Ken,

Which bulbs did you end up getting? Post some pics. I am upgrading myself.

Thanks

 

Nothing yet. I went to three different auto parts stores locally and none of them really offered anything other than Sylvania's. I've been doing a lot of searching on-line but haven't decided anything yet. One thread I found that's actually on here talks about it a lot....

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/4...-please-7.html

 

Could replace the entire headlight assembly so the truck doesn't look like a droopy eyed drug addict.

Stylin' Trucks Truck Accessories -- pickup truck, SUV, and custom truck accessories

Stylin' Trucks Truck Accessories -- pickup truck, SUV, and custom truck accessories

http://www.stylintrucks.com/part.asp...&partid=611436

http://www.stylintrucks.com/part.asp...&partid=611446

 

The bulbs in the e-bay link are NOT HID. They are plain old tungsten filament bulbs with a blue coating on the bulb.
Like all other painted bulbs, they will actually put out LESS light, and put it out at a frequency that you eye is LESS sensitive to. In other words, they will suck twice over. Fortunately, like all those other cheap bulbs, they will also blow out very quickly so they won't suck for long!

 

That was truthful, but maybe not so helpful...
I'll save you hours of research and summarize the science of headlights:

1) An HID element generates light by creating and maintaining an electric arc between two electrodes. An HID must have a ballast to generate this arc.
A tungsten filament bulb generates light by passing current through a tungsten filament which heats up and glows brightly.
If you can see a filament (as you can in the e-bay ad), it is NOT an HID. It is false advertising and a lie. Go ahead and try to sue the chinese companies producing this crap.

2) Painting/tinting a bulb blue or any other color will DECREASE the total amount of light emitted. Any and all paint absorbs light. Period.

3) "Bluer" light (higher degrees kelvin) may be closer to daylight, but the human eye is not that sensitive to it. If you have enough of it, like during the day, you can see wonderfully. But lumen for lumen, a more yellow light is acually better for pure visibility. Your eye is more sensitive to it. Watch a 24 hour car race some time. You'll notice all the smart teams are running VERY yellow headlights. Original HID's were very blue or even purple, but that was only because the technology was imperfect. The good ones are now getting less blue and more functional. 4 or 5K is about the max for best vision.

4) A true HID element can NOT be safely used in a DOT reflector designed for filament bulbs! As you noticed, the cut off on our stock reflectors does have a pretty sharp cut off, but it is not sharp enough. By DOT regulations, all reflectors MUST project a certain percentage of light above the cutoff, and the minimum required in a filament reflector is more than the maximum allowed in an HID reflector.

So to use an HID safely, you must install in new reflector properly designed for it. 95% of the aftermarket reflectors sold are incredibly poorly designed with horrible reflector patterns. The 5% good ones will never be found for less than $500. Wish all you want, the cheap ones are complete garbage.

5) Adapting the reflectors from a production HID equipped car is a great solution, but requires fabrication skills. Somebody on the board adapted projector elements from an Acura into his truck. Beautiful!

6) Best possible results for less than $500 or fab skills:
- Install relays and run heavier gage wires directly to bulbs
- Sylvania Silverstar Ultra capsules
- Keep stock lens well polished

 

Thank you for taking the time to go into further detail on your first post.
I knew the ones in the original link weren't true HID. The price kind of gave that away

Since there's no way I'm spending $500 (or $400, or $300, or $200) on headlights, what do you mean in when you say to "Install relays and run heavier gauge wire directly to bulbs"? What does that do?

I stumbled across this site...
HighPerformanceBulbs.com
...and it appears that the wattage is higher on these bulbs, so my concern is melting stuff if I try them. They say stuff like "Wattage used - 60 watts/55 watts, Light output 135 watts/130 watts".

Luminics Titanium White H13 (9008) Twin Pack Part # LT-H13SF

Another one says "Wattage used - 65 watts, Light output 140 watts"

Luminics Titanium White 9005 Twin Pack Part # LT-9005F

I'm not sure what that means exactly?


I've also read that the 9005 bulb is the same as the 9145, but the 9005 is a higher wattage bulb (this is for the fog lights) but heat issue concerns me there also. Some say they've done it with no problems. Others weren't so lucky.

That website offers wiring harnesses, would that help with the higher wattage and heat issue?

Thanks

 

You're welcome!

The stock system has the current run from the battery through lots of wire to dash switch and then lots more wire to bulbs. And the wire is marginal in size.
Every bit of wire has resistance, robbing power. Most stock vehicles lose about 1 to 2 volts in wiring.
What many of us do is bypass the stock wiring harness and use larger gage wire of much shorter length, putting the full 14 volts through the bulb. Yeah, only 10% or so more, but it is noticeable. And legal. And reliable.
When I have time, I'll try to find you a schematic.

And those flashy bling bling bulbs? Do LOTS of research before you buy. It is 95% hype. The other 5% is using undersized elements that burn hotter. Yes, that does emit a bit more lumens (the actual unit of measurement of light). BUT, burning hotter also makes them more fragile and burn out much quicker. My rule of thumb? If there are kanji characters on the package, they will be disappointing.


That "55 watt but 130 watt" claim? That means their 55 watt bulb puts out as much light as some 130 watt piece of crap they found.... Maybe less than somebody elses 35 watt bulb, but more than the 130 watt piece they found! In other words, pretty meaningless.

The only true measurement of value is LUMENS. And most will not list that. The other most important factor is how precisely the bulb is made. The filament needs to be positioned exactly in the right spot of the reflector to produce optimal output.

Two years ago I did a lot of research. At that time, the only bulb that provided any significant and repeatably verifiable output in lumens while being reasonably reliable was the Silverstar Ultra. The regular Silverstar was not noticeably brighter than a brand name brand new "regular" bulb. The Ultra was a LITTLE brighter.

Something else to keep in mind: All bulbs dim over time. If you replace a 2 year old bulb with a brand new identical replacement, you will see a noticeable improvement. And a 10 year old bulb? Hooo-weee! Major difference! Marketing types use this a lot. Compare a 10 year old competitor's bulb to a new one of yours and anyone will see dramatic improvement. Compare to a brand new one from competitor... uhhhh....

 

I'm pretty happy with the mod I found on here that lets you keep your fog lights on along with your high beams.

With that combination of even stock lights it works great on dark country roads. Some day I might upgrade the bulbs when the factory ones burn out but for now I have better things to spend money on like....

MY TUNES FROM 5 STAR WILL BE HERE DAY AFTER TOMORROW...WOO HOOO!

Sorry, but I am pumped.

 

I would like to do that but it is illegal in my state.

Years ago you always had to install aftermarket fog lights on trucks because they didn't come with any. My dad had his fogs rigged up on a switch to turn them on and off seperate from the headlights. He took it in for inspection and the shop rewired everything so the fog lights shut of when high beams were on.


I also heard of guys on here putting a higher volt voltage regulator on which ups the voltage going into the alternator thus making the headlights brighter. It also makes your bulbs burn out a lot faster.

 

Tell the cop they are DRL's and you can't turn them off

 

It's probably illegal here too but I only use it when I am on back roads and you really need it. I have a pet peeve about approaching traffic blinding you so I never use both when I am on a busy highway.

 

Here's a couple articles on how to wire in headlight relays:
Daniel Stern Lighting Consultancy and Supply
http://www.humanspeakers.com/audi/im...ght-relays.gif

 

Well, I went the "normal route" I guess you could call it. I got the Silver Stars for the headlights and foglights. I was at AutoZone buying some other stuff and saw that they had all the bulbs in stack that I would need so I went ahead and got them. I got the 9005 foglight bulb instead of the 9145. It's a slightly higher wattage but same connection. Guy a AutoZone said it wouldn't hurt anything being only 20 more watts. Over all should be a little brighter. I haven't installed them yet, weather here has sucked the last two days and I was busy installing a stereo system for a friend anyway in his garage (I got no garage )

I may do the relay mod also, not sure yet, I'll see when I get to that point. I'm not doing the mod to keep the foglights on with the hi-beams, don't need that.

But anyway, just thought I'd let yall know what I picked. When I get them installed sometime this week I'll let you know how they came out.

Merry Christmas.

 

Got them installed.

The good-the fog lights made a big difference. They are a lot brighter than the stock bulbs, which they should be considering they are a higher wattage bulb and supposed to be brighter anyway being Silver Stars. And the color is less yellow/tan, more white now.

The bad, or not so good-the head lights didn't really make that much of a difference in my opinion. Brighter, maybe a little. Whiter color, yeah, some, but nothing to write home to mom about.

I actually changed one side at a time in a garage. After swapping one side out (head and fog light) I turned the garage lights out and turned on the truck lights. It was easy to see the difference between the new and old fog light. And you could see a difference between the new and old head light but not near as much as the fog lights.

The new combination does make a difference and light up the road better also, but again, I can tell it's mostly from the fog lights because if I turn them off and use just the head lights all the "wow, that is better" disappears

So now I need to decide if I want to try the relay mod thing on the head lights for a little more effect