extreme mods part IV - Philips 6000K HID 9006 fogs conversion

[rominl]

yeah baby, so this past weekend i have been very busy fixing up my car, and this is the biggest accomplishment of all i have to say. everyone with the 02-03 tl, you know how the stock fogs look like...... so yellow, but not yellow enough as those in the lexus, and it really sux imho. doesn't look good at all. it might be good in foggy situation but here in cali (both north and south) fogs isn't a problem.

a lot of people immedaitely changed the bulbs to better ones, like the piaa plasma, silvanyia catz, etc... yes those bulbs are all much brighter, but at the same time they are also out of spec. it's stated in the manual that our stock fogs housing only supports 51W, and from what i have seen, the piaa platinum white is the only aftermarket super white that is within spec. all others have 55W to even 60W rated bulbs. not only could this burn your wiring, it also creates tremendous heat. if you want to do a small experiment. light up your fogs for 30 secs and try to put your hand on the lens. careful, you have been warned.

another big problem is that if you get 6000K hid for your low beam, there is virtually NO way you can get aftermarket fogs to really match your headlight. the distance is just too far for halogen bulbs to achieve. therefore, the only method left is to get 6000K hid fogs as well, which is what i did.

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now the installation is actually VERY independent from each kits. the general idea is the same, but the exact wiring is always different from each conversion kits. therefore i will only run over the general connection theory here and leave the specific details.

in the original fogs, it's easy. you connect the connector to the 9006 fogs, and boom there you go. stock fogs works at 12V so it's no problem. however for HID, it needs some very high voltage to ignite the xenon gas inside the bulbs, therefore you have to somehow convert the 12V supply in your car to that high voltage. the mystery is through the thing called ballasts.

it's usually a metallic retangular box with two outlets. one of them should have a wire connected already. you will need one of these for each of the two bulbs. so from the stock connector, there is a wiring you connect to and then it goes through a relay (probably to pump up the current?) and then it's connected to the ballast. then fro the outlet of the ballasts, you connect it to the bulb and there you go.

the placement of ballast is very important too. keep in mind you NEVER EVER want any water to get in touch with the bulb or the ballast, otherwise it's disaster. therefore you should put the ballast too close to the ground. therefore i highly suggest you guys to take off the bumper. actually this is the main reason why i took off the bumper during the weekend. it's also for installing the cai but it's mainly for this.

after you take off teh bumper, you will notice that the stock ballasts for the headlight is right under the headlight, screwed in. now under this ballasts, there is a space by the metal piece that connect to the bumper metal where you can put the ballasts for the fogs on. then you should find a way to tie it up. i used several zip ties to do that, and some people will suggest using 3M adhesive stuff as well. the main idea is to secure the ballasts. also now it's high up from ground so you don't risk spilling water on the ballasts on a rainy day. i got this tip from another member of the other forum, thanks to him

another tip to be aware off. polarity. with the stock bulbs, it doesn't care how you connect the bulbs, it will light up. however, you need to connect everything correctly in order to fire up the ballast to ignite the bulbs. and in most cases, one of the two connectors will be connected the other way. for me, when i installed my driver side ballasts, i noticed that in order for the connectors to fit, the power line (orange) from the stock wiring will go to ground (black) of the ballast wiring. therefore you need to flip the clip on the stock connector arond. it could easily be done by using a small screw driver to "tick" the inside of the connector, so you can pull the wiring out and swap them. you will know when you install them.

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visual effect? it's simply awesome. seriously up till this point i am still speechless. i am amzed how white everything has become now no matter if you look at the car from outside, or look outside of the car from inside, everything is white. but i have to warn you, do NOT directly stare at the bulbs area if you look from outside, you will be blinded for a few mins. i learned it the hard way

one funny thing is that this kind of white brightness can never been shown in pics. among all the pics i have taken and will be posted, none of them matches what i see in real person. so for those in north cali, you can come over and take a look for yourself. it's amazing.

there were debates a while ago, saying that since our stock fogs housing are not designed for hid, if we put in hid kits, the lights will go everywhere and it will seems like the fogs are even brighter than the headlight. well i can give my own input on this matter now. it's yes and no. but in general it still works the way it should.

if you are within say 10 or 15 feet from the car, knee down and face the car, you will notice that the fogs are much "brighter" than the headlight. however if you move furtehr away you will notice that the headlight dominates. this is actually very true coz' if you are close by, the fogs, which by theory illuminates the ground area closest to the car, will dominate. however for further out area, the headlight will do it's job.

another thing is is that the fogs are never hot again anymore. i can now touch the lens any time i want without being burned.

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like i said before, when it comes to lighting systems i wouldn't mind spending more money on good stuff. if you want the best, i would say get the philips conversion kits, which is what i got for around 500 bucks. very nice deal imho. you can get cheap conversion kits for around 400 minimum, however i have heard tons of story about wrong color, burn out bulbs, etc...... i never like hassle, so why not do it right the first time? i never regret the 500 bucks i spent on these babies.

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okok, i am sure everyone wants me to shut up and show pics. i will show tons of pics here, don't worry. i took pics at different time and places to give you guys a better idea

[rominl]

this is the ballast i have. i was stupid enough to forget taking pics of the bulbs @-@......

[rominl]

after the installation the bumper is back to its place. everything looks normal huh? just wait.....

[rominl]

ok, this was taken in the afternoon around 6pm. flash was on that's why the lights were reduced a bit. but you can see how white BOTH the headlight and fogs are.

[rominl]

ok, first series of attack. afternoon at around 6pm. flash was off, different angles.

[rominl]

3rd

[rominl]

4th

[rominl]

5th. see that both the low beam and the fogs matches perfectly now?

[rominl]

ok, now it's evening at around 9pm when the sun ALMOST sets. it's outdoor

[rominl]

another one

[rominl]

sorry i missed a pic for the afternoon shot.

[rominl]

last one in the evening.

[rominl]

ok, i took two pics when i was driving in the dark. look at the road, it's pure white.

[rominl]

another shot of the road

[rominl]

this is the last set of pics i took. it was 2am in the garage, with some other normal lighting around.