converting KC back ups/floods to HID

I have a couple of halogen KC back up/floods under my rear bumper and I am going to move them to the rear of my cargo basket on the roof of the cab. I am thinking of converting them to HID. Do any of you know how far away the ballasts can be placed?

 

bump

 

As far as the wires are on whatever HID kit you decide to order

 

Typically right around 10" or so

 

HID's? Really, how much brighter do you need, I got 2X130 watts in my KC's and jesus, they are plenty bright. I can see clearly behind me even with the tinted windows rolled up. To each his own but it seems a little unnecessary to me

Mine are mounted at the top of my rack



This is from about 40-50 feet back, that's 260 watts

 

Typical HIDs are only 35 watts each, so, your prolly brighter than he'd be.

 

Watts are power, lumens is light output, depending on which K bulbs he puts in there (6000K) is probably gonna be brighter than mine. My point is, why spend the extra cash, 35 bucks shipped for 2 KC 130 watt bulbs and I can blind people with a quickness.

 

I did some reading on this as I need to extend my Wires from the ballasts as well. I found that most people said as long as a good quality wire is used anywhere from 10 up to 20' will be fine.

 

This might sound goofy but it's the best wire for this application~Low Voltage outdoor lighting wire, the voltages are the same-12 volts, it's designed to run a couple of hundred and more, it has very thick insulation against the elements as it designed to be run in landscapes, in the elements and wattage wise it will handle 300-400 watts on a single two strand wire run. Technically speaking, our lighting is exactly the same, low volt lighting and (in the case of my dclb), around 35 feet of run depending on how i run the wires.
In my case I ran the single two-strand from the engine bay, down along the frame rails, up between the cab and the bed, did my split there and ran each set tucked under the cap on top of the bed sides, to each of the lumber rack rear uprights and to each of the lights. The only trick was that that wiring didn't fit into the KC's grommets but i bought two rubber stoppers from the local hardware store, drilled them out just enough to stuff the wires through and then modded the stoppers till they fit snug into the KC housings. Mine are flipped upside down so the wires actually come out on the (now) top side of the lights, so far this winter they are totally watertight.