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Thread: KC Daylighter HID conversion. EASY!

  1. #1

    KC Daylighter HID conversion. EASY!

    So here are the steps for converting the KC Daylighter 6" round light to HID. This should be very similar to other similar lights. It actually went so fast, I forgot to take pictures of some steps. If you have any questions, feel free to ask!

    First thing, you need yourself an HID kit. I purchased mine from DDM Tuning. The quality is OK for the price. I HIGHLY recommend www.theretrofitsource.com. Their house brand HID (Morimoto) is some of the best on the market. It is what I run in my headlights, and just about the only thing I would. Since these are for offroad only, and only get used about 4 times a year, I went with the significantly cheaper DDM Tuning kit. www.ddmtuning.com

    For the Daylighters, you will need H3 bulbs. Make sure you get a kit with H3 bulbs, it will also come with H3 connectors, but you will cut those off later. I also chose to go with 55W ballasts, since I want the most light possible. Stay around 5000K color temperature too. Any higher and it starts to look blue or even purple. If that's your thing, go ahead, but if you are after light, keep it under 6000K.

    Disassemble the lights. Remove the screw on the inner band, and carefully remove the band from the rubber gasket. You can now remove the glass and gasket assembly from the housing.


    Disconnect the two spade connectors and set aside the glass and gasket assembly. Now remove the metal flex line and wire from the back of the housing. Set the housing aside.

    Remove the halogen bulb from the lens by depressing and unhooking the wire clip. Set aside.


    Find your HID bulb. There will be a grommet with four holes. Clip off the spade connectors, these wires will eventually be connected to power and ground. Next, carefully cut through the silicone grommet to release the wires attached to the bulb.


    The spade connectors and 4 hole grommet are for installing these lights into a factory fog light housing. This allows the ballast to receive power from the factory wiring, then pass it on to the HID bulb without the ballast residing inside the fog light housing. For our purpose, we don't need those spade terminals. Below are the "9006" terminals that plug into the ballast. These are on the other end of those spade terminals. They will be attached to the wiring that originally provided power to the lights, or to the wiring harness that came with your new Daylighters that you are in the process of molesting.


    Also pictured, the "mounting brackets". Don't waste your 3 bucks if possible. Below are the ballasts. Each bulb gets one. The ballasts are slim, but unfortunately have a clunky transformer that is impossible to shrink.


    There are two AMP style connectors. They need to be removed. I used this guide for the procedure: http://www.hidplanet.com/forums/show...AMP-Connectors

    Instead of using the bent tweezers, I used the below tool (a common pick) to remove the male terminal and a very small precision flat screw driver to release the internal clip. Once you have both of the amp connectors off of the bulb wire, you can install the bulb into the lens. It installs the same way the old bulb came out. You may have a bit more difficulty getting the wire retainer around the bulb, but it should still fit.



    You can now pass the amp terminals through the grommet in the back of the housing and reattach the lens and gasket assembly. Reinstall the metal band.

    I chose to cut down another grommet to fit inside the bigger one. If you choose to do this, do it now while the amp connectors are still off. Whatever you choose, I recommend you seal the back of the housing with silicone later.


    Reinstall the amp connectors. Remember, the male terminal goes into the bigger connector. Also remember to reinstall the retainer clips. Seal up the back of the housings, and the lights now have HID bulbs!!!


    Next, we tackle the wiring of the ballasts!
    2005 Lexus LX470 - Stock for now...

    1998 Toyota 4Runner SR5 V6 4x4 + a bunch of goodies. Lifted, Locked, Illuminated and Armored. Winner,"Best Offroad Truck" - 2010 Pismo Jamboree. It's been upside down and still drives me to work.

  2. #2
    Since I didn't take many pictures of the wiring, here is the finished product:
    Last edited by Seanz0rz; 01-22-2014 at 05:24 PM.
    2005 Lexus LX470 - Stock for now...

    1998 Toyota 4Runner SR5 V6 4x4 + a bunch of goodies. Lifted, Locked, Illuminated and Armored. Winner,"Best Offroad Truck" - 2010 Pismo Jamboree. It's been upside down and still drives me to work.

  3. #3
    Cool. I love my 55w converted Hellas. The beam is great for the dunes or open road especially with snow on the road. It's a great throw of light and if and when you have to turn them off it's like driving with an old 3 cell halogen Maglight with standard headlights.

    Great tip on removing the AMP connectors. I've converted my Micro DE's and my Hella 500FF's. The DE's require cutting a hole in the rubber boot but a hole had to be made regardless. Silicone has kept that dry. The 500FF's also required a hole be drilled in the back of the housing as the stock hole and location didn't jive with the DDM kit.

    The hole in the back of the KC's. Was that where the power wire went in with the stock setup? I had light similar to them on my old truck once but forgot the details of them. Is your beam a pencil/spot?

  4. #4
    Yes, I used the factory hole. I actually used an aftermarket grommet, but the factory ones are available from KC for less than a dime each. Speaking of which, I replaced the "gasket", ~4 dollars, and the covers ~11 dollars from KC. You can rebuild the entire light from their website, which is really nice! 28 dollars, free shipping and it was at my door in a few days. Top notch service! And yes, these are the pencil beams. Great for supplementing the high beams on my projector headlights.

    I also noticed that the previous covers were "Made in Taiwan" and the replacements are "Made in the USA". I suspect they had quality problems and brought production back stateside. Good on them, I will continue to support their products.

    The DDM kit is merely good. I have been spoiled by Morimoto from TRS, and would only use these in offroad lights. You really get what you pay for.
    2005 Lexus LX470 - Stock for now...

    1998 Toyota 4Runner SR5 V6 4x4 + a bunch of goodies. Lifted, Locked, Illuminated and Armored. Winner,"Best Offroad Truck" - 2010 Pismo Jamboree. It's been upside down and still drives me to work.

  5. #5
    i would've done this if i should've known this before I sold the daylighter

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