I have a 2014 STX and I am wanting to upgrade the lighting. I know nothing about lighting so Im very lost. I have seen a lot of discussion but not exactly what Im looking for. My main question is can I just stick LED bulbs in my stock housing or do I need to be a specific kit. If I do have to buy anything, what do you guys recomend? like I said I want to do the head lights and the tail lights.
Thaanks!

 

OEM HID's are an exceptional upgrade from halogen. Recon led tails, I have both on my truck and extremely happy.

You'll need an adapter Morimoto harness for the heads, the tails are plug-n-play. Neither are cheap.

Don't let anyone talk you into those HID kits to put in the halogen housings, they are not DOT approved and blind everyone else on the road.
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The only true upgrade for the most part is hid's. I am actually pro led. I have leds in mine and like them. They are in spyder projectors and I am happy with them. HOWEVER, if I could do it again. I would go with oem hids. I'm going to catch a lot of ish for this as well because I typically defend my setup. It's not hid worthy but good enough for me. If want to notice a true difference I would go with the hid's.

 

Ive had a couple set up since I've had my truck. First was I put an HID kit inside my stock halogen housing, besides blinding everyone like Rnlcomp said, they weren't great and kept having to replace them. Next was an aftermarket projectors style light. Was junk, kept getting water inside and wasn't happy with the light output. Last and its my current. I sucked it up and bought a set of OEM HID's. They have been by far the best light I have used yet. The morimoto kit has been flawless and the same goes for the lights. I have a friend who has tried the LED kits in stock housings, but because the led is only on one side of the bulb he is having a hard time getting the light the way he wants it. He took it out put halogen bulbs back in and is currently looking for a set of OEM lights.

 

where are you guys getting your oem headlights?

 

I got mine here in the for sale section. Besides here I see them come up on Craigslist in kijiji usually

 

Got mine on ebay.
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I see a lot of people say only get OEM HIDS. I want to know why. I'm not arguing, just genuinely want to know. What would be the difference between buying aftermarket projector housings and throwing in some good bulbs and ballast vs OEM?

 

DOT/SAE approval. Anything that is not DOT approved is usually off road only, OEMs are DOT approved and can be installed with out any issue. Technically some Retrofits and some aftermarket lights are not street legal and depend on state regs and installation quality, on weather or not you get hassled about them.

 

Well OEM quality for one thing, they look like they belong where as some of the aftermarket look kind of ricy.



Light output, you could buy some after market look alikes but then you would have to also replace the bulb, the ballast and the projector $$$$$ and end up with a better than oem light output quality. Makes no sense to do that when you can just retrofit your halogen housings with the same aftermarket projectors, bulbs, ballasts and save some $$$$. DOT compliance is also a concern.

Or just buy OEM hid projectors and a simple adapter harness and be done with it for a decent price. When I got mine they were still new to the market as they didn't come out until 2013 so I paid a premium $1,300.00 for the set.

You can find them much cheaper now especially if you get used ones.
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