Let there be light ! Bota 900 HID's

[Pinnacle]

Here is yet another upgrade I completed yesterday. After much fettering about, I purchased a set of 55 watt HID's, and went about installing them within the stock light bodies. Really ended up being pretty simple, and the light output is hugely better as would be expected. As a reference, the stock bulbs are 37.5 watt Halogen's. 35 watt HID's would be perhaps 3 times as bright as the stock bulbs, and the 55 watt bulbs are supposed to be twice as bright as the 35 watt HID's. Needless to say, a major improvement. Cost all in was about $80-$90 max. and install by myself.

Note the color differential and brightness difference with the new HID headlight bulbs, and the lower halogen driving lights I installed previously in the second picture.

 

[DocGP]

Any installation tricks? Is it a straight swap out?

Thanks
Doc

 

[Pinnacle]

Any installation tricks? Is it a straight swap out?

Thanks
Doc

More or less, a straight swap with some tricks, yes. When I removed the light assemblies, the bolt retaining caps on the back were cheap and brittle. I re-glued in the nut caps with super glue, wrapped the cheap plastic studs the caps sit in, with electric tape, then swabbed 5 min epoxy around all the plastic studs to give them some strength. I also cleaned the bolts up which retain the lights, and also added some lithium grease to them so they don't cease in the future.

As for the electrical side, the HID sets I got via the internet were made up for a car, but were the right choice IMHO. I went to the auto store and got some adapter plugs that would plug into the HID harness, then cut the stock bulbs and they're wires off the harness 1 foot back from the light assemblies, and connected the new adapter plugs. Simple.

Here's the link, I got the 55 watt version with 6000K light color
HID Lights

As for the HID bulbs fitting in the light housings, the stock bulb pattern cut in the light assembly back didn't match, and was smaller. So, I patterned the new bulbs pattern which twist in the same way, and took my Dremel and cut the plastic back side of the light assembly to match the new bulbs pattern, and took my time with this step. If you over cut, then you make more problems. This was simple too.

Then you just twist in the new bulb, make up the electrical, tie wrap up the harness wires to clean it up, and bingo, new brighter lights !

 

[bczoom]

Where were you 5 years ago when we were all struggling with the light issue?

If I ever rip off the other lights I have on the RTV, I'm liking this.

 

[Pinnacle]

Where were you 5 years ago when we were all struggling with the light issue?

If I ever rip off the other lights I have on the RTV, I'm liking this.

Had my 2006 Bota since 2007, but just recently decided to do some upgrade work, so hence why the recent activity on several fronts. I played with adding roof mounted lights, but as I often run in heavy woods, was worried about branches and what not. SO< I decided to try the HID route first, and after a late night run last night, I am very happy with this result.

Speaking of lights, another issue I was trying to resolve, and that was the interior cab light, or lack thereof. After looking at many diff options, I bought a LED light at Lowes that sticks to the roof of the cab ( stick on ) and is touch operated ( is about 1.5 inches wide x 4-5 inches long ).

This shows a 3 pack, but I bought one that was a single pack.

Sylvania LED Touch Light

Works brilliant, cost $8, and gives me all the light I need at night. Bonus move on my part was to apply some red window film from the auto store to the light lense, and now it gives red light, which wont scare off 4 legged friends in the woods when hunting and fiddling about, nor disturbs your night vision.

 

[bczoom]

Good call on the red lens.

I find ATV lights work well for the cabin and bed area. I have them mounted high on the rear cage mounted back-to-back (one facing cabin, the other rearward into the bed).

Here's the ones I installed but there's several mfgrs/models.
http://www.warn.com/atv/lights/ATV-TrailLight.shtml

 

[Pinnacle]

Yep, but the LED's don't have issue with making the lenses red, either with nail polish, or red film as I did as they don't get hot. That's a bigger issue to get past with those trail lights or similar if desired, as the lenses do get hot by nature ......

 

[Pinnacle]

here is a interesting graphic I saw that compares halogen to the HID's

830 – 850 lm : 60-watt tungsten bulb
1250 – 1400 lm : 55 watt standard H7 halogen bulb
1500 – 1650 lm : 55 watt performance H7 halogen bulb (Philips 50+, PIAA 55=110 etc)
3000 – 3200 lm : 35 watt HID conversion
4600 – 5300 lm : 50 watt HID conversion

In essence, the lumens represent the illuminating power of the light
source, as seen by the human eye. A 35 watt HID gives out over twice
the illumination of a halogen bulb, while a 50 watt HID gives out over
three times the illumination.

 

[bczoom]

Is heat an issue with HID's? I thought I recall hearing they're very hot. Just wondering what kind of heat buildup there is int the light cavity as I don't know if there's any way to let the heat escape. Wouldn't want your reflector or lens melting...

 

[Pinnacle]

BC, valid question, but here is some more info ;

The light is relatively cool burning compared to halogen, consumes much less power, and produces much more light at a much higher color so no, there should be no heat build up issues within the factory light assemblies.

Some of the benefits of HID over halogen are...

* Up to three times less wattage is used (HID = 35w, halogen = 55-100w)
* Up to four times more bright light produced (HID = 2400-3200lu, halogen = 800-1700lu)
* Up to ten times more intense light produced (HID = 202,500cd, halogen = 21,000cd)
* Up to six times longer lifespan (HID = 2500hr, halogen = 400hr)
* HID light contains less infrared and ultraviolet light, which fatigues the driver and surrounding motorists
* HID light illuminates the road with better contrast and more lifelike tones of color
* HID produces a natural color of 4100K to 6000K (4100K is daylight white, and 6000K is slightly bluish white) Anything bluer requires the use of light-dimming color filters
* HID lighting produces a wider and deeper beam pattern with razor sharp cut off lines
* HID has low lumen maintenance, meaning bulbs do not dim down as much towards the end of their lives
* HID has high flux properties, meaning light is very evenly distributed when installed properly

 

[Ricochet]

Is heat an issue with HID's? I thought I recall hearing they're very hot. Just wondering what kind of heat buildup there is int the light cavity as I don't know if there's any way to let the heat escape. Wouldn't want your reflector or lens melting...

Yeah, good question but it sounds like the HID lights do not get as hot.

The bulb socket on the RTV900 headlight housing is not the best on older models since they do not hold the bulbs in place well (on some units). In other words, the bulbs would get loose and melt the plastic headlight housing. So, the socket was revised to match the RTV1100 bulb socket, which is much better at locking the bulbs in place. Just keep that in mind when modifying the bulb sockets/housing...you might want to check the bulbs are secure every once and awhile.