Shop Installed HID Headlights

[Team_DC-Derrick]

plug and play bro, you plug the ballast into the stock head light wire, and put the bulb into the socket... problem solved, thats all there is to it lol

[tonedeaf]

Ewwww P&P kits. New clear housings for a full retrofit > P&P kits.

[Team_DC-Derrick]

Ewwww P&P kits. New clear housings for a full retrofit > P&P kits.

hes asking about HIDs, i didnt see him asking about new headlight housings LOL, p&p hid kits will work just fine 99.9% of the time..

but having new housings is always a good idea

[nick23parker]

Do i need the error code eliminator? or what is that? or the dual in/out harness?

[theTank77]

Yeah i just don't want to mess up and then be out of lights and $100 something bucks and the possibility of hurting my electrical system. I'll keep researching before i decide. I need to find someone that has done the install on a similar model tacoma. I like learning new things and all but i dont want to screw myself over if you know what i mean, Im 16 and pretty new to the whole car audio and working on cars. I like it though.

for the wiring its easy as hell. all you have to do is run a power wire from the ballasts to the battery and have good grounds. then there is just a plug that plugs into your stock headlight plug. as for the bulbs its just like changing any other headlight bulb.... just one big big thing.... never... ever touch the bulb with your bare hand. always hold the bulb by the metal. if you do touch the bulb then you need to clean it with nothing but a clean lint free microfiber rag. the oil on your finger will cause a hot spot and the bulb will explode. And honestly you can get HID kits cheaper on ebay. i got my kit on ebay with slim digital ballasts for $40. i would take pics to show you but i just went mudding and everything is caked in mud

[kickass audio]

The idea of hid's burning cooler than normal halogens i can tell you is a total lie. I have FutureVision 4300k 35 and 50w HID's for my 04 envoy. They put out a lot more heat than the halogens ever could imagine. After just a few seconds the hid's are so hot you can feel their warmth with your hand being 3 inches from the housing of your light. For the high/low bulbs you can either get ones that just pop into the stock wires and housing and call it a day, you can get the same bulbs that are plug and play BUT get a relay for them as to not melt the stock wiring (highly recommend this), or if you want a fun project tear the lights apart and do a projector retrofit to make them high/low.

What i did with my truck was buy new lens' for the high and low beams and when i got them i tore those suckers apart. Once i had it apart i did the same thing as meade did to perform the HID retrofit to install a projector in the housing. Once that was installed i ran the wires through the grommet, sealed them up, and then took 100% silicone clear caulk and sealed the lens' back up so they wouldnt leak. This took me 2 days to tear the lights apart, dremel out the hole to insert the projector, and seal it all back up. Then you have to wait 48 hours for the caulk to cure or it will leak and get water in the housing. I also had relay kits for the ENTIRE hid setup so that my high, low, and fog lamps' ballasts get power from the relay not the stock wiring. I always recommend this as the stock wiring on my truck was like 18 gauge and it is too thin to provide power while the ballasts are warming up the bulb. The ballasts can draw at peak when they are turned on 20 amps of power so 20 amps through thin wire wont end well and i think its better to pay $40 for a good relay kit than to have the wires melt and need replacing.

Also to answer your question about the error eliminator, you may and may not need this. The error eliminator is used in vehicles that will tell you that a light bulb is blown in the system. Once way to test if you have it would be to take the wires going to one of your headlights and disconnect it then start your car up. If you have the error detection system it will show in your dash that a light is blown (see owners manual because each car is different), if you dont have it, you wont notice anything different in the system on your dash.

And one more thing to keep in mind, sometimes when you put hid's in the stock housing that came with your vehicle you can have "hot spots" or areas of light in which there is a lot of brightness and other areas which are dark and wont illuminate the road. I did not have this problem with my fog lamps which i just installed in the stock housings that came with the truck since i couldnt get those unbolted from my bumper to perform a projector retrofit on them. I have a clean area of light with no hot spots so its great. Now with my high beams since i rarely use them i have hot spots. If i flick on my high's there will be an area the size of a small car light up very brightly and some areas where the light scatters around the path.

There really isnt much to doing hid's, if you do the projector retrofit that will be the hardest thing you can get yourself into. If you dont do the projector retrofit and just get the bulbs to be plug and play and get relay harnesses for them the hardest part would be routing the wires for the relay away from your engine fans and other moving parts.

[BeatBox]

good info there ^ ^ ^

[Brodeisel]

Hids are easier then fuck to put in just do them your self bitch

[jg23]

Hids are easier then fuck to put in just do them your self bitch

You probly won't last very long on here

[armykyle1]

The idea of hid's burning cooler than normal halogens i can tell you is a total lie. I have FutureVision 4300k 35 and 50w HID's for my 04 envoy. They put out a lot more heat than the halogens ever could imagine. After just a few seconds the hid's are so hot you can feel their warmth with your hand being 3 inches from the housing of your light. For the high/low bulbs you can either get ones that just pop into the stock wires and housing and call it a day, you can get the same bulbs that are plug and play BUT get a relay for them as to not melt the stock wiring (highly recommend this), or if you want a fun project tear the lights apart and do a projector retrofit to make them high/low.

What i did with my truck was buy new lens' for the high and low beams and when i got them i tore those suckers apart. Once i had it apart i did the same thing as meade did to perform the HID retrofit to install a projector in the housing. Once that was installed i ran the wires through the grommet, sealed them up, and then took 100% silicone clear caulk and sealed the lens' back up so they wouldnt leak. This took me 2 days to tear the lights apart, dremel out the hole to insert the projector, and seal it all back up. Then you have to wait 48 hours for the caulk to cure or it will leak and get water in the housing. I also had relay kits for the ENTIRE hid setup so that my high, low, and fog lamps' ballasts get power from the relay not the stock wiring. I always recommend this as the stock wiring on my truck was like 18 gauge and it is too thin to provide power while the ballasts are warming up the bulb. The ballasts can draw at peak when they are turned on 20 amps of power so 20 amps through thin wire wont end well and i think its better to pay $40 for a good relay kit than to have the wires melt and need replacing.

Also to answer your question about the error eliminator, you may and may not need this. The error eliminator is used in vehicles that will tell you that a light bulb is blown in the system. Once way to test if you have it would be to take the wires going to one of your headlights and disconnect it then start your car up. If you have the error detection system it will show in your dash that a light is blown (see owners manual because each car is different), if you dont have it, you wont notice anything different in the system on your dash.

And one more thing to keep in mind, sometimes when you put hid's in the stock housing that came with your vehicle you can have "hot spots" or areas of light in which there is a lot of brightness and other areas which are dark and wont illuminate the road. I did not have this problem with my fog lamps which i just installed in the stock housings that came with the truck since i couldnt get those unbolted from my bumper to perform a projector retrofit on them. I have a clean area of light with no hot spots so its great. Now with my high beams since i rarely use them i have hot spots. If i flick on my high's there will be an area the size of a small car light up very brightly and some areas where the light scatters around the path.

There really isnt much to doing hid's, if you do the projector retrofit that will be the hardest thing you can get yourself into. If you dont do the projector retrofit and just get the bulbs to be plug and play and get relay harnesses for them the hardest part would be routing the wires for the relay away from your engine fans and other moving parts.

really good post! I second getting the relay, not having one might work in the beginning but in some cars with shitty wiring you could end up burning up the ballast. But HID kits are pretty easy to instal, but some headlight housing will require modification to fit the longer HID bulb and run the wiring. if you look through my build log(link in sig) you can see how I hooked up my fog light HIDs.