w00t692

I would not run a 55w HID setup. Overdriving those things produces a ton of heat and makes HID bulbs that would last multiple years (average is 4-6 years) last only 12-18 months.

Napalm

few thing lost in the marketing.

NO factory HID implementation is run above 35 Watt. None. Hid is a arc light - literally strikes an arc like a welding rod. Therefore the power (current and voltage) has to be controls in the initial light up and then maintained to keep the light consistent.

Now about striking that arc - one of the issues with turning on and off HID's is because the ballast has to come up with a ________ thousands of volt spark to like up. So there is a igniter component to it. (Some HID strike at 15000 volts, some higher, some lower).

Everytime they light - this is an issue. It is why a number of aftermarket HID installs say disable your DRL (undervolting the circuit_and to disable your auto headlights. It's because their ballast uses cheap components and doesn't accommodate large input voltage swings.

Factory HID ballasts are often made to tolerate a 9-15 Volt range - and do so reliability.

This is why I tell people to use a quality digital control ballast setup for their HID's. Morimoto kits, Philips/sylvania kits and a few others are made this way as they are OEM or OEM clones of well made ballasts and igniters.

SO if I was buying something to use on the F150 I wouldn't hesitate to use the XenonDepot Xtreme HID kit. And yes if I look it up there's a morimoto kit I would use too. Reason I say the other one is because it's the kit I put in my pontiac G8 some 7 years ago. And I use it every day as it's my Daily - still - and I keep my auto lights set to auto. It's great and I'd argue the higher end morimoto kit is too.

Anything cheaper than say 120 dollars for the kit is probably suspect. Remember also you are paying extra for a quality bulb more specifically an accurately made - bulb. where they take the time to align the arc path to the same geometry of the standard filiment bulb it replaces. Very important.


Finally on the auto start stop flicker - this is mostly in the ballast - as upon stop as it burns down the battery - when the voltage drops below 12V - if the ballast can't maintain control of the arc - the light will flicker or stop. Then upon relight - it might pop a capacity (in the kit not the car).

OH and another thing that 35W isn't necessarily the constant pull power of the HID kit and yes that's for each bulb not both together. Since this is a significant spike in the power when the bulb arc strikes - when the power use is measureed over a short span - HID's use a bit more power.

But looking at current draw while on - it's very low like an LED. SO when stopped with the lights already on - the draw of a quality system is fairly low and consistent. Another key point.

TLR version - don't buy a cheap HID kit and Don't go over 35W.

n82011

Thanks for that info!

Based on what you have mentioned, I think I got a good quality system that will work. I put the cart before the horse, and bought a 55W system before posting these questions, so we'll see how it goes.

I bought https://gtrlighting.com/gtr-lighting...th-generation/.

(6,000k lighting)

If the 55W system works well for the ANZO low beams, I will purchase another 35W system for the low beams. It is rare for me to use the high beams, as I do a lot of city driving, so the 55W should fare well as high beams.

FlawedXJ

I suggest against HIDS for the highs if you don't use them often. They take too long to warm up to be useful in brief stints of time. That's the down fall of the f150s two bulb design they used this time around. I'm running LEDs for my highs.