vito, HID is High-Intensity Discharge. they are the special 'fish eye' headlights you see on newer, or some
older expensive vehicles. if your headlights look just like regular headlights, then you don't have HID.

 

Technically, HID only refers to the bulb/ballast being use, not the headlight housing... you can fit HIDs into basically ANY headlight housing...

But typically, HIDs are used in "projector" style headlight housings...

Depending on the year of D the OP has, he may not be able to tell by just looking at the headlights...
- 2011-2013 you can tell by looking, due to reflector housings used in the Halogen equipped Durangos
- 2014-present you cant tell by looking... they all use the same style projector headlight housing... but Citadel and R/T are the only models equipped with HID headlights

 

HID lights use a xenon arc to produce light rather than resistance in a coil of wire creating heat which then emits light in a more yellow color tone. My Kia Optima has headlights that have projector lenses in them that look like HID but aren't. Due to the technology, which you can google if you want to really get into it, HID lights produce a light that is bluish-white in color and hence appears brighter and provides more clarity (in my opinion). They also are much longer lasting than conventional filament bulbs but are also much more expensive.

 

HID lights produce a light that is bluish-white in color and hence appears brighter and provides more clarity (in my opinion)..

HIDs can be had in the same color array as any other bulb (3000-10000k, some cases higher where you get pinks, purples, greens)....
3000k = yellow
4200-5000k = white
6000k = white/blue
8000k = more blue
10000k = very blue

here are 3000k HID fogs and 5000k HID headlights...

 

I didn't know that. I've always seen them as bluish-white. Since the temperature of the arc generally determines its color (or so I thought anyways), do they use filters to get the different colors?

 

no they dont

 

HIDs are High Intensity Discharge lights. As has already been mentioned, projectors are the best housing for them because they have a defined cutoff; if you have stock projectors in your Durango then when you turn your brights on it is really the same light, but it raises the cutoff. Many Mopars now come with projector housings but AFAIK they are all halogen projectors.

Some idiots fit HIDs into the stock halogen housings that came on their vehicle so the lights glare into oncoming traffic really bad and make it hard for other drivers to see. This can cause accidents and cops will often ticket these people. People also do this with LEDs, but LEDs don't actually cast their beam as far as halogens without a properly designed, LED specific housing; so while it looks really bright up close, your range is reduced and you also blind oncoming traffic. Some people fail to realize that many incandescent bulbs are actually directional, and the location of the filament within the reflector housing is important so you can't just drop in some LEDs on a plastic stick and have them work properly in a halogen housing. The high end F-150s have LED headlights in properly designed housings (though people still complain about them) and so do some Acuras and maybe some Hondas now too

If you do have projectors you can safely drop in LEDs or HIDs; and though HIDs are more complicated to set up they perform better in this application.

 

And another thing, there is ABSOLUTELY NO aftermarket plug n play LED bulb that will be brighter than an HID.

And HID bulbs above 6000K actually get dimmer as you go higher. So while some people think the 10,000K bulbs look good (they don't!) they're starting to get to be about as bright as a halogen bulb.


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correct...

highest actual light output between 4000 - 5000k

 

Thanks for the good info. Since my Durango is a 2016 Limited I assume I do not have HID headlights. Any recommendations as to the best upgrade for improved lighting? I know I need to do something since the stock headlights seem marginal at best.

 

Correct. Your Limited does not have HIDs... I used OPT7 Canbus series in my Limited (see pic I posted above) and am very happy with them

 

Oh wow. I'm way out of touch. The last I had that had HIDs was a 2006 Acura TSX and I recall that back then replacement bulbs were several hundred dollars. These are $80 each? And they actually work? Haha...things changes...

 

Morimoto bulbs are about $35 a piece which are one of the better aftermarket companies and opt7 are about $20 each, OEM like Phillips or OSRAM are closer to $100 each. Can't go wrong with opt7 (JUST NO LED HEADLIGHT BULBS) or Morimoto


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Heard nothing but positive things about Morimoto... I have not tried them, but I've been using OPT7 products for a couple years now and am very satisfied with them!

 

I might just add HIDs to my Optima then. I've always really liked HIDs at night.

 

Hi I am currently in the process of converting from halogen to xenon headlights on my 2019 Durango

 

Done it in my 19sxt. They are way better then the stock 9005 headlights & h11 fog halogen bulbs. I installed the 35w canbus hid kit 5500K color from Ddmtuning. Worked great with no flickering or dash warnings. You do have to cut the hole in the dust cap for the wiring.

 

have any of you had this experience?

 

Hey, I know this is an old posting but if I swap the housing assembly completely from stock halogen to HID full headlight assembly. Will they work properly? Do the hid assembly have a built in ballast or would I still need a conversion kit? I can show pictures of the new assembly for reference. Thanks!!