HID lights

[Michael Baker]

Anyone thinking of installing HID lights on your H2 might be interested in the following.

On the front of my H2 I have now have no less than eight HID?s (!). Attached is a photo.

• I replaced the stock headlights with a set of HID?s from Delta with HID in both high and low beam. The Delta?s use an innovative method of physically moving a single filament in (high beam) or out (low beam) behind a shield. Looks really cool when you watch it (but you have to pull the filament out of the housing to see it). However, the low beam light pattern is not at all standard, and really just creates a large circular ring of light that deviates the light away from the center. I really cannot recommend these, as I am continuously flashed by oncoming traffic. I have read that there is now a more focused pure HID alternative, and would definitely try those next time (but after investing in the Delta?s I am going to have to live with them!).
• I replaced the round driving lights with PIAA 600?s. The PIAA 600?s are excellent, The only problem was in the installation/alignment. In the end I had to attach a variable tensioner between the lights and the chassis in order to align them correctly.
• I installed a chrome Warn light bar on the front chrome brush guard. Fits well, but if you buy one I recommend that you immediately coat the inside with an anti-rust product as mine has rusted badly on the inside, and the rust is just starting to spread out from the W cutout on the front!
• On the light bar I installed four Hella Rallye 4000 Luminator Compact Chromium Spot Lights. The non-compact Hella 4000?s will not fit. As these are not HID?s, I purchased separately the four HID kits with the ballasts. In all I saved about 30% compared to buying the HID?s from Hella. I also preferred all-chrome spots rather than the matt black Hella HID compacts. The spots are slightly spread out, with the two outer ones angled at 5 degrees towards the side. The light is bluish.

Besides these HID?s I also installed a set of small PIAA fog lights. When deciding where to install these, I wanted to place them as low as possible, and as near to each side as possible. In the end I cut out holes for them in the front bumper (!), as you can see from the attached photo.

The placement of the eight ballasts was a problem, but I eventually found room for them inside the hood as you can see from attached photo.

The switches for the lights I installed in the driver?s door panel. Each switch has three positions: Up ? On with both high/low beam, Center ? Off, Down ? On with only high beam. See attached photo.

The last red switch is for a train horn, to switch between the stock horn and the train horn. (Note: I installed the compressor for the train horn inside the front protection cover under the engine as it would not fit in the recommended place due to the supercharger).

The result is very impressive. Night is turned into day. This is very important for me as I often drive at night through the Andes mountains with sheer drops on one or the other side of the narrow road.