hid kit or not to hid kit

[suupasilverado]

Whats happenin everyone? i have seen most of the posts on hid lights but none have answered the question i have. i have a 2009 silverado and want to purchase some hid lights, however, i'm not sure if i have to get the kit or if i'm able to just buy the bulbs. Any help is much appreciated.

[5speedsilverado]

im pretty sure you would have to buy the whole kit, i think the bulbs are just replacement ones

[Z71_guy]

yes if you do not already have the kit then the bulb will do you no good

[suupasilverado]

thanks you all.

[jcook90]

What's special about them that requires the kit?

I'm interested in doing this on my silverado, is it worth doing?

[Z71_guy]

in order for the HIDs to work you need the ballast to produce the kind of power needed for the lights to be as bright as they are

[5point3]

in order for the HIDs to work you need the ballast to produce the kind of power needed for the lights to be as bright as they are

He is correct. I can get you a price on a kit if you are interested.

[cascott325]

in order for the HIDs to work you need the ballast to produce the kind of power needed for the lights to be as bright as they are

agreed is correct. the gasses used in the bulb require a much higher voltage to start burning with a very high starting current to get them going. this can only be safely done with a ballast which acts as a starter, and a transformer making a few volts turn into tens of thousands of volts to make a long story short. (dont ask for the long one)

[Marcus]

Hid's need a power supply to ignite the bulbs when they are first turned on. If you do not have the ballast which produces the power then you do not have true HID's. They sell look-a-like bulbs that look so-so but in my opinion it looks better to have the real thing.