I bought $6 80/100w bulbs off Ebay when I bought the harness and they are still going well. It has only been a couple of months, but at $6 for the pair I figured they were worth a shot.

 

The Silverstar Ultra 9007's are definitely brighter than the regular Silverstar 9007's. I was warned several years back when I installed the Ultra's that they would not last nearly as long as the regulars, but they are both still running strong. The light is definitely better than what I replaced (Silverstar 9007's), and I've been pleased.

I can't speak to the other bulb types.

 

Any other pros or cons with the Phillips or Sylvania?

 

Both are a good choice. Had seen where some are starting to favor Phillips over Sylvania.

Personally, I do not use auction / cheap-o's any more as they do not necessarily follow spec. Specifically, the filament placement shifts around from bulb-to-bulb, and this causes alignment issues with each bulb change. With Phillips and Sylvania, the filaments are always in the same location and no need to re-align the lens after a bulb change.

 

These pickups are NOT equipped with driving lights. They have fog lights by definition of their operating parameters and technically it is illegal (and the people who drive with them on all the time, with high beams, or with just the marker lights on should be ticketed to the maximum extent of the law) to modify the enabling criteria of their operation.

 

Ah, were that the case, *many* street legal vehicles that had OE design of high beams *and* fogs to illuminate at the same time would suddenly fall into bootleg status

 

Fog lights are for low beam use only whereas driving lights are for use with high beams only. One cannot be both.

Better brush up on your legalities before trying to coerce others into breaking the law.

 

Kick back and relax a bit. All of us see things that are illegal everyday. I don't think he was trying coerce anyone, I mean this is a public forum for us to share ideas, thoughts, opinions and experiences.

What each person does or does not do in the end is 100% up to them.

 

It's all good and I'm always game to learn something new and eating crow. Lets see the statutes


Just consider that there are a lot of mass-produced and street-legal vehicles where the *fog* lights illuminate when the high-beams are 'On'. Yes, high-beams + fog lights are 'On' at the same time. These vehicles came from the factory this way, the Fed's allowed them for import, the Feds allowed them to get manufactured here, and all 50 states (to my knowledge) allow them on their roads as-is. (Hint: test drive a European vehicle). Naturally there are some variables here, and last I checked, as long as there are no more than 4 forward facing headlamps (including auxiliary (aka: fogs or driving) lights), they may all come 'On' at the same time (within allowable candlepower / wattage limits).


By the way, our SuperDuties can actually violate the law with the OE configuration by leaving the high-beams 'On' when close enough to oncoming traffic to blind / disrupt the other driver. But am confident that is not the intent of the OP nor is it part of any my comments.


Back to what looks like the OP's goal where it looks like a desire to have more illumination. If doing the misc know items (bulbs, wiring / relay, and cleaning) do not get it, another option remains to do the all-On high mod. And am sure that the OP does not intend to leave the High's 'On' when approaching oncoming traffic as that definitely *is* illegal even in our OE configuration

 

Fortunately, when I turn my high beams ON my fog lights turn OFF automatically.

 

I posted in the other headlight thread, but this seems more relevant to your post now that I see it.

When looking at upgrading the truck I don't like just going across in levels of performance, want a gain for my money. I went all in with a projector headlight set from retrofit source that a friend helped me install and a steel bumper. After doing this headlight upgrade I wish it was something I'd done years ago, and being a purpose made projector it isn't blinding everyone around me so I don't get flashed.

Going this route means you don't have to upgrade the wiring as the stock harness is only used for signal purposes to the projects. The stock fog lights used to be a big part of my night time illumination where as now they don't even get used much. All the details on what I used off their site as it doesn't list anything for our trucks if you try it that way:

The complete kit I used:
https://www.theretrofitsource.com/co...l#.VluCpr-E1Mk

Bi-xenon Projectors: Your choice of the O or X shaped. No difference other than looks. I like the standard O shape myself.
Compatible Ballasts: 35w vs 55w summed up: 55w (+20% intensity) (-20% lifespan)(-1000K color)(3year bulb warranty vs 5 years).

D2S HID Bulbs: The color of the bulb. I have 5500k and I would have gone with 4500k if I did it again. These are the color of most OE projects which gives a white with slight tinge of blue at the top line. I'd prefer it to look more factory.
4500K:Warm White (~3500 lm)
5500K:Pure White (~3400 lm) 6500K:Cool White (~3200 lm)

Shroud Style (Preference): I used the Apollo 3.0. Go here to see the various styles:
https://www.theretrofitsource.com/components/shrouds.html


Harness (Match stock bulb size): Motocontrol Bixenon 9007/9004

LED Halos: I didn't, you can.

Headlight Sealant: buy the black one.

Hope this helps someone along the way!






This is what a low beam looks like now:




This is what a high beam looks like:





I did this swap in December and it has been the best money spent on the truck bar none.