Just cause it's legal or illegal is not going to stop people from doing it.... You also cannot deem that your HID's in halogen housings are
fine because you have aimed them and only 1,2,3,4,5,6,.... people have flashed you, as that's completely subjective. I pass people with terribly aimed headlights and drop-in HID kits all the time on the highway, does that mean I flash them as they go by every time? No. I rarely do because it's almost common practice nowadays and if I do, I'm just asking for a "terribly aimed drop-in HID setup" to flash me back and blind me for the next 10 seconds.
The light from an HID bulb is projected in ALL directions except rearward (where the bulb socket plugs into the headlight) and is also WAY more powerful than its halogen counterpart (I recall 1300 lumens vs. 2500 lumens). A halogen bulb projects light in a cylindrical form only (notice how the front end of the H4 bulbs have silver or black paint on them?). The headlight "bowls" and their associating angles of reflection are matched to the output direction and power of the bulb. So, in short, halogen headlights are designed to work with halogen bulbs. I'm also not saying that HID bulbs can't be used in a reflective type housing, it just needs to be designed for the extra light output. (the reason why some OEM manufacturers run HID's in reflective type headlights, ie. early Acura TL, CL) This is similar to why some halogen reflective headlights give better results than others when simply replacing the stock halogen bulb with an HID one.
Being the hypocrite that I am lol, I currently have drop in HID's in my 99+ clear 4Runner headlight housings. My halogen bulbs burnt out and I had some Morimoto ballasts lying around and thought, "what the hell!" (Projectors coming soon.) In my opinion and experience, the 4Runner stock headlights are TERRIBLE and scatter the HID light in a brutal massacre, much less a cutoff line. In their defense, I do have some cheesy "bi-xenon" bulbs that have a mechanical slider that moves to turn the H4 from "hi" to "low" and I believe it may even further detriment my light output but is definitely not it's sole reason for failure.
I will say this, the 99+ 4runner light housings compared to a lot of vehicles I've seen with drop in HIDs do really well with glare. I think it comes down to buying a good kit. Trust me, I spent well around $200 for my HIDs and they are bi-xenon, fully digital and high quality, nothing crappy about the kit.
The digital ballasts do nothing in terms of the light output. They are just more reliable and operate at cooler temperatures. However, bulbs DO make a difference. Your right, not everyone has a budget for projectors, even though most of us agree that they are probably the best headlight setup in terms of light output. I just think that it is important that people understand the logic behind the halogen vs. HID argument. People should realize that simply putting HID bulbs in a halogen housing WILL cause some type of glare or obscure and unintentional light output (light scatter) that may cause discomfort or, in extreme cases, harm other drivers.
And no, Im not pulling my crappy HID's out until I get projectors!! haha
:vader:
wish they were but i dont have projectors in my tahoe and they do just fine. Thanks for yalls help! Those of you with a 99 did yall have any problems with the DRL lights or anything?