Reducing HID Glare Techniques

[MegaByte907]

Hi Guys

New member long time reader

So i just got a new pair of the phillips Xtreme HID's from xenondepot with the sweet holiday deals that are going on and after reading all of the posts i was looking for ways to reduce the glare that i will be expecting with the new lights. The two that I see are either reaiming the headlights or eliminating the squirrel finders. There is of course retrofitting but that is a little out of my budget right now.

I would still like to have the ability to see signs while driving down the road while not blinding other drivers. I, living in Alaska, do a lot of driving in dark conditions in the winter so i would like to have a really good light source to help me see.

So here are a few questions that i have for you guys.

For the people who eliminated the squirrel finders:
* Was there a big difference in visibility as far as not seeing road signs as well after removing the squirrel finders compared to having them?

* before you did the mod did you get flashed by other cars often?
and if so was it in very dark driving conditions or just anytime you had your lights on?

For the people who aimed their headlights lower:
*since you went with HID do you still get better visibility down the road than stock eventhough you aimed your headlights lower to get rid of the glare?

*how much lower did you adjust your headlights compared to the stock position?

I am leaning towards just reaiming the headlights as i don't want to risk breaking off the flaps in the headlight housing.

Any advice will help me out immensley as I would love to have all the benifits of having HID's without having to distract and blind other drivers.

 

[riverider]

Are the new Phillips HID's legal in Alaska?

 

[MegaByte907]

I'm not sure but I would imagine there won't be a problem having them as i have seen a huge number of Chevy/GMC trucks old and new having HID kits on their trucks and they produce glare like no other and I see no one (authority wise) complaining.

oh I got the 43000k philips kit btw.

 

[riceandpho]

the best glare reducing thing to do is this
first u take off the headlight and bake them to take them apart.
next u have to take the projector out, u will need to seperate the glass from the housing, then u should see the metal flap (squirrel finder).
next u bend it back and forth to make it break, and after u break that off, u should see a square shaped hole, go get some heating duct tape, the foil ones and tape the hole both front and back. all u need is a small amount. then put the projectors back in and put the whole headlight back. the glare is reduced and ull have a better cut off.
i use retro-solutions hids at www.retro-solutions.com
these are 55watt 5000k h11 on the lows and 35watt 2000k 9006 on the fogs.
never aimmed my lights lower, but only got flashed once.
good time to black out headlight if your going to take them apart.also, ull see the same thing without the squirrel finders.
in conclusion, u take the squirrel finders out and ull get a better cutoff line, well it did for me.

 

[riverider]

Cheaper for me to just use my Surefire M3 to blind other on coming drivers. We Okies are cheap bas****s.:

 

[blindside]

I just lowered my headlights a bit... not sure how much though in numbers but just enough to not blind oncoming traffic and still have a decent view of the road....

 

[MegaByte907]

I just lowered my headlights a bit... not sure how much though in numbers but just enough to not blind oncoming traffic and still have a decent view of the road....

Would you say you still had better visibility and almost the same distance as stock lights with them pointed a little lower? and were you still able to see street names and signs just as easily?

 

[MegaByte907]

the best glare reducing thing to do is this
first u take off the headlight and bake them to take them apart.
next u have to take the projector out, u will need to seperate the glass from the housing, then u should see the metal flap (squirrel finder).
next u bend it back and forth to make it break, and after u break that off, u should see a square shaped hole, go get some heating duct tape, the foil ones and tape the hole both front and back. all u need is a small amount. then put the projectors back in and put the whole headlight back. the glare is reduced and ull have a better cut off.
i use retro-solutions hids at www.retro-solutions.com
these are 55watt 5000k h11 on the lows and 35watt 2000k 9006 on the fogs.
never aimmed my lights lower, but only got flashed once.
good time to black out headlight if your going to take them apart.also, ull see the same thing without the squirrel finders.
in conclusion, u take the squirrel finders out and ull get a better cutoff line, well it did for me.

Thats great advise but being that my car is still fairly new i don't want to go as far as baking my headlamps apart and removing pieces from just yet. Maybe a little later when my car gets a little older but for now i still want to have the option of going back to "stock" if for some reason i needed to. Plus i don't have the b@lls to do that mod to my baby just yet .

 

[Mike07SE]

Nah, you don't have to do that. Just stick an object like a screw driver in there to push the flap down allowing the "squirrel finder" to function.

 

[riceandpho]

i bought my truck on 12/24/07, u need more balls lol, just bake them and take it apart, easy.

 

[MegaByte907]

i bought my truck on 12/24/07, u need more balls lol, just bake them and take it apart, easy.

LoL much thanks for your input i'll take that into much consideration. Although i will try just using screw driver first. If i can get the same result with less effort i'm all for it
I've also read on other forums that sometimes the heating duct tape used to cover the squirrels has had trouble staying on. How's yours holding up and how long has it been on there?

Still wanna know you others think on the subject.

 

[riceandpho]

its holding up fine, make sure the surface is cleaned and stick both front and back of the plate to get a good stick.

 

[blindside]

Would you say you still had better visibility and almost the same distance as stock lights with them pointed a little lower? and were you still able to see street names and signs just as easily?

I cant remember how my stocks looked like before, got so used to xenons but it was really an improvement over the halogens, distance wise pretty much close to stock and the light spreads out nicely on the road when lowered a bit, as far as the signs or street names on the road, clearly visible no problems at all. hope this helps

 

[leftyguns21]

i made no adjustments to my headlights or fog lights after making the change to HID's. ive never been flashed and see great. i did the change pretty quick after getting the car so i cant remember the stock but do know the HID set up is a lot better. the squirrel finder doesnt bother me that much so im not going to bother fixing it.
like you im shaky on taking my headlights apart but wouldnt mind the blacked out look.

 

[riverider]

i made no adjustments to my headlights or fog lights after making the change to HID's. ive never been flashed and see great. i did the change pretty quick after getting the car so i cant remember the stock but do know the HID set up is a lot better. the squirrel finder doesnt bother me that much so im not going to bother fixing it.
like you im shaky on taking my headlights apart but wouldnt mind the blacked out look.

Are your new lights legal in your State and City?

 

[leftyguns21]

Are your new lights legal in your State and City?

?
only illegal if you get caught right? i have no idea i didnt bother checking the laws. im sure you would have to find a pretty stickler cop to get busted for them though

 

[riverider]

?
only illegal if you get caught right? i have no idea i didnt bother checking the laws. im sure you would have to find a pretty stickler cop to get busted for them though

Changing your lighting system in Oklahoma in not allowed under Oklahoma Laws covering such items as lighting.
If your State deems your lighting system is not legal and you cause a oncoming Auto to crash. I wonder where this leaves you.

Myself I don't care what others do with their lighting systems, it's was just something I was thinking about and thought I would post the question.

 

[leftyguns21]

i would think it would be hard to prove that you caused an accident from your lights, and a person would need to be well versed in all cars to be able to determine what is after market and what is not...but i see where what you mean. i just never bothered to check. i lived in WA for few years and swapped out all my lights for HID's on my non HID cars and some were crazy obvious colors and never got harassed. Ive got fairly close to a factory color now so i can avoid any harassment

 

[MegaByte907]

So from taking a look at Alaska Muni vehicle and traffic laws I can't see any law prohibiting the modification of a vehicles headlights. I do see laws that try to limit your lights from producing glare into on comming traffic though.

Here is a qutote from Anchorage Alaskas Municipal Charter, Code and Regulations:

"A. Whenever the driver of a vehicle approaches an oncoming vehicle within 500 feet, such driver shall use a distribution of light, or composite beam, so aimed that the glaring rays are not projected into the eyes of the oncoming driver. The lowermost distribution of light, or composite beam, specified inSection 9.44.230.A.2 orSection 9.40.120.B.2 shall be deemed to avoid glare at all times, regardless of road contour and loading."

Here's another quote from 9.44.230.A.2 reguarding low beams

"2. There shall be a lowermost distribution of light or composite beam, so aimed and of sufficient intensity to reveal persons and vehicles at a distance of at least 150 feet ahead, and on a straight, level road under any condition of loading none of the high-intensity portion of the beam shall be directed to strike the eyes of an approaching driver."

So at least from what i can gather it looks like adding H.I.D.'s are ok and as long as the high-intensity portion of the beam (not the sqirrel finders) is not producing glare to the on-comming driver then im ok.

So it looks like i don't even need to re-aim or eliminate my sqirrel finders and be ok. Although i might just go ahead and aim them a little lower if a get some flashes just to be considerate of other drivers just to be safe.