Howto: Fit HID's into Factory Headlights (GX/GXL)

[bj0075 Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close bj0075]

Ok firstly

Dont all 150s have the level adjustment and mine set on 4.5 so damn close to the vehicle. For all the do gooders that have no friging idea 0 to 5 10 step and 0 being the adjustment with longest throw....

High beams aren't used on city roads eg parramatta road (yes we like our country drives on the weekend , we just got in from one for a truck that does 2 to 3 days running around locally and weekend runs we hit 10000ks I'd say 8000 of them weekend drives....

The fog lights where given to me to try they are a complete HID FOG LIGHT SETUP.... New lenses,washers and all in one unit..

Oh and I don't stare at other vehicle lights while driving at night, one of the "techniques" of driving at night to stop the light blindness from ALL lights not just hid I used to have 90/130s in an old car of mine and they where brighter than the hid in low beam.

So before you call me as a " general" car modder selfish maybe ask a bit more before accusation.

BJ

Ps I'm sure the auto electrician that installed my setup would love to hear his work described as badly installed especially seeing he spent a a lot of time with some weird box projecting the lights correctly. Once again ask before making general comments like that, I'd give you any chance you want to stare down this setup in a head on traffic situation and say its worse than any other "factory" setup out there. Eg a BMW x5 Audi q7 etc etc not everyone cuts corners to have the latest and greatest......I didn't fight with one of the biggest bullbar sellers/manufacturers in Australia because I cut corners on anything especially safety....

[Max Member Find all posts View Profile Close Max]

Ok firstly

Dont all 150s have the level adjustment and mine set on 4.5 so damn close to the vehicle. For all the do gooders that have no friging idea 0 to 5 10 step and 0 being the adjustment with longest throw....

High beams aren't used on city roads eg parramatta road (yes we like our country drives on the weekend , we just got in from one for a truck that does 2 to 3 days running around locally and weekend runs we hit 10000ks I'd say 8000 of them weekend drives....

The fog lights where given to me to try they are a complete HID FOG LIGHT SETUP.... New lenses,washers and all in one unit..

Oh and I don't stare at other vehicle lights while driving at night, one of the "techniques" of driving at night to stop the light blindness from ALL lights not just hid I used to have 90/130s in an old car of mine and they where brighter than the hid in low beam.

So before you call me as a " general" car modder selfish maybe ask a bit more before accusation.

BJ

Ps I'm sure the auto electrician that installed my setup would love to hear his work described as badly installed especially seeing he spent a a lot of time with some weird box projecting the lights correctly. Once again ask before making general comments like that, I'd give you any chance you want to stare down this setup in a head on traffic situation and say its worse than any other "factory" setup out there. Eg a BMW x5 Audi q7 etc etc not everyone cuts corners to have the latest and greatest......I didn't fight with one of the biggest bullbar sellers/manufacturers in Australia because I cut corners on anything especially safety....

None of the do gooders have had a go at you for your set up, people have just commented on how annoying/distracting poorly configured HID low beams can be in the city and how people running these don't generally take other road users into consideration. Good on you if you've managed to create a better setup than a Q7 using the dial under the dash.

Maybe you left out the part where you manually adjust the height of your lights from 4.5 depending on the load in the vehicle and road conditions.

I haven't looked into it so I could be wrong but I was under the impression that an auto levelling device...well...levelled the lights automatically. Stick a van on the back or fill up an empty fuel tank and the lights are pointing at the road and not other drivers. I would've thought they'll also keep the lights pointing at the right angle driving up and down hills and other situations where the front end is moving around.

I've got no issues with upgrading high beams and am considering it myself. If I can see another vehicle's headlights or tail lights then my high beams are off.

Yeah, high beams aren't used on Parramatta road but why does anyone need HIDs for a 6 lane floodlit city road?!?! Sydney drivers are bad enough already, why give them another distraction.

I'm just making up numbers here but I would guess 95% of the cars I see with after market HID low beams don't get to see many country roads and spend most of their time looking cool with blue headlights. Unfortunately when my wife's driving our daughter around in her hatch at night and the baby's screaming I'd prefer that there are as few other distractions as possible

While I may not agree with your approach, don't worry, you're not alone in thinking the rules are there for everyone else.

[krypto Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close krypto]

ADRs require auto leveling for HIDs, so they are illegal if you don't have it.

Because the fogs lights aren't focused they generate a lot of glare and putting HIDs in them will make it worse.

And to state the obvious they are "fog" lights so hopefully that's all you use them for.

[bj0075 Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close bj0075]

ADRs require auto leveling for HIDs, so they are illegal if you don't have it.

Because the fogs lights aren't focused they generate a lot of glare and putting HIDs in them will make it worse.

And to state the obvious they are "fog" lights so hopefully that's all you use them for.

OK Ill keep it simple
These are a complete FOG LIGHT HID system (COMPLETE REPLACEMENT) , but have a washer squirter at the base. They actually are focused to make a wide flat beam about 170deg, and yes used in fog and last week used in a snow blizzard.

Max love the last lines mate...

All lights where fitted and sighted in using about 145 plus litres of diesel on board (I filled up on my way to getting this work done) - so less in the tank will actually make the light closer to the car. Seeing your in sydney , why dont we arrange to meet up and see for yourself. As for the family slant thats 99% of the reason I bought a prado.

Also auto leveling HID lights DO NOT auto level when driving up and down hills , they level off to the difference in the vehicle itself...like you said ad a van or trailer, they will pitch slightly, driving up a hill they DONT. drive up say a gutter and yes they do pitch but when driving on normal roads I know for a fact my other car with factory HID lights doesnt pitch at all ( eg old bathurst road, gt western /M4 going up to glenbrook, bells line road, springwood road) All of them have different grades in steepness just so you know Im not just guessing)

BJ

[wooley Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close wooley]

OK Ill keep it simple
These are a complete FOG LIGHT HID system (COMPLETE REPLACEMENT) , but have a washer squirter at the base. They actually are focused to make a wide flat beam about 170deg, and yes used in fog and last week used in a snow blizzard.

Max love the last lines mate...

All lights where fitted and sighted in using about 145 plus litres of diesel on board (I filled up on my way to getting this work done) - so less in the tank will actually make the light closer to the car. Seeing your in sydney , why dont we arrange to meet up and see for yourself. As for the family slant thats 99% of the reason I bought a prado.

Also auto leveling HID lights DO NOT auto level when driving up and down hills , they level off to the difference in the vehicle itself...like you said ad a van or trailer, they will pitch slightly, driving up a hill they DONT. drive up say a gutter and yes they do pitch but when driving on normal roads I know for a fact my other car with factory HID lights doesnt pitch at all ( eg old bathurst road, gt western /M4 going up to glenbrook, bells line road, springwood road) All of them have different grades in steepness just so you know Im not just guessing)

BJ

Your lights are still illegal...

[bj0075 Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close bj0075]

Your lights are still illegal...

So any hid light is illegal , that doesn't have auto levelling going on the ADRs?

BJ

[wooley Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close wooley]

So any hid light is illegal , that doesn't have auto levelling going on the ADRs?

BJ

Yes? That's what the ADR's say...

[cafiem Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close cafiem]

The correct answer in the NT at least is ( and as far as I know it's the same everywhere ) You cannot retrofit HID lowbeams unless your vehicle has self leveling headlights as well as a lense washer. I checked, not just listened to someone or made it up.
So it doesn't matter whether they were professionally fitted or not they are illegal if they do not comply with the above...end of story.
Oh, and they annoy the crap out of me, I still can't understand why anyone needs HID low beam.

High beam and spotlights are OK.

And having foglights alight during the day when there is no fog is now an offence in the NT as well.

[bj0075 Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close bj0075]

Ok

Wooley says all lights?
Well that means a lot of the now selling driving lights are illegal?? As well as all these kits you can get from ecr@p , 4x4 stores, auto barns , super cheap, auto one etc etc NONE of which say they are illegal ( except the one shop that was involved with the bullbar incident basically said can sell the kit and fit them but for off road use)just drive to the snowies I have twice this year and man a lot of people use the driving lights...

Cafiem says just low beams? So does that mean that you can convert high beams and have driving light hid's

I'll go looking for the adr's on hid's and have a read.

[mickmac_42 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close mickmac_42]

Got any pics of your setup? I'm particularly interested in these flat beam fog lights with washer nozzles.

Don't get into the trap of assuming that what you bought/had fitted is legal just because you bought it from a shop. There's plenty of stuff for sale that's not legal to have fitted i.e. aftermarket steering wheels, mirror window tints, blue parker/number plate/headlight washer bulbs, the list goes on.

I assume you live in NSW (you haven't filled in your location in your profile). I don't know the rules for down there. In Queensland there's a general rule that your lights shouldn't dazzle other drivers. If you're running a stock setup then you can pass the buck to the manufacturer. If you make any modifications (not restricted to just the lights) then you'll probably wear a fine.

It would be nice to see as well at night as we can during the day but you've gotta consider the other drivers. If you put HID bulbs into a reflective housing then the other drivers are gonna have a bad time. My car came with the HID's as stock and i had them adjusted down because i kept getting flashed by other drivers. I don't blame them. They're bloody bright.

My understanding of the ADR (from what i can remember) is that there's a heap of conditions to satisfy if you want to fit gas discharge (HID) lights. These include headlight cut-offs and auto leveling. I think you can use manual leveling but the dial has to be marked with each setting corresponding to a certain load in the back.

Is there really such a problem with the low beams in the GX/GXL that they needed modifying?

Good luck readying through those ADR's. http://www.comlaw.gov.au/Details/F20...#_Toc235592111
I think section 6.22 is the one you want.

Mike

[mickmac_42 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close mickmac_42]

Here's a handy entry level info sheet.

http://www.racq.com.au/motoring/cars...ets/headlights

It doesn't cover the issue of daytime running lamps, but that's another can of worms.

Mike

[Max Member Find all posts View Profile Close Max]

OK Ill keep it simple
These are a complete FOG LIGHT HID system (COMPLETE REPLACEMENT) , but have a washer squirter at the base. They actually are focused to make a wide flat beam about 170deg, and yes used in fog and last week used in a snow blizzard.

Max love the last lines mate...

All lights where fitted and sighted in using about 145 plus litres of diesel on board (I filled up on my way to getting this work done) - so less in the tank will actually make the light closer to the car. Seeing your in sydney , why dont we arrange to meet up and see for yourself. As for the family slant thats 99% of the reason I bought a prado.

Also auto leveling HID lights DO NOT auto level when driving up and down hills , they level off to the difference in the vehicle itself...like you said ad a van or trailer, they will pitch slightly, driving up a hill they DONT. drive up say a gutter and yes they do pitch but when driving on normal roads I know for a fact my other car with factory HID lights doesnt pitch at all ( eg old bathurst road, gt western /M4 going up to glenbrook, bells line road, springwood road) All of them have different grades in steepness just so you know Im not just guessing)

BJ

Thanks for dumbing it down BJ but that doesn't make your lights any more compliant with the laws that apply to everyone else on the roads.

Might get to catch up on a PP trip but I don't think I need to see your lights to know what they're like. Extra bright low beams in a GXL factory reflector that you set up perfectly when they were installed. They have a manual control for adjusting the angle that you probably adjust every time the load in the vehicle changes...or sometimes forget. From what you've posted they don't have washers, this doesn't make much difference around town but it's another thing the boys in blue can defect you on.

I'm sure they look really cool and maybe someone even told you they're okay but until the laws are changed your current setup is going to be illegal.

The point I was getting at in my original post is that there are too many people driving around Sydney with poorly adjusted aftermarket HIDs creating another distraction for road users. Do you disagree?

Maybe they don't realise how annoying it is, not so much for me in the Prado but a majority of the cars which will have the driver lower. Maybe they couldn't care or maybe they're just too busy playing around on their new phone to even notice.

D!ckheads driving around the city (or anywhere there's no fog) with fog lights on is another discussion in itself.

[cafiem Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close cafiem]

QUOTE: [D!ckheads driving around the city (or anywhere there's no fog) with fog lights on is another discussion in itself.]

Like I said this is an offence in the NT and probably everywhere else.

As far as I can find out the fog lights converted to HID would be OK as long as they are not on during daylight hours with no fog and are independent of the low beam lights.

And without giving away my current employment yes we are defecting these all the time.

[rwo Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close rwo]

....
As far as I can find out the fog lights converted to HID would be OK as long as they are not on during daylight hours with no fog and are independent of the low beam lights.

...

Just curious as to why a HID converted foglight is ok? Are they considered more of a "driving" light than a fog light once converted, along the same lines as it not being illegal to fit HID spotlights (or is it...)?

[Max Member Find all posts View Profile Close Max]

Just curious as to why a HID converted foglight is ok? Are they considered more of a "driving" light than a fog light once converted, along the same lines as it not being illegal to fit HID spotlights (or is it...)?

218–1 NSW rule: using lights on vehicles generally(cf RRR, cl 55)

The driver of a vehicle must not:

(a) use any fog light fitted to the vehicle unless the driver is driving in fog, mist or under other atmospheric conditions that restrict visibility, or

My guess would be because they're not driving lights, they're just brighter fog lights. I've always been under the impression that brighter lights in fog/mist will just reflect from the water in the air and reduce your vision.

BJ, how did they go in the snow? I'm guessing the low, flat beam from your fog lights wouldn't refect as much.

BTW, my last comment wasn't directed at you, mainly BMWs and ricers driving around here with fog lights on all the time.