Best headlight bulbs?

[blairracd]

Mine are getting pretty dim. I was going to go with some Sylvania Silverstar Ultras, but so many reviews say they burn out very quickly. Same for pretty much all Sylvanias.

Recommendations, please?

edit: pretty much ALL bulbs on amazon have so many reviews saying they don’t last long. even PIAAs.

editedit: anyone ran Hella headlight bulbs?

 

[beklemmung]

If you haven't already, start with reading this thread. I should replace mine sometime in the not-too-distant future, but haven't yet decided what route I'm going.

Headlights

 

[blairracd]

If you haven't already, start with reading this thread. I should replace mine sometime in the not-too-distant future, but haven't yet decided what route I'm going.

Headlights

Thanks for the link. Although I’m not looking to spend a bunch on new housings or retrofits, and putting a LED bulb in a halogen housing is illegal

 

[RotaryDreamz]

I ended up swapping in 99-02 housings and bought a new wiring harness to accommodate brighter bulbs. The purpose of the new harness is to support the higher wattage without burning up your existing wiring. I bought mine from lowrangeoffroad. H4 Headlight Relay Upgrade Wiring Harness (DIY-H4HLRH)

I then ended up buying HELLA bulbs to match. Definitely a bigger improvement.

I hear HELLA bulbs burn out pretty quick as well, but I always keep spares just in case. Been over 1 year or so and still bright.

 

[beklemmung]

It's been a month or so since I read through it, but there's a lot of info there. If I recall correctly, replacing your housings might make a much more substantial difference than only replacing the bulbs, and there are housings you can get from Rockauto that really aren't too much (well under $100 for two).

 

[JZiggy]

+1 for the wiring upgrade and 80/100W Hellas. Nice cheap upgrade.

 

[spartacus]

I had sylvania super bright were great bulbs but only lasted a year. Went with oem light bulbs 4 years ago still good.

 

[UnderFire]

If you've got a 96-98 spend the money on the 99+ housings. Worth every penny. I've had all kinds of different setups including the fancy HID retrofits. Nothing beats a 99-02 housing with a decent drop-in 55w bulb. My go-to is GE Nighthawks, but there are plenty of other options. Focus on proper adjustment and keeping the lenses clean and clear. If you want more light than that, add auxiliary lighting.

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[T4R2014]

All these brighter halogen bulbs last about a year. I just stick with the regular Philips now. If you want better visibility I would just cough up for projectors.

 

[gamefreakgc]

Also another person running a relay system and 100W/80W Hellas.

Amazon.com: H4 LED Headlight Wiring Harness [Negative Switched Conversion] [Fused] H4 Head Light Relay Harness Kit for 9003 H6054 H5054 H6054LL 6014 6052 6053 Subaru Toyota Head Lights: Automotive - Relay harness

Amazon.com: HELLA 100/80WTB Wattage-100/80W High Wattage H4 Bulbs, 12V, 2 Pack: Automotive - 2-pack of bulbs.

Total: $30. Can't beat that even if the bulbs don't last long. I'm only 6 months in.

If you have the 96-98 style headlights with the beam pattern in the glass, buy the 99+ style ones on Rockauto.com as well. Should only run you about $80 or so I think, that's what I paid and there's a promo code on this website for it. So in short, $30 gets you good headlights. $110 gets you bright headlights that you'll never think about upgrading again.

 

[beklemmung]

Also another person running a relay system and 100W/80W Hellas.

Amazon.com: H4 LED Headlight Wiring Harness [Negative Switched Conversion] [Fused] H4 Head Light Relay Harness Kit for 9003 H6054 H5054 H6054LL 6014 6052 6053 Subaru Toyota Head Lights: Automotive - Relay harness

Amazon.com: H4 LED Headlight Wiring Harness [Negative Switched Conversion] [Fused] H4 Head Light Relay Harness Kit for 9003 H6054 H5054 H6054LL 6014 6052 6053 Subaru Toyota Head Lights: Automotive - 2-pack of bulbs.

Total: $30. Can't beat that even if the bulbs don't last long. I'm only 6 months in.

If you have the 96-98 style headlights with the beam pattern in the glass, buy the 99+ style ones on Rockauto.com as well. Should only run you about $80 or so I think, that's what I paid and there's a promo code on this website for it. So in short, $30 gets you good headlights. $110 gets you bright headlights that you'll never think about upgrading again.

You've got the harness linked twice and no bulbs. But for $110 this sounds like a very good option for me.

 

[RunningForNow]

I had Sylvania Silver Stars, and they were good for halogen bulbs, but they are, at the end of the day, halogens. So, at the beginning of this year, I started researching LED bulbs.

I’ve seen most LED bulbs and how they are just blindingly bright, or they have that ricey-looking blue or purple tone to them. I wanted to know if there are actually good LED bulbs out there, perhaps it’s a “you get what you pay for” kind of a thing. If you get cheap Chinese-made LED bulbs, you get shitty quality. I then spoke with a few people who have had PIAA bulbs, and they love them. At $135, I figure I might as well try them out. It would piss me off if these don’t work as well as I would like them to, but it won’t be the end of the world, certainly wouldn’t break my bank. Right after I installed them, I took my truck out for a drive at night, and immediately I was impressed with them. I also noticed how badly my headlights needed to be adjusted. So after aligning them, I went out for another drive, and holy hell, these were bright, but not obnoxious to the point where I’m blinding people. I pulled up next to a person that was previously behind me, and I asked if my lights were in their eyes, and they said other than the fact that they are LEDs, they were not intense enough to be annoying.

I can’t speak for the longevity, as I’ve only had them since January. I do love these bulbs, and I hope they do last. I didn’t want to mess with retrofits, and with the PIAAs, the throw is great enough that I’m not regretting not doing retrofits.

 

[brillo_76]

Thanks for the link. Although I’m not looking to spend a bunch on new housings or retrofits, and putting a LED bulb in a halogen housing is illegal

Yes I read some States have strict rules on headlights. Bummer, however if the lights are blinding people on secondary roads as to why they made the law change. I seen 2 led bars on secondary roads around here and with those on you cant see anything. Thankfully most people are smart enough to realize those bars are only usable off road. ;-)

 

[19963.4lsr5]

Yes I read some States have strict rules on headlights. Bummer, however if the lights are blinding people on secondary roads as to why they made the law change. I seen 2 led bars on secondary roads around here and with those on you cant see anything. Thankfully most people are smart enough to realize those bars are only usable off road. ;-)

Same with putting 80/90w off-road lights in you headlight housings. Depending on the inspection guy it’s an instant fail. I’ll admit though, the cops and inspection stations cate a lot less about headlights than they did in the 80’s and 90’s.

I beamed a person with a long LED bar mounted to his front bumper turned on in the rain a few months ago. He left it on and beamed me back. Where are the state troopers when this kind of stuff happens.


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[brillo_76]

Same with putting 80/90w off-road lights in you headlight housings. Depending on the inspection guy it’s an instant fail. I’ll admit though, the cops and inspection stations cate a lot less about headlights than they did in the 80’s and 90’s.

I beamed a person with a long LED bar mounted to his front bumper turned on in the rain a few months ago. He left it on and beamed me back. Where are the state troopers when this kind of stuff happens.


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Mostly the state troopers don't care. I just want to see and not blind anyone. So if the lights are too bright. I am going to fix the issue. As long as I can see and I am not blinding anyone I am happy.

The headlights of the early 3rd gens are horrible. They really are not bright enough to be usable anymore with the new cars on the road. So I put LED in them and turned them in the housing so they are only probably half or 1/4 as bright as normal. Thus not blinding anyone and making my lights usable.
It sure is looking like using the late model 3rd gens headlights are a better solution especially in states that ban LED lights from use.

 

[19963.4lsr5]

Mostly the state troopers don't care. I just want to see and not blind anyone. So if the lights are too bright. I am going to fix the issue. As long as I can see and I am not blinding anyone I am happy.

The headlights of the early 3rd gens are horrible. They really are not bright enough to be usable anymore with the new cars on the road. So I put LED in them and turned them in the housing so they are only probably half or 1/4 as bright as normal. Thus not blinding anyone and making my lights usable.
It sure is looking like using the late model 3rd gens headlights are a better solution especially in states that ban LED lights from use.

I thought about grabbing newer style housings and haven’t yet. With my running lights and headlights with silverstars in both I’m quite happy with my forward lighting.


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[eddielasvegas]

This is exactly what I'm looking for in a headlight upgrade.

Do you have a link or other info so I can do a little research?

Thanks,

Eddie

I had Sylvania Silver Stars, and they were good for halogen bulbs, but they are, at the end of the day, halogens. So, at the beginning of this year, I started researching LED bulbs.

I’ve seen most LED bulbs and how they are just blindingly bright, or they have that ricey-looking blue or purple tone to them. I wanted to know if there are actually good LED bulbs out there, perhaps it’s a “you get what you pay for” kind of a thing. If you get cheap Chinese-made LED bulbs, you get shitty quality. I then spoke with a few people who have had PIAA bulbs, and they love them. At $135, I figure I might as well try them out. It would piss me off if these don’t work as well as I would like them to, but it won’t be the end of the world, certainly wouldn’t break my bank. Right after I installed them, I took my truck out for a drive at night, and immediately I was impressed with them. I also noticed how badly my headlights needed to be adjusted. So after aligning them, I went out for another drive, and holy hell, these were bright, but not obnoxious to the point where I’m blinding people. I pulled up next to a person that was previously behind me, and I asked if my lights were in their eyes, and they said other than the fact that they are LEDs, they were not intense enough to be annoying.

I can’t speak for the longevity, as I’ve only had them since January. I do love these bulbs, and I hope they do last. I didn’t want to mess with retrofits, and with the PIAAs, the throw is great enough that I’m not regretting not doing retrofits.

 

[gamefreakgc]

You've got the harness linked twice and no bulbs. But for $110 this sounds like a very good option for me.

Derp late night post. Fixed.

 

[beklemmung]

Derp late night post. Fixed.

Thanks. Are those Hella bulbs you linked street legal? The product description says they're for off-road use only. Based on your previous posts about this, it seems like you originally just had the upgraded TYC assemblies from Rockauto with the bulbs that come with them, and only later added the harness and Hella bulbs. Is this right, and was this still a noticeable upgrade even without the harness and higher wattage bulbs? I'm thinking of only putting in the TYC assemblies and skipping the harness and brighter bulbs. I'm hoping that alone will be a big upgrade from my 23 year old original eqpt.

 

[gamefreakgc]

Thanks. Are those Hella bulbs you linked street legal? The product description says they're for off-road use only. Based on your previous posts about this, it seems like you originally just had the upgraded TYC assemblies from Rockauto with the bulbs that come with them, and only later added the harness and Hella bulbs. Is this right, and was this still a noticeable upgrade even without the harness and higher wattage bulbs? I'm thinking of only putting in the TYC assemblies and skipping the harness and brighter bulbs. I'm hoping that alone will be a big upgrade from my 23 year old original eqpt.

Honestly, I'm not sure. I am blinded all the time while in my 4Runner by diesel pickups with 5" lifts and positive rake so I'm guessing for CA, no.

I've done three lighting changes so far:

Brighter bulbs to 65W/55W in the 96-98 housings
Changed to the 99+ TYC housings
Changed bulbs in the 99+ to 100W/80W with relay

Changing the housings made the biggest improvement of the three. But it's the most costly. I don't like the look or price of projector retrofits, I think they ruin the look of the front end, so that was never going to be an option for me. Plus I could do a lot with $400 other than changing light bulbs.