Auxiliary lighting

[Jesus_man]

This is a little off subject since this discussion is aimed at my tow-rig, but it seems applicable to any rig.

So, for Christmas my wife got me an HID kit for my headlights on my truck, which I love! Far better light than the OEM. But there is a snowball effect. I got the 5000K color, but all my other lights are very yellow compared to them and look ugly. And I just picked up a new plate style bumper for my truck, so I'll have a clean slate, just not a bottomless wallet.

First, I am looking to replace my factory fog lights with something else. I use them as daytime running lights and they are always on if the truck is on. They need to have a flat-wide beam since they are also on at night. I plan to use the factory circuit. They will be frenched into the bumper for looks and protection. I wouldn't mind trying a set of LED's if I could find a good set for an affordable price that has the beam pattern I need and the color. I know, not asking for much am I?

Also, I have a set of Hella 500's. These are 6" round driving lights that I use when I am on a lone highway or off-road. They make an "arctic blue" bulb that may get the color I want, but I worry about the light output. However for $50, I can make these work for now. The priority is the fog lights. Any suggestions? Thanks!

J.D.

[Dukietown]

Should be able to replace the bulbs in whatever you have, fogs, stock lights, hella's etc with all matching brand and color temp though that might get a little pricey. From what I remember the higher color temps have a shorter wavelength so they end up being brighter close up but they don't cast light as far out, but I could be off on that. From what I've seen the 4k-4300k seems to be the ideal balance of color/brightness/distance in HID's. Maybe it'd be beneficial to keep them at different temps/outputs to make them functional in different environments.

[Justin]

Dukie, you're right, the higher K bulbs don't throw as much visible light. They shift into blue, which our eyes don't pick up as well. You can get color matched bulbs-they run about $25/pair. I'd be tempted to pick up another HID kit and install them in your Hellas if they have a H4 (or similar) bulb. Check out www.ddmtuning.com, they've got a good selection of bulb fitments and a lifetime warranty.

[Jesus_man]

Justin, that's where my Headlights are from. I would consider doing a bulb upgrade for my Hella's thru them, but still need to figure out what to do with my fogs. The lenses are so sand blasted, I really need to replace them with something different.

I emailed this company and here are their suggestions, but they aren't cheap:
http://www.rigidindustries.com/ProductD ... uctCode=D2

J.D.

[Gunnibronco]

Just to add something, it may not be the direction you want to go, but an FYI. I'm a member of a couple Chrysler 300 forums & those folks are all about making their lights look right. There was a several year long debate about the best bulbs to replace the 9005 & 9006 with. In the end someone showed that a Philips Vision Plus bulb actually gave the best light out put. It was whiter than the stock bulbs, but did not match the HIDs.
http://aid-auto.stores.yahoo.net/viplrebu90.html

They compared them with HIR bulbs (and lots of others), that are very expensive but performed worse. That is saying something, I had already replaced the stock bulbs with the HIRs & noticed a big improvement. (HIRs are not HIDs, they were used on Vipers or something).

The high beam bulb (9006 I believe) will fit in the stock 9142 fog light socket with a little jiggling. Don't know what bulb number your stock fog bulb is.

I've got a real good source for HID lights:
http://www.hidxtra.com/d9/d9.html
If it doesn't work, let me know there may be some stupid password to provide. I'll have to look for that.
I've been running these in my 300C for a while & they are cheap & get real good reviews.

Chad