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An Introductory Guide To Upgrading Your WJ To An HID Setup

31K views 59 replies 15 participants last post by  Gus9890 
#1 · (Edited)
HID = High Intensity Discharge

Bulbs/Capsules
: When looking for HID kits, all kits go by a Kelvin "K" temperature, These temperatures range from 3000k-12000k+. Now you may think "The higher the number the better" but that's simply not true. The higher "K" you go the bluer the light will be and the less lumen/light output you will get. Most OEM factory equipped HID vehicles are 4300K. For the best light output stick between the ranges of 4300K - 6000K. 4300k is usually white with a yellowish tinge, 5000k for a true white light and 6000k for a white light with a tinge of blue.

Ballasts: These little square pieces of electronics are what power the bulbs. They take the current from your 12v-24v electrical system and convert it to the huge amount required by the HID capsules to ignite at 20,000v. There are 2 types of ballast technologies.

Analog: Analog ballasts rely on coils, resistors, and capacitors to transform the DC power from your vehicle to AC power to ignite and power HID bulbs. Fluctuations in the output of power to the HID bulbs shortens the life of the bulb. In a short time it becomes noticeable that the light becomes less bright.

Digital: Digital ballasts also converts DC power from vehicles to AC power, but also have added DSP chips to improve the stability of power used to power the HID bulb. With a smaller fluctuation in power, the HID bulbs will reach their potential lifespan.

Wire Harness/Relays: These are an important and essential piece of any setup. They provide extra security and peace of mind that will protect your stock electrical system. Usually a car's stock electrical system's wiring isn't powerful enough to accommodate the electricity when first starting up an HID setup so your lights may flicker or not turn on at all. A relay is recommended by most if not all HID users.

Projector Headlights:

When looking for projectors for the WJ, there are currently 4 generations that exist on the web.

(A projector is a must over the OEM reflector headlights.)

Gen I: (Output Quality = Unknown) (Uses H1 for High, H3 for Low)


Gen II: (Output Quality = Unknown) (Uses H1 for Low and High)


Gen III: (Output Quality = Great) (Uses 9006 for Low, 9005 for High)


Gen IV / Gen V: (Output Quality = Unknown)


Gen IV / Gen V: (Output Quality = Unknown)


Angel Eyes/Halo's: When looking for projectors for your Jeep you will see these various terms. These describe the ring of light around the projector similar to a BMW. There are two types of Angel Eye/Halo technology. LED (Not very bright) and CCFL (Cold Cathode Fluorescent Lamp) CCFL's work just like your household Compact Flourescents and if you want a look that will stand out, opt for projectors with CCFL halo's.





Fog Lights: As well as outfitting your low-beams with HID some people opt for and/or like to use HID in their fogs. Putting an HID bulb in your stock fogs will not yield great results and will blind people most likely. I'm not sure about the output on the redesigned fogs for 04' but I know the output on the 99' -03' fogs isn't great. Some people opt to make their fog HID's a different/higher kelvin than their headlights which is dumb. It's better to match your low and fog light as close as possible. If you want good performing fogs you could buy a projector fog and retrofit it either into your existing light housing or mount it right around the same area as your fogs were. A very popular option os the "Blazer" projector fog. (It's not from a Chevrolet Blazer, it's the manufacturers name. Thought it has come OEM on several vehicles)

Retrofitting: The process and methodology behind retrofitting involves taking OEM projectors known for their stellar performance and installing them into your existing reflector headlights. I'm not going to go in depth about it seeing as it's really only for the true lighting enthusiast and is costly depending on your needs and wants. There are two kinds of projector types, Single Xenon (Only low beam) and Bi-Xenon (A projector with low and high-beam functionality. The high-beam is produced by way of a metal shield that drops down to allow more light to escape)

Recommended HID Sellers: (If anyone has had good experience with any non-mentioned sellers, Let me know and I can add them)

1) Xenon Depot

http://www.kbcarstuff.com/HID-Kits-s/216.htm

2) V-LED

http://www.v-leds.com/HID-Xenon/c461281/

3) The Retrofit Source

http://www.theretrofitsource.com/index.php

4) DDM (For low cost, quality varies)

http://www.ddmtuning.com/Product-Categories/HID-Kits-Lighting/HID-Kits

(I'm pretty knowledgeable in the area of lighting so if anyone needs any extra or specialized help feel free to PM me.)
 
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#5 ·
Re: An Introductory Guide To Upgrading To HID

What is the sequence for connecting a harness to your HID setup?
head lights, relay, relay to headlight connection, relay connection to car wiring and connect pos and neg to battery?
I usually start with the harness and the battery terminals on the passenger side since it's closest to the battery. I would usually get the ballast and bulb hooked up and the bulb locked into place and then plug everything into the harness and try to secure everything down and then branch out to the drive side doing the same.
 
#6 ·
Re: An Introductory Guide To Upgrading To HID

Which projector manufacturer do you recommend? Also, are you familiar with the brand new LED headlight technology like on the brand new Audis? Has anyone starting making headlights like those for other vehicles like our WJs?
 
#7 ·
Re: An Introductory Guide To Upgrading To HID

Which projector manufacturer do you recommend? Also, are you familiar with the brand new LED headlight technology like on the brand new Audis? Has anyone starting making headlights like those for other vehicles like our WJs?
What do you mean projector manufacturer? Are you going the retrofit route or you mean the one's I have pictures of in the guide?
 
#8 ·
Re: An Introductory Guide To Upgrading To HID

Wow, I see the DDM kits are less than half the cost of the xenon depot hids. Is this a case of "you get what you pay for"? I have heard many good things about XD, haven't heard much about DDM.
 
#11 · (Edited)
Re: An Introductory Guide To Upgrading To HID

Wow, I see the DDM kits are less than half the cost of the xenon depot hids. Is this a case of "you get what you pay for"? I have heard many good things about XD, haven't heard much about DDM.
Yeah, there is a big price difference. A lot of BMW owner's swear by them but their quality varies.

Sorry like the ones you have in the pictures. A whole new housing and everything. I got some from spyder back in July and they broke on the inside the other day while i was aiming them after a bulb replacement. So, I was wondering if there were some better ones out there that wont break when I need to aim them. They were exactly like the Gen III ones you have pictured above.
The Gen III's are the one you want. If you had the Spyder one's they probably were Gen III. It's weird because most people I see with the Gen III's it says on them that they are made by SONAR. So I'm not sure if Spyder's is a copy or the same.

I have had a 55w 5000k slim ballast kit from DDM since July and one ballast already burnt out, but they have a life time warranty so im sending them in and then they are sending me new ones. Only bad thing is that it will take 3 weeks. Other than that they have been great.
Most people will say that a Lifetime Warranty is only a good as long as the business is in business lol.
 
#9 ·
Re: An Introductory Guide To Upgrading To HID

Sorry like the ones you have in the pictures. A whole new housing and everything. I got some from spyder back in July and they broke on the inside the other day while i was aiming them after a bulb replacement. So, I was wondering if there were some better ones out there that wont break when I need to aim them. They were exactly like the Gen III ones you have pictured above.
 
#10 ·
Re: An Introductory Guide To Upgrading To HID

I have had a 55w 5000k slim ballast kit from DDM since July and one ballast already burnt out, but they have a life time warranty so im sending them in and then they are sending me new ones. Only bad thing is that it will take 3 weeks. Other than that they have been great.
 
#18 ·
Re: An Introductory Guide To Upgrading To HID

It was the HID upgrade I added when I ordered my Gen III's from carid.com. (Bulbs, Ballasts, Wiring Harness and brackets if you want to mount them). Got mine round last March and I haven't had any problems at all with them.
 
#20 · (Edited by Moderator)
Re: An Introductory Guide To Upgrading To HID

WOW! Fantastic article. i think the only thing left to cover is what HID stands for, which most people know.

Thanks for this! i will be referring to it from time to time!:thumbsup:
 
#22 ·
So im having some kind of cray problem with my CCFL halos from made by SONAR. The halo around the low beam works fine but the one around the high beam is very dim. I have swapped out the CCFL inverter and it didn't solve the problem. I have also switch the whole head light to a different one and it still has the same problem. I can't figure it out. Any ideas?
 
#30 ·
That's how I learned, trial and error with the occasional royal screw up lol. Grew up working on, tearing down and rebuilding muscle cars and trucks. Don't do it much now like I used to because everything now a days has to be so complex. Computers and sensors and junk. I'd rather it be simple like back in the day where if it broke down you could rig something up (like McGyver lol) and it'd work till ya got it fixed. Now a days, a sensor or something goes, you're screwed!
 
#31 ·
RG:

I am looking at getting HIDs and genIII ccfl halo projectors in the somewhat near future (depends on $$$ of course) and would like your input on which hid kit to get. I was looking at the xenondepot volt kits, either hte 4300K or the 6000K options. I want the white-est light possible, a slight hint of blue would be ok but preferably not yellow. Is 4300K pure white or should I look at a higher K kit? Thanks.l
 
#33 ·
Thought I might add some relevant information, hope it's welcome. Prior to finding this forum I had done some research and found I liked the Gen III styling the best and wanted to purchase them. The SONAR ones are readily available on ebay, however I found the Spyder ones through their website first. I had contacted a rep from Spyder to inquire about the bulb fittings, and they told me the low beam was H1 and that would be the only bulb that would be changed, however it was included with the purchase. Maybe this guy was full of it? or perhaps there actually is a difference in the SONAR/spyder gen 3 lights. Glad I found this thread, I wont be purchasing the spyder ones.
 
#34 ·
Spyder can be a PITA, but I run HID lows and I think Silverstar highs (can't think of it, just got off work lol). There's vendors on here and other have gotten some of their stuff points elsewares. I got mine from carid.com
 
#35 ·
I was hopeing to find information on others upgrading to the HID's and any problems they've had with them... And solutions. I upgraded, got the flicker, upgraded to harness. Fixed flicker, but still don't have control of turning lights off. Oh, had to replace relay... Factory one was cheap.
 
#36 ·
I'm 99% sure that my harness has a lead that plugs into the old OEM bulb plug. That provides the connection between the Jeeps light controls and the new HID setup.
 
#37 ·
Thats how my relay harness was, it was wired to the battery + and a ground, a plug into the ballast, and then plugged into the original bulb socket. The voltage coming across the original bulb socket will activate the relay harness and supply battery power to the ballast, igniting the HID bulbs. Without the harness the vehicle wiring would plug straight into the ballast and provide power to it when switched on, which is sometimes not sufficient, hence the need for the relay harness.
 
#38 · (Edited)
About the DDM HID kits I would like to say that they are pretty darn nice for the price you pay. Lifetime warranty comes standard on them as well, it is just the $19 shipping that makes it even out with some other manufacturers. Plus the shipping is slow in my opinion. But customer service had swift responses.

I installed a 35w 6000k HID setup in mom's old 2006 G6 GT Coupe for the lows and fogs. Never flickered, not even once. Perfect color match on each light and amazing brightness that looked beautiful with the eyelids we had on the car. After putting around 2,000 miles on the setup sadly she totaled the car back in October (The morning of my SAT) She was fine but the car had bad frame damage and was deemed salvage. 3 of the 4 HID kits survived the front drivers side impact and I used them in my old Grand Am once to test them out. All still worked great and I am now installing the ballasts in my new WJ.

So speaking from personal experience I highly recommend DDM HID kits although their shipping is delayed sometimes. I added 2 pics of the car to show before and after. The lights aren't on though :-/
Land vehicle Vehicle Car Rim Automotive tire
Vehicle Car Crash Automotive design Collision
the caption says "my G6" but she uploaded that pic to the laptop lol.
 
#39 ·
So my Jeep was in a shop for two months getting a rebuilt engine. The damn guys rewired my HID lights to the full beams. Ok so they told me I did not take it in with HID's which I did (they broke them I think) so They gave me a 60$ check as replacement. The harness and bricks were still in place but wired to regular high beams. I got new 6k low beams HIDs and wired them as before but they are now full beams, so needless to say I blew out one of them. I have tried looking through the wiring and I dont see any difference as to how I had it wired before I tool it to the shop. Is there anything they may have replaced on the engine, fuses, sensors etc.. anything that could cause high beams on the low beam "sockets".

In simpler terms my previous low beam wires are now High beams and the previous high beam wires do not work. My halos and LEDs work ok.
 
#40 ·
Was just reading the posts on this thread. Interesting info. I've never changed out my headlights but always thought about doing it. I always thought that they were "plug and play" as in you don't have to require anything. Can you buy hids that are just exact replacements without having to do any additional wiring or adjustments?
 
#41 ·
Nope, a true HID bulb requires a ballast. However there are plenty of HID lookalike bulbs that replace a standard bulb without a ballast, but they are not a true HID.
 
#43 ·
Was looking at these or these??? Anyone think they are any good? halo/Angel eyes is what I want... in a chrome finish as my Jeep is silver...



 
#44 ·
The second picture (first link) is the Gen3 lights, they are probably the most common and have the best projector output. They are also very easy to install, and they still use the same stock high beam and signal bulbs.
 
#45 · (Edited)
Nice one, think I'll got the Gen3's, look gorgeous, when you say easy to fit, how easy?... As for bulbs for these, which ones are recommended... I want bright bright white/slight blue hint maybe? Also, I assume these still have amber turn lights/indicators? Not sure rules in USA compared to UK...

Also, looking for some sweet rear light clusters as well, anyone have anything nice? What about these...

 
#46 ·
For the HID's if you want the nice bright white with maybe a slight blue you will want to get something around 6000k color temperature. Higher numbers get progressively more blue then up to purple, 5000k is pretty much pure white and lower than that goes yellow. Check out this thread, its a walkthrough of my HID install and pics of my setup, which uses a 6000k HID. http://www.jeepgarage.org/f197/01grand-finally-gets-hids-and-projectors-41084.html The Gen3's will reuse your same bulbs (all of them if you want, but theres no point of a projector without the HID bulbs). Some have those tails, they are a common aftermarket upgrade for WJ's. They will also reuse your same bulbs I belive.
 
#48 ·
For the HID's if you want the nice bright white with maybe a slight blue you will want to get something around 6000k color temperature. Higher numbers get progressively more blue then up to purple, 5000k is pretty much pure white and lower than that goes yellow. Check out this thread, its a walkthrough of my HID install and pics of my setup, which uses a 6000k HID. http://www.jeepgarage.org/f197/01grand-finally-gets-hids-and-projectors-41084.html The Gen3's will reuse your same bulbs (all of them if you want, but theres no point of a projector without the HID bulbs). Some have those tails, they are a common aftermarket upgrade for WJ's. They will also reuse your same bulbs I belive.

Well, decided I'm going to go either one of these, probably the chrome look to go with the car?




So, what HID type bulbs would people go for, I want a true white as possible that will fit into these lights? Would the Sylvania Silverstar 9005XS & 9006XS go into these lights? Bit expensive though for the bulbs... :thumbsup:
 
#50 ·
Right, well Silverstars it is then... time to order, lets hope it all comes from the States in good condition...
 
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