I've considered a set for the longest time but I'm worried about the ballast and bulbs putting up with the abuse off road.
If the ballast get wet they are garbage so I thought about mounting them inside behind the dash, up high so they won't get wet. Then I wonder if the bulbs can take the shock off road.
I thought about running HIDs in my crawler ZJ but decided against it...
There were a few things I had to consider:
A: Roll the ZJ = Smashed HIDs
B: Theft
C: Vibration Resitance
D: Now imagine any of those things happening with the existing cost of HIDs
If you need super bright lights... why not grab some cheapo KC or Hellas, throw 12 or 10 guage wire into the housing and a 100-150w light bulbs. Thats what I did for my fog lights and they were BRIGHT
The rattling on the bulbs is not much of a problem but the ballast is. It can not get wet. From the factory they are enclosed in moisture tight areas. They get hot when on so waterproofing them with silcone is a little tricking cuz it will eventually crack the silcone to let the heat out. Also the ballasts have high power leads to the bulbs due to the high current these are only about 6" long so mounting them up in the cab is not possible. The aftermarket kits are ok but to get the most usable light from the HIDs you need to retrofit factory projectors into the headlight. The kits just give you a rebased HID bulb for the factory houseing and that sends the light everywhere like they where designed to do. Not really the best for directing the HID light where its most useful. Also you should run a relay harness due to the high current going to the ballast on start up to protect your factory harness. Either way aftermarket or OEM the HIDs are so much better than the stock halogens. They will hold up to the abuse since I know people running them in their rigs, how long will they last dunno but so far a little over a year.
You can get the ballasts from ebay or the junkyard. There are different types of HID bulbs depending on what projectors are used. Its best to get them all from the same car. There is no retrofit kit that uses OEM parts. If you are looking to use the OEM stuff I would research it alot so its done correctly and it works to your benefit. It basically involves cutting up your housing and installing a projector from another car ie Lexus, BMW, Audi. This takes alot of work to get it to look right and shine correctly. If your just gonna use an aftermarket kit, it comes with the bulbs that fit into your housing and the ballasts. Just plug in the bulbs and wire up and mount the ballasts. I would just recommend using a relay harness with either way you go.
our HIDs have been through mud, water, dust, countless miles @ race speed through the california deserts, ballasts are mounted to the chassis under our fiber glass hood, lights mounted on bumper and on roof, they dont blink nadda... but initial cost will get ya. awesome lights.
Super crisp clean beam pattern with no hot spots. This is one reason why HID is better then a regular halogen bulb.
I've got 1 problem remaining. The ballasts are not waterproof. So if they get wet they fire and I've gotta get new ones.
So I went searching and I found these things called Otterboxes, http://www.otterbox.com/.
They are waterproof up to 100ft, made of ABS plastic re-enforced with fiberglass, crush proof, lined with foam and they are also air tight. Sounds good to me.
So drill a hole in the side, run the wires through, seal em up with some good quality silicone and your ballasts are protected from water.
The only thing I've yet to figure out is how to mount the Otterboxes under the hood.
we run the otter boxs in SCORE for our class transponder GPS units that are mandatory, they just hoseclamp to the frame rail if i remember rite, maybe bolt but i dont think so.. i would just build a small steel enclosure and use door weather stripping for the bolt on lid to seal it. problem then is heat.
So was I then I came across this: http://hidplanet.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=14008
Which talks about MG Chemicals Thermally Conductive Epoxy
Encapsulating & Potting Compound. By pouring this stuff into your ballasts, they will become water proof. It protects the electronics. Some manufactors do this while others don't.
It's slightly pricey but it's still cheaper then replacing a ballast.
HID's take abuse well. Good HID kits have waterproof ballasts and are very durable. They have no filiment to burn out or break. They work like a florescent lamp by igniting the gases.
HID's take abuse well. Good HID kits have waterproof ballasts and are very durable. They have no filiment to burn out or break. They work like a florescent lamp by igniting the gases.
A Retro fit has to be put together by you using factory HID projects from a car so equipped. You can find them on E-Bay.
The kits are the so called 'plug and play stuff'. Halogen housings can't focus the light properly.
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Related Threads
?
?
?
?
?
Pirate 4x4
18.7M posts
366.4K members
Since 2000
A forum community dedicated to custom off-road vehicle owners and enthusiasts. Come join the discussion about trail reports, builds, performance, modifications, classifieds, troubleshooting, fabrication, drivetrain, and more!