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hids
Sept 12, 2009 12:46:05 GMT -5
Post by devin23 on Sept 12, 2009 12:46:05 GMT -5
hey i was wondering if any one knew what hids i need to get so that itll fit my montero sport,
i got a 2001 montero sport xs.
if any1 could maybe send links or just tell it would be appreciated.
thanks, devin
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hids
Sept 12, 2009 13:08:51 GMT -5
Post by bdmontero on Sept 12, 2009 13:08:51 GMT -5
Well HID's are very cool and bright as I have had some before. ALthough not only are HID bulbs made for HID housings(which montero sports DO NOT have) They are also very illegal and do not add any true light to the road. Rather they spray light everywhere over the road including at oncoming vehicles. If you are pulled over for this its a 500.00 fine here in OKC. I recommend some silverstar ultra gold editions.
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hids
Sept 12, 2009 16:37:17 GMT -5
Post by hemioffroad on Sept 12, 2009 16:37:17 GMT -5
HID's are nice to have, but like bdmontero said the housings aren't set up for HID's. They will add some light output, but it would not be in a good beam like HID projector lights. The best way to go would be to retrofit the housings and that can cost a lot of money. For the cost I would say it is not worth it. Silverstar ultras are good, I have phillips xtreme power bulbs on order for mine which is the highest light output bulb you can go with legally.
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hids
Sept 13, 2009 16:29:51 GMT -5
Post by OnSafari on Sept 13, 2009 16:29:51 GMT -5
I may be in agreement on this on the 2000+ models that use 9007 bulbs. The multi-surface reflector lamps these vehicles have is not that good. Also, the polycarbonate clear lenses tend to cloud up and if yours are, no amount of lumens is going to overcome that. If that is the case, your money is better spent on either replacing your headlamps with new ones, or getting the lenses reconditioned at least.
Still, I put a set of HIDs in my 2003 just yesterday just to see if they are worth a crap. I haven't been out at night enough yet though to thoroughly evaluate them. I need to get out of the city to really see how the beams look.
On the other hand, I think HIDs are an excellent addition to the 1997-99 models which had an E-code style beam with a glass lens and used a H4 bulb. I had a bixenon set in my 1999 and I loved them. The kit was designed with the proper shielding to keep the light from spraying everywhere and the beam was extremely useful and a huge improvement over halogen.
All that being said, I think the high color temp versions are all crap. A higher color temp (measured in degrees Kelvin) is of no value in improving visibility. In fact, the higher the color temp, the heavier the coating on the HID capsule, therefore the LESS light that is emitted.
In both of my installations I used 5000K kits, which produce a nice O.E. style white (not blue or purple) beam. If you do go with HIDs, I strongly suggest you skip the vanity colors and just stick with the uncoated capsules. But for now, the jury is out on how good these are in the 2000+ models.
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hids
Sept 13, 2009 17:33:28 GMT -5
Post by devin23 on Sept 13, 2009 17:33:28 GMT -5
thanks a lot safari.
that helped a lot.
thanks man
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hids
Sept 13, 2009 20:30:11 GMT -5
Post by hemioffroad on Sept 13, 2009 20:30:11 GMT -5
Good to know that the 97-99 headlights are E-code style, I wasn't going to put them in mine because I didn't want it to be like my other vehicles that have them with the beam spread out. Now, I think I will have to do it to mine. I have had good luck with 6000K HIDS in my ram (white with a hint of blue), 8K goes more blue/purple and draw attention. 5K would draw the least amount of attention from the law.
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hids
Sept 13, 2009 21:32:36 GMT -5
Post by bdmontero on Sept 13, 2009 21:32:36 GMT -5
I have a 98 ls and it does the exact same thing. I had the Rikensport 6000k. Very expensive brand and they sprayed light EVERYWHERE. Also the HID kits only have low beams. They are not dual beams. My 5000k silverstar ultra gold's are dual and put out just as much light I think.
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hids
Sept 14, 2009 10:37:34 GMT -5
Post by LimitedOThree on Sept 14, 2009 10:37:34 GMT -5
i little off topic, but couldn't you put HIDs of some sort in the fog / driving light holes? that would give you the option of being legal when you want and bright when you need it. And if you gotta have color, mine are that pale blue look, you could still be legal with a tinted bixenon or halogen. btw, the wife's acura has the HIDs. they are incredible. beautiful cut line. great color. but when you turn on the driving lights, they look light crap! so yellow and dim in comparison. they should fix that. you'll see that on most cars too.
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hids
Sept 14, 2009 10:47:42 GMT -5
Post by OnSafari on Sept 14, 2009 10:47:42 GMT -5
bdmontero, in my experience HID kits vary from manufacturer to manufacturer and even though all of them CLAIM to make properly shielded beams, few of them actually do. Years ago I started with a cheap Chinese-made kit in my 1999 Montero Sport and had the same results as you did. Later, I tried both a Japanese made Catz kit (manufactured by Bellof) and a Chinese made McCulloch kit and both worked very well because both had properly designed shields. The Catz kit was expensive but the McCulloch kit was just as inexpensive as the first one I tried, yet it was miles better. As far as low beam or high/low beam kits, you can get them either way, with a single beam to replace the halogen low beam (sacrificing the high beam completely) or a "bixenon" kit that provides both a high and a low beam through various means. Some kits have an extra halogen bulb attached to the base to act as the high beam. But the best ones have some sort of mechanical solenoid system that either moves the position of the central light source between high and low beam settings to mimic the position the fixed filaments of the H4 bulb are in, or moves a shield to direct the source light differently depending on whether you've selected high or low. The latter type was the McCulloch H4 bixenon system I had last in the 1999 Sport while the former type is the 9007 bixenon system I am now testing in the 2003 Sport. The problem is that you don't know what you are getting when you buy these kits these days. Most sellers are shady characters at best and all of them are full of the same "canned" platitudes designed to make the sale but not really answer your questions. And worse, most of the high-end kit brands (read: high profile companies) have pulled out of this market because of pressure from the feds. So most of what we get here is cheaply made Chinese crap from fly-by-night retailers. The seller I used the last two times goes by the handle "supervtec" on eBay. I bought my McCulloch kit from him many years ago and I was happy with it. He offered a 1-year warranty on it and honored it twice when the first bulbs I got went bad at separate times. But he replaced them no-questions-asked with later ones and I never had a problem after that. The fact that he has been around for many years, and still is, and still offers a 1-year warranty, coupled with a good first experience with him, lead me in his direction recently when I decided to try a set of bixenon HIDs in my 2003 Sport. Again, he had the kit I wanted at the right color temp and it was a no bull deal. $99 out the door, no shipping or other hidden fees. He ships from a warehouse in Southern California and I got it the next day. Anyway, I did install the 9007 kit a couple days ago and it went in great and works well but I haven't been able to really evaluate the beam performance yet because I'm in the middle of the city where it never really gets dark. But my initial impression of this kit is good. I will go somewhere away from the city lights soon to really evaluate whether the beams work well or not. I'm not affiliated with this seller in any way, just a happy customer, but if you want to check out his HID kit listings, they are here: shop.ebay.com/supervtec/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_from=&_ipg=
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hids
Sept 14, 2009 12:01:02 GMT -5
Post by bdmontero on Sept 14, 2009 12:01:02 GMT -5
Well All I know is if you want HID's Get an HID housing. Or projector lens as you call them I think. Thats the only way to stay legal and not blind oncoming traffic. If you want to get an Aftermarket kit without the correct housing and get pulled over. Dont say we didnt warn you. Cops here are cracking down hard. They are very easy to distinguish between cars that have factory HID's and cars that dont. I know exactly what I was getting into and dont prefer to pay a 500.00 fine. My brother in-law has a SAAB and the HID housing makes a beautiful straight cut line. That to me is worth the extra money.
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hids
Sept 14, 2009 13:29:24 GMT -5
Post by OnSafari on Sept 14, 2009 13:29:24 GMT -5
Sorry, but that is not entirely correct. There are three primary types of headlamp optics, parabolic reflector and lens (like the 1997-99 Montero Sports), multi-surface reflector (like the 2000+ Montero Sports), and elliptical projector lens. All three types can be designed and manufactured to work with either halogen or HID light sources. I never used the term "projector lens" in any previous posts but since you brought it up, simply using a projector lens does not necessarily make it any more compatible with HIDs than any other optics system. And the cut-off you see in the beam from a projector lens come from a metal shield, not the lens itself.
In any case, you can't just run out and buy a "HID housing" (of any kind) and stuff that into a Montero Sport headlamp assembly. I drove around with a HID retrofit kit using the stock optics on my 1999 Sport for almost 10 years and never had a single problem with the law. Why? It had a good beam because it was a good kit and matched well to the OE lamp optics, and it was O.E. 5000K color, not the blue or purple crap that attracts all sorts of unwanted attention.
I agree, you will attract the attention of the police if you drive around with HIDs that make a crappy beam that is blinding everyone, or beams that are so outrageously tinted that they are obviously aftermarket. But that is the case for bad halogen head lamps too, it's not just HIDs that get this kind of attention.
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hids
Sept 14, 2009 17:20:58 GMT -5
Post by bdmontero on Sept 14, 2009 17:20:58 GMT -5
Well im not saying go out and buy any HID housing. I'm just saying use an OEM HID housing with an OEM projector housing or something that is similar with good quality. And I have NEVER seen a 97-99 sport have an OEM HID housing. And they are made for a halogen bulb. HID's burn waaaaaay hotter and put out the beam differently. So I dont know why you say they are made for either. JOEL agrees that they should not be used other than in a stock HID housing with the correct setup. So Why all the fuss if I prefer to not half *** stuff and get excellent results?? Just buying any HID kit is kind of lazy and asking to prematurely wear out the HID bulbs. I'm just saying every car that I have seen with projector lens and HID's look 200% better than those without.
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hids
Sept 14, 2009 18:26:46 GMT -5
Post by OnSafari on Sept 14, 2009 18:26:46 GMT -5
Okay, well there is a lot of misinformation on this topic floating around out there so we'll just have to agree to disagree. I've had some excellent results with GOOD HID kits installed in O.E. headlamps and that's all that matters to me. I don't consider them half-a$$ed in any way even though I do consider myself somewhat of a "headlight beam snob". How they look is not as important to me as how they perform, and I drive in a lot of places where lighting performance is essential.
I have no idea how you would even put a "OEM HID housing with an OEM projector housing" into a Montero Sport headlamp assembly or location, or why. I never said there is a OEM HID housing for ANY year Montero Sport, only that there are OEM HID lamps made using all three optical systems (reflector, projector, and MSR) just as there are OEM halogen lamps made using all three optical systems. I have a Nissan Altima SE-R sitting in my driveway that has O.E. HID low beams that use MSR lamps, not projectors. They make a fantastic beam with a good, sharp cut-off.
HIDs do not burn "waaaaaay hotter" either, they burn significantly cooler than halogens. To quote Sylvania, manufacturers of XENARC® HID lamps, "HID systems produce at least 70% more light than traditional lamps, and use less power while producing less heat." I can't recall the exact specification but I think it is 1/4 to 1/3 the heat of typical halogens used in the same application.
Think what you want but just because you can't get Audi O.E. headlamp performance from a Montero Sport doesn't necessarily make the Montero Sport lamp bad. I've seen worse. Ever driven a Chrysler product? Terrible lamps, all of them.
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hids
Sept 14, 2009 19:29:08 GMT -5
Post by bdmontero on Sept 14, 2009 19:29:08 GMT -5
Good god why would you put an aftermarket HID system in a car that originally was not meant for them to ever be placed in there like that? The HID's make an arc across the whole bulb I thought. Thats why they are brighter. Just better NEWER technology I guess, even though they have had them for years. I'm not saying I want AUDI performance out of the stock montero headlamps. Thats why I have the bulbs that are SUPPOSE to go in them. And you can set here and try to feel better about yourself but it all boils down to they ARE ILLEGAL. I agree with limited about the fog lights. That would be better. Thats all im saying about this stupid topic. I hope some idiot has an aftermarket HID kit on his car and blinds the crap out of you one night safari to see what im saying. You might not be able to tell, but oncoming traffic can. Even Joel, an experienced tech agrees with me. But if you love HIDS in every light outlet you can put them in, then hey, knock yourself out.
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hids
Sept 14, 2009 23:58:06 GMT -5
Post by OnSafari on Sept 14, 2009 23:58:06 GMT -5
Jeez man, I don't think you get it. I've been blinded plenty by stupid people with crappy HID kits that weren't well matched to the optics of their headlamps. I've also been blinded by crappy headlamps with STOCK bulbs in them. That doesn't mean EVERY aftermarket HID kit is a piece of crap or produces an inferior beam that blinds oncoming traffic. Did you even read my posts? Some kits actually WORK...without blinding people. Why do you broad brush everything to imply that all HID kits are created equal? They aren't. You clearly have little to no experience with these retrofits and some of your comments prove it. HID "bulbs" do not make an arc "across the whole bulb". It is actually a SMALLER point of light than from a filament in a halogen bulb.
I don't give a crap if they are illegal. News flash, ANY HID installation in a car that didn't ORIGINALLY come with them is illegal according to FMVSS 108. It doesn't matter if the lamp itself is legal. If it didn't originally come on that car, it isn't legal. Read the statute. Jeez man, get off your high horse about the illegal thing. I need to see better when I drive in rural mountainous areas where there are a lot of deer. This has been a good solution for me and I've never had someone in an oncoming car flash me because my lights were too bright. These idiots that buy 70/130W blue halogen bulbs cause more problems than most HID retrofit kits. I don't hear you screaming about those. If you don't like HID retrofits, suit yourself. But you clearly don't have enough experience with them to condemn them all.
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