Can you handle the truth?..... Headlamps

[PalmSprings]

All you probably need to know

When one of my headlights went out,I replaced it with Silverstar that was supposed to be brighter.

I installed it on the right side and left the GE Halogen on the lt side.
there was no difference in luminosity etc and at maybe twice the price for the silverstar.

That prompted me to look stuff up and I found this link

Daniel Stern Lighting Consultancy and Supply

[SyrenSkywolf]

I liked seeing that article. I think the color of the lights are neat, but not as an oncoming driver.

I picked up some similar ones for our Explorer last year, but not the blue ones. I find they are much better than the standard bulbs. The standard ones were terrible in the Explorer.

[TGMarrs]

Thanks for posting that link, hopefully will save folks some money.

I never purchased the silverstar or other "improved" lamps because I noticed on the packaging they were all 55 watts.

I'm no rocket scientist, but I figured if it was putting out 55 watts it wasn't gonna be much brighter than the cheap bulbs of the same wattage.

Our new coach has 35 watt true HID lamps (bright white light, no bluish tint), now that's a major difference! Wish I could put some of these on my Jeep toad.

[PalmSprings]

Oh I neglected to mention that my post was on a small older import pickup I have,but still the info is relevant to all with any vehicle unless youre Amish. Hmmmm which makes me think now....do Amish have horse drawn RVs yet ? 20 mule team driven no doubt

Quote:

Originally Posted by TGMarrs Thanks for posting that link, hopefully will save folks some money. I never purchased the silverstar or other "improved" lamps because I noticed on the packaging they were all 55 watts. I'm no rocket scientist, but I figured if it was putting out 55 watts it wasn't gonna be much brighter than the cheap bulbs of the same wattage. Our new coach has 35 watt true HID lamps (bright white light, no bluish tint), now that's a major difference! Wish I could put some of these on my Jeep toad.

[wa8yxm]

Many states use blue "Headlamps" to indicate police vehicles, Thus the blue bulbs can get you in serious trouble.

And as they said, Yellow, is the best color for night vision,, or solid white, which is the required color, however there is white and white and white and white and .. Well, hundreds of "Shades" of white.

I have seen lights with both a light blue and a deeper (more prounced) blue. Frankly I do not like them.

And for a company to advertise their lights as DOT compliant, or DOT approved, or HID when they are really halogen.

Not surprising, part of that is the ad folks are not hard scientists, they are psychologists (Of a sort) they know what sells, Truth.. Not their cup of tea.

[jmckinley]

There are higher power bulbs out there. JC Whitney, for one, sells high power 9007's and other sizes too, designated "off road use only". They are 100 watt instead of the legal 55 watt bulbs currently in your headlights. They will definitely improve the miserable headlights in your motorhome. The bad news is, they are not legal ( chances are no one will notice) and the extra heat may cause problems with your lamp sockets or even the plastic headlight assembly itself. The sockets can be replaced with high temp versions available anywhere but if the headlight assembly gets melted that is an expensive replacement. I was lucky, I caught mine with melted sockets and no damage to the assembly. If you use these, monitor them carefully and often. Mine came with a thick blue coating which I didn't expect. I scraped it off.

[paz]

PalmSprings, interesting article. Thanks for posting it. I always suspected the psuedo-HID (blue) bulbs weren't any good, but never really could find anything to support that theory.

The glare for oncoming drivers (even for real HID bulbs) is really bad for old eyes.