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HID Lighting Help

10K views 51 replies 14 participants last post by  blckshdw 
#1 ·
I needed some more info before I buy my HIDs.

Color - I want blueish white, but I dont want it to blueish and i dont want it to white either. I was thinking maybe 8000K but I dont want to sacrifice to much light out and I dont want to be driving in "smurf land" either. I checked a few threads but only saw mention of the 8000K, but not nay pics.

DRL - I know it will decrease the life of the bulb but for now I want to keep the DRL in tact. I read people mention this kit, but I dont get why the DRL wouldnt work out of the box with HID because I also read about DRL Killer.

Digital Slim - VVME has this Digital Slim 9006(HB4) HID Conversion Kit.. So the ballast that need to be mounted is just a smaller ballast right? The bulbs are the same? Whats with the digital part?

35W vs 55W - I will probably go with the 35W but just what kind of modification would need to be done to the headlight housing to accommodate 55w?

If any one would be willing to post pics of there HID kits installed that would be great. I would like to know the color temp of course, but I want to see the head light in the housing and the light hitting the ground. In my experience the color in the housing does not always match the color on the ground. If I missed a thread about showing off HID conversions with pics, my apologies. Just point me in the right direction. Looking forward to your responses!
 
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#2 ·
I got 6000k and 35watts.the 6000k are whiter then the 8000k.Also get the wire harness the goes to the battery it will stop the flickering in your lights.they use more power then you stock bulbs.look in the search and u will find pics type in hid light and u should find pics of the install and lights with hid and with out to compare.good luck.
 
#3 ·
I will try that search. I tried "10000K HID" and like I said I found lots of threads talking about them, but no one had posted pics. Hopefully that gives better results, but I dont need before and after pics. I am with out a doubt getting some HIDs, just gotta find the right color. :)

I planned on getting a wire harness to be safe, but I dont understand how they draw more power. The HIDs are only 35W while stocks are like 50-70W arent they?
 
#6 ·
i would stay with 4300k or if you want some blue 5000k. i personally want light, so i have 4300k. anything about 5000k u will really start losing light. i have 5000k and wont use it because i have 4300k and i can a big difference in how much light i use.

things you MUST do.

1. quad headlight mod
2. DRL cap mod (failure to do this will burn the ballast or relay out within days)
3. use a relay
 
#10 ·
BLOODYLIPP has some soild points!! I have burned 3 Ballast in the past 2 months I have had my HIDs. I have the 12K - 35W 9006, 6005, and 808s. So to be clear that's Low Beam, High Beam, and Fog. The Low Beam ballast burned out on the Passenger side 3 times!!!:mad: But I found out I had to get the really, its on it's way, and I'm doing the other 2 mods as well.

Take it from me if no one else. Flickering is bad!! It only flickered on me when I pressed unlock on my Envoy (Flickers only then "Low Beam")
 
#9 ·
I don't agree with all of your points there.. there are plenty of members on here who have hid's without a drl killer or capacitor mod... that is one of the many reasons the relay harness is for.. since the relay harness plugs into your factory light harness and pulls a constant 12V power source from your battery (in which the ballasts need a constant 12V to function properly) it prolongs the life of the ballasts.. people just do the capacitor mod/drl killer for piece of mind and potentially prolonging ballast life longer since they aren't being turned on as much..hell a guy here in ohio by me has had hids for 3 years now and no drl killer, and his lights are as bright as the day I met him
But not doing a drl killer or capacitor mod will not burn the ballast or relay harness...[/QUOTE]

i burnt out 2 balast and a 1 relay. i disagree. and thats from an electronics schooling 101 stand point. its like flicking the switch on and off on the relay. my relay was buzzing so loud i couldnt tell what it was.
 
#11 ·
i burnt out 2 balast and a 1 relay. i disagree. and thats from an electronics schooling 101 stand point. its like flicking the switch on and off on the relay. my relay was buzzing so loud i couldnt tell what it was.
Oyyyyevay.... sounds like you jus got some bad hid's..what brand do you have?..I've seen it in person and hid's can run while still having your drl's.. that's why they sell the relay harness..

Jeff (high-voltage) where you at man so you can chime in :crackup: he has hid's with no drl killer and his have functioned flawlessly

BLOODYLIPP has some soild points!! I have burned 3 Ballast in the past 2 months I have had my HIDs. I have the 12K - 35W 9006, 6005, and 808s. So to be clear that's Low Beam, High Beam, and Fog. The Low Beam ballast burned out on the Passenger side 3 times!!!:mad: But I found out I had to get the really, its on it's way, and I'm doing the other 2 mods as well.

Take it from me if no one else. Flickering is bad!! It only flickered on me when I pressed unlock on my Envoy (Flickers only then "Low Beam")
Well there is your problem my friend.. you dint even have the relay to begn with.. and your supposed to kill your perimeter lighting when you have hid's...so no wonder you burned items..

I've had hid's for awile now with absolutely zero issue's.. no flickering, no buzzing, no light bulbs out, nothing... don't know if you guys had things hooked up wrong or just had crappy kits.. mine are from vvme.com...love the kits from them...:m2:
 
#13 ·
i thought i heard someone on the boards say once that the DRL put out 80% power by flicking on and off. which would explain why the relay went bad. of course the easy fix to that is the cap mod, then there are no worries.

i dont even bother with the lows anymore, i have a separate power ran to the relay so when the voy is on the hid's are on
 
#16 ·
Relay Question

I am look at this article here..
http://forums.trailvoy.com/articles.php?do=viewarticle&artid=37

In here clearly explains that I need a 5 pin relay. (85, 86, 87, 87a, and 30)

The only issue is that my small town only has a 5 pin relay with pins (85, 86, 87, 87q, and 30)... I am not sure if these are the same relays.. would anyone happen to know if these would be the same or should I just... buy one online??
 
#18 ·
[QUOTE/]I've had hid's for awile now with absolutely zero issue's.. no flickering, no buzzing, no light bulbs out, nothing... don't know if you guys had things hooked up wrong or just had crappy kits.. mine are from vvme.com...love the kits from them...:m2:[/QUOTE]

I have the Digital Slim Ballasts from VVME with the relay and I get buzzing and flickering when I hit the unlock button:confused:. Also, about %50 of the time, my right headlight doesn't turn on when I start the engine:no:. What could be my problem? I'm thinking either it's hooked up incorrectly or the relay is bad even though it's brand new.:hissy:
 
#19 ·
I assume you didn't use a DRL killer, cuz your headlights wouldn't activate at all if you did. Did you install a capacitor? If not, the low beams aren't being sent a steady 12V signal. The on/off/on to achieve the lower light output for perimeter lighting is what causes the relay to buzz.

The occasional ballast misfire can happen sometimes. I also have digital slims from VVME and randomly any of my 4 ballasts won't fire upon startup in the dark. I've developed the habit of toggling my switch every time I start up at night so I don't drive around looking like a bulb is out.
 
#21 ·
DRLs and perimeter lighting (when your lights come on at night when you hit the keyfob) run at 70% power. Instead of just running a lower voltage to achieve this, a pulsed signal is sent instead. Think of it as a kid playing with a light switch, flicking it on and off as quickly as possible. The result is the low beam plug sending that on/off/on/off signal to your relay harness. The armature inside changing states so quickly is the buzzing noise you're hearing. You already know what the DRL killer does, makes cases where you'd get 70% power, 0% instead.

Some light reading for you. :coffee DRL Capacitor Mod does the opposite. Gives you 100% power in cases where you'd get 70%
 
#26 ·
My wife's Bravada currently has a set of HID's in the low's that are being powered by a wire harness. I am going to be adding a set in the highs, as well as the fogs, and was wondering if I need to add an additional wire harness for each or if I can use the one harness for all three sets?
 
#29 ·
Yea you need a harness fr every extra set.. but they are not necessary for the fogs..I just have the relay harness for my lows and run my fogs without one..been workin fine for months now...

And like Carlton said, warm up times really aren't a concern.. on a cooooold day, my hid's would take maybe 10-15 seconds to brighten up, and on any other regular day 5-7 econds tops.. plus regulator has the quad mod done I'm sure of because he was hookin peeps up at the Columbus meet last may.. so downtimeof having the high beams heat up wouldn't be a concern to
 
#39 ·
OK, so I bought a kit off of www.VVME.com, received it, installed. When I hit the unlock button, the lights flicker and buzz like there's no tomorrow, that HAS to be bad for the kit I imagine.(yes, I know it is because the DRL's run at 70% and my kit is only made to run at 100%) Another problem is, almost 100% of the time, when I turn my truck on, the right/passenger side light doesn't turn on, I have to flick my high-beams on them switch back to low beams for the light to trigger and turn on (I risk getting a ticket for this if I forget this step!!! :hissy:). Now, I have learned that through this thread that I can kill the DRL's but I am also going to lose my perimeter lighting, to me, that is just unacceptable:no:. I don't want to keep losing these nice features to get rid of the problems:weird:. Forget about calling customer service at www.VVME.com, NOT ONE OF THEM SPEAK CLEAR ENGLISH, nor do they actually know what they're talking about, they're just reading off of a troubleshooting guide:bonk:, I'm fed up. Plain and simple. Please someone with half a brain give me my options, I hate to do it but I'm about to throw out this damn HID kit and buy another one HOPING it will work with my truck, PROPERLY!!:hopeless:hopeless:hopeless:hopeless:hopeless

Phew!! Sorry!

Thanks, guys! :tiphat:thx

Time for a :chillpill: and a tall glass of water!
 
#41 ·
Capacitor mod will make them run at full power whenever the low beams are activated. No more buzzing, and you can keep your perimeter lighting. As for the misfiring ballast, that happens to me from time to time, but only on cranking the engine. I've just gotten into the habit of toggling the headlight switch (not the high beams) from auto, to park, back to auto, which takes care of it. If you weren't opposed to losing perimeter lighting, killing the autolight feature would take care of that. Not sure if there's a way to do that AND retain perimeter lighting.
 
#48 ·
If you weren't opposed to losing perimeter lighting, killing the autolight feature would take care of that. Not sure if there's a way to do that AND retain perimeter lighting.
Well the drl killer takes care of perimeter lighting, but doesn't kill your auto headlights feature..at least mine doesn't.. so you wouldn't have to sacrafice auto headlights, just the perimeter lighting

And Glen (cliffordhenline) has the same issues you do Carlton..I think it has smething to do with '05 or older models.. because since day one..all 4 of my ballasts fire up.. now mind you, my auto headlights don't kick on until I put my SS in gear, where as Glens Voy turns the lights on at night as soon as he starts crankin his motor.. so it must be something with the newer models compared to old.. cuz he didn't believe me so I had to show him.. I turned on my SS at 9pm one night, and my instrument panel lit up, etc.. but no headlights or tail lights.. but once I engaged the truck in gear.. boom... all auto headights came on.. so it must be something they were working on through the years...
 
#44 ·
OK, so I just installed the relay for my HID's this weekend. It was my understanding that doing this would give me the full 12V to my HID's every time they turned on, even if it was my perimeter or DRL functioning. Problem is, now I get that clicking noise everyone is talking about when I unlock my TB with the key fob. From reading this thread, I see that I need to either install my DRL killer (I've been too lazy to take out the seat) or do the capacitor mod (again, I'd have to remove the seat).

Here is my question...with doing either of these mods, what is the purpose of the relay? The way I see it, these mods will give you the full 12V any time the lights are functioning, each in their own way. So, what do I gain from the relay I just installed, if I'm already getting the full 12V any time the lights turn on?
 
#50 ·
Yeah, my issue is definitely during the cranking of the engine. Sometimes it will be different or multiple ballasts that misfire, but 9 times out of 10, it's the driver side low beam, and the rest are fine. :weird:

Who knows, maybe somewhere down the road I'll ditch the auto headlight option... :undecided
 
#52 ·
I think I have that power management too. One day at work I was showing off my switchbacks to some people, and forgot to turn them off. Came back to the truck on my lunch break, got in, and noticed the switch was turned to parking lights but the lights weren't on (exterior or interior), but no dead battery, fired right up :thumbsup:
 
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