Caramanos2000 Posted June 15, 2009 Share Posted June 15, 2009 Currently using Sylvania Cool Blue headlights which are good but not great. Wondering what to upgrade to without frying my electrical system. Can I run these: http://www.autolights4less.com/he-h71070327.html ? Im not sure if those have hi/lo beams or not... What do you guys recommend that will stay under $45 shipped? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Niku-Sama Posted June 15, 2009 Share Posted June 15, 2009 hi/lo? any 9004 headlight bulb is going to have low beam and high beam filiments in them. as long as you looking for 9004's and not looking for the sealed beams the 4 eye cars have i would reccomend Sylvania SilverStars. its a blue glass lightbulb but it has a white light, super white even. i used em on my maxima and i still have some on my 280zx, i'll probally get them for this car when these burn out and i have the monies for em Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zyewdall Posted June 16, 2009 Share Posted June 16, 2009 The 9004 siverstars are nice... but they burn out in a few months at most (if you use them as daytime running lights like I do). Annoying.... the standard halogens are a bit longer lasting. I need to make a voltage dropper to switch in line for the daytime to save them, then I'd switch back to them. Z Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dude Abides Posted June 16, 2009 Share Posted June 16, 2009 Ive heard GE Nighthawks are great as well. Whiter then the silverstars. You cant buy them at any store though. Only on amazon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Niku-Sama Posted June 16, 2009 Share Posted June 16, 2009 you used to be able to get nighthawks at fred meyer. and if your silver stars only last a few months somethings wrong, mine lasted about 3 years and i dont know how long the sealed beam silverstars have been on my 280zx but they are still good too, well acually they have been on atleast a year now, almost 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
88RxTuner Posted June 17, 2009 Share Posted June 17, 2009 Tried the Nighthawks, Tried the Silverstars... I now have Silverstars in everything I drive that doesnt have "auxiliary Off Road Lighting".... Silverstars rock. They are kind of pricey, and Yes, they will burn out sooner than a regular halogen, Specially if you use them for Daytime Lamps. I usually just run my parking lamps during the day... I went 1 year and 3 months on the last set of Silverstars in my RX... Course, there is that other option... "auxiliary Off Road Lighting"... Hey, if nobody else is on the road, it's okay to use the 800w mounted on the roof rack, right? lol 88RxTuner Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caramanos2000 Posted June 22, 2009 Author Share Posted June 22, 2009 The silverstar ultras are $50 and a HID kit bought locally is $70, what do you guys think? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dude Abides Posted June 22, 2009 Share Posted June 22, 2009 I have silverstar glass lights on my dl and think they work great. Ive had this discussion about the nighthawks on the dodge caravan forum. They tell me that with that light system the nighthawks are better. I havent tried this yet but i will let the forum know my results. Im 2 years into the silverstar sealed beams and they work great. I used them every day since i drive home in the dark. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheLoyale Posted June 22, 2009 Share Posted June 22, 2009 I have the Nokya artic white 100/120w in mine, 9004s havn't burned out (Had them since '07) work good Look cool too and their under $30 (Online) I also changed my corner lights to a blueish white aswell. -Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Truckerman666 Posted June 23, 2009 Share Posted June 23, 2009 1. I have had the silverstars in my car for almost 5 years. I drive it everyday, and a lot at night. The secret is to follow the installation instructions to the letter. DO NOT, touch them with your fingers, there is enough oil in you skin to leave some of it on the bulb, this will cause the bulb to overheat, and fail sooner. This applies to any light bulb, but more so to the silverstars because they generate more heat in the first place. 2. If you want more light, then stay away from all "blue bulbs", use a white one, the blue coating just absorbs more light that you need on the road. All the do is increase glare, and it gets worse when the road is wet. Human eyes are designed to work in sunlight, which has a lot of yellow. Try to read a blue lit sign at night, then try to read a yellow or white lit one. Blue is a wavelength that is difficult for humans to see, our eyes are optimized to work in daylight not night where there is a lot of natural blue light. The Sylvania xtra vision is supposed to be the same bulb without the blue coating. This the bulb I will be trying next, if the silverstars ever burn out. 3. Blue bulbs are only good for three things, A. To decrease the usable light you see on the road, please notice that I said USABLE light. How do I know this, I spent over $150.00 to buy them for two vehicles, one of them a Subaru. On the 2001 Dodge truck with clear headlight lenses, they made a little more light, enough to see a miniscule difference, not enough to justify spending over $100.00 on them. On a 1987 Subaru GL, they made almost no difference at all, they are certainly not worth almost $60.00! B. They great if you want to attract attention from cops. Why? Because colored headlights are NOT LEGAL, anywhere that I know of. Sylvania claims that they are 50 state legal, and I am sure that they are. However, try explaining this to a cop who had to put down his doughnut and kick the hooker out of his car, just to pull you over, and walk through a downpour at 3:00 in the morning to check your headlights, because he thought he saw a flash of blue. How do I know this? I went to college to be a cop, and I am a trucker, and an old school hot rodder, so I have a lot of first hand experience with crooked cops and their attitude problems. C. The worst, they make you look like a Ricer. I do not want to look like the last word here, but this a subject that I became interested in a few years ago. I have spent countless hours researching it, I have read hundreds of reports, web sites, forum posts, etc. on this subject. I have spent money out of my own pocket to buy them and try them out on my own cars. I have well over 2,000,000 miles of driving experience in many different types of vehicles, and in some truly horrific weather conditions. I have some real world, hands on experience with vehicle lighting. I am no expert, but I have made valiant effort to learn about this subject, and I have made a small amount of progress. Conclusion? Silverstars or any other type of "blue" bulbs are crap, and a waste of money. In case anyone is wondering why I have left them in my car so long if I dislike them so much? A. I paid a truly idiotic amount for them, and I want to get the usage I paid for. B. I tend to forget about them until I drive at night, then it is not easy to change them. Someday when I remember to change them out, I will be happy to give them away to someone here on the board. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loyale 2.7 Turbo Posted June 23, 2009 Share Posted June 23, 2009 ... any other type of "blue" bulbs are crap, and a waste of money. ... I Agree with That, Absolutely. Try to Drive with Blueish Lights at Night While Rainin` or Wet Pavement and You`ll Understand... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheLoyale Posted June 23, 2009 Share Posted June 23, 2009 Truckerman, Hmm blue lights are bad huh, and they absorb into the road and are "NOT LEAGAL" Well tell Mercedes, Lexus, Infinity, BMW, and many others that. These lights shoot out and cover well (Blinding almost) and no, not all these brands run the H.I.D style bulbs. Yes I've seen these ricer punks with their blue lights (Dim, Dull, Don't even shoot a beam at all) These are the blue lights to stay away from. The Nokya artic white 100/120w 4100k are Bright, Illuminate well, and are not $60.... I paid $26 from an online auto parts store. -Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caramanos2000 Posted June 23, 2009 Author Share Posted June 23, 2009 Y purchased a Kyo set 100/80W with a temp of 4,500k, they were only $16 shipped so we will see. I will post pics of these verus the sylvania I have. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheLoyale Posted June 23, 2009 Share Posted June 23, 2009 Y purchased a Kyo set 100/80W with a temp of 4,500k, they were only $16 shipped so we will see. I will post pics of these verus the sylvania I have. There 80/100w not 100/80w lol (Low beam would be brighter then the high beams) Cool yea post pics when you get them Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Truckerman666 Posted June 23, 2009 Share Posted June 23, 2009 Remember, I bought these 5 years ago, when they cost almost $30 EACH. I remember about two years ago, going for a ride in an american model Mercedes, whose owner had installed the E code lights he bought bootleg from europe. They were horrible, dim and blue, i could barely see in front of the car from the passenger seat. I don't see how he could stand to drive it. In all fairness, this might have an adjustment problem, however, the amount of light they put on the road in real life conditions was almost useless. Just because a car comes from Europe, does not mean that it is well designed. I drove a brand new Freightliner a few days ago, easily the worst truck I have ever driven. Three guesses as to owns and designs them. It has the new style plastic headlights that are "better." The light pattern is no better than my old style Peterbilt with the glass sealed beams. The new style bulbs a small amount brighter, and the pattern is no better at all. The only difference that I can see, is that instead of a $15 glass sealed beam to replace, we now have $200 plus plastic lamp to replace. I do not call that an improvement. I am not impressed with European technology. Like you said, blinding almost. Just because a light blinds other drivers, does not mean it is putting out usable light. A light meter in front of the car may read more light, but does the human eye see it the same way ? Please remember what I do for a living, the amount of miles that I drive in a year, the different types of roads, terrain, weather and types of cars and lights that I get to see. I have a ringside seat to observe what works and what does not. In the real world, not just in a car or lamp manufacturers hype. Case in point, I drive an old style Peterbilt with glass lights. The light output is acceptable, and nothing more, it has a lot of room for improvement. The new model Peterbilts are advertised to have 270% more light on the road. I thought, great idea, I need to check this out. So I started to watch them as they passed me at night. The pattern was no better than mine, and light on the road was about the same. Observed by a human eye in the drivers seat, not a light meter an optimized distance away. Please see my comment above about a $15 light vs a $200 one. This led me to start observing all of the cars that pass me at night. Some had well designed lamps that truly work wonders, marvels of modern engineering. Most of the time these are Japanese cars. Some had dim, scattered, almost useless light, most of these were american cars, or old Japanese and European ones. Some had very bright lights that did not light up the road any better than my old style stuff. Most of the time these were newer European cars. Too much bright light going straight into my mirror and not on the road where it belongs. Coverage, not candlepower, making a bad light brighter will just blind some one worse. The best light patterns seem to come the Japanese cars, some of the American ones are OK, some are not, the European ones seem to be universally bad. Too much bright light going where it does not belong, right into my mirror. Some of those Japanese cars have wonderful light patterns. I wish my my old school halogens were that good. Again, I am not a light expert. I am just someone who drives 150,000 miles a year, and gets to see a lot of real world cause and effect. I did not want an argument, but a question was asked, I attempted to answer it. I simply base my opinions on my life experience and what I observe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Niku-Sama Posted June 23, 2009 Share Posted June 23, 2009 holy crap man you can type alot! any way, Caramanos, this HID kit was it an universal kit or was it a set up from another car? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phizinza Posted June 23, 2009 Share Posted June 23, 2009 have you done the 'relay mod' yet? New globes are pointless without doing it in my mind Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bheinen74 Posted June 23, 2009 Share Posted June 23, 2009 (edited) HELLA :headbang::banana: http://store.classicgarage.com/he-72116b.html http://store.classicgarage.com/he-72146b.html Edited June 23, 2009 by bheinen74 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caramanos2000 Posted June 23, 2009 Author Share Posted June 23, 2009 holy crap man you can type alot! any way, Caramanos, this HID kit was it an universal kit or was it a set up from another car? The $70 HID kits are universal, 1yr warranty and I can choose the color temp. have you done the 'relay mod' yet? New globes are pointless without doing it in my mind Please elaborate, you have my attention. I was planning on GD alternator swap Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
torxxx Posted June 23, 2009 Share Posted June 23, 2009 Run a better ground wire system for your engine car and run better grade wires to the headlights. I did this on my car and the headlights seemed a lot brighter. Also make sure your lenses dont have water or dust inside of them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caramanos2000 Posted June 23, 2009 Author Share Posted June 23, 2009 (edited) Run a better ground wire system for your engine car and run better grade wires to the headlights. I did this on my car and the headlights seemed a lot brighter. Also make sure your lenses dont have water or dust inside of them. Lenses are clean and grounding kit is installed. However my alternator is crap at idle all my lights dim like crazy.. Should I swap the alternator or the relays first? How much would a shop charge me to change out the relays? What kind of shop does it have to be? Edited June 23, 2009 by Caramanos2000 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheLoyale Posted June 24, 2009 Share Posted June 24, 2009 Truckerman, Lol yes I too am not impressed with EuroTech. not sure what branch Freightliner is from? I'm wasn't trying to start an argument either, I'm just pointing out the not all blueish lights are bad (Most are crap) I know the light design for the Toyota FJs are awesome! (Parents own one) liggts up the entre road along with the sides. Japanese tech at its finest haha. -Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phizinza Posted June 25, 2009 Share Posted June 25, 2009 Please elaborate, you have my attention. I was planning on GD alternator swap Read my write up about it here http://offroadingsubarus.com/headlight_relaymod.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scoobywagon Posted June 25, 2009 Share Posted June 25, 2009 The silverstar ultras are $50 and a HID kit bought locally is $70, what do you guys think? If somebody can sell you HID's at $70 a set, I'd say go for it. Just be VERY careful about who you get them from. The cheaper kits generally have poor quality ballasts which make for noisy electricals (noise in the stereo, for example) and reduced bulb life. The kits I sell run about $125 a set with standard ballasts, about $140 for slim ballasts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caramanos2000 Posted June 25, 2009 Author Share Posted June 25, 2009 Is this relay mod really worth it? I mean is the difference as much as is seen in the pics? Figure I can do this while I do Loyales swap of interior relays. Do relays come in six packs? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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