I had IPF replacement lamps and bulbs put in my 90 gen1 and they throw about 3X as much light as the stock headlights. Makes a remarkable difference, but I dunno how these compare to the new LED lights. ARB sells em, $189. for the pair.

For now you can get an HID kit off craigslist for $80 or less . The work great. They also have a 55w kit now.

It's Truck-Lite. They make all sorts of lighting products for the mobile industry. Typically their products are more pricey, but they also tend to be of better quality too.
Most items you see on their website can be purchased through NAPA.

I don't understand why these would be used in place of a HID or a filament type light.

I would consider 7" replacement lights that have a halogen bulb. I have worked with LED's for a long time and while good they have some significant shortcomings for these types of applications.

Kevin

I assume you mean they are bright, which is true. But as for working, not so much. Due to the nature and differences with HID's over Halogen, and the differences in spectrum, simply putting a bulb and ballast into a stock housing means most of the light is going to be lost. Often it is lost in rather dangerous ways too. See the reflector and lens of the stock light are not able to handle all the wavelengths put out by the HID and as a result, they glare bad. This is dangerous because it blinds oncoming cars as well as those in front of you, and you do not have proper light spread on the street. The haze caused by the glare in anything but the cleanest of air also further hinders one's ability to see. For these reasons as well as the risk of electrical fires if the high voltage wires aren't properly sealed, these e-bay kits are illegal for road use in most states. Don't risk the ticket or accident trying to save a few bucks with these rip offs. If you want HID's, do it the right way.

What is the right way? With a proper projector retrofit you don't have any of the problems above. In a retrofit, you get rid of your textured glass lens and replace it with an optically clear, flat piece of glass or lexan. The reflector in the back of your light gets cut out slightly, and an appropriate projector designed to handle the wide spectrum, intense light is installed. All this is backed up with the right wiring, properly sealed, and integrated in to look completely stock. Kits with Bi-Xenon projectors (so you still have high and low beams), ballast, bulbs, and wiring run between $200 and $400 depending on what output you want and where you buy from. I don't shill for anyone in particular, but Matt at The Retrofit Source has been very helpful in answering all my questions. You will find other suppliers by searching for HID Retrofit. Right now I am looking at a pair of FX-R bi-xenon projectors with a pair of Mormoto ballasts that are super slim and therefor easy to waterproof and fit inside the engine bay, with bulbs, shouds, a properly built plug and play harness, shipping and insurance here to AZ for $350. That will give me exactly the same as stock (high and low beams through the normal switches) operation, but less electrical draw and about 4 times as much light. I am thinking I will wire in some LEDs as DRLs, either as "halos" around the projector shroud like the BMW's, or else as a strip along the bottom of the light housing. Since the FX-R's are very small and there will be a lot of room left in the housing, I am considering adding a second projector to it, this one with a more off road/longer reach pattern for those times when there is no other traffic around. That way I only need one set of pencil beam off road lights either on the bumper or roof. Either way, it will minimize wind noise and/blockage of cooling air as compared to having 3 or 4 extra lights scattered about the truck.

Sorry for the hijack here, I just cringe every time I see these illegal, dangerous "cheap" kits mentioned. A good Silverstar bulb is a much better investment than the e-bay HID's if one does not or cannot go the retrofit route. If one is looking for less electrical draw but with more light in a street legal, safe way, the retrofit is the way to go. After all the extra junk is bought that the e-bay kits tend to leave out is added in, the retrofits aren't that much more expensive anyhow. When I do mine, I will post up all the parts, steps, and keep a full log of it if anyone is interested.

I always thought about replacing the head lights on my gen 1 but after thinking about it stock bulbs work good enough for what its used for and plus there sealed better then any after market set up. So if I do submerge the headlights I'm not going to worry so much. My other question is how well the lens will hold up to rocks. If the stock bulb gets nailed by a rock you can just through it away and spend maybe 15 bucks on a new one. I'm sure new covers for those aftermarket setups are more then the stock bulb and you cant just pick one up anyplace.

That's what I currently have Kevin. I just wanted to try them out and see how they work. I talked to somebody from Trucklite today about them and he said that they have some kind of special refractor can and that they work really good as headlights. Whatever that's worth. I don't know, I'll let ya know after I get them and put them in.

Although a lot of the technical stuff is over my head, I really appreciate the info. I have been looking at the PIAA ATP 520 light additions. If I can achieve better lighting in the existing headlight enclosures I wouldn't have to worry about thieves and vandals.

Now what could I put in the mounting holes in my bullbars? Bobble heads or "Baby on Board" plaques maybe.

I've got the Hella's on the '90 and couldn't be happier. I have a set of KC 285,000 (each) candle power on the front and they will cut through anything. I guess if someone wanted to update strictly for a tech inovation they ought to make sure it's going to fit the need. I know my full sized headlights will still project with an accumulation of mud, etc. on them - not sure how the smaller sized lamp illumination would work out.

Like somebody mentioned - these might turn out to be ideal for fog lights and utility as time goes along because of the smaller sizing.

The 98 in the Philippines has excellent light projection driving in/under mostly poor lighting conditions so I won't mess with those headlights.
If I cab find a good bull/brush bar to put on that one I'd probably add some other lights to augment the big fog lights that are built in and work nicely.

Personally, I'd wait a while before picking up any long-range LED lamps. There's just been a major breakthrough in the manufacturing process for LEDs, and the prices on the new stuff should be falling EXTREMELY DRAMATICALLY in the next few months. Along with that, the new technology LEDs will be a whole bunch cheaper to produce. The prediction is that all the newest, best stuff will be cheaper when it comes out than the newest, best stuff that is out now will be then.

Does that make sense? <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />