How to install car lamps and bulbs
B
righter than Bright. Upgrading your lights can mean the difference between night and day.
There is no doubt about it. Advances in automotive lighting designs have rapidly progressed over the past 5 years. More sophisticated technologies are being used and these advanced designs are creating dynamic profiles and portraits never before seen.
The character of a car is often created by its headlight design and placement. Depending on their shapes or sizes, they can make a car look like a frog, a seductress, or a raging samurai. Some cars lighting systems are so advanced they come with auto-leveling and a host of other sophisticated modules. Trying to replace a burnout headlight is no longer what it used to be.
The current trend is towards Xenon based High Intensity Discharge (HID) systems. Unfortunately, trying to replace a HID by yourself would require a degree in nuclear physics. They are highly complex systems that are best left to the professionals. Their complexity comes from the way they discharge light through exciting plasma among other things.
With the improvement in designs have also come improvements in performance. Today’s headlights are brighter, more focused, and have greater longevity than ever before.
You don’t need to go out and buy a new car if you would like to benefit from adding some better lighting capacity to your car. If your car has replaceable type bulbs, you can replace the old bulbs with new ones.
Consider the following different types offered by one of the leaders in high quality lighting upgrades - PIAA:
| Super White Technology | PIAA’s Super White Technology sets a new standard in design, application, and appearance. With PIAA’s Super White Technology your driving lamps, fog lamps, and bulbs approach the color and intensity of High Intensity Discharge (H.I.D.). You’ll be "styling" with this cutting-edge technology. |
| H.I.D. Technology | PIAA is proud to introduce a new generation of High Intensity Discharge (H.I.D.) driving lamps. If you’re looking for the most advanced lighting technology on the market today then look no further than PIAA’s new H.I.D. system. The first thing you’ll notice about PIAA’s new H.I.D. system is its compact size and contoured lens. But don’t let the compact size fool you. PIAA’s new H.I.D. system utilizes a 35watt bulb, which produces light output equal to a 150watt system. PIAA’s new H.I.D. driving light with its superior performance, compact size, and affordability is the ultimate choice of serious automotive enthusiasts. |
| Dual Lamp Technology | Whether you’re a mom on the go, or on an outdoor adventure, PIAA’s Dual Lamp Technology provides you with maximum safety and versatility. Dual lamp systems allow you to switch easily between fog and driving lights in order to meet changing light and road conditions. PIAA offers the most extensive selection of dual lamp systems on the market. |
| Combining Technologies | PIAA’s 1700 and 1900 Series Lamps exemplify PIAA’s commitment to combining market driven concepts with the latest technology. This series of lamps feature PIAA’s most popular technologies: Super White, Plasma Blue, Multi-Surface Reflector, and high power XTRA Halogen Bulbs. PIAA’s combined technologies offer you the optimum in fashion and performance. |
| Ion Crystal Technology | When you’re driving in inclement weather, PIAA’s Ion Crystal Technology greatly enhances visibility and safety. This technology transforms white light into amber light without diminishing the strength of the beam, providing greater output than a standard dyed lens. Whether roughing it at work or play, PIAA’s Ion Crystal Technology is a smart addition to any vehicle. |
| Xtreme White Technology | Our new Xtreme White Technology is the closest color yet to H.I.D. (High Intensity Discharge), without the cost. Brilliant in color and radical in technical performance, these bulbs elevate your car’s road profile to a new level no matter what you drive. |
There are numerous systems available today that will allow you to install HID driving lights to your vehicle. Replacing HID headlights may need a degree, but installing driving lights only takes some tools, patience and a few hours.
We recently looked at the install for a set of PIAA 002 (part PEL-PIAA00260) on a 1998 Honda Accord and can provide you with the following advice:
- Measure the opening where you want to install the driving lights. If the car already has driving lights, and you are looking to upgrade then just swap the old ones out. If there are no pre-designated areas for the lights, you will have to select one.
- Select an area where the securing bolts of the driving lights can run through metal. You don’t want to fasten the lights to ABS or other plastic. The PIAA kit comes with some pretty intensive 2-sided tape to hold the lights to just about any surface. However, we would recommend against this. If you have the tools, it is far better to actually do a more permanent install. The tape option is probably best used by those that are leasing their vehicles. Attaching the lights to a surface that isn’t stable will cause the beam of light to severely vibrate.
- Drill a hole in the selected area. Hold the drill steady because it could slide around on you on the slick plastic. You can prevent this by starting with a small drill bit and drill your hole with it first. Then use the proper drill bit size to make the final hole.
- Place the securing bolts into the holes and tighten loosely. Don’t tighten the bolts all the way because you will need to aim your lamps later in the install.
- Most lights will come with pre made wiring harnesses and the PIAA kit is no exception. The kit comes with a wiring harness that is almost plug and play. It is a very clean install as the PIAA kit also includes wireties and tapping connectors.
- Connect the pre wired assembly to the positive terminal of the battery. Find a grounded point on your cars frame and attach the negative lead to it. It may be simpler to attach it to the negative terminal of the battery but directly connecting both the positive and negative leads to the battery could play havoc with the electrical system.
- Run the driving light switch through a grommet in the firewall. Mount the switch in an empty knockout on the dash.
- Aim your new driving lights by parking your car about 2 meters away from a wall with the front of the car facing it so that the lights shine on the wall. Turn on your high beams. Aim the beams of the driving lights so that they shine above the high beams by a ¼ of their pattern. The remaining ¾ pattern should be enveloped by the beam from the high beams. This is the set-up if you plan to run your’ driving lights most of the time while having your low beams on.
- Some laws do not allow driving lights on at the same time as having the high beams on. Some manufacture’s OEM driving lights automatically switch off when the high beams are active. Check with your local laws.
"There is no greater mystery to me than that of light traveling through darkness."
- Alexander Volkov
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