HID Reverse Light on my TDI

[paintballgundown8]

on my car my headlights are a single row from stadium lights and my reverse light are HID work lights. I can see fine and i guess people arent used to seeing so good cause they all swerve off the road when i come close

[cmccane]

Can this damage the housings? (heat issues = melting plastic)? Let me know. I'm curious to doing something like this but my tail lights a friggin expensive and don't want to melt them and have to get another set.

[sr20boostjunkie]

That's right blind them ass holes in thear big trucks who get right behind u at a stop light with thear lights in your face

[hanrickjones]

everyone has there on liking but that was dumb

[Sauron767]

now anyone who "doesn't see" you back up can't say shit if you accidentally hit them, the reverse lights are right there in there face unless they get pissed off which no one should because you would be in a parking lot.

[MrXLaNcErx]

dude where would i get a set of those

[tazznt]

Just bought a 2010 jetta tdi, how do you think it would cost to modify the head lights into HID's?

[ainamelas]

does the fog light work

[blazenspikes187]

good luck on driving at night cops will give you a mean ass ticket and also can confiscate your car. thats what happend to me cuz of my h.i.d lights and all of my windows are limo tinted and the front windshield is tinted 20percent. i use to live in CA

[newengland72]

This is a reverse light.

How far do you drive at night in reverse?

[bradrsavidge]

hahaha this is very funny! i could see this useful in an offroading application also if you need to back up. i really hope you didnt leave it like that though XD

[Patron1520]

You gotta let people know when u backing up but you dont gotta light up there path.. lol I was thinking of doing this just for the hell of it.. lol XD

[alansmcconachie]

Thing is, during a 3 point turn, your HID will be on and off.

And IIRC (i could be wrong), HIDs measure life in on/offs and not really hours.

However a brilliant idea and nice car also

[bg1379]

What did you mean that you screwed your LED bulbs from a 'reverse polarity' incident? I'm installing some in a few days and I don't want to do that!! Thanks.

[1991AcuraIntegra]

LOL Wow thats so funny I think you only this kind of mod if you are blind!

[Nicoleise]

So, uhm...

First of all, this is the most ridiculous thing I have ever seen. HIDs are beyond any shadow of doubt not at all suited for signal applications, nor for lights that will only be on for short periods. Your HIDs wont even be warm before you're done reversing.

But that's a matter of taste I presume. But I would like to know... Did you do anything to your stock wiring to accomodate this upgrade, or will you just wait for your car to catch fire?

[S00THappens]

So, umm...

The stock reverse light wiring is designed to power two 21watt 1156 incandescent bulbs (42 watts on the circuit). The Single HID ballast is 35 watts... see where this is going?

Even not warmed up, the HID is much brighter than an incandescent, and HID kits are quite cheap these days.. But hey, I'm glad you are concerned about the well being of my car.

It has been working great for almost a year now, thanks.

[Nicoleise]

I realize that fine, but 42W ~ 3,5Amps. HIDs draw upwards of 30Amps, most kits just 15 amps though at startup and warm-up (~1 minute). That's alot over capacity, which will cause wires to be heated, which means poorer conductivity=higher resistance=more heat.

The PVC insulation takes lasting damage at approx. 70deg.C. It's usually spec'ed to run at 30deg.C, but it takes surprisingly little to bring it up.

That's why I'm concerned about your wires, running under carpets, etc.

But hey.....

[S00THappens]

Thanks for the clarification... I didn't think about amps. Anyway, one of my fogs has quit working, so I'm going to switch the reverse light back to 5watt LED so I can use the ballast for the fog. I'll check for wiring damage inside the trunk lid.

[S00THappens]

Nada.. nothing out of the ordinary as far as wire appearance

[Mrbikerman]

Where are you getting these amp ratings? If watts are a measurement of amps x volts, and the 42W light bulb is drawing 3.5 amps on 12v, then the HID kit at 35W (x2 for each side so a total of 70W) would be drawing ~5.8amps on 12v. Its not that much more than stock.

It doesn't really matter though, it would'nt be very hard to install a relay in the trunk lid and send 12v of power to the lights with a larger wire, using the original reverse light circuit for the activation of the relay.

[Nicoleise]

@Mrbikerman Sorry, I haven't seen your reply - when you leave out the @name, I don't get an email about it.

As I mentioned in my earlier comment, the nominal (running) consumption isn't the problem - it's the start-up current/power consumption. HID kits can consume as much as 45A, however usually around 10A when starting up.

When you see/hear about people, who install HID kits and then their headlights flicker, that's due to the wiring not being able to conduct the start-current.

[poohead2000]

@Nicoleise I think you'll find you'd be blowing a fuse if you are overloading the wires.

[Nicoleise]

@poohead2000 Thanks, as a system engineer I didn't realize that.

If a circuit is shortcircuited, then a substancially high amperage will be carried, causing the fuse to rapidly overheat and burn out (almost immediately). However, when overloaded the amperage is only slightly larger than the nominel current, the fuse may not burn out for several hours. With wiring tucked away in carpets and isolation, I think you'll find that the temperature of the wiring can become critical.

[dkillahster]

Anyone interested in HID kits?My Car Club and I are selling Extreme Vision HID Kits. Top Quality at a reasonable price. send me a private message in my youtube profile

[DKNYZERO]

haha, this is awesome, poor bastard thats gonna be behind you

[pmgelectronics]

NICE LOL i juss came up with that crazy idea yesterday and i thought i wud b the only crazy ass who would try/think 2 do it

[fullerjames12901]

leds are pretty cool, but not when you have bulb out warning. HID reverse lights are a pretty good idea. way brighter than leds

[manoman0]

very cool

unfortunately, I am not the first to do that, duh...

[CalleChile]

how did u get ur licence plate lights so white n bright i been looking for those bulbs but cant seem to find i dont kno if they have them for my car i got a VW passat 99 where did u get them from?

[S00THappens]

they are 6ledwhp festoon bulbs from superbrighleds

[sqhschief]

@S00THappens What's the color temperature of those license plate bulbs (Kelvin)?

[showoff07]

omg lol i cant believe sum1 did it i was thinkin of that too..u should throw HID blinkers in too lol nice shit tho

[wushugs]

holy shit.. niceee

[DimachkaS]

This is baller.

You didn't need any load resistors/any other mods for the HID bulb to glow like that?

[eRaSedd]

Oh my.....

Dude your crazy!!!!

Respect respect!!!!

[S00THappens]

lolz

[henloy]

NICE