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Anybody curious about installing HID headlights in your AD truck(12v)if so how did you go about it?
Thanx!

I am pretty sure that there are kits to change over from a sealed beam to a halogen. I think that I have seen kits to do the same with HID lights. Check out Headwinds and also Chevs of the 40s.

I've done the halogen change no problems but the HID is another ballgame with ballast and project beams, but I'll look at those sites.
Thanx truckernix

Maybe this is what you are looking for:

Chevs of the 40s HID Headlight

The all inclusive kits are a bit spendy, anywhere from $300 to over $700. You can save a bit by getting 7" round H4 housings and buying a H4 HID conversion kit, typicaly costs less than $300 if you shop around.
Alternately, to save even more money and not have to deal with mouning and protecting the ballast units, you can order high intensity H4 bulbs. Not available off the shelf in most places because the lumens output is higher than is legal by DOT standards, yet some specialty shops get them from Japan. I have a set of amber H4 halogen bulbs in glass euro style (marker lts inside) 7" round housings on my lil hot rod and they are nearly as bright as HID without being nearly annoying to oncoming traffic.

W O W !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I did not know that they were so expensive.
I would like to have them cause of the deer around here are so fast, i could see them first and better, but not at that expence.
freq2002 can i ask where did you get yours and do they come in blue or white?
Thanx

They come in both colors, altho I find the blue is a waste of money, up close it's real intense but seems to lose too much clarity at longer distances. All about personal tatse, but that's been my expereince.
As far as where to get them, I bought mine in Japan but you can get them in the US. Check ebay or look up your local rice racer shops, a lot of em have "J-spec" products on the shelf most times, you just need the high intensity bulbs. They come at higher wattage ratings than standard H4 bulbs. At the same time they draw more amps than standard, WAY more than the old stock bulbs, so you may want to upgrade your headlight wiring if it's original.

On my old truck I went with a good pair of standard 7" halogen bulbs and added a pair of vintage fog lights that realy increased my field of vision.

Thats what I'm gonna do with the halogen headlights and vintage running lights, but I was also told to install relays on the lights and would be sure to get 11.5 to 13 amps for the headlights and not use 1/2 of the alternators power.
Thanx,
Mike

It's always a good idea to wire up HD lighting with a relay. A lot of switches can't handle the amps that kind of lighting needs and even if they could it's still better to wire them thru a relay, that way you don't have to use heavy gauge wire to the switch.

Simply put...the switch activates the relay, the relay turns on the lights.

Dan

I found out also that alot of older light switches cannot handle the draw from the lights and heater or other types of pulls and will shut your lights off until the switch cool down.Im putting a new switch and relays.
Thanx for the help Dan!

Mike

I installed Halogens from LMC pg 47 in the catalog. I wired a relay for low and one for high beams. Works great.

Joe Trav

Those look great Joe,
but I just bought off the shelf halogen H4 (bout 10$ each) when I converted to 12V .

I wanted brighter light for mine and have bought/used Osram Nightbreaker plus bulbs.
There's no more current draw than a standard halogen unit.
Pretty impressive light and a dang sight cheaper than an HID set-up.

It means you'll see Bambi sooner!

Jock, That looks like a good bulb, to bad they don't make a bulb for headlite replacement. I could use that bulb in my Hella lights and some other AUX lites I have but I don't think they will work in place of OEM style bulbs.

Wonder what the freight is to get them over here in the U.S.

Dan

Dan, it'd cost you about 33 bones or so right here in the US on eBay. Average halogen bulbs are 50/55W, so these would be a HUGE improvement.

H1 would work with a H1 conversion for something with dual headlights like an old Apache. Gotta have H4 for singles tho, and interestingly enough there's a set of 85/80 watt H4 by OSRAM right here on eBay as well, those would work great in a set of 7" round H4 conversion bulbs, on eBay as well

I understand that Dan,I had to convert my lights anyway, on account of our headlamp dip....it has to be down and left,as a result of driving on the 'wrong' side of the road!
I prefer the separate bulb units,over the sealed beam items fitted as standard anyway.
Headlamp aim is also a part of our annual inspection(MOT)

Not to put down what these bulbs are, but I noticed there were no specs as far as light output which is usually expressed in lumens.
To say it's a % greater than standard bulbs is actually just a claim which we can't evaluate.

I also found out in my quest for better lighting that some bulbs are brighter but have a very short life which when you consider the cost is a huge downside.

I get annoyed by producers today with there claims of being better but no evidence is provided to back it up.

"New Improved" better than ever. I can't count the times I've seen that on some products in the last 40 years.

Dan

I'm with you there, I dont pay any attention to that stuff. At least wattage is pretty standard & quantifiable, higher watts=higher output. Even when you get off the shelf GE bulbs, the brighter they say they are the shorter the expected life cycle, AND the higher the cost, yet they all run approximately the same wattage. Gotta love it!
Silly garbage like "ultra-blue", "pure white", etc., aside from being way more expensive than average, without fail every one of them I have tried or seen reduced the range of visibility by narrowing the spectrum of emitted light thereby reducing the range of things that light would illuminate at farher distances. might just be me, but aside from instant headaches when I see that piercing light coming from oncoming traffic, that's been my expereince.
Now granted, I do have the amber headlights in my hot rod, and that presents much the same visual limitaion, but that's on a toy that rarely gets driven and seldom at night.

Just me, but I have found that a combination of high output white headlights with a set of amber driving lights (I always liked Bosch, Hella if I had the money) gave me the best range and field of vision at night. I did a LOT of night driving at high speeds, so being able to see was pretty important to me.

Getting back to bowties question. I've had a pair of 7 in bulbs made by Hella in two different vehicles since the late 70's and have always been pleased with the lighting they give.
They are a complete lamp change but have replaceable bulbs and are as easy to install as a new seal-beam.

Now I can't say they're as good as those Xenon lamps that Chevs of the 40's sells but they don't cost 800 bucks.

I'd have to want to do a lot of night driving in unfamiliar places to make me think I'd need to spend that much $ on headlamps, plus I'd need to see a demo of those lights before I'd commit to buying them.

What I'm waiting to hear is some user feedback on these new temp specific bulbs. Seems you can pic the Kelvin range for a lot of new lamps like 6000K, 8000K, and even as high as 10,000K.

Is whiter, bluer light better to see with....I know some are harder to look at, coming at you.

Dan

...glasman, I hate looking at them. Its just my opinion but on todays highways I see no need for them. Now, I could have used them "back in the day" on some of the old country roads we traveled!!

...those are the roads I'm still travelling. Dark, rain, and on-coming headlights. Still better than living in town though.