HID's in an Aftermarket Headlight?
Hey Ramforumz, I have a quick question about HID's. Would it be okay to use HID's in an aftermarket headlight? As of right now, I am under the impression that I can just replace the bulb that you would normally use, with the HID. After I add the ballast and wiring of course. I plan on doing the upgrade within the next couple of weeks, so any help would be great.
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I have attached a link below. It is just a random headlight that I saw on autoanything.com. It should be linked to the headlights for a '99 Dodge Ram.
http://www.autoanything.com/lights/73A5906A0A0A1813732.aspx
http://www.autoanything.com/lights/73A5906A0A0A1813732.aspx
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HID's in stock housings is a topic of great debate. To get the most out of an HID system the HID's should be run with either a retro OEM projector (Lexus, Acura etc.) that is installed into a stock housing, or purchase an aftermarket housing with an HID projector.
The reason for running an HID projector is to get the light properly focused without scattering light and causing excessive glare which will blind oncoming drivers.
The current and previous Ram trucks all have stock housings designed to focus and run a halogen bulb. By putting HID bulbs into a halogen housing you will get a certain amount of glare as the lenses within the housing is not designed to properly focus the light given off by the HID bulb. Now some generations of stock housings are worse than others. The 4th gen rams 09 & up with the quad lights aren't that bad, however 1st thru 3rd gens do glare pretty bad as well as the fogs from all gens are glare monsters as well.
So to summarize if you do a plug and play HID kit using stock housings you will run the risk of giving off glare and blinding other drivers. For your year of Ram your best option would be to have OEM projectors retro'd (installed) into your housings. This will give you the best HID performance without blinding oncoming traffic. The only downfall is getting retro'd projectors is expensive once it's all said and done but the performance of the lighting is amazing and well worth the expense.
The reason for running an HID projector is to get the light properly focused without scattering light and causing excessive glare which will blind oncoming drivers.
The current and previous Ram trucks all have stock housings designed to focus and run a halogen bulb. By putting HID bulbs into a halogen housing you will get a certain amount of glare as the lenses within the housing is not designed to properly focus the light given off by the HID bulb. Now some generations of stock housings are worse than others. The 4th gen rams 09 & up with the quad lights aren't that bad, however 1st thru 3rd gens do glare pretty bad as well as the fogs from all gens are glare monsters as well.
So to summarize if you do a plug and play HID kit using stock housings you will run the risk of giving off glare and blinding other drivers. For your year of Ram your best option would be to have OEM projectors retro'd (installed) into your housings. This will give you the best HID performance without blinding oncoming traffic. The only downfall is getting retro'd projectors is expensive once it's all said and done but the performance of the lighting is amazing and well worth the expense.
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