Adjusting headlights

[chichichibo]

Ok, i'll try to go back to basics and explain in everything in broad detail

Firstly, there are two types of headlight housings that cars use - i) reflectors and ii) projectors. Normally, reflectors use halogen bulbs and projectors use HID bulbs. You should only use HID bulbs for housings that have been designed specifically for them. That's why it's not good to put HIDs into reflectors because they are normally designed for halogen bulbs, not HID bulbs. A retrofit is where you get the projector that has been designed for HIDs and you put them into a reflector housing. That way you can actually properly use HIDs.

Secondly, the colour of light is based on the kelvin temperature (K); 4300k, 5000k, 6000k etc. What you normally see in cars with yellow-ish lights is about 3400k. As you go higher and higher, the light becomes whiter and whiter and then more blue. 4100/4300k is what you normally see in cars with factory HIDs - it's white with a slight tinge of yellow. 5000k is pure white, 6000k has a slight blue tinge and then it gets more blue as you go up. It's important to note that as you go higher up on the kelvin temperature, the actual output of light decreases. 4100/4300k is pretty much ideal as it produces the most output of light. Above that, the amount of light put out decreases. So no, 6000k is not the best for light coverage. Sometimes you see cars on the road with really blue lights - you may think it's bright and have the misconception that it's putting out a lot of light but infact it's only because the lights are producing a lot of glare.

Thirdly, HIDs do produce more light than halogens but you shouldn't really be using HID bulbs unless your headlights are designed to handle them properly. Hence, in your case it's better to stick with halogen bulbs. If you want to get that white colour then you should be getting halogen bulbs like these - http://www.powerbulbs.com/product_detail.asp?prod=94

I tried to explain it as simply as I can, I hope it cleared things up a bit!

Hi, first of all, thanks a lot a lot a lot for ur explaination....
i do know some of the knowledge regarding the HID....
but....for those halogen bulb, even it claims to be WHITE bulb, are they really having a wide spread of light? i am interested in a PIAA white bulb, it's a famous brand, but i can only buy online, and the cost is not cheap too....so, i want to make sure if the white bulb will generally produce a wider spread of light than original headlight.....

[chichichibo]

in regards to your PM you send me - i'll reply here incase it's helpful to someone else one day

A retrofit is hardcore work - basically open the headlights, bolt on a projector lens, fit shrouds in etc. It's not an easy job and i don't think anyone in australia does it.

Don't bother with halogens which promise whiter colour - they're usually very dim.

It comes down to personal preference - If you have them aimed properly, the glare isn't blinding - probably no worse than halogen bulbs.

thanks curtis265, so, did u adjust ur Kaixen HID kit?
i am going to buy it, and just want to know hows the spread of light, will it blind the others?
and have u heard about PIAA before? they claim that their bulb are new technology and are the white bulb that can produce the closest light as to HID does......

[curtis265]

Of course i adjusted it. Never gotten highbeamed either, and it's not too low either.

I would never trust any halogen claiming white light - normally they just put some blue filters on it, which actually reduces the amount of lower frequency light (the reds and oranges) to make it appear more white.

Anyway, the reflector will still have the same issues if the amount of light and colour of light is the same as HID.

[chichichibo]

Of course i adjusted it. Never gotten highbeamed either, and it's not too low either.

I would never trust any halogen claiming white light - normally they just put some blue filters on it, which actually reduces the amount of lower frequency light (the reds and oranges) to make it appear more white.

Anyway, the reflector will still have the same issues if the amount of light and colour of light is the same as HID.

yeah, i saw ur Kaixen review sent to the seller, the light that ur car shows is great...
and yeah, i saw some of those so called white bulb, at the tip, always got a blue color coated on the tip....
i am only worrying if i can handle the adjustment or not...haha
so, if i dont adjust it, according to ur experience, is the glare very serious without adjusting the kaixen HID set?
i am thinking if it will not blind the others if i install the Kaixen kit without adjusting it......
and do u recommend the slim Kaixen kit or the original one?
the seller said the original one will do, but, do u think the original one is too big to fit? and where did u put the ballast? so that i can copy ur way once i got my Kaixen kit.
thanks a lot for ur sharing

[chichichibo]

so, is it the cutoff of the light should be 52mm below the height of the headlight on the car?
if the height of the headlight on the car is 300mm,
then the cutoff on the wall should be/not more than 248mm?
thanks a lot

[curtis265]

Cable tied it on to the little bar that joins the fender to the chassis. Quite hard to explain, i'll get a picture for you sometime (won't be soon though - i'm snowed under)

No problems with the fat ballast.

it's fine without adjusting, but i'd strongly recommend it anyway - starting into someone's HID's isn't fun.

[chichichibo]

Cable tied it on to the little bar that joins the fender to the chassis. Quite hard to explain, i'll get a picture for you sometime (won't be soon though - i'm snowed under)

No problems with the fat ballast.

it's fine without adjusting, but i'd strongly recommend it anyway - starting into someone's HID's isn't fun.

yea, coz i dont want to blind the others.....want to try to be more responsible for my modification to my car.....
hmmm, thaanks for the picture somedays later~
and, did u take out the front bumper? or just turn the wheel fully to either side and do the installation from the "wheel cover" (i dont know how to name that part, but i guess u know wht i mean)?

[curtis265]

'wheel cover' method is fine.

[funworld]

so, is it the cutoff of the light should be 52mm below the height of the headlight on the car?
if the height of the headlight on the car is 300mm,
then the cutoff on the wall should be/not more than 248mm?
thanks a lot

Yes, that's correct. If you're going to use the HIDs in the reflector, you're not really going get a proper cut off since there's going to be a bunch of glare above the cut-off ... so if you really want the HIDs, you're going to have to lower them even further than what that image recommends ...

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...s/thetruth.jpg)

[Xpire]

Thanks for the info guys, will try it out tonight when I get time!

I've only had my HIDs for about 3 months. I've got them installed on both low beams and fogs.
I haven't used the fogs for a long time now, cops kept giving me wierd looks.
Even with my fogs off, I still get flashed all the time

[chichichibo]

Yes, that's correct. If you're going to use the HIDs in the reflector, you're not really going get a proper cut off since there's going to be a bunch of glare above the cut-off ... so if you really want the HIDs, you're going to have to lower them even further than what that image recommends ...

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...s/thetruth.jpg)

So, if i adjust even lower than what is suggested (52mm), will the spread of light be even narrower than the original headlight? or will still superior than the original headlight's beam?
(i want to use HID coz i want to get a wider spread of light....if i adjust the beam even lower, and the result is even worse than original headlight, then i may have to think about installing it or not.)
thanks

[curtis265]

Just adjust them down, and stand 20m away and take a look for yourself at squat-height

xpire, its illegal to have fogs on anyway,