lens and h4 from Amazon but I would def recommend going with the Relax Harness to make it brighter

[wilkin250r]

I don't know what options are out there for squarebodies, most of my lighting experience is with motorcycles.

But I CAN tell you that halogen headlights are indeed brighter than regular incandescent bulbs, which is why the automotive world has pretty much moved to them universally. HID lighting is brighter still, and is my personal choice for my ATV due to the greater output and less energy consumption. However, energy consumption isn't a major concern on a truck, and some people consider HID lighting to be too bright.

[Evil Trailblazer SS]

Hella H4 Conversion Kit with halogen bulbs and headlight relay harness...

- End of story -
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[BMERDOC]

Going under the assumption you are on a budget. Do your own relay upgrade, get some Sylvania Silverstars, clean your grounds and have your headlight aiming checked. How old are your current lights? They do dim over time. I dont trust the relay kits out there and the can be kinda ugly.

[bucannon]

the only bad thing ive heard about using the relay harness with halogen lights is the increased heat causes the glass lenses to crack. that is one advantage of HIDs since they dont produce as much heat, and if you get about 4000k they will produce a nice white light and aimed properly will not blind people

[VH Coachworks]

Your for surely going to want to upgrade your OE headlamp harness to begin with. That alone will make a pretty large upgrade in light output. I would also recommend a halogen upgrade for the lighting, and not the low end halogens. Sylvania Silverstar Ultra's are the king of Halogens in my personal experience, they will be leaps and bounds ahead of any incandesant bulb out there. However, a set of 4300K HID's will still be MUCH whiter and have MUCH more light output when aimed correctly and installed in an appropriate housing. Once you have driven a vehicle with a set of properly installed HID's, you will never go back to Halogens! If you want the best possible light output, look into retrofitting a OE style projector into a set of clear headlight housings and then install HID's. We will have an article up within the next month or so on retro-fitting projectors.

Take a look at this article we wrote, it will go a little more in-depth on the topic: http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=491436

[Evil Trailblazer SS]

A 4300k will yield a slightly yellow but mainly white light output and a 5000k will be a pure white with no blue hues at all...the choice in HID should be made lightly, cheap HIDs are crap and the placement of the bulb's "arc chamber" is critical to reducing glare in a non-projector housing.
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[Stew_Magoo]

Before opening your wallet and wasting money, spend some time getting learned.


http://www.danielsternlighting.com/tech/tech.html

[stroker87]

I agree with the 5k hid bulbs they give off more of a pure white then the 4300k do I only run the 5k in my cars, the 95 gmc i just bought does not have HID's and I hate it can see a thing at night but i'll be fixing that shortly

[BLE 'BURBAN]

I have these from truck-lite. They are the same as the LMC "EUROPEAN STYLE" in my 90 suburban with single headlight setup. I got the 5000 kelvin white light as well for a truer white light as opposed to the other "colors" available.


They use the 9003 (H4) style bulb which I swapped out for the H.I.D. kit I got from www.v-leds.com

[Evil Trailblazer SS]

V-LEDs makes good middle of the row kits, but I have had some of their stuff fail recently, but they always sand behind there product!

I went the www.theretrofitsource.com and their kits are more expensive, but include full wiring harness/relay upgrade and they seem to be built to a higher quality standard, no report of long term reliability from me yet though!
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[6lcummins]

Originally Posted by VH Coachworks

Your for surely going to want to upgrade your OE headlamp harness to begin with. That alone will make a pretty large upgrade in light output. I would also recommend a halogen upgrade for the lighting, and not the low end halogens. Sylvania Silverstar Ultra's are the king of Halogens in my personal experience, they will be leaps and bounds ahead of any incandesant bulb out there. However, a set of 4300K HID's will still be MUCH whiter and have MUCH more light output when aimed correctly and installed in an appropriate housing. Once you have driven a vehicle with a set of properly installed HID's, you will never go back to Halogens! If you want the best possible light output, look into retrofitting a OE style projector into a set of clear headlight housings and then install HID's. We will have an article up within the next month or so on retro-fitting projectors.

Take a look at this article we wrote, it will go a little more in-depth on the topic: http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=491436

I agree, I went 6k HID BiXenon kit on the 98.5 Dodge and I was severely impressed. Spent $80 shipped on the kit and it came from China where ALL HID parts are manufactured.

[Evil Trailblazer SS]

Originally Posted by 6lcummins

I agree, I went 6k HID BiXenon kit on the 98.5 Dodge and I was severely impressed. Spent $80 shipped on the kit and it came from China where ALL HID parts are manufactured.

That statement could not be farther from the truth...but I will digress!
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[INSIDIOUS '86]

Go to ddm tuning. 15 dollars a kit there with a lifetime warrantee. Mines been going strong for a couple months!
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[Evil Trailblazer SS]

Just wait till one of them fails...DDM has a very sketchy customer service history and it's a crap shoot whether you get taken care of properly or shoved on the back burner for warranty replacements...
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[6lcummins]

Originally Posted by Evil Trailblazer SS

That statement could not be farther from the truth...but I will digress!
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Then is it Japan?

[Evil Trailblazer SS]

Originally Posted by 6lcummins

Then is it Japan?

No, you would have been correct in saying MOST HIDs (especially the crappy ones, like DDM) are made in China, but the good stuff is made in Japan, Germany, etc.

McCulloch, Hella, Philips, PIAA, Helios, Pro Lumen, Maruta (M-Tec) and even Morimoto are the high end names in the HID world and you really do get what you pay for. Not saying all cheap HIDs suck, but it's a total crap shoot, one ballast may last 5 years and the next one may only last 3 months. Quality comes with consistency and both of those come for a price...Expensive HIDs are not for everyone and not everyone can justify the cost, but I don't mind paying for peace of mind...
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[6lcummins]

Originally Posted by Evil Trailblazer SS

No, you would have been correct in saying MOST HIDs (especially the crappy ones, like DDM) are made in China, but the good stuff is made in Japan, Germany, etc.

McCulloch, Hella, Philips, PIAA, Helios, Pro Lumen, Maruta (M-Tec) and even Morimoto are the high end names in the HID world and you really do get what you pay for. Not saying all cheap HIDs suck, but it's a total crap shoot, one ballast may last 5 years and the next one may only last 3 months. Quality comes with consistency and both of those come for a price...Expensive HIDs are not for everyone and not everyone can justify the cost, but I don't mind paying for peace of mind...
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Ok, then I was wrong, the VVME kit I got says they are HELLA ballasts. We shall see and I'll see if i have to use the 2 yr warranty...

[Squareforceone]

Sylvanina halogen bulbs

[All Biz]

Blue Lights

[All Biz]

Blue lights

[dale3goodwrench]

I am getting ready to change my headlights to halogen also. Anybody have a link to where I can buy a relay kit ?

[flamingbig10]

I made my own two 30 amp relays, two relay connectors, one 30 amp circuit breaker, and a assortment of wire

[Hazieview]

Are HIDs setups way more expensive than Halogen setups.

I'm still confused on what all I need for a good HID setup.
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