Cant Use Hid's In Projector Headlights?

ajbardo · February 25, 2011

i just picked up some projector headlights off of e-bay to replace the busted factory lights in my gmt-900. i opened the box to make sure they made the trip from the west coast to the east coast without harm. (i have pulled freight for ups befor and know how they roll) anyways there is a sticker on the back that says donot use xenon or hid. has anyone delt with this before are they going to melt or something if i do or are the wires not big enough to hold the power that thoes lights need?

old-chevy-dude · February 25, 2011

most likely the problem is that the hid bulbs are too long to correctly seat in the housing, that is the problem with most of the fleabay projector crap units, for most makes and model vehicles. The other issue is the projectors don't have the cut-off gate that HID bulbs need, so you get an awful light spread that can present a blinding glare to other drivers.

if you can fine a shorty HID bulb, they do exist, you most likely won't have any issues, HIDs don't get anywhere near as hot as halogen units, it's not really a heat issue.

ajbardo · February 25, 2011

i didnt think they got hot but i wasnt sure. i was looking to put hid's in my 06 freightliner because the factory light sockets like to melt with sylvania lights. thanks

whoudi · February 25, 2011

Yeah my buddy had a harley f-150 and bought some projector headlights, he went to install an HID kit and the bezel's wouldn't match up to the aftermarket projector headlights. If I'm not mistaken every headlight where the original bulb screws in has its own style or number (like 9006 or H4, similar to a bulb distinction). When ordering my HID kit off Ebay the seller needed to know this specific number which is different than the bulb # in order to send you the correct kit so that the HID bulb will correctly screw into your original housing. Now your projector headlights may have a particular number and you probably need to know that in order to get the right HID kit, or they may not I'm not entirely sure. This is all pure speculation and don't take anything I'm saying as gospel, thats just how I understand it. Good luck man

sk · February 28, 2011

The manufacturers label them to cover themselves because it's illegal to put HID bulbs in them.

According to DOT requirements the bulb, ballast, rear reflector, and front lens must be designed to work together. Putting HID bulbs into random lenses is illegal, plain and simple (but I admit that doesn't stop tens-of-thousands of people from doing it). There is a really useful writeup here:

HID Controversy

old-chevy-dude · February 28, 2011

The manufacturers label them to cover themselves because it's illegal to put HID bulbs in them.

According to DOT requirements the bulb, ballast, rear reflector, and front lens must be designed to work together. Putting HID bulbs into random lenses is illegal, plain and simple (but I admit that doesn't stop tens-of-thousands of people from doing it). There is a really useful writeup here:

HID Controversy

well the legality part is up for debate, Vehicle Codes are State specific, the DOT does not make laws, only requirements, and the DOT do not approve or disapprove any component, they merely test for compliance.

In California there is no specific law stating it is illegal to put HID bulbs into non HID housings, however there is a law that says it is illegal to modify the lighting on a vehicle outside the manufacturers original equipment. Since the law is ambigous as to what a modification is, it is used for:

aftermarket head lamps, like the ebay stuff

aftermarket tail lamps, again like the ebay stuff

bulbs with a higher wattage rating than OEM spec.

bulb with a different color (i.e. putting white where yellow should be)

installation of LED bulbs in lue of OEM halogen (head/tail/stop/turn/whatever)

so the HID thing would fall under that law as the HID bulbs are not of factory original color and spec.

but the laws differ from state to state and the interpretation of the law differs from police/sheriff/trooper office to office and from officer to officer..

while I 100% agree that it is a moronic and idiotic thing to put HID bulbs into non-HID housings and it irritates the hell out of me because it is blinding and causes bad glare, there really isn't a law to stop people from doing it.

what should stop people from doing it is a sense of respect for other people/drivers, knowing that your idiocy is causing a problem for other drivers should be enough for a person to say, hmm maybe I shouldn't do this..

but since most people have no respect for other people, and are of the mentality that it's all about them, law or no law it won't change the behavior.

Grebbler · March 1, 2011

The manufacturers label them to cover themselves because it's illegal to put HID bulbs in them.

According to DOT requirements the bulb, ballast, rear reflector, and front lens must be designed to work together. Putting HID bulbs into random lenses is illegal, plain and simple (but I admit that doesn't stop tens-of-thousands of people from doing it). There is a really useful writeup here:

HID Controversy

well the legality part is up for debate, Vehicle Codes are State specific, the DOT does not make laws, only requirements, and the DOT do not approve or disapprove any component, they merely test for compliance.

In California there is no specific law stating it is illegal to put HID bulbs into none HID housings, however there is a law that says it is illegal to modify the lighting on a vehicle outside the manufacturers original equipment. Since the law is ambigous as to what a modification it, it is used for:

aftermarket head lamps, like the ebay stuff

aftermarket tail lamps, again like the ebay stuff

bulbs with a higher wattage rating than OEM spec.

bulb with a different color (i.e. putting white where yellow should be)

installation of LED bulbs in lue of OEM halogen (head/tail/stop/turn/whatever)

so the HID thing would fall under that law as the HID bulbs are not of factory original color and spec.

but the laws differ from state to state and the interpretation of the law differs from police/sheriff/trooper office to office and from officer to officer..

while I 100% agree that it is a moronic and idiotic thing to put HID bulbs into none-HID housings and it irritates the hell out of me because it is blinding and causes bad glare, there really isn't a law to stop people from doing it.

what should stop people from doing it is a sense of respect for other people/drivers, knowing that your idiocy is causing a problem for other drivers should be enough for a person to say, hmm maybe I shouldn't do this..

but since most people have no respect for other people, and are of the mentality that it's all about them, law or no law it won't change the behavior.

Well said.