8000K refers to the color temp of the light not the heat temp of the bulb. An 8000K bulb is about damn near purple and has much lower visible light than a bulb 5000K or lower. Watts, 35 or 55 determines how hot it gets.

 

anything over 6000k is just for show. i think 5000k is suppose to be the best color as far as being able to see.

 

beeker I'm not sure if you have ever ran 8k HID's, but none I have ever seen have been close to purple,

8k is blue

6k is a white with a tad bit of shade to it, this is what I run in my projectors

5k is a pure white

4300 is a bright white and what most factory HID's come with

I would reccomend anything up to 6k unless your doing it for color reasons, 4300 or 5k are good if you want it to look like a factory setup

The site given would be a good place to get the projectors to retrofit your lights, but your better off not spending $150 on the HID kit you can pick a kit for the price of quality halogens. DDM has them for a little less than $50 and come with a lifetime warranty, no point in throwing away cash.

 

So it sounds like I am in the same situation as Aero...I want a simple solution to more light at night...besides cleaning the lens and adding fog lights. It seems like the HID kit is not very expensive and they are brighter and more durable than halogen bulbs. However, the HID take a minute or two to warm up to full brightness.

The color nearest 4300k will provide the most visibility...a halogen is around 2,300k. When you go over 4300k (like up to 8000k) you are losing visibility but getting a different color...depends on what is more important to you, looks or function.

I also think that if you get HID, you should get a good quality one and have it set properly so that you are not blinding on coming traffic, which seems to be a complaint of other people.

 

HID's in the stock housing WILL blind other motorists.
You should ONLY install them in a projector-type housing. It gives a better light pattern and cut off anyway.

 

[quote=redheadhunter21;2624378]beeker I'm not sure if you have ever ran 8k HID's, but none I have ever seen have been close to purple,

8k is blue]

You're right 8000K is blue.
Another thing to consider is that the HID bulbs turn even more blue as they age. The 4300K which have a faint hint of blue when brand new will be closer to 5000K after a few years.

 

Typical kit uses a 30amp fuse, so somewhere close to that to start the bulb, then the ballast switches and current draw drops half or more.

 

So are you saying that you need the whole new lens as well...or is housing different than lens?

 

Lens is part of the housing.

 

i never checked the voltage at the headlights with the engine running.i know the 90 96 chev trucks only had around ten volts. when you put the relay kits in to get 14 volts it helped out lots. maybe a relay kit and some night hawk bulbs would work? a good set of driving lights as back up couldnt hurt