How to install HIDs as reverse lights into aftermarket Tails.

[99Yuk]

Ok, ok. I just went out and took some night pics on a tripod. I used FRS radios to ask my wife to turn things on and off in the truck. She says to tell you all, 'your welcome'.

Wide Angle: Running Lights


Wide Angle: Brakes


Wide Angle: Reverse HID's and Brakes


Wide Angle: Reverse HID's - Look at the snow. Both the front and back are lit up good! This is why I spent $80! I can't wait until spring when I wire up a switch in the cab to deal with tailgaters!




Closeup: Running Lights


Closeup: Brakes


Closeup: Reverse HID's Warming up.


Closeup: Reverse HID's Good to go!


The circles on top are not lit up, it's just the reflection from the camera flash.

 

[SunlitComet]

wante wante

 

[Tahoewhat]

very nice, those sure do light up the rear at nite.. ha ha

 

[retorq]

Wow nice. It gets REALLY dark at nite out here those would come in handy.

 

[96ProCompTahoe]

nice! looks like i need some new tail lights and an HID kit now!

 

[stayedge]

very nice

 

[99Yuk]

Thanks for the compliments guys. I'm really enjoying them. I find myself trying to find ways to backup at night now!

BTW, take a close look at this pic. You can really see the color difference from the 8000k fronts and 5000k rears. I find the 5000k too creamy. If I had to do it again, I might pick 6000k. Maybe I'm just climatized to the blue hue of the fronts enough that I dislike the white hue. IDK


EDIT: Boy what a difference a few months make. Turns out that I can see more with 5000k then I can with 8000k. Color be damned, I'm getting old and want to see where I'm going. So a few weeks ago, I orderd up and installed 55w 5000K for my fronts. All I can say is way better for vision than the 8000K's. So to recap, I now have 5000k fronts and rears, and I like it!

 

[SunlitComet]

Regarding the installation did you use existing reverse wiring or did you have a relayed setup?

---------- Post added at 02:00 AM ---------- Previous post was at 01:49 AM ----------

Concerned about the 18awg wire size and damaging the back up switch.

 

[99Yuk]

Regarding the installation did you use existing reverse wiring or did you have a relayed setup?

---------- Post added at 02:00 AM ---------- Previous post was at 01:49 AM ----------

Concerned about the 18awg wire size and damaging the back up switch.

Good question!
I was concerned during install too!
So I carefully looked at things myself to ensure there would be no issues.

In the end I decided to use the existing reverse wiring. Here's why.

The new DDM ballasts only consume 6A on startup and 3A on runtime.
Both HID's consume 12A on startup and the backup fuse is 20A. There would be no issues there.
The gauge of the wiring is fine for short bursts of 12A. Again there would be no issues there.

Although I didn't have specs on the backup switch itself, I couldn't imagine that mechanical switch couldn't handle 12A.

For the record, I'm going to wire up the manual tailgater switch to a relay to the existing reverse wiring. I don't want 12A running up my headliner to where the switches are.

 

[foreverfalcon40]

That is awesome!

Very jealous!

Too bad it is not that easy with OEM lights!


kudos!