JDM HID for Titan Review

[MikeD]

I ordered a set a few days ago (the discount code worked great). Has anyone tried a set of these or any other HIDs for their high beams? It would seem the extra output would make all those suicidal deer stand out. Anyone have feed back on this?

[bestatchess]

I was thinking about the fogs. I'm not sure if the high beams would be too strong w/o any diffuser as in the low beam housing?

[MikeD]

I'm not sure there is such a thing as too strong when your eyes get some age on em. I think the fogs would be awesome with HIDs, but a little pricey for the use I get out of mine. I'd like to see what is way up ahead of me before I make contact. With the HID fogs I'd be able to see what I hit,,, better.

[Ants05SE]

I got mine in and put them in last week. They are great and the beam pattern is excellent. There is no glare at all and I wasn't flashed once all weekend when I drove up to a state park for a camping trip. They actually saved my butt as I was able to see a racoon and a deer on the way up there. The light output is so much better than the halogens.

[SmokenTitan]

Trucks are too tall for HID's. I'm still wondering who would really be at fault if you were in a head-on collision with someone because your aftermarket HID's blinded them...

Dont get me wrong, I love HID's as well, my roomie's S2000 has them. I drive an old Civic to and from work and most trucks OEM headlights blind me as it is...

[Elbo]

Originally Posted by SmokenTitan

Trucks are too tall for HID's. I'm still wondering who would really be at fault if you were in a head-on collision with someone because your aftermarket HID's blinded them...

Dont get me wrong, I love HID's as well, my roomie's S2000 has them. I drive an old Civic to and from work and most trucks OEM headlights blind me as it is...

Trucks are too tall for HID's? What about the increasing number of SUV's that come with them as standard equipment?

I have a Honda Del Sol, and experience blinding only occasionally, usually when the road is not on the same level as oncoming traffic.

You can be blinded by HID's or Halogen's or any light for that matter. The HID's I do not think are the main culprit here, it has much more to do with the beam pattern and dispersion, rather than it being a truck with HIDs. You can stand it front of my truck and it is no more blinding than a truck next to it with traditional lighting. Roll back and look at my picture where the light hits the garage. There is a very defined cut off where the light doesn't rise.

A properly aimed light shouldn't blind you HID or otherwise. I also seriously doubt people tend to wreck with vehicles that do blind them, I would tend to think that most accidents involving blinding would involve them hitting something else. I would think most people would steer away from the light.

However, If a truck has improperly aimed headlamps and switches to HID, it will make it worse. As traditional bulbs put out about 1100 lumens versus around 3000 for HID's.

So far I have never been flashed in my Titan with the traditional bulbs nor the HID bulbs.

.

[SmokenTitan]

Its still not a chance I'm willing to take, I guess I have too much respect for others on the road...

Have you noticed how far down the QX56's headlights sit? As compared to the Titans that are almost at the top of the fender? The older QX4's with HID's were also towards the bottom. The only other SUV I can think of with HID's is the Escalade and Navigator. While they are not that low in the front of the truck, they dont really seem to bother me. I dunno why, maby they are different...

I had a new TL behind me the other night and every time they hit a bump, I thought they were flashing me. No, just that their HID's leveling system wasnt fast enough to compensate for bridge bumps and what not...

Like I said, dont get me wrong, I love HID's, but I've about decided against them with the OEM lenses. I'd either put them in the fog locations or do a QX56 clip swap...

Later,

[TitanFan59]

I'm not worried about anyone else on the road, so I vote for the great mod.

[Elbo]

Originally Posted by SmokenTitan

Its still not a chance I'm willing to take, I guess I have too much respect for others on the road...

That's cool. One last thought on the thing, is it is sort of like the spot lights they put in parking lots. You can sit there right next to it and look right at it without a problem. As long as you don't look directly into the beam! You can look at a light that produces zillions of lumens!

You could also look at the safety aspect of HID's, in addition to the con that you mention. The ability to illuminate something that might otherwise remain unnoticed, that is about to jump in front of your car is somewhat priceless as well.

[rcantu]

I have HIDs on my S2000 and they are really bright. I'm thinking about doing them in my Titan. what you can do to not blind others is to lower the driver's side light lower than the passenger's. looks a little funny due to the cutoff but more respectful to others.

[MikeD]

After installing the PRG leveling kit I was very surprised how far my lights were out of adjustment. My guess is that they were set too high before the kit was installed but a few inches make a huge difference. I set mine just a tad lower than the manual recommends because of towing a trailer and the height difference with the weight on the hitch. I really think there is little to worry about with the HIDs as long as you adjust your headlights correctly and I think if you install HIDs you have a responsibility to check your alignment before getting flashed regularly. I’m still curious about installing a set for the high beams and just how much nighttime visibility you could gain.

[chunko]

Originally Posted by MikeD

but a few inches make a huge difference.

Where have I heard that before

[chunko]

Okay, my personal opinion is that HID are fine but you really need to have them aimed correctly. The stock deflector works almost like an HID deflector but remember that misaimed HID really blind the Sh!t outta people. Be kind and aim these bad boys.

Now, time to start saving some change and buy a pair.

A question for those that have done it...Anybody know how hard it is to aim the headlights? How do you properly aim headlights. I've never done it and perhaps a few of us could benefit from this knowledge.

-AD

[bestatchess]

Originally Posted by adavis99

Okay, my personal opinion is that HID are fine but you really need to have them aimed correctly. The stock deflector works almost like an HID deflector but remember that misaimed HID really blind the Sh!t outta people. Be kind and aim these bad boys.

Now, time to start saving some change and buy a pair.

A question for those that have done it...Anybody know how hard it is to aim the headlights? How do you properly aim headlights. I've never done it and perhaps a few of us could benefit from this knowledge.

-AD

There was a thread on this. The service manual shows (I think) pointing at a screen and adjusting the top of the light pattern level with or at a maximum of 2" higher than the center of the headlight with the headlight 25' from the screen. (This may not be quite right as it has been a little while). I did it on the garage door after putting on the DR coilovers. There is a single screw (Torx) that adjusts both high & low beams up & down together (one screw for the left side and one screw for the right side). They used to have machines for the flat faced headlights. I asked the guy at the alignment shop if he had a machine for aligning headlights, and he said no, they wanted $3,000 for the new machine that works with the angled face headlight housings.

[YosemiteSteve]

pics of my JDM lights:Hid - Jdm Kit - Pic