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Discussion about modifying your auotomotive lighting, retrofits, auto body, share projects, ideas, etc.
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04-25-2009, 12:28 PM
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#1 | | Retired Super Fast Mustang Moderator
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| HID conversion pictures (I think I made a mistake)
So I upgraded my headlight wiring harness a few weeks back, hoping to improve my headlights. Lowbeams weren't good, and neither were the highbeams.
After the harness install, the low beams were still crap, but the highbeams worked well.
I was originally going to get some e-code housings and some brighter bulbs, but a friend of mine imports HID kits, so I grabbed a kit off him. He also had projector housing which I was under the impression were for HID lights. WRONG. WRONG.    
I drove home from work like that last night. This will not stand. Do you think e-code housings would correct this ? For now I'm going to aim them downward, but the spread from these lights is horrible. I'm also thinking of sticking on some electrical tape on the housings, to create some eyelids as a temporary fix.
Ideas ?
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04-25-2009, 02:51 PM
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#2 | | Banned (ABWS)
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I hope you get a VI.
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04-25-2009, 03:26 PM
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#3 | | Retired Super Fast Mustang Moderator
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Originally Posted by CivicTypeRice  I hope you get a VI. | Thanks for your constructive input.
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04-25-2009, 10:34 PM
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#4 | | Media Officer / MOD
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holy crap thats horrible...
sorry I don't know ho to fix it or if its normal but wow...
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04-25-2009, 11:25 PM
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#5 | | I contribute to threads in the offtopic forum
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Other than getting casper shields for the bulbs to act as a glare cutoff I would dump that rebased kit and run e-codes with better halogen bulbs.
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04-26-2009, 11:16 AM
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#6 | | RS.net, where our google ads make absolutely no sense!
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Get the Hella, Roundeyes, or Autopal housing and run good H4 bulbs with a relay and harness. You will get good light output without blinding oncoming traffic. Don't bother getting those cheap E-code housings off ebay, they are garbage.
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04-26-2009, 05:24 PM
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#7 | | Retired Super Fast Mustang Moderator
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Originally Posted by Uncle Benz Get the Hella, Roundeyes, or Autopal housing and run good H4 bulbs with a relay and harness. You will get good light output without blinding oncoming traffic. Don't bother getting those cheap E-code housings off ebay, they are garbage. | Autopal's ARE the cheap ones on ebay.
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04-26-2009, 10:23 PM
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#8 | | Proud to be called a RS Regular!
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your hid's need a glare shield
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04-26-2009, 10:35 PM
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#9 | | Banned (ABWS)
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your HID bulbs don't have a casper/glare shield?
i'd suggest googling HID casper shield, there's several threads / diy articles that show you what to do to reduce the glare.
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04-27-2009, 09:29 AM
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#10 | | RS.net, where our google ads make absolutely no sense!
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Originally Posted by jonathan Autopal's ARE the cheap ones on ebay. | I've read good reviews for Autopals on Jeep forums, and yeah they were a lot cheaper compared to Hella. I personally ran Hella H4 conversion in my TJ for a short bit, they were pricy but I was VERY impressed with their performance. I ended up doing a full retro and now run E55 bixenon projectors.
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04-28-2009, 02:48 PM
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#11 | | Retired Super Fast Mustang Moderator
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Originally Posted by Uncle Benz I've read good reviews for Autopals on Jeep forums, and yeah they were a lot cheaper compared to Hella. I personally ran Hella H4 conversion in my TJ for a short bit, they were pricy but I was VERY impressed with their performance. I ended up doing a full retro and now run E55 bixenon projectors. | Yeah, the Autopal ones are great. But you mentioned to get the Autopals, not the Ebay cheap ones. Well the Autopals are the ebay cheap ones. Either way, I have e-codes coming in, and once aimed, these should be pretty good. Even with the shit pattern it's at now, I still get much much more light where I need it. Before with the halogens I would have to use the highbeams in the dark spots of Mary Hill bypass.
This is why the pattern is so bad.
Lights on 
Lights off 
And yes the bulbs themselves have some sort of metal shield thing. Don't know what it's for.
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04-28-2009, 04:07 PM
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#12 | | Head Moderator
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It almost looks like the light from the bulb is hitting the reflector and dispersing it in every which way, though I could be wrong. Another common problem is that the glass on the front of the headlights can often scatter light in random directions.
To be honest, I've never been a fan of aftermarket HID/projector kits. While they're cheap alternatives, you're almost better off finding a set of used, real bi-xenon lights off of eBay and retrofitting them to your existing headlights. Yes, it's illegal but, by doing it this way, you're guaranteed a fantastic beam pattern and a sharp cutoff. Prices on non-sealed units have dropped quite a bit in the past couple years, so it honestly isn't that hard on the wallet. Sealed units are a bit more expensive (try looking up Acura TL lights), but everyone I know who have retrofitted them into their cars have absolutely no regrets and zero problems.
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04-28-2009, 07:26 PM
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#13 | | RS.net, helping ugly ppl have sex since 2001
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i hate to be the one coming in the opposite direction to you.
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04-29-2009, 10:08 AM
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#14 | | RS.net, where our google ads make absolutely no sense!
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I've use the 7" round version of the housing you are using right now. I got suckered in by the word "projector" in their title when I saw them on ebay. As soon I received them I realized what they actually were. I ran the bulbs which came with those and better H4 bulbs for 1 day and the beam pattern was just terrible. Accordingly it would be 3x worse with HID bulbs in there since HIDs are 3x brighter than halogen. The metal coating on the tip of the bulb is on all H4 bulbs, and it's purpose is to limit light and glare.
I think you misunderstood what I meant about Autopal. They are good and they can be bought cheap off ebay because they are made in India, they don't carry the same prestige as Hella . You will not find real Hella's cheap on ebay. Keep in mind none of the halogen housings on ebay or anywhere else are supposed to be run with HID, not even the Hella ones.
A simple alternative is the Sylvania Silverstar sealed beam housing. In my quest for good lighting on my TJ I did run those for a few months, and they were quite good, they had a nice and wide beam pattern, which was useful because I used to do a LOT of night time highway driving all over Canada.
All in all I blame Jeep for giving us TERRIBLE headlights. I did not realize how bad the lights were until I started all my highway driving. If I had something half decent in there to being with I would have probably just stuck with it.
I hope your Ecodes work out better and give you the lighting need without having to put HID bulbs in there.
Last edited by Uncle Benz; 04-29-2009 at 12:18 PM.
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04-29-2009, 12:11 PM
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#15 | | RS.net, helping ugly ppl have sex since 2001
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Where did you get the ecode housings, and how much did it set you back? What brand are they?
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04-29-2009, 01:19 PM
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#16 | | RS controls my life!
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i will turn around and smash ur windows while ur in it if u drive by me like that  | |
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