HID Conversion of my Hella 4000 Halogens today!

They are absolutely brighter, no doubt about that. They should be--those halogens probably won't be putting out more than 2500 lumens, whereas HID should be around 3200.

The second picture shows quite a bit of errant light above and below the spots. Above is a lot lighter, but right below between the spots is big a hot spot almost connecting the beams. It could be that's just because the light source is brighter and it's not showing up with the dimmer halogen bulbs. Or, it could be different exposure on the camera.

With spot lights, it's pretty likely there's not a "whole lot going on" in the reflector bowl. However, if it's anything but a parabolic reflector, it's going to change the pattern regardless. The light sources are different shapes--one is roughly a rectangle, and one is a large "blob" in an elliptical shape.

Think of a signal mirror, or even just reflecting the sun through a window off your watch face. Ever remember as a kid trying to spot someone with it? A tiny movement of the watch face/signal mirror makes the point of light reflected across the room change significantly. When this happens with a headlight, you get some very different light outputs--including a lot of stray light that can be damaging to the operator or others (too much light in the wrong places can be as bad or worse than not enough light).

One of your pictures with the bluer lights has the spot way off, which must mean the bulb wasn't on quite right (either mounting or manufacturing), which is another good example of what I'm talking about.

In this case, it looks like it works well enough--but in most cases it doesn't.

However, my explanation is why the other poster's 500FF's didn't work well. They use the reflector for a "driving" pattern. Factory halogens have this same issue.

Anyway, not trying to discourage you in this case. It looks like they'll be fine, and the other lights will probably wash-out any errant "hot spots" (and you won't be using them in traffic--I hope LOL!). I almost converted my Lightforces before I got rid of them. The biggest problem I had with the Lightforces is that they were too much of a spot light, and my eyes would gravitate to where the "spots" were. On curvy roads, I needed to be looking elsewhere. I do miss the reach of those beams though--even with halogens, they went as far as I could see at 65MPH.

 

Thank you iroc! I appreciate your input, and I want to study what you say more, later... I am pretty worn out from work now.

If you have been reading of my HID trials with GG Lighting and all the bulb, ballast, and 'flickering/ jittering' of the light beam as seen on my wall... I would apprciate your take.

Obviously, I went with a garage based business not just to save some bucks but to help a young guy with his business. I really didn't know that the product quality could be soooo far off... specially when his source (he said) was the same as a popular supplier people go to direct, often mentioned here on TW.

It is more fun to just learn about lighting and see how it works, then (almost) to use it in actual driving... I don't do much off road night driving, actually.

Thanks again iroc409!

 

I haven't read the whole thread, but I will try to tonight after work. It's too bad you've had issues. Anything that isn't OEM when it comes to lighting (or OEM by reputable manufacturer) is pretty hit-or-miss. For example, the only decent HID lamps are actually usually the genuine article--D2S/D2R from Osram/Philips, GE, etc. I think the often praised "Morimoto" stuff is now getting sidelined for OEM stuff. I think the cheapest stuff you can get now that's basically OEM is Koito, and I think they make some of the Toyota ballasts (and also apparently made faulty airline seats at one time).

Sometimes the little guys in the garage are extremely talented. It's hard to just discount them, but it's easier to get burned as well.

However, I've done enough reading on automotive lighting to know there's a lot to learn. It's intensely complex. Reading a beam pattern can't be done reliably without proper (and very expensive) photometry (I think that's the term) equipment. Companies like Stanley and Hella spend a lot of money making these things, and good lighting is expensive. It's hard to outdo millions in R&D money in your garage (though it does happen). Not everything OEM is best, but it's hard to beat in terms of reliability.

Anyway, I'm rambling again. I don't do a ton of night driving either, but we like taking road trips and when that light is needed, it's needed. I drove back from the coast at night a couple months back, and could really tell my Osram bulbs have worn down considerably. I really could have used the Lightforces! Lights, brakes, and tires are IMHO the top 3 safety items on a vehicle.

 

Thanks, and I look forward to more of what you have to say on this subject!

The Off Road Lighting Mfg. near where I live (Baja Designs) uses the Osram Sylvania Generation 5 HID ballast and bulbs. www.bajadesigns.com

 

this thread is old but i'd figured i'd throw this in there to clear a few things up. 8k lights with a 35w ballas are very dark blue and so u see alot of ricer cars with it for the bling. 8k with 55w ballas also has the blue but is alot brighter with more white. Now a 6k with 35 ballas looks very similar to the 8k with 55w ballas and that's most likely what happened. a 6k with a 55w ballas is pretty much diamond white. most race trucks use a combination of 4300- 6k 55w ballas offroad lights on there truck. hope this clears things up a little bit.

 

Thanks Cole...

 

Do you have any better pics showing how to place the ballast in the housing to make everything fit together? I have the kit from GG and can't figure out the fitment

 

Hard to believe that GG is still in business. Soon after my install in 2011, and the ballast fails, wrong color temps, etc. (apparently several others on Tacoma World, too?) he left a lot of people here out in the 'cold'. He was banned. A friend of his, later on, picked up the pieces and made good when my ballast failed and the color was wrong, I wish him well... however.

Anyway, to answer you, I think I posted all the photos I took of him installing it. It is a tight fit, but the slim ballast will just fit inside the lamp housing... it is just loose but when you put the lens half on, it is so tight, nothing rattles.

 

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/for-everyone-that-feels-did-you-wrong.197422/

Anyway, Cody never contacted me or apologized since for not returning my calls (but answered his phone immediately when using a different phone to call him).

This was 6 years ago, he was working out of his parent's garage, so I know a lot can change. In a thread in 2012 (I just saw now in 2017) he was chastised for not making things right after all the promo I was trying to give him (in this thread).

Hope you are doing better Cody and you stopped using the cheap Chinese stuff... The headaches are just not worth it.

I highly recommend LED... no warm up period to get bright, no ballast, no 'too blue' color problems.

 

Yeah I heard about that but GG has been back for s little while now and actually had a lot of good LED products. And I've had a few different led products but I just like the old school 9" lights and the way they look. plus I still believe HID will outperform LED but that's my opinion haha

 

Thanks for the help by the way man, got one done and 4 more to go

 

I have the two Hella 4000 lamps (spot beams) with GG converted to HID (35 watt, 5,000°K or about)
The center two:




After I replaced the two outside lamps to LED (7" 60 watt Cree spot beams), with the Hella HIDs on, too:




Projected against a wall. The LEDs just knocked the socks off the converted Hella 4000s.

Now, I have all 4 lamps locations with the Cree 7" LEDs (2 spot and 2 Euro/Driving):



I may consider selling the pair of Hellas with the HID conversion that this thread is about?

 

Do you have a link for those 7" lights?

 

Nope, bought them from a friend off a Land Cruiser he got. I searched forever before finding what looked like them on Google. 7" round Cree.

 

Gotchya! Any pictures of them without the lights on?

 

Driving (Euro) Beam has fluted convex lens. Spot (Pencil) Beam has plain lenses. They light up the parking lots. No warm up, it is instant/ The light is pure white.





By Pancho's at Bahia San Rafael


Happy New Year 2017! Viva Baja!

How about if IVAN STEWART stands between me and my LED lights, while holding my book (Baja California Land of Missions) I just gave him?

 

That's pretty awesome!

That's