DDM HID's question

So i have a set of 55W H4 headlight kit from DDM, and was curious if anyone knew what that metal reflector piece thing does on the light? it looks like it redirects the light so it doesn't reflect through the whole housing, and i was curious to know if you can remove that metal piece, and what would happen if you did?

 

It's to focus the light. Without that your beam pattern would be all wierd

 

Acually, its you high beam shield. Your bulb retracts to expose its "filament" to the reflector. These plug and plays have a bad enough scatter as is, please DON'T remove it. You'll basically have high beams only.

 

H4 is the same as 9003. This is a dual filament bulb, meaning it has a high and low bulb in one (on a standard halogen bulb). When you convert a dual filament bulb to HID, you have 4 purchase options. Since HID bulbs only have 1 possible brightness, they can't be dual filament like halogen. The light in HID comes from a burning gas instead of a coil (filament). So, with that said,

Option 1:
Your H4/9003 HID bulb will be a standard xenon light and your "high beam" will no longer function. Your Low beam will be HID and when you hit high beam, you light will just go out.

Option 2:
You get the same thing as option 1, except a standard halogen bulb will also be attached to the same base (socket) as your xenon HID bulb. The HID will function as your Low beam, and when you hit your highs, your HID will shit off, and the standard halogen high beam will turn on.

Option 3:
Your HID bulb will have a small actuator attached to it at the base and a shroud (like you described) over the bulb. The low beam functions as normal with your HID bulb and the shroud has no affect on the light output or beam pattern (as stated before). When you hit you high beam, that little actuator will tilt the actual HID xenon bulb and change the angle of it. This is where the shroud will now work in conjunction with the new bulb angle, and your light output will "appear" as if it were a high beam. The light output does not change, and the bulb does not get brighter in any way. The only difference is now the light will point more upwards. Once the high beam is released, the bulb will tilt back down. The bulb never turns on or off during this process. This is commonly referred to as "bi-xenon" even though they are not true bixenon bulbs.

Option 4:
This is a true bixenon bulb. It will have 2 HID bulbs on the same socket, each of different lengths. 1 will function as your low and it will switch to the other for the high beam. This is the biggest waste if money because HIDs take time to heat up, so switching to your 'high' will take about 10 seconds before its bright again, then another 5-10 seconds for your low to get bright once you switch back.

You more than likely have option 3. This typically requires the installation of a special relay harness and module which should be supplied with the HID 'kit'. If you don't have this, you may need to purchase one or these lights will not function properly.

Option 1 is what most people get because its the cheapest and also because your 'low' beam HID is still brighter than a halogen 'high' beam so there is no point to get option 2.

Option 2 is what I have because I have a special use for the halogen portion of the bulb which is unrelated. I actually think it is nice to still have a high beam option anyways just in case, so IMHO, this is best.

Option 3 (which is what I am pretty sure you have) is the worst because typical P&P HID kits (like DDM) are made of very cheap quality, and that little actuator breaks very easily, causing you to lose the "high beam" function that you paid nearly 2x as much for. (I know this from a lot of personal experience as an installer... trust me). They always break. Even besides the fact that they break easily, there is no point in spending more on this extra fake "bi-xenon" capability because the low beam still somehow lights up more area then the "high" beam function does anyways, so its pointless. I had a set in my Tacoma and never once used highs because it was darker then the low setting and the motor was so loud when they switched... oh and did I mention... they broke too

Option 4 is also really horrible because people tend to use their high beams to "flash" other drivers for various reasons... flashing and HID bulb will destroy your bulbs and ballasts very very quickly, even for expensive high end kits.

Anyways, the following pictures represent the 4 options in order 1-4. Yours should look like the third picture. If it doesn't have that big black section before the bulb but it has the shroud you mentioned, then you may want to double check if they are H4/9003 and if figure out how they work before install.







↑ (Notice the large motor on the back of the bulbs in the picture above) ↑




Let me clarify that it IS possible to have option 1 and still have a shield. It supposedly helps with the scatter of light, but in all reality it does nothing except reduce light output. It really doesn't do anything to keep your lights from blinding other drivers. These are some pictures of what they look like. This is more than likely what you probably have:

 

You're amazing thank you. That definitely put it all into perspective. And I have the set with no high beam.

So seeing the metal piece is just to "focus" light, removing it would just allow the light to go through my whole head light housing but will make it more scattered? But will it reduce the amount of light or increase?

 

If you have the low beam only bulbs, the metal piece is a shield, to keep the light off of certain parts of your reflector, it's NOT to focus the light. Like I posted above, if you remove the shield, you will have high beams only, blinding every one on the road.

 

okay.... so upward reflection (high beam) instead of just reflecting towards the ground

 

The bulb tabs should only go in one way. Best I recall, your shield will be on the bottom of your bulb, directing light upwards to the top of your reflector, then downwards for a low beam pattern.

 

exactly... thank you so much for the clarification