So whats the diff between the HIDs on the site spikemotoring and the $400.00 kit on AM? I dont know much about HIDs so just trying to figure out whats best for me. Also with HIDs is there really any need to have the dual beam with the high beams??? I mean cause they are already brighter than stock?

 

Well I will try to answer this for you, I have bought the kit you speak of from Dustin ( SMP ) and I got the dual setup because since I live out near the country on some back stretch and the brights come in handy at night.

But if your mainly in the city side of things, and dont see yourself ever needing bright lights...dont worry about it, but for the price its not much and you may aswell get the extra oomph.

And I thought the same why are they so pricey on AM, and if you look closely the HID Ballast look almost identical to what they offer just without the fancy metal case.

I love the HID setup I got, I got the 6k temp lights, a light dim of blue and more white to them. I used the install directions from AM since it was a lil easier to follow with the pictures and all.

 

They're the same.. Except for the fancy case that is. Get the dual beam kit for the headlights, single beam for your fogs.

 

AM is a rip off! Go with the cheapier company! same effect from both HID kits!

Now for the dual setup, not sure how it is for most states, but where i live in the US, it is illegal to not have dual setups and for the inspection for your state, you could get fined BIG time!

 

yeah thats how it is in texas...

 

i think AMs is a single beam, but it has a motor that moves the bulbs up n down in the housing for high and low beam. instead of having a dual beam bulb.

 

Seriously?........

Dual beams basically use a magnet in the base that switches the "bulb" from high to low beam.

 

Dual Beam Design. In the past if you wanted to convert to High Intensity Discharge technology you had to sacrifice your high beams. But not anymore! This HID Kit utilizes electromagnetic servo technology that is integrated right into the bulb holder to re-aim the headlight bulb up or down to switch between high and low beams.

thats what i read,, and servo's that i use in my gas powered rc cars, control throttle, steering etc by movement.

 

I'm not even going to pretend that I know exactly how an HID capsule works, but I know for a fact that there is no "motor" in the base of the capsule.

Basically the capsules are filled with xenon gasses which are ignited by the ballast. When you want to switch from low to hi-beam the ballast ignites another portion of the capsule (to produce more light) and the base of the housing is magnetically repositioned at a steeper angle to spread the light out more.

I am calling them capsules because in technical terms they are not "bulbs" because they have no filaments. Dustin would probably know more about all of this stuff than me, but I haven't seen him around much lately. Probably busy with school.

 

He had started a new job recently and has been busy with training the last I heard.

 

Okay, not to digress too much but I just purchased the 5k dual beam (sometimes referred to as a "bi-xenon" kit) from Spikemotoring.com and here's what I think:

The first thing that I noticed was that it shipped and was at my door step in 4 days, from Floridia to New York. I remember that I purchased the gauge covers and that took about 1 week to deliver, from Pennsylvania to New York.

The install was a little difficult because I like to be a "macho man" and install stuff without reading the directions. My friend was there watching/helping me (he installed HID fog lights on his Ram). Everything went okay besides the three wires (red, black and white) that you have to put into the headlight wire connector (I didn't read the directions so I mixed the wires up and head high beams for low beams and visa verse) <- Fixed yesterday.

Other then that I love them. I bought the dual beam kit because I want to be able to pass my state inspection, but I also live/drive/do stuff out in East Bumfuck from time to time the hi beams light up the scenery very well.

Anyways, to get back to your original point, watching install videos online of the AM HID kit, their ballasts look really big, when the ones from Spikemotoring.com are slightly bigger than an iPod Touch, compared to an AM kit which is more like a big remote control.

Oh, and Spike's kit comes in a cardboard box. :P

 

Guy I know had an 8000K hid kit from AM for a mustang laying around his shop. When I got my lightning he said he would sell it to me cheap if it would work in my Lightning. It did, and I did get it for next to nothing, but the brights are indeed a joke. They really do just click the low beams upward, or at least attempts to. I can see less when I click the high beams on mine. It lights more out to the side than it does upwards.

 

Sorry I have been on vacation the last 5 days.

They use a magnet on the back that when you want the high beams it turns on and pull the back of the light down and move the beam up for the high beams. Its how they all work. It gets the job done for sure, but the low beams are so bright I only use them to flash at people when they cut me off or to let someone go ahead of me.

My kits are cheaper because I don't use the same company as AM.com and I don't sell mine in a metal case for no reason.

 

cool thanks for the good info. I think ill prolly end up getting the dual beam just so i dont catch **** for inspections and stuff.