What to buy.. Projectors
What to buy.. Projectors If you kept track of my old thread, I was deciding what to do to get a little more like from the front of the car. I've decided to put some projectors with and HID kit in place of the fog lights.
Now, when I go on ebay or froogle, I come up with millions of "projector fog lights" or "projector headlights" that run as little as $30 shipped. I don't see a way of telling if they are true projectors, or imitators or what, so I'd like some input. If you guys could recommend a good projector for me that would fit in the early 4th gen fog light area, it would be much appreciated.
I've also noticed there is quite the price range in HID kits on eBay. Is there a certain kit you would recommend?
TIA
Now, when I go on ebay or froogle, I come up with millions of "projector fog lights" or "projector headlights" that run as little as $30 shipped. I don't see a way of telling if they are true projectors, or imitators or what, so I'd like some input. If you guys could recommend a good projector for me that would fit in the early 4th gen fog light area, it would be much appreciated.
I've also noticed there is quite the price range in HID kits on eBay. Is there a certain kit you would recommend?
TIA
TECH Regular
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 427
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From: Ellicott City MD
here is some information that should help you out https://ls1tech.com/forums/appearance-detailing/710357-lighting-faq.html
my question is more are the cheaper projectors on ebay true projectors? Will they yeild the same results as more expensive ones with and HID kit in them? It doesn't matter much how they look as they are behind a grill anyway.
The stock fog lights in the 98+ are projectors, and you won't find any better housings than those to put in place without some custom work.
If you wanted to do some customer work the best projectors, IMO, are the TSX's. The easiet to work with are the Hella 90MM because they are 100% sealed.
We sell HID kits to replace the stock fog light bulbs, and you can keep the stock fog light projectors.
-Nathan
If you wanted to do some customer work the best projectors, IMO, are the TSX's. The easiet to work with are the Hella 90MM because they are 100% sealed.
We sell HID kits to replace the stock fog light bulbs, and you can keep the stock fog light projectors.
-Nathan
I feel like I should change my sig pic to something from the front of the car. i've got a 96.
I had no idea the stock fog lights on the 98+ were projectors. i assume I could probably get those pretty cheap. Could those make for a good low beam with an HID kit?
I had no idea the stock fog lights on the 98+ were projectors. i assume I could probably get those pretty cheap. Could those make for a good low beam with an HID kit?
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no you don't want a fog light projector as your low beam. The beam pattern would be terrible and might actually reduce your visibility at night. Like nathan said, your best bet is the 90mm hella projectors. Completely sealed and relatively cheap in the world of projectors. Nate also has H9 hid kits that you could put in the H9 90mm projector that hella makes.
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Copy & Paste Moderator
Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 9,764
Likes: 208
From: Eastern MA
Here is the other thread so people can get some back-story:
https://ls1tech.com/forums/appearance-detailing/816349-hella-ff75-conversion-anyone.html
https://ls1tech.com/forums/appearance-detailing/816349-hella-ff75-conversion-anyone.html
So how about this:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/PAIR-...QQcmdZViewItem
with this?
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/XENON...em290188636864
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/PAIR-...QQcmdZViewItem
with this?
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/XENON...em290188636864
Copy & Paste Moderator
Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 9,764
Likes: 208
From: Eastern MA
Originally Posted by TheGr8Schlotzky
So how about this:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/PAIR-...QQcmdZViewItem
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/PAIR-...QQcmdZViewItem
EDIT:
I just priced it out.
2 90mm projectors with adjustors, 2 mounting plates, 2 H9 bulb connectors $162 delivered.
The cost difference is $37 (including shipping), $13.40 of which is the bulb connectors which the ebay auction doesn't include. So in the end, the real price difference is $22.60. I'd gladly pay that difference to stick with a reputable local company that I know and not have to deal with ebay.
Originally Posted by TheGr8Schlotzky
Did you see the shipping cost on those.... $48 - $120 .... they are trying to hide the cost of the item in the non-refundable shipping. Damn scam artists. The price is still too low for it to be a reputable kit.
BTW, we do have a sponsor selling HID kits (www.ledgauges.com). They currently have a sale. You can get a kit for $200. I'll admit though that its a large difference between $73 and $200.
EDIT: I just looked again. The H9 kit is not on sale. Its $250.
You can do what I did. Get the projectors now, and worry about HID later.
I bought my H9 HID kit recently from www.ledgauges.com.
Its not installed yet though.
I'm planning on modifying the cut-off shield (probably this weekend).
Last edited by VIP1; Dec 6, 2007 at 09:52 AM.
Also, note there is a difference between not only fog projectors and headlight projectors, but also headlight projectors have two categories as well - HID projectors and halogen projectors. These all differ in focus, beam pattern, and cutoff.
I realize they hide the cost of the product in the shipping, but with over 1000 feedback, over 98% positive, I'd assume I would probably be safe with the seller. I looked around the ebay auctions, and within 100 dollars, these had the highest output, and the $400 kit had just 200 lumens more at 6K.
I realize this wouldn't be the best kit in the world, but for now i'd like to keep the cost around $200, and I will end up getting a better kit later on. I just want to be sure I won't be messing anything up with a cheaper kit for a while. Otherwise, what do you recoomend as a better, but still cheap kit?
As for the bulb connectors, I figured I would just solder the wires together or crimp on some kind of a connector to the leads on the HID kit. I don't see spending $13 on something i could do for free.
I realize this wouldn't be the best kit in the world, but for now i'd like to keep the cost around $200, and I will end up getting a better kit later on. I just want to be sure I won't be messing anything up with a cheaper kit for a while. Otherwise, what do you recoomend as a better, but still cheap kit?
As for the bulb connectors, I figured I would just solder the wires together or crimp on some kind of a connector to the leads on the HID kit. I don't see spending $13 on something i could do for free.
I realize they hide the cost of the product in the shipping, but with over 1000 feedback, over 98% positive, I'd assume I would probably be safe with the seller. I looked around the ebay auctions, and within 100 dollars, these had the highest output, and the $400 kit had just 200 lumens more at 6K.
I realize this wouldn't be the best kit in the world, but for now i'd like to keep the cost around $200, and I will end up getting a better kit later on. I just want to be sure I won't be messing anything up with a cheaper kit for a while. Otherwise, what do you recoomend as a better, but still cheap kit?
As for the bulb connectors, I figured I would just solder the wires together or crimp on some kind of a connector to the leads on the HID kit. I don't see spending $13 on something i could do for free.
I realize this wouldn't be the best kit in the world, but for now i'd like to keep the cost around $200, and I will end up getting a better kit later on. I just want to be sure I won't be messing anything up with a cheaper kit for a while. Otherwise, what do you recoomend as a better, but still cheap kit?
As for the bulb connectors, I figured I would just solder the wires together or crimp on some kind of a connector to the leads on the HID kit. I don't see spending $13 on something i could do for free.
No, I wasn't saying Hella's were cheapo, I was referring to the HID kit on ebay. I would contact LS1_SS (Nathan). That's who I got my kit from. Cheaper than buying from xenon_depot online and you have two methods of accountability: one being his reputation on here and the other being his reputation as a seller in general.
I'm sure he's a great seller with a great reputation and a great kit, but I don't think I'm ready to spend $250 on an HID kit. In future, I plan on getting a good kit, and his look pretty tempting, but for now, i'd like something a little on the cheaper side that will last until i'm ready to put out some more money.
with hids, most of the time, you get what you pay for. ive paid 300, 250, and 75 for differnt kits, best luck was with the 300 from a non-sponsor as it was all oem components.
It all depends on how much time you want to put into your retrofit and how much you want to spend and how long you want it to work. It's not our decision it's yours, we are just trying to guide you in the right direction so you have a quality setup that will last and not have problems!
It all depends on how much time you want to put into your retrofit and how much you want to spend and how long you want it to work. It's not our decision it's yours, we are just trying to guide you in the right direction so you have a quality setup that will last and not have problems!
Copy & Paste Moderator
Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 9,764
Likes: 208
From: Eastern MA
Originally Posted by TheGr8Schlotzky
As for the bulb connectors, I figured I would just solder the wires together or crimp on some kind of a connector to the leads on the HID kit. I don't see spending $13 on something i could do for free.
It all depends on how the HID kit installs. If its a true plug-and-play kit, then it will be intended to plug into a H9 bulb connector. In which case, you'll need H9 bulb connectors. Unless it comes with a harness that you can cut to suit your needs. Then you wouldn't need the H9 bulb connectors. You'd have to contact the seller to see how the kit installs.
The kit I got from www.ledgauges.com didn't have male H9 bulb connectors to mate with the female bulb connectors. It had simple spades. I guess its intended to be spliced in. I had already modified my car's harness earlier with better wiring and female H9 bulb connectors for the Halogen H9 bulbs that came with the projectors. I didn't want to hack up the new wiring I just did so I had to make my own adapter for it to truly be plug-and-play. I don't think male H9 bulb connectors exist. I was looking for a while. I ended up buying two H9 bulbs and breaking them so I could use their bases. I haven't taken pictures yet, but if you look at the fog light page on my site, you'll see what I'm talking about. I did something similar for my fog lights. (Still Halogen, not HID.)
If you don't buy the female H9 bulb connectors, then you won't have to worry about this as long as the harness that comes with the kit you buy can be modified to fit your car.
Last edited by VIP1; Dec 6, 2007 at 07:17 PM.