HIDs before and after pics/ install thread. (Alradco HIDs)

[Squid4life]

Well, since I drive to work in the dark every morning and my lights have always been very dark (even with new bulbs, new alt, getting the full voltage, etc) I decided to see how the HID's that ALRADCO (Red C5 on here) sells work. He said they'd be an easy install and he was right! They are crazy bright and I can't wait to drive it to work in the morning to "see" how it is.

Here are the BEFORE pics looking at it, looking at them shine on the garage door, and shining down the street. As a matter of fact, I think the "down street" shot might have been my brights, by the look of where the beams are coming from... :redface:

 

[Squid4life]

I think everyone knows how to remove the headlight and bezel, but here you go, just in case.

These pics show the screws, little clip/click in deal, etc to be able to remove the parts. By the way, removing the light bezel probably isn't even necessary, but gave me extra room, and they needed to be painted very badly.

 

[Squid4life]

Pic 1 is what you get for the HID part, not showing the actual glass light fixture deal.

Pic 2-4 is where I mounted the ballast/controller. There is a nice little ledge where it sits on, and there is a nice little hole where you can mount use a 1/4 - 20 bolt, washers, and nut to fasten them into. It sits nice in there instead of banging around.

Pic 5 is the killer little weatherpack connectors. They fit snug and should be waterproof!

 

[Tom Tom Turbo]

I've been looking at these too....interested to see the after pics and I wonder how the longevity is on them.

 

[Squid4life]

pic 1 is how I found which wire was what, and pic 2 is how the HID wires are attached to the factory plug. Granted, you could cut and solder, but I didn't want to make it permanent just yet.





And finally, the before and after. I did one side and took some pics so I could see the true difference. Can anyone tell a difference? Can you tell which side is the HID? :biggrin:

 

[Squid4life]

Pic 1 is my original brights, no HIDs. The rest of the pics are the HIDs. :biggrin:

By the way, this is just one HID for comparison, and they are not adjusted very well. My old headlights were way off, trying to compensate for poor lighting...

 

[Squid4life]

These lights are cool engineering-wise too. The glass bezels or "headlights", (not the hid beams) have lines across them, to keep the light aimed forward and down, so they are not sticking straight up in the air blinding everyone. I will see if I can get a pic of it too.

Tom Tom, hope you liked the pics! I will keep you appraised of how they last, this is my daily, so I use them every morning!

 

[Squid4life]

Here is the pic of the headlight. See the angles and lines? It is supposed to help direct the light. Pretty sexy looking too.

 

[Squid4life]

Drove the GN to work this morning, in the dark like usual. Man, these things are killer! Made it so much nicer to drive, actually being able to SEE! They are not crazy, overly bright where you are blinding everyone, they are very bright and directed where they need to be. I did not get "flashed" one time to "turn off my brights" and didn't even get the "arm reaching up to flip the rear view mirror because I am being blinded from behind" deal I normally get in the V or in my Excursion (due to its height).

I am very happy with these. They perform awesome and look so much more "updated" and fit the car better than the old "dim orange glow lights" that I was using.

 

[turbojd]

What bulbs are you using, the 4300 or 6000. What glass housings are you using also.

 

[williamsGN]

Nice write up !

 

[6APPEAL]

Looks like a killer upgrade.

 

[dsapper]

Id also like to know which housings you went with

 

[Squid4life]

What bulbs are you using, the 4300 or 6000. What glass housings are you using also.

I am using the 6000's, along with the 4x6 headlights from Peter's site:

HID Lights

Nice write up !

Thanks brother!

Looks like a killer upgrade.

Yes, I am stoked. I never thought something as simple as upgraded headlights could make such a difference. I guess it is kind of like wipers. Your old, ratty ones may work, but it makes it more fun to be able to see where you are going.

Id also like to know which housings you went with

The ones off his site, listed above. They are really nice and I think give it a much more updated look. I am the kind of person that notices stuff like that. Like if you were at a car show and see a Pony Mustang and they have the nice newer tri-bar headlights. Not too far off like a crazy "euro" light, but a classy, FUNCTIONAL upgrade! Like I said, my car is a daily, so it has to make sense and work well.

 

[TurboTGuy]

Looks like a great upgrade, my question is the lights aren't that crappy ricer looking blue color are they?

If they have a nice white beam, I'm in. If they are blue, fuggetaboudit.

 

[THE BLACK MAMBA]

This was a great upgrade i did also, if you love the low beams you should see the the Hi beams ... very bright

 

[Squid4life]

Looks like a great upgrade, my question is the lights aren't that crappy ricer looking blue color are they?

If they have a nice white beam, I'm in. If they are blue, fuggetaboudit.

No, I hear you completely. I cannot stand seeing plain, sorry, dim lighting, but with a blue tint. A lot of kids around here do that, not wanting to spend the little extra $ on good ones. These have no blue tint, they are just really nice bright white lights. I compare them to my Cad CTS-V which has what I guess you call "projector lights"? Hell, I don't know what they are called, but these are bright white!

 

[Squid4life]

This was a great upgrade i did also, if you love the low beams you should see the the Hi beams ... very bright

That is on the top of my list of next upgrades! I have driven this car across country more than once, so I use the lights, and especially the brights when I travel at night with no traffic. I can only imagine having all four on HIDs!!!

It'd be like daylight. :biggrin:

 

[TurboTGuy]

No, I hear you completely. I cannot stand seeing plain, sorry, dim lighting, but with a blue tint. A lot of kids around here do that, not wanting to spend the little extra $ on good ones. These have no blue tint, they are just really nice bright white lights. I compare them to my Cad CTS-V which has what I guess you call "projector lights"? Hell, I don't know what they are called, but these are bright white!

Cool!

Thanks, I'll be looking into a set tomorrow.

I pretty certain I saw the site to get them at in this thread somewhere, yes?

 

[Squid4life]

Cool!

Thanks, I'll be looking into a set tomorrow.

I pretty certain I saw the site to get them at in this thread somewhere, yes?

Yeppers:

http://alradco.com/index.php?page=shop.browse&category_id=7&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=1

Same guy selling the aluminum radiators! Heck of a guy to deal with!