Spyder headlamps.....my take on 'em...and LIGHTING in general

[shovelbill]

Yeah, the Sylvania Silverstars are garbage for sure. Used them before in other vehicles, very disappointing. Those XtraVisions I linked are great though, use them in everything now. I used to use GE NightHawks but they're much harder to find.

@VenomousSVT Unfortunately any halogen bulb with that blue coating like the SilverStars is going to sacrifice brightness and longevity. Plus the more yellow light you get from the clear bulbs is actually easier for your eyes to adjust to and use. Not as pretty as the white light, but what looks best is seldom what works best when it comes to this stuff.

same reason i don't like the LED lights on Harley's.......it's amazingly "bright" and i do recommend them to people, explaining the benefits to folks and the fact that i'm impressed with them.....well worth the money....IF....you can see properly. i can't

i don't like LED lighting to drive behind, it's the color temperature that gets me.......these hi-po bulbs are between 3300K and 3800K, which works just fine for my old eyeballs..........not to mention the QUALITY of the "blanket" of light......a good bulb will do that providing you have a decent lens/reflector combo.

the "blue" bulbs filter out certain colors of he spectrum.....and they also filter out the amount of LIGHT you get on the ground....the 4K+LOOK brighter, but actually put at least 20% less light out.

and let's not forget that "fog lights" on to light up the foreground is actually bad for night vision......not only is it distration, but your pupils constrict and it kills your distance vision........if you can see it 40 feet in front of you at 40 mph, you're gonna hit it.....period

but it LOOKS purty........

 

[deejaaa]

Bill, i believe what Brother Al meant was the alarm: your 'addition'.
depending on how it's wired, a fuse will blow while switch is off or when powered on. get the alarm looked at and maybe THEY can find the short, even if it's not their wiring.

 

[VenomousSVT]

Just adding my 2 cents, this the the 9011 HIR1 high beam bulb I am using in my Spyder lens I got off Amazon, https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00480J5CW/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 because of the fact the Spyder is an aftermarket assembly, I didn't have to trim the tab on that 9011 HIR1 bulb tab; and yes I too am a convert to the relay wiring harness. I got my harness from LMC truck and one for my sons 2000 Yukon XL. The bad thing with that harness, when he was trying to find the bulb he (my son) wanted to use the 'ear tab' catcher on the high beam plug ended up breaking off both of those tabs on both high beam plugs. Thankfully they are a snug fit so they are staying connected on the bulbs. I posted pictures earlier in this thread, this is with the left bulb on the harness and the right not. http://www.gmt400.com/threads/spyde...ighting-in-general.36647/page-139#post-947849

Because of lack of space between my battery and the fresh air intake, I got power from one of those two studs over by the under hood fuse box. I believe they are fused at 30 amp and they seem to supply plenty of power. But after getting my harness from LMC Truck, knowing now what I know about the brittle tabs on the high bulb socket I think I would look elsewhere. Probably where shovebill suggested.

anyone used a 9012 HIR2 instead of 9006's?

 

[df2x4]

anyone used a 9012 HIR2 instead of 9006's?

The issue is that the 9012s don't have the cap on the end of the bulb like the 9006s do, so you'll get a "hotspot" of light unless you're running headlight housings with glare caps built in. The general consensus in here is that with the Spyders or the Anzos I posted, you want to stick with regular halogen 9006s in the low beams.

 

[VenomousSVT]

The issue is that the 9012s don't have the cap on the end of the bulb like the 9006s do, so you'll get a "hotspot" of light unless you're running headlight housings with glare caps built in. The general consensus in here is that with the Spyders or the Anzos I posted, you want to stick with regular halogen 9006s in the low beams.

figured i would ask... i'm doing the research now so I'm seeing some of the stuff I figured you guys had already run into as well...will likely do my harness upgrade tomorrow if all goes to plan. Got some male and female 9005/9006 connectors I'm going to solder in to make a plug and play harness.

 

[Brother Al]

Bill, i believe what Brother Al meant was the alarm: your 'addition'.
depending on how it's wired, a fuse will blow while switch is off or when powered on. get the alarm looked at and maybe THEY can find the short, even if it's not their wiring.

Exactly Deejaa. I should have gone into it more but Im usually "too wordy" and it was late.

(3) main problems Ive come across with aftermarket systems/installations:
1.) Direct-cut-in splices with twist/crimp caps = bad for many reasons, among them factory wires should NEVER be Cut and if so, EVERYTHING "Should" be soldered and heat-shrinked.
2.) Cheap parts in the control modules w/ cheesy boards/terrible soldering/undersize wiring/poor/no heat sink in the control modules... they eventually vibrate apart/overheat/short out/cook-up...
3.) All kinds of things get "adjusted" during the installation..


Examples on my truck:
gauge faceplate torx screw holes are all stripped-out, several screws below the dash were MIA, headlight switch mounts were all busted and glued, a number of ignition wires were cut and crimp connected, bunch of the factory zip ties and harness clips were broken, 6 ft of remore start harness wiring was stuffed into the area behind the dash...All rubbing, bouncing, and chaffing on the metal bracing for God only knows how many years... add in some of our mighty fine potholes every 30-40 ft... Goodtimes! I repaired several wires that had been rubbed through to the copper.
Stupid thing also has an On/Off switch that doesnt do anything except change the number of times the marker lights flash. The harness was also tied directly to a hidden, metal toggle kill switch, by wires that had to be just barely big enough to carry current without frying. I later discovered a second kill switch that was wired into the mess further up the circuit.... I disconnected all that crap, but as said, left the remote start alone...for now.

Im no electrical whiz, but I absolutely hate cutting factory wires when other options are available...plug and play is nice for many more reasons than just convenience.

Also, those Cibie ambers were shown to have reached a UPS terminal in NYC... not sure how long they will need to stay in "import isolation", but you got me addicted too... despite having those Cibie 95i's, Im still looking on the Googler, Feepay, and Craigslist..LOL.

 

[shovelbill]

Exactly Deejaa. I should have gone into it more but Im usually "too wordy" and it was late.

(3) main problems Ive come across with aftermarket systems/installations:
1.) Direct-cut-in splices with twist/crimp caps = bad for many reasons, among them factory wires should NEVER be Cut and if so, EVERYTHING "Should" be soldered and heat-shrinked.
2.) Cheap parts in the control modules w/ cheesy boards/terrible soldering/undersize wiring/poor/no heat sink in the control modules... they eventually vibrate apart/overheat/short out/cook-up...
3.) All kinds of things get "adjusted" during the installation..


Examples on my truck:
gauge faceplate torx screw holes are all stripped-out, several screws below the dash were MIA, headlight switch mounts were all busted and glued, a number of ignition wires were cut and crimp connected, bunch of the factory zip ties and harness clips were broken, 6 ft of remore start harness wiring was stuffed into the area behind the dash...All rubbing, bouncing, and chaffing on the metal bracing for God only knows how many years... add in some of our mighty fine potholes every 30-40 ft... Goodtimes! I repaired several wires that had been rubbed through to the copper.
Stupid thing also has an On/Off switch that doesnt do anything except change the number of times the marker lights flash. The harness was also tied directly to a hidden, metal toggle kill switch, by wires that had to be just barely big enough to carry current without frying. I later discovered a second kill switch that was wired into the mess further up the circuit.... I disconnected all that crap, but as said, left the remote start alone...for now.

Im no electrical whiz, but I absolutely hate cutting factory wires when other options are available...plug and play is nice for many more reasons than just convenience.

Also, those Cibie ambers were shown to have reached a UPS terminal in NYC... not sure how long they will need to stay in "import isolation", but you got me addicted too... despite having those Cibie 95i's, Im still looking on the Googler, Feepay, and Craigslist..LOL.

Thank you " grand high exhausted(lol) mystic windbag"........

Yea, spaghetti factory explosion...but not too bad, me and that installer guy get along cool....it's a decent Viper alarm , so not real eBay junk......I saw no evidence of any damaged wires...gonna look at the tail light and front parking for and issue...I don't know if it's a switched negative or positive......etc do I know?

I hope I don't let any more smoke out of the wiring.....or light the ****** on fire...I got some time, on my lunch now.

Thanks Al...do yer fingers hurt?

 

[VenomousSVT]

Thank you " grand high exhausted(lol) mystic windbag"........

Yea, spaghetti factory explosion...but not too bad, me and that installer guy get along cool....it's a decent Viper alarm , so not real eBay junk......I saw no evidence of any damaged wires...gonna look at the tail light and front parking for and issue...I don't know if it's a switched negative or positive......etc do I know?

I hope I don't let any more smoke out of the wiring.....or light the ****** on fire...I got some time, on my lunch now.

Thanks Al...do yer fingers hurt?

FWIW.. if you want to just look at the alarm and take a peek, the white wire on the main viper harness will go to your parking lights. Its their light output wire for flashing the parking lights. In case something has gotten grounded (ive actually had the fuse lean over against metal and the tiny little exposed holes in the top get grounded out) thats the only connection point to the lighting made in a viper alarm install.

 

[Brother Al]

Wait, Wait, Wait!... I havent attained that rank on this site... (yet), it only says "OBS Enthusiast".

Fingers? Naw, just my feelings... sniffle, sniffle.... LMAO!

The one in my truck is vintage to the early 90's "Astro Start"... had the same one in my '91 S10 4dr 4x4 Blazer.

 

[shovelbill]

wadda ******


none of the smart "tech" fu@ks at the job had a clue or could BUY a clue as to where to start lookin........so on me lunch i went out and took off all my lights...it was 25 ****** degrees and howlin wind....mr anemic frozen *** went in for break........i got to talkin to brother filthy Phil about it.....he said did you check the plate lights?

uhhhhh......uhhhhh. plate light?

out we went.......sure as ****

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the bulb melted the lens and shattered....causing the busted filament halves to short, could see it arcing........ding ding ding........trust another old shovel jocky......fu@k these kids.

some tape on this for now.....gotta find two tag light assemblies....the other one is getting toasty too.

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thanks guys for the suggestions.......whooda thunk?