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08 wk headlamps

4K views 41 replies 12 participants last post by  CurtP 
#1 ·
hey guys im looking at getting a wk. doing my research and i stumbled accross the fact that the 08s are getting hid headlamps. just wondering whos looking at doing an 08 retero fit into their wk?
 
#2 ·
Everybody's looking into it. Ok, not everybody, but lots. It's a mega-project that's not as easy as it seems. Body style's a bit different, headlights are integrated into the MyGIG system, stuff like that.
 
#4 ·
has anyone just retero fitted hid bulbs into the current headlight refelectors.
yes i know thats not the proper way to do it but im just wondering
 
#5 ·
Someone has. They ground out the socket in their headlamp and shoved the new HID in. It was either here or on JeepsUnlimited. Just do a search in the WK forums for "hid retrofit"
 
#7 ·
That wasn't the thread I was thinking of. Someone had detailed instructions with pictures on how they did it. It was about 4-6 months ago.
 
#8 ·
T-Rated said:
That wasn't the thread I was thinking of. Someone had detailed instructions with pictures on how they did it. It was about 4-6 months ago.
Maybe not the thread you were looking for, but it's a good thread for telling you why you shouldn't do it.
Now I'm with you that HIDs are great, but please do us all a favor and don't put HIDs in non HID/projector housings.
 
#10 ·
LEDFoot said:
Maybe not the thread you were looking for, but it's a good thread for telling you why you shouldn't do it.
Now I'm with you that HIDs are great, but please do us all a favor and don't put HIDs in non HID/projector housings.
i agree with you in general to your statement. However, not all HID systems need to be on projector housings. There's quite a few vehicles that don't use projectors and are factory OEM. Most of these systems do not have auto leveling to the best of my knowledge (i.e. Volvo's). As long as you have the beams aimed lower and the beam cutoff is very pronounced, I think you can get away with HID on halogen housings.

I'd rather see these then any aftermarket PIAA system on the road.

Just my .02
 
#12 ·
anerbe said:
i agree with you in general to your statement. However, not all HID systems need to be on projector housings. There's quite a few vehicles that don't use projectors and are factory OEM. Most of these systems do not have auto leveling to the best of my knowledge (i.e. Volvo's). As long as you have the beams aimed lower and the beam cutoff is very pronounced, I think you can get away with HID on halogen housings.

I'd rather see these then any aftermarket PIAA system on the road.

Just my .02
Mercedes used to put HID lights in non projector housings (they didn't like the way projectors looked in their headlight designs) so did Acura. Both of those cars are annoying and blinding (which is why they gave it up and started using projectors).
Those early Mercedes are pretty much solely responsible for people thinking all HIDs are blinding.

The blue "ricer lights" if that's what you are referring to are annoying, but not nearly as bad as bad HIDs since they have way less light output than pretty much any conventional bulb.
 
#13 ·
T-Rated said:
I don't think HID's are used for high beams. They take too long to come on.
Cars that have HIDs for the high beams actually has the bulbs lit all the time (when the low beams are on). They use a little mechanical "shield" that is pulled back when the driver "turns on" the high beams.
 
#14 ·
Passing Lights are Halogen

LEDFoot said:
Cars that have HIDs for the high beams actually has the bulbs lit all the time (when the low beams are on). They use a little mechanical "shield" that is pulled back when the driver "turns on" the high beams.
Correct- they use a mechanical shutter. The passing lights are halogen due to the timing, but we don't use them much in the US because if you do the other driver assumes your well into a road rage incident.
 
#15 ·
I have the Xenondepot.com Xtreme 6500K kit in my GC and love them. I did aim the lights down a little more than normal and I have never been flashed. I love the look and the light output. The kit cost me $250 shipped and was cake to install. Just make sure you get a kit with relays to prevent the blinking.
 
#16 ·
Scottina06 said:
I have never been flashed.
Common, you drive an SRT8 clone! The ladies gotta love you!

I may be interested in doing this mod myself later on down the line... on a scale of 1-10 (10 being hard) about what difficulty are we looking at with it?
 
#17 ·
I have a www.cqlight.ca kit in my 07 CRD. Put them in about a month ago. Took literally less than 10 minutes. i will post pics today. 100% plug and play. the light output is incredible. Mine are 5000k and cost $179 shipped. i have them in my wife's MDX and my BMW Motorcycle. One problem... Maybe the bulb is either too short or too long, but I had to adjustmy lights UP and now my high beams shine in the trees. But, I will never own a car without HID's again. Any of the guys on this thread who say don't do it don't have the balls to try it or the money, because once you do, you will never go back. ps. anything higher than 5000k and the output looks a little purple (I made that mistake on my moto).
 
#19 ·
^^^mine are 8000K , super bright blue color, and i totally agree with you "bobholthaus" , i would never ever again drive a car without HID lights, i totally love them, even though i had some problems with lights flickering , which was taking care of with some capacitors. i didnt mess or adjusted the beams yet, how easy was that , and is it easy to aim them back to their original location. , i will take some photos and post them here once i get off work :( , 5 hours left:mad:
 
#20 · (Edited)
Adjusting the beam up and down only requires a turn of a hex bolt that is right on the top of the housing. just make sure when you're cranking on it that your stroke is the same each time so you know many times you turned the one side so you can replicate it on the other side. walk in the park. please let us know if you have the same "high beams in the trees" problem that I do.

Also, I was thinking about you guys driving home last night... not only do HID's put out a ton more light, because of the spectrum of light output, they illuminate reflective items to the point that they almost glow. So, on a dark steet where someone is walking with reflective pieces on their shoes (which most running shoes have these days), or a reflective dog collar for instance, the reflective stuff looks like laser beams when hit with HID light. Its incredible. Same holds true for reflective stripes on police and fire trucks, and especially the DOT certified red and white stripes that you see on every 18 wheeler on the road... those strips glow when hit by HID, upping the safety factor exponentially, especially in the rain or fog or hazy evenings. Honestly, other than Kleenwheels (which I cover in another post), HID's are a mod that I will do on every car that I ever buy in the future, especially my children's cars, for the reasons above. I don't care if my child has a beater when they turn 16, it will have HID's for sure. Thanks.
 
#21 ·
i will try and adjust them tonight, and wil let you know for sure if i run into the highbeam issue , until then, here's a picture i took while driving last ngiht, its not that good of a picture ( cell phone) but its the reason i wanna adjust the lights cause it kinda focus the light into one spot and i wanna spread the lights further more.

http://img525.imageshack.us/img525/937/image173mz1.jpg
 
#22 ·
The verticle adjustment screw is for up down. There is one pointing towards the rear of the vehicle which is for left right (I believe). You can't screw anything up, and they don't move a whole lot on each turn of the screw. Pull up to a garage door and watch the beams move as you turn the screws.
 
#23 ·
^^ i was out of luck tonight, couldnt find a hex key or a socket for it:mad: , on the other hand though, i located the top hex screw, but i couldnt find the other one you were pointing at , the one that point towards the rear, the only thing i saw was a small hole right under the top screw! is that it? and about adjusting them, you mentions something about a garage door, but i live in an apartment, so what would be the best method or a place to adjust them, cause i was gona do it right on the street :shhh:
 
#24 ·
FYI for those of you with the extremely high color temperature (super blue) bulbs.

Typically, HID bulbs grow "bluer" with age. The only reason they started selling the bulbs with high color temperature was so that you could match the color if you had te replace only one bulb (say after a colission damaged one but the other one has lots of life left).

The more blue in your light, the brighter it "looks" but the less "throw" (reach, distance, whatever you like to call it) it has.

I'm not debating the fact that HIDs are great, I have them in my car. But HIDs in non-projector housings are only good for you and sucks for every driver you meet. _Especially_ the extreme color temperature ones.
 
#25 ·
bull_blaster- Let me look again this afternoon. I recall seeing a horizontal screw that was near the vertical one... it was hard to see (if I recall correctly). This, I believe, is the left-right adjustment screw (the screw itself looked just like the vertical one and was part of the housing, that's why I'm making the assumption). I did not change mine though, since my left-right was fine.

As for the garage door, you just need to have something to shine your lights on to get some relativity to how much they are moving. I guess it's not essential, since you're not going up-down, so you could just crank it three or four time, and then take a drive around the block. The garage door (or wall) just let's you see where you started from and how far you're actually moving them. Sometimes, if you can't see the beam actually move, you may have a tendency to overcrank because you think nothing is happening. It's just trial and error. Take the screwdriver with you when you drive around the block and pull over where it is safe and keep adjusting them until you're satisfied with the light pattern.

As for LEDFoot's comments... there are many OEM HID's that are not projector beamed... the Lincoln Navigator is one that I can think of off the top of my head (at least it wasn't when they first started making them). Projector beam cutoff's are ideal with HID, but mine are adjusted fine and I never have anyone flashing me, so I tend to disagree with what you are saying. If the '08 housing is easy to swap, I will do it. If not, I'll stick with what I have, which is very nice.
 
#26 ·
bobholthaus said:
As for LEDFoot's comments... there are many OEM HID's that are not projector beamed... the Lincoln Navigator is one that I can think of off the top of my head (at least it wasn't when they first started making them). Projector beam cutoff's are ideal with HID, but mine are adjusted fine and I never have anyone flashing me, so I tend to disagree with what you are saying. If the '08 housing is easy to swap, I will do it. If not, I'll stick with what I have, which is very nice.
Early Mercedes and some Acuras had non projector HIDs too. But at least they had housings designed for HIDs.
That said, there is a reason to why they gave up on that and went to projector housings.
Just because you haven't gotten flashed doesn't mean your lights are not a problem for oncoming drivers

If I was going to do a HID conversion on a non HID and there were no HID/projector housings available I would look for some projectors that could be fitted into my current housings.
The projectors from the Honda s2000 are excellent by the way.
 
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