HID ballast opinions please?

S

Snesley Wipes

New member
Hey all, I'm looking to throw in some HIDs for the regular low beams...4200K or whatever they are. Was looking to get either the Denso or the Philips ballasts and maybe the Philips bulbs. I've searched the internet but can't seem to find reliable unbiased opinions on which is better or worse. Could anybody offer a little guidance please?
Thx,
Snes
 
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Never used those brands, but I've honestly had good luck with DDM. Never had one die, or be DOA, in a few years of using them. For the price, it's almost a no-brainer.
 
I'm using the slim Denso D2S ballasts (I have a HID projector retrofit on mine). Good thing about these ballasts are they warm up very quickly whereas all of my aftermarket ones take forever to reach their full brightness. However, they are not as waterproof as the aftermarket ones since Toyota mostly had these enclosed within the headlight assembly.

Philips bulbs are the best I've used. I've used some cheap HID bulbs and they all had some sort of thing that bothered me. Everything from misaligned capsules to loose capsules on the base. So far my Denso + Phillips setup is perfect. I have Morimoto's in a different vehicle and they come very close to the Philips bulbs. Check out: The Retrofit Source online: headlight upgrades for all applications They have a lot of quality products for decent prices.
 
tkr128 said:
I'm using the slim Denso D2S ballasts (I have a HID projector retrofit on mine). Good thing about these ballasts are they warm up very quickly whereas all of my aftermarket ones take forever to reach their full brightness. However, they are not as waterproof as the aftermarket ones since Toyota mostly had these enclosed within the headlight assembly.

Philips bulbs are the best I've used. I've used some cheap HID bulbs and they all had some sort of thing that bothered me. Everything from misaligned capsules to loose capsules on the base. So far my Denso + Phillips setup is perfect. I have Morimoto's in a different vehicle and they come very close to the Philips bulbs. Check out: The Retrofit Source online: headlight upgrades for all applications They have a lot of quality products for decent prices.
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Thx for the reply! Looked at the site...so for you setup would I need the "Canbus" or "Relay" H11?
 
Honestly, since you have the projector headlights...

Grab a $36 (free shipping) 35w h11 4300k (or 5000k) HID kit off ebay. I've had my low-beam kit for 3 years, and I run my headlights during the all of my daytime driving too.

Even if they do break, it was only $36... for everything (ballasts, bulbs, etc).

My brand is Xentec; its a popular brand for ebay sellers to sell. It's not the best as far as reliability goes but like I said, I've had zero problems. And most sellers will still give you a hassle free one or two year replacement warranty.

Get two HID kits (4 ballasts total) to do the fogs as well. The fog light bulbs are 9006, and you'll want the 3000k color.

Also, if you want something brighter you can do the 55 watt HID kit (it's $66). If you do that, get 6000k bulbs with the kit as the higher wattage tends to wash out some of the color.

I'm going to try the 55 watt kit in the near future and just see what the difference is.
 
I have the Philips 6000K HID kit for my '06 projectors (Philips bulbs & ballasts). I bought it from an eBay seller in Japan for $130 and it has been great so far (almost 10 months).

I have cheap ($35/kit) G4 micro ballasts for my roof lights but haven't had them in long enough to say anything about reliability.

edit: I didn't use relays or can-bus adapters for mine, just connected the low beam wires to the supplied connector and plugged into the ballast. They are very bright and I haven't seen why i'd need the relay or extra wiring so far.
 
I have the ddmtuning ones for both my low beams and fog lights, bith in 55w and they are awesome! I think I paid $114 shipped and lifetime warranty according to their website. Cant go wrong in my eyes
 
Snesley Wipes said:
Thx for the reply! Looked at the site...so for you setup would I need the "Canbus" or "Relay" H11?
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Use the Relay version--this directs power directly from the battery to power the ballasts instead of using the stock headlight harness for power. While not necessary, it provides some level of protection against possible deterioration of the factory harness due to the high power draw needed to ignite the capsules. It also keeps a constant power supply to the capsules to prevent against flickering and/or bulb problems.
 
tkr128 said:
Use the Relay version--this directs power directly from the battery to power the ballasts instead of using the stock headlight harness for power. While not necessary, it provides some level of protection against possible deterioration of the factory harness due to the high power draw needed to ignite the capsules. It also keeps a constant power supply to the capsules to prevent against flickering and/or bulb problems.
Click to expand...

For some reason I was under the impression that when you use HID you are drawing less power if you do the 35 watt? Does this sound right?
 
Snesley Wipes said:
For some reason I was under the impression that when you use HID you are drawing less power if you do the 35 watt? Does this sound right?
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Drawing less constant power, but the initial firing of the bulbs every time you turn them on is going to draw more power. It's only for a split second, but the pull will be more than 35W for that time and I think the main concern is that the repeated high power surges will eventually fry the stock harness.
 
The relay operates differently than it is set up now. Basically you are re-wiring your lights. Make sure you get HID projectors too. (The stock projectors are for halogen and don't work correctly with HID's)
 
Well I called that retrofitsource and they said that I have to get those Marimoto ballast because the D2S bulbs are not compatible that go with the Densos. I was just hoping to get some ballasts and some bulbs and screw them right in since I have projectors. He also mentioned that I should get the retrofit projectors. Is there really that big of a difference with the stock Runner projectors and retro-fits?
Thanks again for your advice guys,
Snes
 
My 55w HID's in my NON-projector headlights and projector fog lights are awesome. 100 times brighter than stock. I know projectors will be even better but that's alot more money and time spent. Even if you put in the worst hid kit, it will be night and day difference from regular bulbs
 
Snesley Wipes said:
Well I called that retrofitsource and they said that I have to get those Marimoto ballast because the D2S bulbs are not compatible that go with the Densos. I was just hoping to get some ballasts and some bulbs and screw them right in since I have projectors. He also mentioned that I should get the retrofit projectors. Is there really that big of a difference with the stock Runner projectors and retro-fits?
Thanks again for your advice guys,
Snes
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You can put HID bulbs and ballasts in any housing but using a reflector housing isn't recommended because it causes a lot of glare and can blind oncoming traffic. If you have 03-05 lights it is best to do a retrofit.

If you have 06-09, it's still best to do a retrofit, but you can do the squirrel finder mod and it reduces most glare and creates a pretty smooth cutoff.

I've read that the philips bulbs and ballasts are best, but I'm not sure. You don't need D2S bulbs; unless you do a retrofit you will need H11 bulbs.

The retrofit source is what it's title says, a store for those interested in retrofitting lights so most of his stuff is geared that way and what he is going to try to sell you.

The only member here who i've seen review the '06 projector with HID vs. the '06 retrofit sold at TRS said it was not a great improvement and didn't sound like he would do it again.

edit: IMO the retrofit source saying a retrofit is a necessity is the same thing as other vendors claiming HIDs are fine in halogen reflectors (i.e. not true)
 
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Thanks again for the help guys. I think I'll do the squirrel mod, grab some philips ballasts and bulbs, and get the relays... If anyone knows or sees any potential problems with this setup please let me know. I'm assuming this is all just plug-n-play. I'll probably pull the trigger in the next week or so and post some pics when I finally get it done.
 
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