High Intensity Discharge (HID) Light Kit Install/Upgrade for Hybrid and Fog lights

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Old Mar 31, 2007 | 07:31 AM
  #11  
meerkat's Avatar
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Default Re: High Intensity Discharge (HID) Light Kit Install/Upgrade for Hybrid and Fog light

Toronto - Who thru eBay did you get yours? I see that a previous seller (Kassibianxxxx?) is back and has a high rating - although his units are crom China (some say yes, others say no to Chinese units).

Any issues with yours since the install?

Thanx
 
Old Mar 31, 2007 | 07:40 AM
  #12  
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Default Re: High Intensity Discharge (HID) Light Kit Install/Upgrade for Hybrid and Fog light

Honestly Meerkat, if you want a decently relaible kit at a cheaper price, contact Mark (Kwazyazn is his AIM Screen Name). He's well known on Solaraguy.org and toyotonation.com as being a good seller.

His prices are the best and he will stand behind the warranty. Plus, at 5000k, you aren't losing alot of bulb life or actual lumens as you would with a 6000K+, china-made, ebay crap kit.

Here is a link to some of his group buys and I know he will still honor his price.

http://www.solaraguy.org/viewtopic.p...ight=mcculloch
 
Old Mar 31, 2007 | 07:55 AM
  #13  
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Default Re: High Intensity Discharge (HID) Light Kit Install/Upgrade for Hybrid and Fog light

Glad you are up at this time! I was looking around and know that a $90 kit is just that - $90 of uncertainty. However, I didn't want to dump $400 (yet) into a plug&play light replacement. A really cheap kit concerns me, but I wouldn't want to spend lots more $$ for the same quality. I'm still doing other minor mods (spoiler, painting our someitems, badge). For some reason, I like the look of the HID over the halogens. Obviously I don't want to lose a lot of visibility (or void a warranty ) but still the little subtle changes we make to our cars make it different than the "Jones's" Camry.

Again Kris, you come thru with great info. Your check is in the mail . . .

Thanks
 
Old Mar 31, 2007 | 08:02 AM
  #14  
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Default Re: High Intensity Discharge (HID) Light Kit Install/Upgrade for Hybrid and Fog light


I understand what you mean, and with a gen 5 McCulloch kit, which is what Mark sells, you'll get A LOT of light and great color at a great price.

Good luck!
 
Old Jul 29, 2008 | 08:43 PM
  #15  
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Default Re: High Intensity Discharge (HID) Light Kit Install/Upgrade for Hybrid and Fog light

Originally Posted by Geckoboy
I got my kit for about $404 from xenondepot.com. I got the 4300K for the natural white light.. Any higher causes a bluish to purplish tint and would draw attention from your law-enforcement peeps. They also use Phlips brand ballasts and bulbs, not some 3rd party no-name brand.

I installed it myself. I had an issue putting the ballast on the drivers-side. There isn't a lot of space to work with ther. After I removed the plastic panel underneath the vehicle, I found a lot of free space to put it in. I had to use industry-grade double-sided sticky tape to mount it (3M auto-aclrylic foam tape, high-temperature resistant). On the passenger side, I simply placed the ballast under the headlight housing and secured it using the included double-sided sticky.

As for warranty issues, some folks have spliced their existing H11 connector to tap into a 12volt battery source. I ended up running 2 16AWG wires all the way to the trunk to directly connect them to the battery, as recommended by the manufacturer. They stated:

Note that the factory fuse for the TCH low-beam headlights are 15amps.

Other kits pull power directly from the stock H11 connectors. That worried me because if there were any wiring issues/meltdowns/breakages to the stock connectors, I believe it would void the warranty. I haven't looked at the gauge rating of the stock connectors so I dont know if it can handle over 15amps.

So in my install, all the H11 connectors do is trip a relay so that the HID's are drawing power directly from the battery. If needed, I could always (and easily) put the H11 halogen bulb back. I think I read somewhere that the power draw now on the stock H11 connectors is something like less than 1 amp.

It took me a while to figure out where and how to penetrate the firewall, as well as concealing the wires all the way to the trunk.

There are no issues with the DRL. DRL's still turn on when HID's are off (provided you have the headlight selector to "auto"), and turn off when HID's are on. HID bulbs fire up nicely. As for legal issues, as far as I know and that I've researched, no aftermarket HID kit is "legal". This is due to certain requirements that need to be fulfilled, hence only factory installed HID's are legal. That said, I've seen no posts with people complaining that they got pulled over due to their aftermarket HID's, with the exception being those individuals installing HID's in a halogen reflector housing. This causes the HID beam to be scattered, making it seem like you're driving with your brights (high-beam) on. Since TCH's include a projector housing, there is no worry for that except for a minor "squirrel finder" glare. This is used primarily to illuminate road signs. People claim that this glare is ok with halogen's, but unbearable with HID's. I've experienced it myself and I dont think it's that bad. I've seen misaligned halogens and other halogens producing a worse glare than the HID's.

If I had to do it again, I may go and have it installed by a 3rd party reputable installer. I was quoted $600 for everything initially, but sought to save money by doing it myself. I took me a while to do it myself. It took me 2 months off and on. I probably spent 12 hours total to install. Just be reminded that I am new to it and took things slowly. I could probably do it again in a much shorter period of time now.

Good luck. I would highly recommend getting HID's if you have the means. They difference between them and the stock halogens are tremendous.
Hi,

I was wondering if you could provide a bit more detail on how you ran the wire to the battery. I am planning purchasing a HID conversion kit which "should" be ran to the battery.

That said, does any know if there is a high enough rated wire in the engine compartment to pull this off? Maybe the terminal at the fuse box? Is there a ground near by?

Thanks!
 
Old Aug 12, 2008 | 09:08 PM
  #16  
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Default Re: High Intensity Discharge (HID) Light Kit Install/Upgrade for Hybrid and Fog light

I too would like some add'l info on how you got to the battery. Any specific help would be greatly appreciated. Thx!
 
Old Aug 13, 2008 | 08:10 PM
  #17  
johnnycake8's Avatar
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From: IL
Default Re: High Intensity Discharge (HID) Light Kit Install/Upgrade for Hybrid and Fog light

i'm also interested in how you ran the wire from the trunk to the lights....

pictures are always a bonus... +)

thanks
 
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