The Retrofit website is way too technical for me! I do need to upgrade my lighting though. The Spyder/Recons come with H1 high and low beam. I thought those were supposed to be an upgrade, but again, OEMs were better. Can u guys shed any light (no pun intended) on these H1 bulbs? Do you know if I can replace the bulb in the Spyder headlights without too much of a problem and if so, do you have a recommendation? Retrofit guide says D2S is most common type of HID bulb and the H1 is not usually HID. All a little confusing but I'm learning.

Trying to find a way to salvage the Spyders bc they look great, and I'm not going to get my install money back, even with a swift kick to the installer's nuts! [That said, the wiring I'm told is a lot more difficult for the CCFL halo's and not plug n play. Non CCFL's are plug n play.]

 

I have the same lights on my screw. I too wanted better lighting. I had PIAA bulbs in the OEM lights and they still sucked. The Spyders by themselves are not going to do it. You need to go HID. I used a set of 5000k 35w units from the retrofit source in the low beam projector on the spyder units. The low beams are projectors and are made to handle the HID bulbs. Left the high beams alone, HIDs are more than enough on the low beams. D2S is the current standard for HID bulbs, they will work in the spyder units. You need to order a kit for a H1 bulb. This way, you will get the wiring connectors to hook up to the spyder harness without splicing anything. This is what I used in mine and they look awesome. The retrofit source is a little pricey, but trust me, their items are top quality.
As far as the CCFL halos, they are NOT plug and play. They come with little ballasts that must be wired and spliced into your factory harness. If you bought the units with the LEDs and the Halos, they have to be spliced in as well. Not sure if it would take 1 1/2 hours, but if someone wanted to do a nice job and fabricate a harness, it's possible.
One last note, it may have taken the installer a while to aim your lights. If there is one bad thing about the Spyders, they suck when you have to aim them. If they are not aimed right, your light output will suck regardless of regular or HID bulbs. If you are still confused, drop me a PM.

 

I bought my spyders used, the wiring was simple enough and I have the ccfl halo. As far as light output I upgrade the h1 bulb for some ultra bright white bulbs (sylvania) the output is pretty decent considering I live in the city. When I go out to the country that's where my rigid duallys help. I wasn't impressed with the light from stock, the spyders are better with the bulbs I installed but not great, people do flash me thinking my high beams are on though. Could just be an aiming problem with yours

 

Ok, so sounds like I should replace the H1 bulb with a D2S from Retro, and then I might have the alignment on the high beams looked at bc they seem to go to high (low beams look right, just poor output). Can I replace the h1 bulb easily on my own? Easily meaning, I don't do wiring! I can screw and unscrew and plug and play, but I don't mess with wiring...

Thanks guys, big help you all have been. Should have checked in before buying my spyders in the first place.

 

If you are just replacing the bulbs with another bulb then it's fairly easy, remove the 3 10mm bolts from each light housing, pull (with some force) the light away from the body (outer edge of the light has a clip holding it in that needs a bit of persuasion) remove the rubber cap hiding the light bulb, remove the wire (just pulls off) undo the flip clip, remove the old bulb and replace with new, then put it back together

 

I just realized you want to switch your h1 to hid, in which case my posting wont help you unless you wire in the ballast for the hid, some kits do come plug and play but I really doubt this kit will be considering you aren't stock anymore and no one knows for sure what your installer did behind the light

 

The shop that installed my Spyders told me today they can install PIAA extreme white series (rated at 4000k) which they think will improve my lighting. They said the bulbs cost $80 a pair.

Thoughts?

 

I would go with HID still, find a good set and it will come with ballasts, bulbs and a harness. I'm sure the shop you are dealing with is trying to sell you what they have in stock but order some HIds and have them install if you don't want to.

 

The shop that installed my Spyders said They could install PIAA extreme bright series bulbs rated at 4000k. $80 a pair. He did not know for sure but said they were 1-2X the brightness if OEM's. Thoughts?

 

Well Im just trying to find The best combination of quality and saving money, given I have already paid money to have the spyder headlamps installed. Won't the HID bulbs with ballasts cost much more than just the PIAA bulb? If you think the PIAA bulb won't help much, definitely let me know.