Trent W

Hey guys hope you guys could help me here, I recently just converted my headlights into 55w HID's. I Had x6 100 w pro comp off road lights on an roll bar in my bed (don't worry I have a 180amp alternator and a optima battery). Well new headlights made my overheads look like they were really dim... ALSO MADE THEM LOOK YELLOW! so i got x6 30w H3 LED's bulbs to swap out my halogens which essentially turned them into floodlights but gave me the matching 6000k color I wanted . Yes there great on trails with trees and tight turns, mudding technical stuff etc... but i'm used to being able to go 80+ down a dirt road or through the desert which is mainly what i do and now i cant. I have a big custom bumper I made that I could mount more lights on but have no idea what are some good LONG RANGE lights to get. Pretty much came to the conclusion that LED's absolutely suck at distance and was a giant waste of money. so my questions would be
1. Could I just get a 55w HID conversion kit for 2 of my existing lights or will i run into the exact same problem i did with the led's.... lots of flood no projection? in the pro comp 100w housing (yes a ballast will fit inside of the housing)
2. If 1 isn't possible what are the longest beam lights that they make i could mount on my bumper?
3 what is the best place to mount them on my roll bar in my bed or on the front bumper?

MGD

Hi & welcome!

The problem here (I'll leave the color temperature differences alone for now) is that the Procomp reflectors are designed to focus the output from a precisely placed light source provided by the halogen H3 bulbs.

Putting the Leds in there completely upsets the reflector bowl's ability to focus the light - the light source is no longer at the expected focal point - what you get is what you see - uncontrolled flooding, lol.

The same is occurring with putting that cheap PnP HID kit in yer halogen headlight reflector. Totally incorrect optical system for the newly placed light source - it's way off the proper focal point.

Answer = projector retrofit. This is what you'd get if you did so:

http://www.f150online.com/forums/mem...0&ref=gnr-next

http://www.f150online.com/forums/mem...0&ref=gnr-prev

How's that for width AND 'throw' ? Those are just the heads alone. Using a true high quality 35 WATT HID projector system. If yer Procomps are large/deep enough, you could also retro smaller projectors into those. The results would be astounding.

Lastly - to correct the color issue, you could drop yer cheap kit down to 4300K HID's ( much closer to the color of the halogen H3's in the Procomps ) - that would also bump up the output from the heads - 4300K has significantly higher lumen output than 6000K. Won't help with the head 'throw' though. That is the poor optics doing that. This is yer least expensive option - put the halogen H3's back into the Procomps and get yer distance back - and you will actually see better at the lower color temperature. Resist the temptation to run 6000K or higher if you are actually after lighting performance ( rather than 'bling').

BTW - yer '55w' HID kit is only giving you ~ 40w, if that in actuality - they are all lying - tests on HIDplanet have proven that conclusively.

My advice? Retrofit yer heads, and perhaps a couple Procomps. And run the halogen H3's in the remainder.

Parts and instructions here: www.theretrofitsource.com

You could spend hundreds more and add LED high-quality lightbars ( they come in flood, spot and combos of both). TRS sells those as well. The most expensive option. For less, I'd just do the retrofits, IMHO. You will still get the farthest 'throw' this way.

good luck

MGD

Trent W

So at this point I've pretty much decided to scrap the 6 procomp lights and get something else all together... You recommended LED light bars but from what i read even the bars dont get the distance that a good 100w halogen or 55w HID off road light get. my main thing is distance not periphery light. even the 35w HID 6inch procomps are said "longer distance than LED or standard hologen bulbs"

OH and just a side note... just been reading around on HID's on this forum and realized that although my kit i put in my stock housing seems to have a good line that is below driver's view i went out turned my headlights on and walked about 50 yards down the road and sure enough my exact words were "I'm a d***he bag" haha... thought it was totally fine and look good when i was aiming them so the headlights are going back to stock for the time being until i figure out what to do... maybe just a new projector headlight housing there pretty cheap on ebay.

MGD

Hi.

I did mention that you should keep your Procomps and run halogens in them ( except perhaps for a couple that would be retrofitted if possible).

I did mention that Led lightbars still do not have the distance you are looking for compared to HID projectors.

I did mention that projector retrofits in your stock housings would give you the distance you were looking for.

I did not mention using aftermarket cheap ebay projector headlights for a few reasons - they produce very poor lighting, they tend to leak and fit poorly, and they CANNOT take a PnP HID capsule - same optics problems ( they were also designed for a halogen light-source ) with the added risk of melting due to heat. It's NOT recommended that you waste your money on that crap - it's a step backwards, actually.

The only caveat here is, IF they were Spyders, you could then use a specific TRS product to retrofit them easily: http://www.theretrofitsource.com/com...l#.UyLxTj9dVog

However, after the expense of the new housings, the Retro-Quik kit, etc, you''d be better off just retrofitting yer stock housings - with FX-R projectors - and you'd get better lighting.

There are some very good LED lightbars but I don't think any of them will give you the distance required to safely and adequately accommodate 80mph+ running. Not much else save yer halogen Procomps and quality HID projectors will do that for you.

good luck

MGD