Choosing headlights for the truck camper truck

Raften wrote:

Stefonius wrote:

rickeoni wrote:

Raften wrote:
What does PNP in the PNP HID kits stand for?

Plug and play. Cheap rebased bulbs. Totally useless and the cause of blinding oncoming traffic.

Also illegal. You cannot retrofit HID projector lamps onto a vehicle that was not equipped with them from the factory. It's a matter of Federal law, and rightly so.

Can you point me to where I can find out more about the law. Does that mean that the Silver Star types are illegal also? When I talk to people from Europe I hear comments about how the headlights in the US are so dim.

It was covered by Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) 108, which you can read here (Clicky).

Upon further reading, the NHTSA may have reversed their position with regard to the sections covering the light output, but they still have concerns with the fact that true HID lamps generate a lot of heat, and can set fire to the plastics used in OEM lamp housings. Most of the PNP conversion kits are really just bright bulbs with a blue tint to make you feel like you have HID headlights. The blue is still no good for your night vision.

pezvela wrote:

Stefonius wrote:

Blue headlights, most LED lamps and the SilverStar Ultra (4100K) all overwhelm your eyes' rod cells and stimulate the cone cells. This gives you the illusion that you're seeing things more clearly, but in actual fact, you're blind to anything that isn't in the direct path of your headlights.

Well, that's OK. I am blind to anything outside the direct path of my headlights, anyway, at night. My eyes contrast range cant handle the difference between the illuminated areas and the dark areas at night.

Isnt that the way everyone is?

No! Your eyes will adjust to the darkness if they're allowed time for the rod cells to recover from exposure to light with high color temperature.

A caveat to this is that lifetime exposure to UV rays (such as years of being outdoors in the sun without proper sunglasses) will cause the clear lens of your eye to darken. This will filter out much of the ambient light available at night and cause "night blindness". It's common in older folks and people with blue eyes as they age. Exposure to fluorescent lighting at work all day can also age your eyes.

I just got done ordering the GE Night Hawk Platnum bulbs from Amazon Originally $100, I picked them up for $39.99 plus it comes with a $10 mail in rebate from GE.

The previous posted link to Daniel Stern's website was a very helpful read.

Here are the before and after pics of a proper retrofit. Done with HID projectors and proper bulbs. Great light and super beam cut off so no blinding anyone.

Stefonius wrote:

rickeoni wrote:

Raften wrote:
What does PNP in the PNP HID kits stand for?

Plug and play. Cheap rebased bulbs. Totally useless and the cause of blinding oncoming traffic.

Also illegal. You cannot retrofit HID projector lamps onto a vehicle that was not equipped with them from the factory. It's a matter of Federal law, and rightly so.

Can you point me to where I can find out more about the law. Does that mean that the Silver Star types are illegal also? When I talk to people from Europe I hear comments about how the headlights in the US are so dim.

Stefonius wrote:

Blue headlights, most LED lamps and the SilverStar Ultra (4100K) all overwhelm your eyes' rod cells and stimulate the cone cells. This gives you the illusion that you're seeing things more clearly, but in actual fact, you're blind to anything that isn't in the direct path of your headlights.

Well, that's OK. I am blind to anything outside the direct path of my headlights, anyway, at night. My eyes contrast range cant handle the difference between the illuminated areas and the dark areas at night.

Isnt that the way everyone is?

rickeoni wrote:

Raften wrote:
What does PNP in the PNP HID kits stand for?

Plug and play. Cheap rebased bulbs. Totally useless and the cause of blinding oncoming traffic.

Well I should have known that since I fly RC but never thought to apply it to headlights. Live and learn. I also don't know what rebased means but I disagree about the totally useless part. The blinding part can be avoided if the owner is considerate.

Wow, I woke to find a lot of useful info here. Thank you for all of your responses. As I have my lights aimed at the garage door, they both seem to be at the same level. One is slightly dimmer/grayer than the other. I do need to "polish" my lenses and have purchased a 3M kit to do so, maybe a new set of lenses from Amazon is in order after the polish wears.
I am not interested in the blue or HID lighting and I will have to read that Daniel Stern Lighting link to educate my self a little more. I have heard others mention the silver star ultra and may have to give them a look.

rickeoni wrote:

Raften wrote:
What does PNP in the PNP HID kits stand for?

Plug and play. Cheap rebased bulbs. Totally useless and the cause of blinding oncoming traffic.

Also illegal. You cannot retrofit HID projector lamps onto a vehicle that was not equipped with them from the factory. It's a matter of Federal law, and rightly so.

Raften wrote:
What does PNP in the PNP HID kits stand for?

Plug and play. Cheap rebased bulbs. Totally useless and the cause of blinding oncoming traffic.