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Ok I know this sounds backwards, but bear with me. I have factory HID's in my truck, but they are the standard chrome deals. I have not been able to find a set of reasonably priced FX housings, so I am looking at sending them to an outfit to have them blacked out.
However, oddly enough, it seems none of these folks offer a loaner service, and there is no scenario where I can be without my truck for the 5+ days it would take to have them blacked out. Since the standard halogens are cheap and plentiful enough, I am looking at installing a set of those for the week or so while I have my HID's done.
Questions is, what kind of wiring changes or accommodations would need to be made to make that happen?? I know it's common to go from halogen to HID, but I haven't been able to find any info on going the other way. Any help is appreciated. Thanks. Jim
You will need a whole new harness at $600+ cost and a lot of cussing will be involved during the installation.
Your best bet, would be to get a set of cheap aftermarket HIDs headlights made for HID trucks, use them for however long you need to, and Sell them back on eBay or in the vendor section here.
If you have factory HID's then you can actually go to an LED Conversion Kit. Going to hallogens, probably not going to work. As they are a bulb and you need to plug a harness into the bulb.
However LED kits use an LED Driver. The Driver plugs into your LED bulb (comes with the bulb) and you plug your wiring into the driver.
Now this is where it gets a BIT easier. What you'll do is basically disconnect the truck's wiring going into your HID Ballast... you'll plug this into the LED Driver instead. They (at least our kits) give you spade connectors off the LED Driver to do this. You may need to crimp the wires.
But essentially you are removing the HID bulb, putting in the LED bulb. Disconnecting the HID ballast and connecting the headlight wires from your truck into the LED Driver (right now they go into the Ballast).
Now keep in mind there is also an actuator/solenoid that goes up/down when you toggle your high beams on, so you'll want to ensure this part stays connected.
Basically find the 2 wires that provide power to the HID Ballast, plug those into the LED Driver instead.
We experimented with our XHP kits and while they sorta worked the bulb on the LED was too big and you'd have to take a dremel to widen the opening in your housing.
However our new G9 series actually fit. I tested this the other day for a customer to ensure the bulb fit, which it does. Here is a photo of what it looks like to give you an idea on what you'd need to wire in.
Again there is no MANUAL for this, but the parts are available.
Just out of curiosity, I had a thought this morning. What about a bulb/ballast combo that utilizes the factory hid harness but fits a halogen housing? I know I'm reaching here. just trying to find a reasonably affordable solution.
Well you can actually just replace your factory HID bulb with an aftermarket... they sell OEM replacements. So if your bulb is all that is blown, you can just replace the bulb (I'd replace both sides, so they match). No need to go to a dealer, replace everything... bad bulb = replace the bulb
Bad ballast = replace the ballast
However it sounds like the OP just has a spare set of housings that take standard halogen bulbs BUT his truck has the HID setup... so that's the pickle he is in.
He can either
1) Buy a set of housings that take his HID bulbs
2) Buy a set of LED bulbs to retrofit for the time being
3) Use halogen bulbs but plug those into an extension wire, which he can cut and then splice into the other wire from his truck somehow.
Halogen bulbs would be cheapest... bout what $30 maybe for the pair for a decent set? Wires would be maybe $10
Well you can actually just replace your factory HID bulb with an aftermarket... they sell OEM replacements. So if your bulb is all that is blown, you can just replace the bulb (I'd replace both sides, so they match). No need to go to a dealer, replace everything... bad bulb = replace the bulb
Bad ballast = replace the ballast
However it sounds like the OP just has a spare set of housings that take standard halogen bulbs BUT his truck has the HID setup... so that's the pickle he is in.
He can either
1) Buy a set of housings that take his HID bulbs
2) Buy a set of LED bulbs to retrofit for the time being
3) Use halogen bulbs but plug those into an extension wire, which he can cut and then splice into the other wire from his truck somehow.
Halogen bulbs would be cheapest... bout what $30 maybe for the pair for a decent set? Wires would be maybe $10
And that's it in a nutshell, however I don't actually have anything aside from the factory HID lights that are in the truck. Now of course they don't need bulbs or ballasts to do the blacking out, just the housing itself. So yes I am in need of a bulb that would fit a halogen housing and utilize my wiring, or an aftermarket setup that would utilize my wiring HID or halogen and give me lights for the week or so while I have mine blacked out. Now on the local CL I found a set of aftermarket HID lights for a halogen truck, we've already established that wont work, but would my bulbs/ballasts fit that housing?? I don't mind doing a little modding to make them fit, I just do not want to mod any of my factory stuff as that all has to go back in after the black out is done.
09-28-2017, 11:24 AM
2014 OEM HID to Halogen conversion
