Need Help Sourcing HID Kit

[Ldub]

Remember Dub put one of my ballasts on top of the fuse box. It ain't pretty, but it's secure.

What can I say, I'm a K I S S kinda guy...

Also, Dub did ALL of it without taking the front bumper off... I think some guys did remove it. Not sure if it makes it easier or not. I think Dub did it all within 2-3 hrs.

Coulda done it a LOT quicker without having to weigh the felony "hard time" / possible incarceration, in my tiny little caveman brane...(LG factor)

LOL

And yes, remove the air box...makes everything MUCH EZ-R

[VX KAT]

Dub I think it's fine there! I can find it, I know what it is, hey it's perfect there! It just wouldn't be tidy enough for some, I believe.

[pbkid]

wow, this thread started yesterday and you guys are already harassing me because i havent responded?


The ones i purchased from DDM tuning are 55w ballasts, with hi/lo beams, and ultra small/slim ballasts (probably 2"x2.5")

i've been extremely happy with their products as well as service. I had one of my bulbs pop because i touched it with my finger... called them, and they sent me a new one for $16 plus shipping.

Their bulbs were very accurate and bright on my VX, great cut off line with minimal glare.

i personally took my whole front end apart to install mine because i wanted it to all look factory when you looked under the hood. So i hid a lot of the kit behind the bumper like eric (etlsport) said.

I can explain the difference in cost to you, because my cousin actually lives 4or 5 blocks from ddm tuning. He runs an LS6 sand buggy with probably 10-12 headlights on it, all HID from DDM.
DDM tuning has a HUGE warehouse FULL of kits. My cousin tells me that their warehouse is the size of a home depot, full of HID kits. Basically, they are the wal mart of HIDs, so they can afford to sell them for less and repair/service them for little to nothing.

i would recommend them to all my VX friends and fam.

[pbkid]

heres a comparison picture for you.... this is the DDM hid kit next to Hella 55w halogen driving lights-

[vt_maverick]

Sorry for buggin' you Jack, just didn't want the thread to fall down to the 2nd or 3rd page by the time you logged on next. Thanks so much for stopping by to help!!!

Do you experience any delay when switching between low and high beams? The XenonRider site makes it a point to say that their kits don't experience a "5-7 second delay."

[vt_maverick]

One more question Jack, what color are your HIDs? I believe Sue said hers were 6K "Plasma White," but I noticed on DDM's site that the color spectrum is slightly different with 55 vs. 35W ballasts.

[Moncha]

Ash,
Unless they are using 2 bulb capsules per side one for Hi one for Lo, no "Bi-Xenon" kit will have the delay as they all pretty much use the solenoid system I described earlier.

[vt_maverick]

Forgive a dumb question, but it seems like flipping one bulb off and another on would actually be faster than physically moving something with a solenoid? I'm sure there's something there I'm missing.

[VX KAT]

Forgive a dumb question, but it seems like flipping one bulb off and another on would actually be faster than physically moving something with a solenoid? I'm sure there's something there I'm missing.

It might sound like there should be a delay, but it's nearly instantaneous.
I'm guessing the light starts coming on before it's moved all the way to it's position maybe?....so it seems almost instant, and the distance it moves isn't that far.

BTW, I wrote to Joseph. today, got confirmation mine are 35Watt. Here's his email to me:

Hi Sue,

Thanks for your inquiry. The kits we offer are 35W HID kits: which is the same wattage as OEM HID kits on cars such as BMW, Mercedes, Lexus, etc… We do have 50W HID kits as well but we usually do not recommend them as it is a bit of an over kill. The 35W HID kits already put out about 3 times more light as a typical 55W halogen bulb, so it is more than enough for the majority of our customers. The 50W HID kits will be more straining on your electrical system, will put more heat into your headlight and may be too bright to oncoming traffic.

We offer a very high quality HID kit and great customer service since we started in 2006.

If you have any other questions, please let us know.

Sincerely,
Joseph
www.xenonrider.com
626-378-8138

Jack's info on how large DDM is pretty much explains how they can offer them so much lower. I'd be willing to try them, but kinda feel disloyal to Joseph, weird huh?

[LittleBeast]

V-LEDs does not sell 55w HID kits because they are known to be too hot and end up melting the plastic in the headlights often.

I have Xenon Rider HID's in my VX currently and installed them in my brother and sister's cars, so I am in no way bashing Xenon Rider HID's I was the one that introduced them here, but I feel like now there are better/cheaper alternatives, 2 which are mentioned here in this thread.

[LittleBeast]

Forgive a dumb question, but it seems like flipping one bulb off and another on would actually be faster than physically moving something with a solenoid? I'm sure there's something there I'm missing.

The HID hi/low movement is so fast that when you flash back and forth really fast (without clicking all the way just enough to go hi and back to lo) it looks like a strobe light because it is instant. It is really fun to play around with. However turning on a whole other bulb while waiting for the other bulb to turn off actually takes quite a long time in comparison, we are talking instant with the HID and .5sec delay with the Halogen, really big difference

[Moncha]

.... but kinda feel disloyal to Joseph, weird huh?

Old school girl

Not bashing on anyone but, loyalty is no more. Price is King especially, nowadays.

I want an H3 kit for Moncha (Micro DEs) but that kit is more expensive than the H4 kits through Joseph.

Sue and Ryan are correct, the movement is very fast. The throw on the solenoid is less than 1/2 inch. The Xenon capsules are liking to a street light when powered, they take a bit to warm up, so a two bulb set up is not practical.

My main preach here is.... I LOVE HIDs!!!!

[mdwyer]

The HID hi/low movement is so fast that when you flash back and forth really fast (without clicking all the way just enough to go hi and back to lo) it looks like a strobe light because it is instant. It is really fun to play around with. However turning on a whole other bulb while waiting for the other bulb to turn off actually takes quite a long time in comparison, we are talking instant with the HID and .5sec delay with the Halogen, really big difference

You should ALWAYS go for the solenoid method on HIDs. It is much more difficult to start a hot HID bulb than it is to start a cold one. A ballast that doesn't support hot restrike could be damaged by being turned on hot. So instead, you should leave the bulb burning, and just move the optics.

[pbkid]

One more question Jack, what color are your HIDs? I believe Sue said hers were 6K "Plasma White," but I noticed on DDM's site that the color spectrum is slightly different with 55 vs. 35W ballasts.

looks like everyone else beat me to the answer regarding the hi/lo feature. And yes, mine is the same way, its a solenoid that moves extremely fast, it looks instantanious.

and i believe mine are 8k, i wanted a slight blue hue (similar to that of a BMW or mercedes)...

scott- i am surprised that the H3 kit is expensive, its a non-solenoid bulb so i would think that it would be fairly cheap. Check out ddmtuning.com, if you dont believe me, check out my headlights next time i see you.

oh, and on the 55w thing, i never had any issues with mine being 55w. At least when it comes to melting anything, both my VX and my Runner havent had problems. However, they are correct in the statement that it does seem bright to other drivers, i get a lot of people flashing me like my brights are on.
My take on it? if people are annoyed thinking that my brights are on, they are less likely to cut me off due to 'not seeing me at night'. I am DEFINATELY noticed in traffic at night, my girlfriend has been able to spot me in traffic 1/2 mile away, thats how much brighter my lights are than Halogens.

[vt_maverick]

So now that I've done all the research I think I'm going to try out Jack's option first since it's so much cheaper. After reading through the thread I think I'm going to stick with 35W and do the 5K option to try and keep the headlights from having a blue tint (as per DDM's website). Looks like the "H4/HB2/9003 Hi/Lo" kit is the one I want right? Also, do I need the "Dual-In, Dual-Out" HID harness?