73shark

The cutoff is what prevents blinding the oncoming drivers.

Fast55

That is correct. It's especially important with HID's because they are brighter, but that's not to say a projector style light with razor sharp cutoff is absolutely necessary to use a HID setup. HID's have been around since way before projector headlights. My old E55 had HID's, but reflector housings (D2R bulb). The only difference is the shield placed around the bulb to reduce glare VS a D2S bulb. Our trucks have a shield in front of the bulb so a shielded bulb like a D2R is unnecessary. What I have found, is that not all HID kits are created equal, and the more pronounced problems with glare and beam pattern are a result of poor bulb design that places the arc in a position either farther away or closer to the base of the bulb than the original filament in a stock halogen bulb which distorts the beam pattern. The stock bulb and headlight has a pretty crappy cutoff because it's not a projector, and a poor quality HID bulb makes it worse. Even a good HID conversion bulb doesn't fix the fact that our stock headlights aren't that great.

enacer

All good info but I still need to find a good HID projector housing and HID KIt

Fast55

There are no good projector housings. They're all cheap Chinese junk that only lend your truck that "ricer" look. If you don't like what a HID kit looks like in your stock headlights, the link I posted to Lightwerkz is the way to go because they put a Lexus or Infiniti projector setup in your stock housing with a real D2S HID setup. Big dollars, but that will definitely get you what you're looking for. In my stock headlights, I used a kit from HID Extra. The kit had a metal based bulb like the stock bulb that made for a better beam pattern than the first low buck kit I tried that had an all plastic bulb base. The "cheapie" kit bulbs had the arc placed too far forward in the housing and the beam pattern was terrible.

enacer

So I would send them my housings and they would put projectors in it? What is aprox cost? I wouldnt mind trying an HID kit with the stock housing, Im trying to upgrade for performance reasons, I want brighter. Can anyone recommend an HID Kit?

73shark

Did you check the two places I suggested earlier?

youmeill

HID's have been around since way before projector headlights. My old E55 had HID's, but reflector housings (D2R bulb). The only difference is the shield placed around the bulb to reduce glare VS a D2S bulb.

ChevyFam08

I see this thread hasn't been touched in a 3 years, but I have an 08 Tahoe that I want to convert to HIDs, the previous websites that were used for reference are no longer working. So was wondering if there is a conversion kit that uses the stock housing, I don't want to go to projection unless it's absolutely necessary! I don't want the "ricer" look either, so any suggestions as to which kits to consider(preferably reasonably priced) I'd appreciate it!

73shark

While projectors aren't necessary, oncoming drivers will appreciate them. From what I've seen following it on the interweb a few years ago when the GMT900 came out and everyone wanted HIDs was that you get what you pay for. The cheap ones didn't last or even work at all in some instances.

ChevyFam08

I'm not looking for just a cheapo conversion kit, I'm willing to spend money on something worth while. We converted the Malibu('05 2LT) we had a few years ago thru the dealership for $250, but did the Accord('05 EX) we had before that for $100 with a DIY kit we ordered online. Both lasted until we traded them in at 2-3 years of ownership. So it's been at least 6 years since we've done a HID conversion, just looking for some direction/suggestion on where and what to look for!