HID questions?

[gfunkfb09]

I'm looking to get some HID lights for my 2004 Yukon XL. I will be using the stock housing with the lights. I have already done the 6-HI mod.

I'm looking into a ddm kit because of the price and they look good.

1. What size bulbs? 9005s? or something else?

2. I'm stuck between 6,000k and 8,000k, I do like a little blue but not a whole lot.

3. Do most people upgrade just lows, or both highs and lows? Which is recommended?

4. 35w or 55w? I'm using the stock housing.

5. And what about the fogs, I would like to upgrade those too.

Thanks guys as always!

 

[tucsonlocal]

this is all going to be personal preference but from what you are saying you could go with the following..

1. What size bulbs? 9005s? or something else? - 9006/9005 is the same kit

2. I'm stuck between 6,000k and 8,000k, I do like a little blue but not a whole lot. - 6000k is pretty blue, i think you will be happy with the "blueness."

3. Do most people upgrade just lows, or both highs and lows? Which is recommended? Usually just lows, because it takes a while for the bulbs to get to full brightness, but the 6hi mod you could get away with it, certainly not necessary..

4. 35w or 55w? I'm using the stock housing. - 35w is plenty bright

5. And what about the fogs, I would like to upgrade those too. - 880 HID kit

Some people will tell you not to do them at all with the stock reflector housing, there are a couple other threads that discuss with great detail, so you should definitely take a look at those before making any decision, knowledge is key..

my $.02

 

[gfunkfb09]

Thanks thats good information

 

[riso79]

I actually saw Tucsonlocals this evening and they loook great, he took weeks of planning and then more planning before he did it, and it shows. (we work together) They look clean & neat. Look like a stock HID kit, if there ever was a stock NBS HID option.

Stick with the 35w, 6k is definitly "blue" any more would be obnoxious, & make the fogs match the headlights. Looks much cleaner.

 

[DenaliAK]

Here's my $.02 and explanations. I mostly agree with Tucsonlocal's answers, though.

this is all going to be personal preference but from what you are saying you could go with the following..

1. What size bulbs? 9005s? or something else? - 9006/9005 is the same kit

2. I'm stuck between 6,000k and 8,000k, I do like a little blue but not a whole lot. - 6000k is pretty blue, i think you will be happy with the "blueness."

Short lesson on HID's and color: The bluer it is, the less light it outputs and the more it glares. Since you're using your stock reflectors, I would go even lower and get 5000K or 4500K. It is the whitest light, the most measurable light in output, and the least annoying to other drivers. My 4300K's are actually look pretty blue in the projectors. It is also the best for actual road illumination, especially in rain/wet conditions. Blue light disappears in the water and it can be about as bad as not having headlights at all.

Because you are using reflectors rather than projectors, the light is not focused, which causes some to "leak" into others fields of vision. Blue light glare is really ******* on-coming traffic eyes, especially in older people. I can give you scientific reasoning behind this, but I'll save space for now and skip that.

3. Do most people upgrade just lows, or both highs and lows? Which is recommended? Usually just lows, because it takes a while for the bulbs to get to full brightness, but the 6hi mod you could get away with it, certainly not necessary..

This one is mostly personal preference, although there is a definite lag in the warm-up when you switch on the highs. If you want instant light or are going to be going back and forth a lot between highs and lows, just stick with some good halogen bulbs.

4. 35w or 55w? I'm using the stock housing. - 35w is plenty bright

5. And what about the fogs, I would like to upgrade those too. - 880 HID kit

Some people will tell you not to do them at all with the stock reflector housing, there are a couple other threads that discuss with great detail, so you should definitely take a look at those before making any decision, knowledge is key..

my $.02

That's it from me. Like I said, I mostly agree with everything else Tucson said. If you want a project to maximize your output, check out my thread in my signature. Once you go HID, you will never go back.

 

[felixgun]

I'm looking to get some HID lights for my 2004 Yukon XL. I will be using the stock housing with the lights. I have already done the 6-HI mod.

I'm looking into a ddm kit because of the price and they look good.

1. What size bulbs? 9005s? or something else?

2. I'm stuck between 6,000k and 8,000k, I do like a little blue but not a whole lot.

3. Do most people upgrade just lows, or both highs and lows? Which is recommended?

4. 35w or 55w? I'm using the stock housing.

5. And what about the fogs, I would like to upgrade those too.

Thanks guys as always!

1) on my nbs I used 9006

2) Remember that the company that makes them varies within the 6k-8k range. I've had two 8k's and one was way bluer then the other when testing them. My 8k's now (ddm) look more like 6k's which I definitely don't mind. My reverse light 8k's (non-ddm) have more of a blue-ish tint to them I find...

3) I only did low beams on my nbs. On my nnbs current vehicle, I have my high's, low's, and reverse lights in the tails. The low beam is a must. That is what I find most people do. The high beam is a waste. I have the low and high beam, and when switching from low to high, I can barely tell a difference. I doubt I will do the high beam on my next vehicle.

4)55w are brighter and definitely not needed considering how bright HID's are in general so 35W is sufficient. If you get 55W, you will need a 55W ballast, and it will obviously be brighter, hotter, and more likely to melt your housing with extended use. When I ordered my reverse light HID's I accidentally ordered 55W bulbs because I already had (2) 35W ballasts. They still work fine but obviously will only output the wattage of the ballast.

5)If you read up on the forum about this, people find that this sometimes melts the housing because it simply was not built to handle an HID. A workaround is getting a 25W ballast so it doesn't get as hot. It's illegal in some states (including mine.. LA) to have 4 total lights on unless it's raining or foggy. I know this bc a state trooper pulled me over for having my fog lights on. Since I never put mine on, I just put LED's in my fogs (purely for looks... ZERO light output.. especially with low beam HID's on). But if you want to, make sure to get 25W ballasts so your housing doesn't melt.

Good luck!

 

[bkboatnsleds]

I'd think about getting projectrs..

I wasn't going to either - but you can not compare!

http://tahoeyukonforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=22513

 

[DenaliAK]

I absolutely think you should get projectors...it's the only way to really control the output...but not everyone does, so I try to educate them into getting the least offensive HID's possible....lol.