HID Question
 

Gonna be getting a plug and play set, 5000k 35w. Been reading about having to bend squirrel finders and was wondering if the bending is reversible. If not, are there any alternatives to bending them? Tape maybe? I just wonder in case I want to switch back for whatever reason. Thanks.

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what is this squirrel fender you're talking about? Heard and read about it too myself but don't know what they look like

There would be no going back unless you physically remove your headlights from your car and open them up so that you can use tools to bend back the piece of metal (squirrel finder). You may be able to do it without opening them up but I doubt you could get tools in there to bend them back up without taking out the headlight.

The "squirrel finder" is used to reflect and block light in such a way that it produces glare above the targeted beam of light to help illuminate signs, reflectors and other such reflective material that would normally not be in the direct path of your headlights. Think high hanging signs or advisories. The problem with squirrel finders and HIDs is that the bulbs are so bright that the glare is actually distracting if not dangerous to other drivers.

Get yourself 6000k rather they are so much better looking with the blue tint. Not sure why you want to bend anything?
I fitted HID low and high beams from Germany, without any tampering.

I found if I put the headlight level on number 1, it solved most of what you mentioned above. On 0 setting I had a lot of people flashing, while on 1 or even 2 no flashing.

In the OEM housings without bending the metal there is high unfocused glare as the projectors were designed for halogen bulbs. Its subtle to the driver not to on-comming traffic, namely on elevation change.

And 6000k is very blue, if you don't like any blue tint stick with 5000k.

Ryan your housings must have auto level in SA?

We (US/Canadian FRS drivers) do not have a way to manually adjust the headlight from inside of the car sadly.

do you think it's possible to just put a piece of black electrical tape on them? or would that be visible from outside the car and thus look ridiculous haha. i don't know, the only reason i could see myself switching back would be if i suddenly got several tickets for the HID's and just got so fed up that i didn't want them anymore. but then i see and know plenty of people in NY with them who don't have any issues.

edit: and yea, probably gonna stick with 5000k since i just want a pure white. plus, from what i understand, it's the highest you can go without being too blinding.

You're not gonna be able to see the tape from the outside, at least not easily anyway. The issue I see with tape is that the bulb is hot when running - the sticky tape residue may not come off easily or smear/etc. inside the housing when you want it to. Some high quality 3M electrical tape, like 33+ or 88 might work but I've never tried it myself.

I found that the squirrel finders aren't really necessary, even with halogen bulbs. I live in the city area so I don't have an issue with seeing signs lit up - it may be a problem if you live somewhere more rural and you need to see signs. For me, at worst I flick my high beams if I really need to.

mm.. true. that seems pretty reasonable. maybe i'm over thinking and shouldn't worry about it.

You won't get tickets for HIDs unless you get an obnoxious color.
Get 4300k or 5000k and bend the squirrel finders down. You're welcome.

We (US/Canadian) BRZ owners can ;)

you, sir, have no business in this thread! :paddle:

Here are my 8k 35w HID's. I haven't bent the squirrel finder or anything either...
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Difference between oem and hid
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