2000UZJ's big HID thread - what, where and how (3 Viewers)

[sonk76]

The only thing I have personally experienced with not running the relay harness is that sometimes one of your lights may not fire up. This has happened on my FJ even with only running the 35watt kit. When this does happen, only one of the sides fire up.

The first time it happened to me I only had the kit for about a month, and I was thinking…..great one of my bulbs is bad already??? But it fired back up after turning them off and back on again. In the beginning it happened to the same side a few times so then I was looking into the wiring seeing if something was wrong with that one side. But after more time passed it has been totally random as to which side fires up and which side doesn’t. This issues may only happen like one time a week or once every other week, but now I just watch for it.
Turns out after much research the HIDs are not getting enough to start up both sides, even though the kit is a 35 watt digital slim kit. I still have not added the relay harness to my FJ to makes sure that this is 100% the problem, but it seems to be the consensus and it makes sense to me.

I run the 55W kit without a harness, and have never had this happen. I guess your mileage may vary...

 

[FullyLitLED]

I run the 55W kit without a harness, and have never had this happen. I guess your mileage may vary...

maybe the newer 100/lx470 have more sufficient wiring for HIDs?

 

[options2]

I run the 55W kit without a harness, and have never had this happen. I guess your mileage may vary...

maybe the newer 100/lx470 have more sufficient wiring for HIDs?

Or maybe the hundy is just better than the FJ.

 

[FullyLitLED]

Or maybe the hundy is just better than the FJ.

you have both, you be the judge

 

[wareagle]

FYI, My 2000 land cruiser could not fire 35w DDM ballasts. I had to order the harness.

 

[FullyLitLED]

FYI, My 2000 land cruiser could not fire 35w DDM ballasts. I had to order the harness.

do you have a link to your install of HID's in your hella 4000's?

 

[wareagle]

Here's my post from another group......................

GUys,

I'm in the process of adding HID headlights on my Land Cruiser. I thought some of you guys would be interested in the setup.

I ordered H1 and 9005 kits for $29 per pair from:

HID Kits, BMW Aftermarket Bumpers & Lighting, DEPO - DDM Tuning

The headlight wiring harness could not pull enough amps to fire ballast, so i've ordered this harness:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/9006-HID-Xenon-Relay-Wiring-Harness-W-25-Fuse-40-AMP_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQhashZitem35a721a251QQitemZ230437266001QQptZMotorsQ5fCarQ5fTruckQ5fPartsQ5fAccessories"]9006 HID Xenon Relay Wiring Harness W 25 Fuse 40 AMP : eBay Motors (item 230437266001 end time Mar-15-10 14:41:29 PDT)

My hella 4000s are awesome with the HID upgrade. Offroad lighting is no longer a problem. Its definitely not plug in play, since you have to drill through light housing and widen the bulb housing. That said, its an easy and very effective upgrade.

Drill the housing:

Widen reflector to fit the bulb:

Flatten the round female electrical fitting to accept a male spade fitting. Connect positive 12V lead. Add to housing grommet:

Results are about 1000% more light. Definitely not steet legal, but they are killer off road:

 

[ntsaint]

Just ordered the 55w/9600/4500's for lows, and the 35w/9600/4500's for the fogs. Also got some brackets on ebay. Can't wait to get these installed...

 

[lndcruz]

My hella 4000s are awesome with the HID upgrade. Offroad lighting is no longer a problem. Its definitely not plug in play, since you have to drill through light housing and widen the bulb housing. That said, its an easy and very effective upgrade.

I love my 4000s with a hid kit. They are freaking bright.

I ended up leaving one halogen and one hid. It's a good balance.

 

[FullyLitLED]

Just ordered the 55w/9600/4500's for lows, and the 35w/9600/4500's for the fogs. Also got some brackets on ebay. Can't wait to get these installed...

jus letting you know that those slim ballasts do not work with the ebay ballast mounts, I had to bend my mounts to fit. Thanks for reminding me to order mounts

 

[ntsaint]

jus letting you know that those slim ballasts do not work with the ebay ballast mounts, I had to bend my mounts to fit. Thanks for reminding me to order mounts

Oh well, only $9 down the tube.

Please post where you find mounts that DO fit the slim ballasts, if you don't mind?

 

[FullyLitLED]

Oh well, only $9 down the tube.

Please post where you find mounts that DO fit the slim ballasts, if you don't mind?

I havent seen any, just bend them and secure them with some kind of wire so the locks dont release

 

[options2]

Oh well, only $9 down the tube.

Please post where you find mounts that DO fit the slim ballasts, if you don't mind?

I havent seen any, just bend them and secure them with some kind of wire so the locks dont release

Zip ties FTW on my FJ. They have lasted for over two years already, and should last a long time since they slims are small and light.

 

[ntsaint]

Zip ties FTW on my FJ. They have lasted for over two years already, and should last a long time since they slims are small and light.

Just went back and looked at my order, i got the full size ballasts, and not the slim. So the mounts should work...hopefully.

 

[options2]

Just went back and looked at my order, i got the full size ballasts, and not the slim. So the mounts should work...hopefully.

zip ties come in handy no matter what the size is. My rear bumper on my FJ has been put back together with zip ties after a off road incident. People cant even tell after I point it out to them.

Also my friends entire front bumper on his 240sx/S13 is held on by zip ties. You also can not tell on this car, its freaking clean. Appearently drifters do this so that if they hit something the bumper it comes off easy and causes less damage????

 

[FullyLitLED]

Just went back and looked at my order, i got the full size ballasts, and not the slim. So the mounts should work...hopefully.

yea, as stated in this thread before, ballast size is not an issue on the 100 since there is so much space in the engine bay, I could have saved $15 by not ordering the slim ballast

 

[DWNUNDR]

I ran the DDM kit in my Subaru... loved them... was told I could use the same kit in my LC but would have to get new bulbs... I left them in when I sold my Forester...

on a good note, my factory head lights on the LC seem really good so far.. so no need for me to upgrade.. but knowing it can be... I may do so in the future

 

[mcewan13]

Ok, I just read this whole frickin 26 page thread (after going through Atlass' build thread) and pulled the trigger on the DDM 55w/9600/4500k set and harness and fleebay brackets. Two questions:

1. Any tips/tricks needed w/ the wiring harness. Due to its length (or lack of), would any of you who've already installed this have chosen a different ballast mounting location to make the install easier? It seems simple enough by nature and the DDM pic looks clear enough - DDM Accessory Wiring Harness Instructions

2. What are you guys doing w/ the small light (T10 bulbs?) between the main headlights and the turn signals? Switching them to white LEDs? Disabling them by snipping the wire or simply removing the bulbs?

 

[FullyLitLED]

Ok, I just read this whole frickin 26 page thread (after going through Atlass' build thread) and pulled the trigger on the DDM 55w/9600/4500k set and harness and fleebay brackets. Two questions:

1. Any tips/tricks needed w/ the wiring harness. Due to its length (or lack of), would any of you who've already installed this have chosen a different ballast mounting location to make the install easier? It seems simple enough by nature and the DDM pic looks clear enough - DDM Accessory Wiring Harness Instructions

2. What are you guys doing w/ the small light (T10 bulbs?) between the main headlights and the turn signals? Switching them to white LEDs? Disabling them by snipping the wire or simply removing the bulbs?

harness had dual purpose for me

1. safety net to make sure everything ran smoothly
2. acts like an extension cord since the wires from the ballast to the bulbs are pretty short lol

 

[mcewan13]

what about DDM Tuning HID kits in a FJ40?

....so I just noticed that DDM sells a 7" Sealed Conversion housing that can be used w/ their HID kits.

I searched the FJ40 forum and got pretty much crickets other than LandCruiserPhil suggesting them. I'll start a thread there on the topic, but thought I'd ask here as well since many of your who installed the DDM kits last spring also own older rigs.

I love the idea of having some bright light in my 40. I'd likely just run the 35w full time and abandon the HI beams since I've grown accustomed to driving around by candlelight.

What sayeth the MUDticians?