Headlight bulb upgrade

[someotherguy]

Wetsand and polish your lenses before you do anything else. Hazed lenses are wasting any available light you've got. There are kits to do this at the auto parts store, or do it "from scratch", I wetsand with 600 then polish with Novus #2 on a cloth wheel in my drill or die grinder. Clean thoroughly afterwards and apply some high heat clear coat. Very easy and makes them look like a million bucks.

If you still want brighter bulbs, skip the gimmicks, actual proven higher output are HIR bulbs which are used in some OEM applications. You can even buy them at Home Depot or order online. 9012/9011 and a very, very easy modication to just one of the three tabs on the bulb's base and they will go right in your housings and plug into your harness.

A relay harness to offload the power from your headlight switch/harness to power directly from the battery is recommended too.

Richard

 

[df2x4]

I just did this replacement. I can actually see down the road now!
Cars passing me on a four lane road used to give me 10x the light than what I got from my own headlights.
My brights are incredible now, especially with the 4 high conversion.
Feels like I'm driving a new truck...almost.

Glad they worked out for you!

 

[-sin-]

I have not tried these yet, but I will! http://finemotoring.com/index.htm

I have 9005 high beam bulbs in my lows. You just have to cut the inner tabs and reconfigure the outers as well. Simple, cheap mod!

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I didn't add an extra o-ring and have not had a problem yet!

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[kennythewelder]

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After trying different bulbs in my headlights, I added 2 relays. One on the high beams, so that all 4 headlights would be on with the high beams, and one one the low beams. My low beams went from dull yellow to a very bright white. For all 4 lights to be on, you have to tap the switch wire into the high beam wire, and to get the low beams to act rite, you have to, cut the supply wire, and tie that to the switch wire on the relay. Check out the headlight relay videos on you tube.

 

[digdug18]

I went with chinese LED's they are 50% brighter then stock. to the point where oncoming cars sometimes actually flash their lights at me. Which over stock, it is a night a day difference.

But realistically, I think I can see maybe 20' farther then I could before. Meaning maybe 60' total. They are a stopgap really, between stock and an HID system for the lows.

The only problem with SOME of the aftermarket higher wattage bulbs is that the higher wattage produces more heat, that in turn eventually melts the housing.

Bottom line, if you have another vehicle and want to actually see when you have your low beams on, I'd suggest switching in HID's with a projector retrofit. Driving lights that don't produce too much glare will help until then.

 

[GMC Burbalade]

People are flashing their lights at you because your lights are blinding them. This goes along with what I mentioned in another thread. The current LED swaps throw light everywhere, far worse than HIDs.

 

[90W7]

I went with chinese LED's they are 50% brighter then stock. to the point where oncoming cars sometimes actually flash their lights at me. Which over stock, it is a night a day difference.

But realistically, I think I can see maybe 20' farther then I could before. Meaning maybe 60' total. They are a stopgap really, between stock and an HID system for the lows.

The only problem with SOME of the aftermarket higher wattage bulbs is that the higher wattage produces more heat, that in turn eventually melts the housing.

Bottom line, if you have another vehicle and want to actually see when you have your low beams on, I'd suggest switching in HID's with a projector retrofit. Driving lights that don't produce too much glare will help until then.

I agree 100% ... Having had Hids on and off for quit a while now in various trucks IM content having middle of the road led lighting.

Hids are great when they work. But it's always something with them. At least with leds you get 2000+ lumens with none of the finicky Hassel of a HID kit.

Also the reflector headlights will spread light as they were intended to do the only thing that amplifies it is the power of the bulbs in the housing.

 

[GMC Burbalade]

Also the reflector headlights will spread light as they were intended to do the only thing that amplifies it is the power of the bulbs in the housing.

Spread light? yes. As they were intended to? No. They throw light where you don't want it.

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[90W7]

Oops, Scratch that last paragraph. I agree with a proper projector but leds wont spread light any worse than hids

 

[GMC Burbalade]

but leds wont spread light any worse than hids

In every example I've seen, they're FAR worse than HIDs. Here's HID vs Halogen in the same housings.

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From what I've seen, these are the logical upgrades in a logical order depending on how far you want to go.

-Upgraded Halogens
-HIDs in good quality reflector housings
-Complete LED sealed beam style replacement (not just a bulb)
-Quality projector retrofit with HIDs