Converting Hella 700FF's to 55W HID

[4x4mike]

X2, I like having them seperate. The high beams shoot high anyways and probably wouldn't be seen if the Hellas are on. Having them linked will give you a dark spot in front of the vehicle and all your light will be aimed high and far away (depending on the hella aiming but I assume you'd have 5000 lumens per bulb aimed high and far).

[mastacox]

X2, I like having them seperate. The high beams shoot high anyways and probably wouldn't be seen if the Hellas are on. Having them linked will give you a dark spot in front of the vehicle and all your light will be aimed high and far away (depending on the hella aiming but I assume you'd have 5000 lumens per bulb aimed high and far).

The "dark spot" is a myth in the first place- the aux lights put out enough light to light up anything in front of the vehicle and the first 5 feet in front of the vehicle can't be seen over the hood anyway...

But it's all moot anyway, if I decide I want to be able to turn on the aux lights without the hi beams, all I need is a 3-way switch and I can have off-on-hi beam functionality.

[CYi5]

Having them linked to your hi beams is the only way to actually use them on the road LEGALLY. It's also waaay more convenient than having to reach on your dash in the dark and flick a switch off; other drivers will appreciate this...if you care at least.

I've run them both ways, linked and independent, and i'll take the hi beam link every day.

[mastacox]

For people that are curious, I found this color chart useful for understanding the range of HID colors available:

[CJM]

So 5000 would probably the best choice since its right in the middle.

[mastacox]

In addition to color preference, 4300-5000K lights have more total light output than 6000K and above.

I went and surfed around the CandlePower Forums some, and they've got some very good tech info on HID's there. But you apparenly have to be very careful in asking about aftermarket HID's for cars there, because they will jump all over you for being an a-hole and endangering motorists everywhere by using an aftermarket HID conversion kit in road-going lights. Always preface any posts there with "these lights are for off-road use or intermittent hi-beams only." They are very sensitive about people converting their halogen headlights to HID without properly controlling the beam pattern (at least for the lo-beams).

Check out some of these quotes:

You can not use HID bulbs in a halogen reflector assembly! Doing so would be illegal, and dangerous, not only to you, but to other drivers as well.

Putting an HID lamp in a housing designed for a halogen bulb will nearly always result in a corrupted beam pattern. In all likelihood, this poorly controlled beam pattern will throw glare into the eyes of oncoming traffic. Together with the huge boost in output from switching to an arc discharge lamp, your fog lights will be a menace on the roadways.

If you're just experimenting, or only using the lights off road, have fun. If you're using them on public roads, I hope the police ticket you and impound your car.

if you do decide to put a kit in there don't go 55W or I'll bash your fogs in if I see 'em

Putting HID lamps in reflectors is completely irresponsible.
Replacing dual beams with HID lamps is criminal.

Totally frackin stupid!

[CJM]

Wow, almost as bad as pirate.

[YotaFun]

I am looking up the info now,
But a friend at school has a kit that has a hallogen low beam and an HID higbeam in his 05 Tacoma, and as you know thats a dual function single bulb.

Its a great set up but I need to find the damn site lol!

[CJM]

^ Interesting, lemme know when you find out.

[YotaFun]

^ Interesting, lemme know when you find out.

There based out of Jersey and are called Advanced Lighting, but thats not really an original name so its hard to find anything...