Can't see at night, HID Conversion

[SPoe]

Everyone out there knows that the sealed beam headlights that are for our trucks aren't the best solution for lighting up the road at night. I added some KC lights to my bumper to help light the road and the local police and state troopers didn't like the blinding light in their rear view mirrors. I didn't want to loose the brightness of the KCs but I was tired of being pulled over for "Failure to dim lights. " Since I have a few friends who have upgraded to HIDs in their newer trucks i opted to do the same.
Here's a pic of the stock sealed beams
#ad


First I had to buy the H4 conversion, JCWhitney offers a kit for around $50 so I purchased that and then on eBay I found a company that sold the HID conversion kit for $88 with a 5 year warranty, can't beat that.

the H4 kit from JCWhitney
#ad

So I'm posting this thread for information for those who want better headlights without all the whillynilly of taking parts from a high end car and fabricating them to make them fit the first gen. Although I did have to cut the bucket that the headlight sits in to make the HID bulb sit in correctly that was the only fabrication I had to do.

The stock bucket
#ad


and the cut
#ad


the back of the headlight (why it needed to be cut)
#ad


Also, the H4 conversion headlights are a bit thicker around the edges so the 4 sheet metal screws that hold the light in place had to be a 1/2" longer to work but all the conversion took was 8 new screws and about 30 minutes of my time.

The final result
#ad


and also with the KCs
#ad


Now that I have HIDs I will never go back to halogens.

 

[PToombs]

Which bulbs did you get? I read the 4100k are the best for light without glare. Anything higher is just bluer and more glare. There is a thread on 1st gen with some good links to info. I found the conversion housings on the Bay for $30, but haven't done anything yet.

 

[SPoe]

I forgot to add that,

I have 6000K, they are classified as Diamond White which makes the road crystal clear, Ill see if i can get some good pictures lighting up the road. Im not sure about the glare, they are white as a sheet of paper, maybe a hint of blue if you compare them to 4300K bulbs which are yellowish similar to a conventional halogen bulb.

 

[southpaw]

great fix even if its not broken. I have to hold a match out the window when i drive at night so maybe this will make the match unneeded. great post and another project for me tks.

 

[RedRamAndy]

Nice improvement on the lights! Here's a link to my experience a while ago about not being able to see at night. Check through the whole thread, nice info on setting up a relayed-power system to your lights. https://www.turbodieselregister.com...new-halogen-headlights-truck.html#post2013822

 

[MMeier]

SP, are those new H4's glass or plastic ?