Projector Headlights F150

Safety equipment becomes a major concern for car buyers as they become older, wiser, and add a little mini-me to the family.  I know my taste in vehicles changed abruptly when I had my first child and the questions I ask when buying a new vehicle changed too.  My focus changed to safety and what a certain car offers as protection for my now growing family.  A safety feature on newer cars are projector headlights, something older cars may not have, but can be installed easily.

As an upgrade to my older pickup truck I decided to buy projector headlights, mainly for safety reasons.  The old tarnished and sand burnt headlights just weren't getting the job done, especially when adverse weather came into play.  Where I live it's not too noticable, even at night because I rely on city lighting to lead my way, but whenever I leave town at night it becomes a concern.  That's why I turned to installing projector headlights, the difference adds a new level of confidence in night time driving.

The younger crowd, or just those enthusiasts focused on the looks of their vehicle, may be more interested in the way the headlights look.  Projector headlights are unique to traditional 'bulb' style headlights in that they have a European look.  A typical projector headlight will feature a black background with a series of small circular lights in the middle.  The designs available differ depending on the vehicle model you are replacing the head lights on.  Personally, I went with something a little less flashy and more down to business, just to get the job done.

Because there are a number of different styles available, prices can vary greatly.  As an example, when buying the projector headlights for my 97 F150, I found prices ranging from as little as $130 up to $200.  That being said I still can stress enough how big of a difference it makes and how much more safe I feel driving my little girl around at night.
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Xenon Headlights Logo

Driving at night can be hard. In years past driving at night was a lot harder as the light technology of the day was not that good. Now days we have all kinds of neat light technology so we can easily drive at night.  The thing is most cars even new ones do not come with the good kind of lights. When you get a car it will probably have standard H3 55 watt Halogen bulbs. Halogen bulbs are really bright for their size but they really are getting to be old technology.

The next big thing in lighting is called H.I.D. This stands for High Intensity Discharge. HID bulbs are actually small Xenon bulbs which use less watts than your regular Halogen bulbs but put out like 5 times more light. You may have been driving down the road and saw some car coming with either really white bulbs or bulbs that look sorta blue and they were really bright. These bulbs that are so bright are actually the new Xenon bulbs. They are usually in higher end cars such as BMW, Acura, Mercedes, Porsche and other high end cars. BMW for instance has used Xenon bulbs for years in their cars.

You can actually get these for your car! You do not have to go out and buy a newer or a new car to just be able to see better at night. You can buy an aftermarket HID kit for about any car or truck,even motorcycles for not too much money. Price wise you are looking at somewhere around $300.00 or more for the kit if you get a name brand kit. Be careful to not buy a kit that has no reviews and is some cheap brand because I have heard bad stories of them just going out all the sudden leaving you without any lights.

A kit consists of two ballasts and the proper wiring and bulbs. You can wire it up yourself in around 1-2 hours. You don't need to be a electrician to do it as it has a step by step guide. In some cars though a kit does not always work well. What happens is the light can be refracted all over the place and go into the other cars lane. In a BMW they have a whole headlight made for the bulbs not just a bulb in a ordinary reflector. In most cases this poses no trouble, especially on newer cars. A simple search on the internet for HID kit can give you all the info you need to make a wise decision. You may need a retrofit which would mean a new headlight kit which could ad to the price big time. Its worth it though because the light output from Xenon bulbs is just insane.

Xenon is a great light technology. Its time regular car companies get on the bandwagon and start puting them in their new cars.