why do my head lights suck so bad?

7

7 sek mark

Registered
here is the deal i have a 1st gen mark with housings that are bought new from ford about 3-4 yrs ago. the lenses have been kept up with and sanded and polished when ever they got any haze on them and are still pretty clear. i have since installed a 8000k HID kit in them and wired the lights to relays in hope to get more light output. nothing i have done has helped is their anything else i can do before i mount 2 6" hella 500's in my grill?. i just cant see what im about to hit both the high and low beams just suck i have them aimed a little low just so i can see some light on the ground. if they are aimed up i might as well just shut them off. this is annoying and could hurt or kill someone if i dont get some more light in front of my car. i know its not my eye sight but ive almost hit a few people walking in the road cuz i could not see them at night i need more light BAD.
 
Hows the chrome inside? They seem to burn up in the top corners of the low beams. (due to bulb heat and the heat trapping metal diffusers)

Also, 8000K HIDs won't put as much light out as a lower K such as 6000K or (most preferable for light output in 'cheapo' HIDs) 4300K.

I have used 'trimbrited' housings and a 4300K kit for around a year now - no problems except still poor light output on wet roads. (those narrow gen 1 housing just don't seem to put much light on the ground, when compared with modern designs)
 
8000k are one of your problems, the color of the light isnt helping you, 8000k is where light tirns blue, and blue light sucks for vision. you need 4300 to 6000k TOPS. also the headlights might only be 3 to 4 years old but that all it takes for them to be total crap inside again. give them to me for a few days, i'll redo the insides and you can order another hid kit with lower k bulbs, you'll be blown away after its all done.
 
7 sek mark said:
i just cant see what im about to hit both the high and low beams just suck .
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while it's not funny, when tiffany and I both drove first gens, we had a fun little game.

you had to guess/NAME what we just ran over

9 times out of 10 we'd "hit something, before we saw it".

Very few times could we determine "what it was" we had just ran over.

FEWER times I would see the object before {or JUST RIGHT BEFORE) we ran over it.

I got used to keeping a car in front of me, up in the distance and using their headlights and watching for them to hit something, so I could miss it.

This worked about 50% of the time...when there was a car up in front of us.
 
well i hope it looks as cool when you are slammed into a raised manhole cover and your oil pan is 30 feet behind your car lol. the higher in K numbers you go, the less light output you get. 8000 does nothing for your eye balls, it only blinds the ones coming at you.
 
jamie would their be a way for you to restore a set of lights you have there then i just trade you mine for those plus whatever you would charge to do the job? if i leave you te lights im really going to be left in the dark and getting tickets for no lights.
 
i have a set but one stud is broken off the backs of each housings, ( front end crash ) but you could use them till i fix yours, they will stay in, but i wouldnt want to restore them for you since they will move a little while you are driving. but they will work as temps for now. just a thought?
 
Thats the IMPORT fad in effect. They started using higher K numbers and people instantly think the lighting is better.
 
J said:
Thats the IMPORT fad in effect. They started using higher K numbers and people instantly think the lighting is better.
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Not entirely true.

Human eyes see the color blue a little better than the other colors at night. Orange is easier to spot during the day. This is why life vests are orange with little blue blinking LEDs. They can be spotted floating in the ocean night or day if an accident happens.

With regards to headlights, this would be why 6K lights are more common than 4.3K lights on OEM HID fitted vehicles. But 8K is going too far. I'm pretty sure the car makers looked into this before deciding on headlight colors.
 
I often wonder what would happen if you just removed the diffuser in the lights???? This seems to me that it would give you more light, at least as much as the high beams do?????
 
if you take the diffusers out, you lose your beam pattern and the light will go all over the place like the high beam side, you will have no projected path in front of you, you will see better closer to you, but bot far down the road, not to mention you'll make everyone coming at you totally blind.
 
yes i knew the 6000k would put out more light but i thought the 8000k should put out enough being that they are hid. i guess that was not the case i can get new bulbs for about $10 on the bay but how much better can the 6000k's be than the 8000k's? im not trying to argue the point im just saying how much better can they be?

side note jamie what would you charge me to restore my lights?
 
7 sek mark said:
yes i knew the 6000k would put out more light but i thought the 8000k should put out enough being that they are hid. i guess that was not the case i can get new bulbs for about $10 on the bay but how much better can the 6000k's be than the 8000k's? im not trying to argue the point im just saying how much better can they be?

side note jamie what would you charge me to restore my lights?
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It's not that they are putting out more or less light...the 6K color is more light that your eyes can see.
 
ahh i see said the blind man to his deaf wife while lessening to their fingerless son play the piano :p .

no offense meant to anyone here that might have a deaf wife or a fingerless child and god i hope if you are blind your not trying to read this or drive a car.
 
It's may not be the same since mine is a 98, but I just ordered 8000k bulbs. I have 4300k right now. I'll take some before and after pics and let you know. I expect them around 11/12.
 
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