If you buy a kit that matches your bulb, then you plug the ballast into the connector that was attached to your old bulb.sideswipe29 wrote:Good tip on using latex gloves. That will certainly make the job easier.
So after watching the Youtube video I have a general question: When I install the HID bulbs will I not need to use the electrical cord on my Vibe but rather plug the ballast into my battery?
You secure it to something, basically zip tie it, or whatever you can dream up- some outfits might sell brackets and other accesories. They are light weight and small, similar to a deck of playing cards.sideswipe29 wrote:So will the ballast just hang loose under the hood even after it's plugged into the electrical built into my car? That doesn't seem secure.
Good tip with the zip ties. I know I have some at my house.ctgottapee wrote:You secure it to something, basically zip tie it, or whatever you can dream up- some outfits might sell brackets and other accesories. They are light weight and small, similar to a deck of playing cards.sideswipe29 wrote:So will the ballast just hang loose under the hood even after it's plugged into the electrical built into my car? That doesn't seem secure.
Thanks for the welcome! Everyone here on the forums is so nice and offering such great advice. I really appreciate it!vibenvy wrote:Welcome to GenVibe! That's a mighty nice looking two tone Neptune Vibe you've got there !
Everyone else has pretty much covered everything, but another good thing to use to secure the ballasts for HIDs is double sided tape. Walmart sells 3M Extra Strength Moulding Tape that works really well. It's under $5.00 for a roll which will be more than enough to help secure two ballasts. It's by body work stuff (Bondo, etc.) in the automotive section. Also, be sure to aim your headlights down a bit so you're not blinding oncoming traffic (do a search on here and you should be able to find info on how to adjust the headlights).
You're very welcome ! You'll be hard pressed to find a nicer, more helpful group of people than GenVibers!sideswipe29 wrote:Thanks for the welcome! Everyone here on the forums is so nice and offering such great advice. I really appreciate it!
Welcome to GenVibe Aside from this topic, Open up a separate post and officially introduce yourself. Location, interests, why you bought the Vibe, price, etc. We all have inquiring minds and like to know. Thankssideswipe29 wrote:
Thanks for the welcome! Everyone here on the forums is so nice and offering such great advice. I really appreciate it!
Sylvania. You will need to order it. Restoring the lenses is absolutely pointless if you don't seal them.sideswipe29 wrote:Also, while I'm writing a post, do any of you recommend any specific product to fix cloudy headlights. I know both Mothers and Meguiars have products to fix clouded headlights and mine have been pretty cloudy since I bought my Vibe and I want to fix that before I install my new bulbs. My friend's dad recommended to use toothpaste and he demonstrated a bit on a corner of my headlight and it worked really well, but maybe just for an extra clean finish is there a specific brand or product that you guys have used?
Here are some pictures of what's under the hood.cptnsolo77 wrote:Nice job ! Post some underhood pics. Have you had oncoming cars flash you ? I have read that HIDs produce glare in halogen housings.
Without a projector housing inside the light assembly, the light is not as well focussed so the brighter light can annoy people.sideswipe29 wrote:Also what is projector?
Huh, interesting. That makes perfect sense though. So I take it that projectors are a necessity for HID headlights if you want them to distribute light effectively?ctgottapee wrote:Without a projector housing inside the light assembly, the light is not as well focussed so the brighter light can annoy people.sideswipe29 wrote:Also what is projector?
Even if you aim the headlights down, you are still going to spread light, rather than project it focussed, which is important.
With the signs glowing far ahead, you are just noticing both some of the spread, and that the HID type of light makes the signs reflect more of the illuminated lettering.
https://www.facebook.com/kitchenerHIDsideswipe29 wrote:Huh, interesting. That makes perfect sense though. So I take it that projectors are a necessity for HID headlights if you want them to distribute light effectively?ctgottapee wrote:Without a projector housing inside the light assembly, the light is not as well focussed so the brighter light can annoy people.sideswipe29 wrote:Also what is projector?
Even if you aim the headlights down, you are still going to spread light, rather than project it focussed, which is important.
With the signs glowing far ahead, you are just noticing both some of the spread, and that the HID type of light makes the signs reflect more of the illuminated lettering.
So in that case does anyone know any good, cheap HID projectors that fit in the vibe and can be easily installed?
Secondly, I did manage to find this link from another thread here on genvibe
http://matrixowners.com/index.php?/topi ... eadlights/
It gives a great explanation on how to change the headlights alignment and I did so last evening. I lowered my passanger headlights signification but my driver side still remains a little too high, only because I was using a flat head screw driver to turn the bolt but later this week I'll use a Philips screw driver to rotate it more efficiently.
While I appreciate the link it doesn't really do me any good without an explanation. Ontario is a far drive if I have to go there to have then install projectors for me.
Very good points. I am currently running HIDs in my headlights and fog lights. I certainly can't go back to what you described with your old Cadillac because I bought these HIDs and don't want to switch over to LED plus from what I've seen LEDs are expensive.ctgottapee wrote:To understand why projector lenses are needed, or at least a better engineered housing is needed, face your headlights up against a large flat object (side of building /garage) and park about 10-15 ft back.
The main light pattern should be a large rectangle, cutting off vertically at least by the height of your hood. Light above that is what passing drivers are getting pissed about. There will still be some diffusion of light outside the main rectangle on halogen bulbs but you'll see a more definite cutoff.
With the HIDs in, you'll notice you can't really aim any sort of pattern. You also notice the 'halos' and other light effects.
Not only is HIDs light a bit off putting to many passing drivers - or draws attention - but you have a lot of stray light hitting them too.
One way around this is to use your fog lights as HIDs; 35w HID kits are pretty standard.
In my old cadillac with an open face halogen lense, I only ran the HID on the passenger side, and a low output color matching led bulb on the drivers side. One HID was still far better than old school halogen. It's a bit of a guess on the color match, but you can find a low output 9006 led bulb cheaply
You might of missed my point on this part. If you swap out the HID on the driver side, one more likely to blind drivers, with a low output LED bulb, typically under $5, it might make passers happy. All the LED bulb does is make it look like you don't have a light out, its output is near nill, but it looks bright when you look at the headlight itself. You use an LED bulb so you can color match to the other HID bulb and nobody can tell the difference. LED bulbs like this are common as old stock when they first started making them, but they didn't have near the output, mostly for decoration in fog lights and similar.sideswipe29 wrote: Very good points. I am currently running HIDs in my headlights and fog lights. I certainly can't go back to what you described with your old Cadillac because I bought these HIDs and don't want to switch over to LED plus from what I've seen LEDs are expensive.
So, bottom line is that I'm willing to buy a projector kit so long as it's cheap. It would also help me to know if I would have to take it some where to get it installed.
I like suggestions. I appreciate the explanations as to why I need projectors but now I need some help in finding some good quality projectors that wouldn't coat me an arm or a leg.