Silverstars

054Runner1

054Runner1

New member
Hello everyone, I just bought a pair of Silverstar headlights and I am wanting to install them today! I know many of you have wondered about the wiring harness burning up if you install these.
But here is my question : If in fact the cause of the wiring harness burning was due to these lights, and their have been many issues with this, and you take it to the dealer and they say its the Silverstars that are the cause, couldnt you technically make Sylvania Pay for the repairs? I mean if they sell a product that causes the wiring harness to burn up they are responsible right??
 
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Also the people at Autozone told me that I needed to put Bulb Grease on the base Where the connection is. Have you all done this?
 
I have had Silverstars for nearly 2 years. My wiring looks like it was before the install, read - perfect. Never had any issues and nobody I know had issues either.
If you will have any, swap to original bulbs and drive to the dealer. They will have to fix it.
No bulb grease either been used on my truck and many off-road trips with allot of water and mud showed that everything working fine as is.
 
Posted by AlexJet
--Never had any issues and nobody I know had issues either.
If you will have any, swap to original bulbs and drive to the dealer. They will have to fix it.


---Ya I didn't even think of that. Also, you didn't use bulb grease? So its not really necessary?
 
Ditto...

Ive had mine for over a year and have had no problems. Dont touch the actual bulb glass with your fingers when installing them though... Supposedly the oil from you hands can cause the bulbs to overheat and burn out or something. I didnt test this theory, but just to be safe I didnt touch the bulb.
 
MW 4Runner said:
Ditto...

Ive had mine for over a year and have had no problems. Dont touch the actual bulb glass with your fingers when installing them though... Supposedly the oil from you hands can cause the bulbs to overheat and burn out or something. I didnt test this theory, but just to be safe I didnt touch the bulb.
Click to expand...

You're absolutely right. Oil from our fingers causing local overheating and burning the bulb out.
 
Some of the PIAA (or similar) bulbs can burn your harnesses like that because they are super high power output and the harnesses are not designed for this. I want to buy the Silverstars for my 4R, I had them in my Maxima for two years and loved them. Never had any problems with them in that car either.
 
running HIGHER wattage bulbs (generally like an 85 in a 55W connection) runs the risk of destroying the connector.

Silverstars are not higher wattage and will not destroy the connectors.
 
Casper said:
running HIGHER wattage bulbs (generally like an 85 in a 55W connection) runs the risk of destroying the connector.
Click to expand...

Exactly! Without measuring the wire gage size then you do not know if it was designed to carry the extra amps needed when using a higher wattage bulb. They of course over-design things but using an 85watt bulb in the circuit that was designed for 55w is taking a gamble.

You can use this: P = IV

55w = I(12v)
I = 4.6amps

85w = I(12v)
I = 7amps

Then measure the bare wire diameter and figure out if that gage wire is rated for more than 7 amps.

Also the terminals inside the connector, the relay, and fuse be need to be upgraded as well.
 
I have two sets of silverstar bulbs. Willing to ship em out to you for $30.

One set is brand new, the other set was used for one month.

I've upgraded to a D2R Retrofit kit and don't need the silverstars anymore.

PM me if your interested.

Dielectric grease is good for keeping contaminants off the contact terminals. I recommend using it for lots of other applications as well. It's cheap insurance.
 
I've had Silverstars on my Acura CL and Subaru Legacy for about 12 months total and I've never had any problems with the wiring melting.

It is most definitely not a problem unless you are running the higher wattage bulbs, like was previously stated.
 
I also have been there and done that with the Silverstars.

I would rather put a set of aux. lights (for off road use only of course) before spending the extra money on Silverstars since they are not exactly cheap either.

Philips and GE also have a vision plus type bulbs available and would try them 1st before Silverstars.
 
Last edited:
Another bulb style to try are HIR bulbs. Much brighter then standard halogen bulbs, and are used in some OEM applications.

http://www.hirheadlights.com/

Here's another review site
http://reviews.ebay.com/quot-Xenon-...ot-bulbs-the-truth_W0QQugidZ10000000001832221

toward the end gives some specs of the different bulbs

Standard 9006 halogen (low beam): 1000 lumens, 800 hour rated life $6
Sylvania 9006 Xtravision (low beam): 1060 lumens, 300 hour rated life $10
GE 9006 Nighthawk (low beam): 1150 lumens, 250 hour rated life $14
Toshiba HIR 9006 (low beam): 1800 lumens, 800 hour rated life $27
Sylvania 9006 Silverstar (low beam): 910 lumens, 150 hour rated life $20
 
Good info cdoyle - do you have those installed in your truck? If so, how'bout some comparison pics?

My 5th and LAST silverstar has just burned out in my 4R, all since Jan'05, so I'm on the lookout for something better. I now wish I had just spent an extra $150 upfront and got HIDs from the start instead of wasting that much on those disposable silverstars.
 
atomic punk said:
Good info cdoyle - do you have those installed in your truck? If so, how'bout some comparison pics?

My 5th and LAST silverstar has just burned out in my 4R, all since Jan'05, so I'm on the lookout for something better. I now wish I had just spent an extra $150 upfront and got HIDs from the start instead of wasting that much on those disposable silverstars.
Click to expand...

No haven't bought any yet, been spending all my money restoring the other car. So waiting for the factory bulbs to burn out before upgrading.

From what I've been reading about these on some other forums, they really are brighter, and not just a marketing thing either.

Oh another thing you could do with the HIR bulbs, is the 9005 in the low beam mod. I can't remember what the output was for the 9005 HIR but it was like 2700 or something like that.
 
Yeah, that mod is easy. I've been using 9005's in my low beams for years now. Once you do it the first time, it really is a 5 minute job with the dremel tool.
 
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