HID Install FJ62 - daylight at night!
- Thread starter mmw68
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mmw - NICE! I've been planning on going HID on mine for a while. I have the DDMTuning kits already (55w and slim ballasts) and really like them. Currently one kit in my Buell which makes a HUGE difference.
Hey - good looking bumper!
Hey - good looking bumper!
- Thread starter
- #23
Tell me more about the Buell kit? Two if the guys that work with me have Buells, and they where asking me about HID kits for the bikes.
Two if the guys that work with me have Buells, and they where asking me about HID kits for the bikes. mmw - NICE! I've been planning on going HID on mine for a while. I have the DDMTuning kits already (55w and slim ballasts) and really like them. Currently one kit in my Buell which makes a HUGE difference.
Hey - good looking bumper!
So are these HID bulbs made to fit in the H4 & H1 housings that you have currently installed?
I talked to Dan Stern a while about about that, and he didn't recommend it, due to the way the light is actually generated inside the bulb in HID vs. incandescent bulbs. The housing/reflector assembly must be specifically made for HID bulbs. I know you've got HID specific housings on order, but I'm just throwing that out there for others who might be tempted to use HID bulbs in their H4 and H1 housings.
I also did alot of research myself a while back, and the highest color temperature I would ever go with is 50000K. It doesn't fall to a "courtesy to oncoming traffic" thing so much as it does a safety of the user thing. 43000K color temperature allows the optimum reflection off traffic signs & reflectors, and best contrast in the majority of road conditions to allow the driver to see details in the road and foreign objects like rocks and whatever else might be in the road. There are also factors like what color temperature the human eye sees best but that was alot of technical stuff I didn't quite grasp. However, a higher color temperature (which I honestly can't remember right now) allows better visibility in heavy precipitation, which I see alot of in eastern WA and frequent trips to the Seattle area. 50000K is also about the highest you can go before getting a very slight (and increasing as the color temperature goes up) blue hue to the light. DOT (and Dan Stern also backed that one up when I asked him about it last year) has 43000K as being the highest legal color temperature for any headlights due to these factors. At least, this was the case about a year ago when I was researching going to HID (but at the time the only options available to me were finding bulbs to use in my H4 and H1 housings, which has changed since then).
Not trying to s*** on the good work you did on your conversion (or the idea of going HID in the first place, which I like), but I wanted to throw out what I've discovered when I last researched HIDs for my 62.
I talked to Dan Stern a while about about that, and he didn't recommend it, due to the way the light is actually generated inside the bulb in HID vs. incandescent bulbs. The housing/reflector assembly must be specifically made for HID bulbs. I know you've got HID specific housings on order, but I'm just throwing that out there for others who might be tempted to use HID bulbs in their H4 and H1 housings.
I also did alot of research myself a while back, and the highest color temperature I would ever go with is 50000K. It doesn't fall to a "courtesy to oncoming traffic" thing so much as it does a safety of the user thing. 43000K color temperature allows the optimum reflection off traffic signs & reflectors, and best contrast in the majority of road conditions to allow the driver to see details in the road and foreign objects like rocks and whatever else might be in the road. There are also factors like what color temperature the human eye sees best but that was alot of technical stuff I didn't quite grasp. However, a higher color temperature (which I honestly can't remember right now) allows better visibility in heavy precipitation, which I see alot of in eastern WA and frequent trips to the Seattle area. 50000K is also about the highest you can go before getting a very slight (and increasing as the color temperature goes up) blue hue to the light. DOT (and Dan Stern also backed that one up when I asked him about it last year) has 43000K as being the highest legal color temperature for any headlights due to these factors. At least, this was the case about a year ago when I was researching going to HID (but at the time the only options available to me were finding bulbs to use in my H4 and H1 housings, which has changed since then).
Not trying to s*** on the good work you did on your conversion (or the idea of going HID in the first place, which I like), but I wanted to throw out what I've discovered when I last researched HIDs for my 62.
- Thread starter
- #25
Yeah, I know, I know... I read all this too. But went ahead and did it any way.
I have a set of real HID unit's sitting in a box, 165mm with projector/shutter lens and Philips D1R Bulbs that are 4300K waiting to be installed. Iam moving in the next few weeks, so I won't have time to put these in until September. But I'll post up my findings.
I have a set of real HID unit's sitting in a box, 165mm with projector/shutter lens and Philips D1R Bulbs that are 4300K waiting to be installed. Iam moving in the next few weeks, so I won't have time to put these in until September. But I'll post up my findings.
Tell me more about the Buell kit?
I have the 1125R which may be a bit different than what they have. It's a dual (actually quad) headlights - stock was 35w lows 35w highs. I did not replace highs since HIDs aren't fast enough to "flash" which is what i mostly would use them for.
SO i just ordered the 55w dual bulb kit (no hi/low needed), mounted the slim ballasts under the headlight assembly and powered it from the stock connector w/o issue. Simple really. No harness needed (i got one incase it needed more juice). I have had one bulb/ballast not fire a couple times especially when cold out, but a quick off/on has fixed it. If it becomes more common i'll either add the harness to troubleshoot, or replace that ballast.
I had some pics up on badweb forums i'll look and link here if i find them.
I have to admit I'm very curious to see how your overall light output and beam pattern looks with the dedicated units vs. the ones you're running now. Are the new ones E-code units?
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I love mine ...
Mark,
What part number and where did you get the true HID units from? Thx
What part number and where did you get the true HID units from? Thx
how were you able to get the hi beam light to come on???? I cant get mine to work! 
- Thread starter
- #33
Sorry, I don't think I ever posted up my wiring, or the Diod that is used for the hi/lo beam.
Here is some useful info from the Yahoo 3FE group, written buy Wayne Tangent.
As you know, Toyota designed these headlights using switched ground theory. So, when you turn your headlights on, a relay closes providing 12 Volts to all the headlights. If the HI/LO switch is in the LO position, the LO Beams circuit is completed through the switch in your steering column and to ground. When you switch to HI Beams, the LO Beam path to ground is broken and the HI Beams circuit is completed through the steering column switch and then to ground. When the LO Beam path to ground is broken, the + side of the HI Beam indicator light "floats" to twelve volts through the LO Beam headlamps and the dash indicator illuminates. Because the current draw is so small for the dash indicator light, the LO Beam headlight filaments act as a wire to + voltage. If both your LO Beam lights burned out, you HI Beam indicator would never light. All that ground current from the headlights through HI/LO switch + wires is a problem after 20 years.
I changed things around from switched ground to switched 12 Volt theory. With a harness of my design installed, all the stock headlight wires are disconnected from the headlamps. My harness plugs into one of the HI/LO headlight sockets. Now when you turn your headlights on, the 12 Volts from the vehicle headlight relay turns on Relay 1 in my diagram. If the HI/LO is in LO, then 12 volts is fed directly from the battery through Relay 1, through the Relay 2 Normally Closed (NC) contacts and to the LO Beams headlights. No path to ground is required (or desired) back through the steering column. When you select HI Beams at the steering column, the HI Beam path to ground though the steering column selector completes the relay coil circuit for relay 2 and 3 and they both turn on. Relay 2 lights the HI Beams in the dual filament headlight, and Relay 3 lights the second set of HI Beams for an FJ62 as well as provides 12V back to the dash to light the HI Beam indicator for both the FJ62 and FJ60.
So far so good. Now comes the problem. If you reach up and pop the HI/LO selector back from HI to LO, there is a split second when the LO Beam path to ground is completed before Relay 3 opens and there is a direct short to ground for Relay 3. This doesn't happen every time, and it took me awhile and a few fuses to figure it out. Cutting the wire to the LO Beam switch stops this from happening, but still allows the HI Beam indicator to light. Should you wish to return to stock configuration, you simply repair the cut wire with a splice.
Make sense? - Wayne.
Here is some useful info from the Yahoo 3FE group, written buy Wayne Tangent.
As you know, Toyota designed these headlights using switched ground theory. So, when you turn your headlights on, a relay closes providing 12 Volts to all the headlights. If the HI/LO switch is in the LO position, the LO Beams circuit is completed through the switch in your steering column and to ground. When you switch to HI Beams, the LO Beam path to ground is broken and the HI Beams circuit is completed through the steering column switch and then to ground. When the LO Beam path to ground is broken, the + side of the HI Beam indicator light "floats" to twelve volts through the LO Beam headlamps and the dash indicator illuminates. Because the current draw is so small for the dash indicator light, the LO Beam headlight filaments act as a wire to + voltage. If both your LO Beam lights burned out, you HI Beam indicator would never light. All that ground current from the headlights through HI/LO switch + wires is a problem after 20 years.
I changed things around from switched ground to switched 12 Volt theory. With a harness of my design installed, all the stock headlight wires are disconnected from the headlamps. My harness plugs into one of the HI/LO headlight sockets. Now when you turn your headlights on, the 12 Volts from the vehicle headlight relay turns on Relay 1 in my diagram. If the HI/LO is in LO, then 12 volts is fed directly from the battery through Relay 1, through the Relay 2 Normally Closed (NC) contacts and to the LO Beams headlights. No path to ground is required (or desired) back through the steering column. When you select HI Beams at the steering column, the HI Beam path to ground though the steering column selector completes the relay coil circuit for relay 2 and 3 and they both turn on. Relay 2 lights the HI Beams in the dual filament headlight, and Relay 3 lights the second set of HI Beams for an FJ62 as well as provides 12V back to the dash to light the HI Beam indicator for both the FJ62 and FJ60.
So far so good. Now comes the problem. If you reach up and pop the HI/LO selector back from HI to LO, there is a split second when the LO Beam path to ground is completed before Relay 3 opens and there is a direct short to ground for Relay 3. This doesn't happen every time, and it took me awhile and a few fuses to figure it out. Cutting the wire to the LO Beam switch stops this from happening, but still allows the HI Beam indicator to light. Should you wish to return to stock configuration, you simply repair the cut wire with a splice.
Make sense? - Wayne.
So you're just using Wayne's harness design? That works, since I've been running one for years now.
Any updates on different housings you've tried yet?
- Thread starter
- #35
After almost a year of everyday use, I finally had to replace one of those HID bulbs. But other than that they have help up fine.
You still using H1 and H4 housings, or did you finally install HID-specific projector housings?
Looks great! What would you say the cost is for everything one would need to upgrade to HID like you did, minus the round driving lights you have on the bumper?