HID upgrades, worth it?

[rcolijn]

OK, so I have spashed out and bought some spotties, Nitestalker 170 HID, they are fantastic bits of light, the spot goes on forever and the broad beam makes night into day, I am thinking about installing an extra spot in the middle of the two, that would be awesome.

Having the bright white light made me realize how crap the normal lights are, I mean the high beam throws a very good broad beams but its yellow and not very bright. So I was thinking about:

1) upgrading to HID, and/or
2) upgrading the wiring loom to a heavier duty one, or
3) replace loom and bulbs and see if this makes a difference

I was wondering if upgrading the loom would be usefull? Would the original loom not be up to the task or do they "wear out" over time? ?Could you measure if there is a drop off at the light due to old wires? And if so could you make a choice about upgrading the original loom to an upgraded one would that be hard?

Anybody done this, either upgrading the loom, or installing HID, and were you satisfied with it?

Thanks for any opinions.

If I go ahead I'll try to make some photos to show the results.

Thanks all!

[Captcol]

I am unsure if there are HID kits for our trucks, in NZ we can't just replace the bulbs with HID ones as the horizontal cutoff for the DIP is different and we either need a kit made specifically for our type of headlight or replace the entire assembly. Thats from last time I talked to the local wof/mechanic guy about HID.

[geeves]

The Mu has a fairly common headlight so a hid kit could be got I think but big money. Spots are a cheaper way to go. Those of us with Bighorns are out of luck as far as HID goes. The wiring can break down over time especially with the use we give out trucks but the main issues are to light a guage to start off with. Replaceing the wire from the relay with heavier wire will help but also the bulbs you are running. Im running Hella plus 50 lamps which supposedly give 50% more light for the same power but even these were $50 a pair. They dont help when the lenses are dirty though.
There is no way to retrofit a standard headlight with a hid bulb and be legal in NZ or Aus

[98Rodeo]

i have the narva blue ones (similar to the hella 50 that geeves is talking about) i found the blue ones give a much more white light and are a bit brighter than the standards while still being legal, and at like 20-30 a pair they are pretty cheap too... helps with the few seconds when you turn the spotties off!

[Yarno]

There is no way to retrofit a standard headlight with a hid bulb and be legal in NZ or Aus

Only illegal as low beam HID not high beam HID, this is because you don't pass on coming cars with high beam on there for you won't blind them as your low beam is still standard.

[geeves]

In practise that could be true but as soon as a vehicle inspector sees the hid bulb in a standard lamp hes going to fail it and not listen to any discussion on the matter. At best he will send you to the LVV certifier who will want 400 for his troubles. Then if he says its ok you will have to prove this every 6 months at wof time. I wont be first to put this to the test or second

[muzila]

The reason you not allowd to retrofit HID lights is because most people only change the bulbs and sometimes the wiring. You have to change the reflectors as well. Most people don't do this as the cost is huge.

[geeves]

You can retrofit hid but it has to be a complete unit not a bulb replacement

[rcolijn]

Does anybody know where I could get that? I'd be interested in it....

[muzila]

Jaycar have HID upgrade kits. But not the reflectors. Dont know who else apart from the usual auto shops would have em.

[98Rodeo]

ebay would probably be the best bit, but you never know if they are going to fit and you cant really take them back