All Things HID

[ak_cowboy]

Hopefully we can have a single place for all HID questions and avoid 100s of threads on the same thing.

First off, all HID kits are for *Off-Road Use Only* There are not any kits available for the F150 that are technically legal. That being said, will you get ticketed? Probably not, unless you're running over 10,000k (Blue/Purple/Pink) The most common are 6000k and 8000k and shouldn't give you any issues with local law enforcement.

Here's some pics to help explain the different colors. The color of the light is expressed in Kelvin. The highest light output is 4300/5000k and goes down from there. The bluer the light, the less you can see.

 

[ak_cowboy]

Headlight Bulb size: 9008 (04-10)
-------------------9007(97-03)
Foglight Bulb size: 9145/9140 (04-10)
------------------9006 (97-03)

Some popular sites to buy from are:

Third Gear Performance (Vendor Jon_To here)

DDMTuning

RetroSolutions

And here is an Installation How-To

 

[rrogers]

i have a question and it might be a dumb one. i bought bi zenon hid so does this mean i should have a hi and lo just like my oem bulbs?

 

[TFIDDLE]

97-03 bulb size 9007

 

[ak_cowboy]

You will need a relay to prevent flickering and other issues, and it should be provided in most kits.

A Bi-Xenon kit allows you to have low and high beams. Unsure of other kits, but there is a big difference between high and low beams with the kit from Jon_To, which I highly recommend.

You may need to adjust the headlights after installing the HIDs. There is a small (4mm) bolt that is on top/back of the headlight that aims it up and down.

 

[ak_cowboy]

You also should disable Perimeter Lighting to prevent your HIDs from blowing.

What is perimeter lighting?
When you press the unlock button with your keyless entry fob, the headlights come on for ~25 seconds. It is used to illuminate the exterior of the vehicle and give better visibility to the user while approaching the vehicle.

Why disable it?
The perimeter lighting feature will, to be blunt, greatly reduce the life of your HIDs. The constant flickering on and off from the perimeter lighting causes unnecessary wear on the bulbs since they don't have time to properly warm up or cool down before their next use.

How to disable it.

2007 Ford F-150 Owner's Guide:

Originally Posted by F150 Manual, pg. 137
Enabling/Disabling the perimeter lighting feature
Your vehicle comes with the perimeter lighting feature enabled. All vehicle doors must be closed before beginning the procedure. You must complete Steps 1-5 withing 30 seconds, or the procedure will have to be repeated. If the procedure needs to be repeated, you must wait a minimum of 30 seconds to begin again.

1. Turn the ignition to the ON position, then press the unlock control three times.
2. Turn the ignition to the OFF/LOCK position, then press the unlock control three times.
3. Turn the ignition to the ON position; the horn will chirp to indicate the driver configuration mode has been activated.
4. Within five seconds, press the unlock control two times.

Note: One horn chirp should be heard, indicating the system has been disabled. Conversely, a horn chirp followed by a honk will indicate the system is enabled. Pressing the power door unlock control two times again will turn the feature ON if it was previously OFF, or OFF if it was previously ON. Every two consecutive presses of the unlock control after successfully entering the configuration mode will change the enable/disable condition of the feature.

5. Turn the ignition to the OFF/LOCK position to exit programming.

Note: After exiting the driver configuration mode, the horn will chirp once to indicate a feature has been activated/deactivated.

 

[rrogers]

i didnt get a relay but they are supposed to be bi hids. do i need a relay for both sides and how do i wire it?

 

[ak_cowboy]

Projectors
Some people say that you have to have projector headlights in order to have HIDs.
This is not true!
Projectors provide a cutoff which help prevent flashing on coming traffic. They look cool, work well, but are very expensive. Also, having projector headlights on rough/bumpy roads is incredibly annoying to oncoming traffic. The cutoff constantly is up and down across your vision and is worse then a constant glare.

Here are a couple links for those interested in doing a Projector retrofit.

How to add Projectors
How to Add HIDs to Retrofit Headlights

 

[ak_cowboy]

i didnt get a relay but they are supposed to be bi hids. do i need a relay for both sides and how do i wire it?

You only need a single relay. Mine came with one and just plugged in with everything else. There shouldn't be any splicing or soldering needed.
What kit did you get?

 

[rrogers]

i bought them on ebay and were way way way too expensive cause i didnt know shit about hid when i bought them