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East Bear Light Kit Review

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Old Jan 8, 2002 | 08:43 AM
  #26  
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Go to www.phase2motortrend.com
they will handle the leg work and make it a lot easier for you.
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Old Jan 8, 2002 | 11:18 AM
  #27  
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mile: Slava @ www.rotormotorsports.com can get you hooked up for about $600 shipped. They are of course on back order right now. Should take 2-3 weeks. Same deal at www.phase2motortrend.com

SARX7: I am still dying to see pics of your car with the light kit installed, please please please, with sugar on top . And I am also wanting to hear some input on how well the light kit works at night.
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Old Jan 8, 2002 | 01:57 PM
  #28  
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I'll be attempting to get pic's tonight.

The car is in poor shape right now since "the deer incident", but I'll get some pics anyway.
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Old Jan 8, 2002 | 09:39 PM
  #29  
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I have a question. How do you adjust the lights? With screws like stock lights?
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Old Jan 9, 2002 | 09:21 AM
  #30  
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Yes with 3 screws per lamp, just like stock.

No Pics yet sorry I'll try again today.
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Old Jan 9, 2002 | 03:26 PM
  #31  
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SARX7 are you sure that it's not 4 screws? Just based on the RE kit that I had, there were four "spring-loaded" corner adjustment screws per light, and these appear to be the same arrangement of the same lights.

I plan to use the pods from the East Bear kit but buy the Hella high and low beam lights mentioned in another thread which have true headlight beam patterns and can be converted to HID. There is no H3 HID kit, to my knowledge, but I haven't been checking lately. I also don't like the "C3-PO" look of the lights included with the East Bear and RE kit.

You can get a higher wattage H3 bulb 100/110W, but it will not improve anything but the output. These lights don't have proper beam dispersion and you will irritate other drivers if they're focused too high.

I also agree that the C-West kit, (which I've also owned) while high quality, (at least the pod) looks like crap. It looks cheap to me, probably because you can see the same lights on the *underside* of some 4x4's bumper.

The RE kit leaves a lot to be desired in its mounting scheme, which requires cutting and drilling sheet metal for the pod and light bracket. It is also difficult to remove the pod, because one fastener is up under the wheel liner. The lens is also permanent, unless you screw it in place, which looks like crap. I used windshield urethane for mine, so if you ever crack or break a cover, good luck getting it back off.

I initially started the first group purchase on the East Bear kit because it was a good starting point for adding different lights and had a better mounting scheme and didn't have the cover, which discolors with age, scratches easily, and fogs up. After the group purchase fell through, I decided to wait a bit, but I just ordered an East Bear kit from Phase 2 and was told that they're organizing another group purchase, so if you're interested, get in quick for the discount. Enrollment ends this week, apparently.
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Old Jan 9, 2002 | 04:02 PM
  #32  
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I agree with you Jimlab. I have a set of the East Bears on order right now from rotormotorsports. I am planning (on down the road) to put in the Hellas http://www.susquehanna.com/susq/hella/headlamp.htm I think the Hellas will look MUCH better!

The website with the Hella's say that it is an H9 bulb for the high and low beam lights rated at 65W. I was not even thinking of the HID conversion, but that would be cool if it can be done. What do you think it would take to be converted to HID?

The Hella website does say and show that there are 3 adjustment screws for each light.
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Old Jan 9, 2002 | 04:06 PM
  #33  
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Here are the Hella lights that I was talking about using...



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Old Jan 9, 2002 | 04:12 PM
  #34  
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Yup, those are the same ones that I listed in my last post. Much Nicer than the ones that come with the East Bear kit.
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Old Jan 9, 2002 | 04:16 PM
  #35  
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Originally posted by legendrx7
The website with the Hella's say that it is an H9 bulb for the high and low beam lights rated at 65W. I was not even thinking of the HID conversion, but that would be cool if it can be done. What do you think it would take to be converted to HID?
You can get a DS2 Xenon 90mm kit instead of the low-beams. I don't believe there is an H9 HID conversion kit, or at least I was not able to find one in several minutes of searching.

The Hella website does say and show that there are 3 adjustment screws for each light.
The Hellas are 3-screw adjustment (from the rear). The East Bear lights, if they're the same as the RE lights (and they appear to be) are a 4-screw adjustment from the front... the pod has to come off for them to be adjusted, in other words.
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Old Jan 9, 2002 | 04:27 PM
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Where can I look at this DS2 90mm Zenon kit?

thanks,

chuck d.
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Old Jan 9, 2002 | 07:03 PM
  #37  
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Sorry, D2S, not DS2. A moment of dyslexia...



Philips' D2S Xenon bulb kit can be bought separately or with a 90mm housing. Here's an example of one housing...



And some more information on the D2S and D2R...

http://www.eur.lighting.philips.com/...non_range.html
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Old Jan 10, 2002 | 08:33 AM
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Nope Jim, I'm positive the lights only use 3 screws per.

And yes the pod does have to come off to adjust the lights.

As Jim was saying the lights are very spotlightish, but this is still a tremendous improvement over stock.

I would be interested in trying a hella upgrade to get a better low beam pattern. As it is now the lights are good but there is always room for some improvement, especialy if I get a wider beam pattern out of it.
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Old Jan 10, 2002 | 12:21 PM
  #39  
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Originally posted by SARX7
Nope Jim, I'm positive the lights only use 3 screws per.
Interesting. They appear almost identical to the RE kit, so they must have improved it in some way.

As Jim was saying the lights are very spotlightish, but this is still a tremendous improvement over stock.
Agreed.

The higher wattage H3 bulbs aren't recommended for a light with a lexan cover, because of the heat produced, but that shouldn't be an issue with the East Bear kit for anyone who wants to stick with the "stock" lights in the kit.

I would be interested in trying a hella upgrade to get a better low beam pattern. As it is now the lights are good but there is always room for some improvement, especialy if I get a wider beam pattern out of it.
I just ordered a pair of low beam and a pair of high beam lights from Susquehanna MotorSports for about $260 ($60 per light, plus $6 per H9 connector to adapt the lighting harness to the new lights) shipped. When I get done playing with them, I'll post my findings.
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Old Jan 10, 2002 | 01:03 PM
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here is a pic of the wiring harness I got from phase2's site



and here a a couple more






I'll get some more of the lights installed on my car soon.
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Old Jan 10, 2002 | 01:38 PM
  #41  
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do they fit

do the lights from seq. motorsprots fit into the kit from east bear.. i mean does the 3 screw pettern match the pattern on the east bear kit and would it be a smooth switch.. they are both 90mm right??
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Old Jan 10, 2002 | 03:30 PM
  #42  
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Hard to say... no one has ever attempted to put the two together to my knowledge.
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Old Jan 11, 2002 | 10:22 AM
  #43  
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Ok I have Pic's I will post a link soon.
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Old Jan 11, 2002 | 10:31 AM
  #44  
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Hey Jim, I sent an email to Philips Automotive lighting requesting information on the D2S and D2R lights. And they replied back with:

"Thank you for contacting us. The above lamps are only sold to Original Equipment manufacturers. For further information, please call Philips Automotive at 248-699-2290."

WTF? Do you know how we could get these?
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Old Jan 11, 2002 | 04:51 PM
  #45  
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Here are the pics, note the deer damage.
Just got the last bits of my new front end today, so it's off to the body shop the car goes.

Sorry about the size...

















Last edited by SARX7; Jan 11, 2002 at 04:53 PM.
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Old Jan 11, 2002 | 05:29 PM
  #46  
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Thanks for the pics SARX7.

How does the weight opf the Eastbear lights compare to stock?

Do you have any pics of the light pattern?
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Old Jan 14, 2002 | 08:33 AM
  #47  
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I'm working on Pics of the light pattern, I've been messing with the aim of the lights to get them perfect. Once I do I'll post pics.

The Kit is MUCH lighter than stock. I figure that there is a total of ~10 pounds for the entire kit. One side of the stock lighting is heavier than that.
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Old Jan 14, 2002 | 08:48 AM
  #48  
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Thanks for posting the pics SARX7. I think they look very sharp! I can't wait to get my set.

Have you driven your car around at night yet? If so, how well did it light the road up? Better than stock?

thanks,

chuck d.
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Old Jan 14, 2002 | 10:08 AM
  #49  
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They are better than stock in distance lighting, but slightly worse in side to side lighting. This is mainly because how the sit in the light pods and also because they have more of a spot light pattern.

I would recomend a set of good fog lights to remedy this.
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Old Jan 17, 2002 | 05:32 PM
  #50  
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Any Pictures of the light pattern?

Did you get any pictures of the light pattern yet? Did you get them painted yet as well? I would love to see pictures of both if you get the time.

TIA
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