So I'm just doing some research here about different types of HIDs. I tried googling this but nothing really came up. So basically my friend has a jeep and he wants to put in HIDs. These are the old school jeeps. He was saying there is 2 different types. One I believe was projector (which we have on our 8s, it gives off kind of a cut off line on a wall) and I forgot what the other type was. He was asking me which type would be better. Any input?

One type is for example people who put hids on coroollas. The light shines throught the whole headlight. And the other type is like our cars HIDs where the light only shines through the little lens.

 

HIDs were made for projectors and look much better IMO (spreads the beam with out being overly bright...and doesnt look as ricey)
is he referring to the ballasts perhaps...make sure to get digital ballasts

 

Not he was referring to the actual lighting "unit" not the ballast.

He did mention one of the type is a dome facing outwards and the light shines towards it and the light gets reflected. I can't really explain it ill try to draw it lol.


Light shines this way -- > and gets reflected out by the reflective dome.
[Bulb]----> ) <-- dome

 

thats one of those ibe's

 

Thats a reflective headlight assembly as opposed to a projector. On a reflector the bulb shines against a small reflective cup which then fires the light backwards into the larger "dome" which then reflects that light onto the road. One example is like the one below



My mom's toyota sienna uses HIDs but on a reflective assembly as opposed to projection

 

^ Yess !! That's it !!

So I guess the 2 types are reflective and projector. So which type is best ? Best as in shines more light and is more effective ? Also in terms of price.

 

Projector is recommended because it has far more control on the spread of the light. Reflective doesn't have much projection and is brighter in close proximity but soon starts to die off after. Also, reflective assemblies cause a lot of glare to oncoming traffic.

With projection assemblies you can really tweak it down to cater your lighting needs with different lenses and shims (may require retrofitting) and projection housings.

Both have adjustable beam level.

 

You want to use projector housings with HID bulbs because it has a nice cutoff, so that you don't blind oncoming traffic, and it spreads the beam evenly on the road.
If you just drop an HID bulb in a reflector housing you will be blinding people. There are cars with HID bulbs in reflector housings but they have a piece of metal that blocks light from hitting the bottom of the reflective surface. You can make this yourself, but usually projectors are nicer. Be aware of cheap ebay projectors though. Some suck, while some are actually nice.

 

yes you are looking for projectors

do some searches on hid retrofit to see how to do it properly

or hidplanet.com

 

Thanks for the info guys !! Ill let him know !!

 

Check out www.theretrofitsource.com. They sell a number of different projectors. For an old Jeep that probably uses a single headlight for low and high beam, you'll want a bixenon projector so you don't lose the high beam. Your friend may have been talking about the two different types of HID bulbs: D2S (for projectors) and D2R (for reflectors).

 

^^ Awesome site. I have been eyeing : http://www.theretrofitsource.com/pro...roducts_id=135 , so much since I have the halogen projectors in my car. I am just scared to pop open my assembly since those things cost like 900 a pop lol

 

check with Matt over there to make sure they fit. there is a thread on hid planet for a guy that did a clear lens swap and they gave him the exact lenses to swap in. not sure if the fxr will work even though i think our lens is 2.5 inches

edit actually it was here https://www.rx8club.com/series-i-exterior-appearance-body-kits-27/finished-clear-lens-swap-6000k-bulbs-183349/

 

Good deal, thanks for the tip, now to gain some confidence in baking my headlights and we are good to go lolz.

 

Yeah, I've been contemplating doing a clear lens swap and spacer mod for a while... Haven't worked up the nerve to bake my headlights either.