2011 Grand Caravan Express Headlight improvement

Hi!

I've read some posts about how some H11 bulbs can be upgraded to H9 for better headlight performance. From what I've read, it seems like it is mostly OK when used in projector beam headlights. I think I saw a post or two that said that it works OK in some reflector style headlights also. I was wondering if my 2011 Caravan would be a candidate for H9 bulbs or not. It looks like the Caravan takes an H11 bulb in each the high beam, and the low beam spot.

IMHO, the beams have a fairly sharp cut off with the factory bulbs installed. My worries about installing the H9s would be blinding other drivers because of the difference in how the bulb is constructed. It looks like the low beam might have similar cut off with the different bulb, because it seems like the reflector in the headlight assembly would be blocking off the part of the bulb exposed in the H9 that isn't exposed in the H11.

My other worry would be heat in the housing and wiring. I don't plan on upgrading the wiring for the headlights at this time. It may be a project that I tackle some time in the future, but not right now.

I did a search of the forum, and I didn't really see anybody else who had posted about their 2011+ Caravans and what upgrades they had done.

What do you guys think?

Here is a picture of the headlight setup.....


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Thanks for your opinions in advance!

Frank

In the high beams, an H9 swap would be fine. Definitely not in the low beams. Use these, not H9s. Your photo looks like there might be blue bulbs in the headlamps, which need to be removed ASAP (no wonder you can't see).

Also, that central thimble you're referring to as a "reflector" isn't one, it's a bulb shield, but it doesn't make it safe to put an H9 in the low beams of this vehicle.

Make very sure your headlamps are aimed correctly. They are the VOR type.

-Virgil- said:

Your photo looks like there might be blue bulbs in the headlamps

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Or the photographer is wearing lots of blue clothing (as seems to be the case from the reflection on the bulb shield).

If the bulbs aren't the blue type, but you've never changed them in the first place, then they're due for replacement. OE bulbs typically are 'long life' which means they keep lighting up long after they stop being effective. A refresh of the bulbs, particularly with the kind -Virgil- pointed out, will do wonders for your low beam performance.

You guys are on the ball! Thanks for the super quick replies, and the info!

Here is the shirt I was wearing when I took the pic.....Alaric, you would make a good Sherlock Holmes!


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And I would also agree with you that they may be the OEM light bulbs. This van is "new to me". I don't know the service history of the vehicle. I buy my vehicles and keep them until they rot out, or hit a deer. My last, a 2002 Suzuki Esteem with 265k miles on it, just took the deer route to the junkyard. You guys answered some questions for me about that vehicle, too, a few years ago! Thanks for the help back then, and thanks for the help again, today!

I hadn't considered the fact that they may have been the original bulbs, since they would be about 5 years old, but now that Alaric offered up that possibility, I realized that all 4 of the bulbs are rather yellow and dull, and all are very much the same brightness/hue. I haven't pulled any of the bulbs out, but it seems likely that they are all the same age/brand. I didn't realize the the factory would install a LL variant of the bulbs, and they could all be originals. If one of them were newer, I would expect that it would look a little different in brightness or hue. Most of the other 2011+ vans that I see seem to have brighter bulbs than mine. I have 100k miles on my van now, so I am probably at a higher mileage/hours than the average van out there of these years.

I was going to wait until a bulb burned out before I replaced them (because I'm cheap!), but now I think I might just go out and replace them now. Thanks again for all your help, Virgil and Alaric! After I replace the bulbs, I will check their aiming via the instructions on Stern's website.

-Virgil- said:

In the high beams, an H9 swap would be fine. Definitely not in the low beams. Use these, not H9s.
...

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For that Hi-beam position, is a standard, say, Philips, H9 a good choice or is there an ideal bulb to recommend?

Thanks!

RedShift42 said:

For that Hi-beam position, is a standard, say, Philips, H9 a good choice or is there an ideal bulb to recommend?

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The correctly made H9s already represent the state of the art, so stick to the major manufacturers like Philips, Osram, Flosser, and GE. Anything else (especially PIAA, Hella, Wagner, Nokya) means unknown quality control on unknown tooling to unknown specs, and probably lots of blue-glass and all the usual marketing nonsense (55W=100W, whiter/crisper/cheeseier, NSF Certified...).

Incidentally, I've been curious about the reason for the the three little [presumed] refractor bars near my GC's parking light bulb-- curiously not present on nozoxon's light (older model, maybe).
I've bobbed & weaved my head around looking for some advantageous effect and found none.


(Pic is the optional "blackout" lights but the standard ones have this too)

Heck, while I'm at it...
During the darker months we get plenty of fog here, is there a likely benefit to taping some "eyebrows" over that horizontal portion above the crease to reduce upward scatter?

Those vertical optics are to meet the full range of horizontal angle requirements for the front position (parkign) and turn signal functions. Probably wouldn't meet the 45° inboard angles without them.

Probably no advantage to making the top part of the lens opaque, because you do have a bulb shield on the low beam, but you could try it in a garage and see if it reduces the amount of light on the ceiling.

-Virgil- said:

Probably no advantage to making the top part of the lens opaque, because you do have a bulb shield on the low beam, but you could try it in a garage and see if it reduces the amount of light on the ceiling.

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I'd use yellow lamin-x to reduce heating of the plastic such as would happen with an opaque coating-- and it'd still reduce UV entering the top of the lamp from sunlight, thereby helping prolong the life of the lamp from UV that enters and then reflects back into the lens from the unprotected side. Light exiting that top area would probably be more of a backscatter problem for the driver, not for oncoming drivers.

I have a 2012 Grand Caravan (same headlights as 2011) and I think the headlights are actually fairly decent. I have not replaced the bulbs at 64,000 miles yet. Way better than the older Caravans. I drove my parent's 2000 Caravan about a year ago and I might as well not even had headlights. I would have had more light from a flashlight taped to the hood. (They upgraded to a 2014 Caravan this year.)

I believe you can put the OEM HID headlights from the Town and Country in as replacements, but it will be a VERY expensive upgrade. You have to buy the housings, ballasts, and bulbs and none of them are cheap.

That upper area isn't a high-heat zone on that headlamp. I'd go ahead and try black electrical tape as a quick test to see if you want to proceed with something more permanent; opaque is fine.

-Virgil- said:

That upper area isn't a high-heat zone on that headlamp.

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I was thinking about sun baking the plastic slightly more if it were opaque, not so much from the heat of the filament.

-Virgil- said:

That upper area isn't a high-heat zone on that headlamp. I'd go ahead and try black electrical tape as a quick test to see if you want to proceed with something more permanent; opaque is fine.

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That's kind of what I have in mind, I suspect a good quality black tape is ideal and semi-permanent. Will report back later this year once there's some observable results.
I realize it seemed like a lazy question, but we're still at like 20 hrs of daylight up here, and it was an opportune time to ask.

When I bought this van down in Seattle last month, where it does get dark, I was surprised how good the headlights already are. Eager to see the further performance with the upgraded bulb suggestions.

Now I'm eyeing the front clip for how to mount the "moose lights" too...