Halogen Upgrades

[offroad-mike]

Whats the best halogen bulbs for head lights? My DD has a 9006 and a 9007. Is there one brand or model of bulb thats just pretty good no matter the size? In my toyota it has the Silverstars but they are H6054, better then a regular H6054 but the stock bulbs in my Silverado are better then the toyotas silverstars already.

 

[-Virgil-]

Questions like this can't be answered without knowing what kind of vehicle you have in mind. "My DD" doesn't help. Year, make, and model! Whatever it is, it doesn't have 9006 and 9007. You probably mean 9005 and 9006. Also, Silverstars are worse than standard bulbs or sealed beams -- not better. The claimed "improvement" is marketing BS, and you can do a lot better than Sylvanias, even if you stay with sealed beams.

 

[offroad-mike]

My dd is a 99 nbs chevy silverado. Yes 9005 and 9006 sorry.

 

[-Virgil-]

Well, the first thing to do would be to make sure the headlamps are in brand-new condition -- which they probably are not, being 14 years old. Polishing won't do it, and the aftermarket headlamps are all garbage (except for the "Xesighting" halogen or HID units that were made by Valeo-Sylvania, but you'd have to look hard to find a set now). The stock headlamps are cheap and minimal, so you can't increase the intensity of the low beams much without producing dangerous glare levels. Use Philips Xtreme 9006 bulbs in the low beams. You can do more with the high beams; put in 9011 bulbs (you'll have to trim one of the base tabs).

Get rid of the Silverstar junk in the Toyota; if you're not upgrading to good replaceable-bulb headlamps then put in a set of GE Night Hawks, which are way better than the Sylvanias.

 

[offroad-mike]

Well, the first thing to do would be to make sure the headlamps are in brand-new condition -- which they probably are not, being 14 years old. Polishing won't do it, and the aftermarket headlamps are all garbage (except for the "Xesighting" halogen or HID units that were made by Valeo-Sylvania, but you'd have to look hard to find a set now). The stock headlamps are cheap and minimal, so you can't increase the intensity of the low beams much without producing dangerous glare levels. Use Philips Xtreme 9006 bulbs in the low beams. You can do more with the high beams; put in 9011 bulbs (you'll have to trim one of the base tabs).

Get rid of the Silverstar junk in the Toyota; if you're not upgrading to good replaceable-bulb headlamps then put in a set of GE Night Hawks, which are way better than the Sylvanias.

I just did a full lens sanding and polishing in the silverado lenes they look pretty good, it helped but not enough. So a 9011 fits with a slight housing mod for high only, good to know. whats the difference between the 9005 and the 9011?

On the toyota. Im building a led bar for it so Im not to worried about the headlights on it. The only replaceable bulb housings Ive ever seen are roundeyes.com are those not good?

 

[-Virgil-]

I just did a full lens sanding and polishing in the silverado lenes they look pretty good, it helped but not enough

You need new headlamp units. Real (genuine GM) ones or if you can find it, a set of the XeSighting units. What you did when you sanded them was to scrape off the anti-UV/anti-scratch hard coat, which cannot be reapplied. The plastic will degrade much faster and worse, now, and if you're able to see that they're "better but not good enough", that is added confirmation that they are past dead. Replace them; there's no bulb that will compensate for dead optics.

So a 9011 fits with a slight housing mod for high only, good to know. whats the difference between the 9005 and the 9011?

About 600 more lumens, same wattage.

On the toyota. Im building a led bar for it so Im not to worried about the headlights on it

You should be. Auxiliary lamps don't take the place of headlamps.

The only replaceable bulb housings Ive ever seen are roundeyes.com are those not good?

Those are off-brand junk. Get Cibie or Bosch units if you're upgrading to replaceable-bulb lamps.

 

[offroad-mike]

The toyota is never street driven head lamps for it arent a priority.

Any suggestion on 9011 bulbs?

 

[-Virgil-]

Follow the link!

 

[offroad-mike]

Sorry got it. Ill be ordering them asap.

 

[Einarr]

I mounted Hella 60 mm low beam modules on Al in the grille of a 2001 GMT800. By removing the factory fog light relay and using the switching a separately powered relay with the control signals of the factory one, I can switch them on as auxiliary low beams and the factory fogs stay off. I put Philips 9011/HIR1 in the factory high beam location. I'm happy with the results.

The Al isn't as visible normally, the flash brings it out. I'm still deciding if I should take it apart and paint it black.

-E.

 

[offroad-mike]

Looks nice. You must live on the east coast...