HID High/Low differential fix

[grizztracks]

After doing some experimenting to try to reduce the high low beam differential I've come up with hopefully a solution. I haven't tested it out on the trails but so far it looks promising. I used my old halogen bulbs and removed the mounting flange then used them as a shim on the Hid bulbs. This moves the bulb aproximatly 1/8" back in the headlight housing which seems to improve illumination and reduce the differential.

Top picture is without shims/ Bottom picture is with shim
High--->Low

 

[bitchnblue09]

hid

Very impressive.... I think you are on to something good there....

 

[snownutz]

My new kit is on its way I think I may try that right off the bat. Thanks!

 

[zeke66]

Looks good. Looks like you may lose a little width in the beam on Low but gain it on High.

I may have to do this with mine. Did the pieces on the old bulbs slide off easy?

 

[grizztracks]

The flange is attached to the bulb in 3 location. If you have a dremel or die grinder it can easily be removed. The inside of the flange being used as a shim will need to be opened up a little (not much) to fit over the HID plastic housing. I used a dremel flap wheel and took enough off so that it fits snugly over the plastic. After you install the shim flange the HID socket assembly can be reinstalled in the headlight housing without any further modifications. The spring retainer flexes enough to hold everything in place.

The antiglare shields can be reattached if you have concerns. If you decide to run without them make sure your low beams are adjusted low enough so that they don't blind others. I found you get the best illumination without them but I decided to reinstalled the shields with the nose cones removed. Once I get back out riding I'll experiment more with the shields.

It's hard to tell how the low beam will work but the high beam looks good. The headlight is 16 feet from the door which gave me a good distance to test the differential. I now need to get it outside to see what I have. I may pull it outside tonight and do some more adjusting.

 

[KHEXX]

Hey Grizz, was wondering if you would do this. You made mention of it a couple months ago... Let me know what you think..Still have not ordered the kit yet. I'll be following yer thread and if it looks good i'm sure i'll pull the plug! Thanks in advance for the info... Kevin

 

[HOLSTER]

Hey Grizz, looks like some good work you have done.My apex has the same sort of issues with the high/low beams.Does DDM Tuning offer a hid kit for the apex and are they plug and play. Any info or advise you can offer would be great.
thanks

 

[Boston RX1]

After two years of running the HID bulbs, I want to finally get these things dialed in. The lows do not show far enough out and I out run the light and the highs are looking for raccoons in the tree tops. Grizz, do you have any updates as to your testing?

 

[natedawgedog]

After two years of running the HID bulbs, I want to finally get these things dialed in. The lows do not show far enough out and I out run the light and the highs are looking for raccoons in the tree tops. Grizz, do you have any updates as to your testing?

ive had mine shimmed about a week after I saw this thread and last season it is a big improvement over the stock hid locations, I would say go for it.

 

[ruttinbuck]

i was able to cut mine loose with side cutters and slide them up.
then i used jb weld seemed to help but didnt get the seat time to recommend it.

 

[grizztracks]

The HID mod reduces the hi/low differential but I thought the shim was a little to much. Moving the bulb back in the housing improved the differential but also reduced the beam width so you get less side trail coverage. It wasn't terrible but I wanted to do some more experimenting so last season I removed the shims and modified the anti-glare shields. The shields have a small window cut in them which allows more illumination to pass through to the lower portion of the housing and then reflected upward when the bulbs reposition for the high beam. I opened the windows up to allow more illumination to the the lower reflector when the low beams are on. This increased the overall height of the low beam so that the high beams now can be adjusted down. With this mod I believe I was getting adequate beam coverage with a reduced hi/low differential but with the short season I didn't get much night riding in so I'm not convinced it solves the problem.

 

[Daranello]

Why not run with the shields off.... Set up you high Beams for normal and the lows will be in the ground. But who cares we rarely see oncoming sled and when we do we all slow down. Switch to low and with the covers off low is still way better than stock even with the been in the ground. I ran my Nytro this way but left the covers on... May ditch the covers this year

 

[grizztracks]

Why not run with the shields off.... Set up you high Beams for normal and the lows will be in the ground. But who cares we rarely see oncoming sled and when we do we all slow down. Switch to low and with the covers off low is still way better than stock even with the been in the ground. I ran my Nytro this way but left the covers on... May ditch the covers this year

I ran with the shields off at first. I can't remember what I didn't like about that setup but I discovered removing the nose cone and running just the bottom portion of the shield seemed to work better. Now with the shield's high beam windows opened up more I believe they illuminate even better.

 

[Daranello]

Bump.

 

[Sledboy]

How about putting the shim in only 1 of the HID bulbs?
Wouldn't this be the best of all worlds?