I installed HID bulbs in my factory housings and, as expected, I had a lot of scatter and glare. Last night I spent some time determining where the scatter was coming from and covering those portions of the headlights with tape. When I was done I had a surprisingly good light pattern on the roadway in front of me without the annoying scatter.

As you can see from the picture, I covered a significant portion of each headlight. Now I need to find a semi-permanent way to cover the headlights. I was thinking that some adhesive vinyl like they use for vinyl graphics or headlight eyebrows would be best (but I don't know where to find it). I've also thought of painting the inside of headlight covers.

Thoughts? Ideas?

 

Bummer, On the Base models, aiming the headlights down will relieve scatter issues as they have a scattered lens.

Have you considered painting the bulb? It wont change the look of the truck and nobody but you will know. Pretty popular mod within the HID community.

 

yeah, i would go spray paint....just get high temp so theres less likelyhood of burnin off

 

what about the those tint cover that i see on cars headlights???

 

As far as I know my housings are the same as a base model '96, but I'm not certain. They are faceted. I'll have to look into painting the bulb. It seems like you would only get one shot at doing it right, though.

Painting the housing is probably the best permanent solution but I'd like to be able to undo it or make minor modifications if necessary.

I also considered putting a few layers of window tinting film over the portions I want to block and one layer of light tint over the rest. I don't know if that would hold up well on headlights. Anyone have any luck putting window tint on their headlights?

 

have you thought of trying a shade? it should reduce the scatter, and look awesome on your black truck..

http://www.ventshadedirect.com/produ...oductid=154130

Otherwise, just some vinyl would be the only thing I can think that would do what you want... Take it to a sign and graphic shop, and see what they can do for you... But, really I think the shade is a better and nicer looking option..

JimK

 

paint the bulb?! a HID bulb?!!

I would think it would burn right off even if it is a high temp paint.

 

HID bulbs operate cooler than Halogen bulbs. BBQ paint works fine.

 

Here it is

www.xpel.com

I had covers on my trucks for over 3 years - this stuff works great!

 

+1 for spray paint...