Xenon Headlight Question

[Josh185]

Hello all,

 

I am debating upgrading my headlights to Xenon bulbs. From what I read they are an alternative to the much more expensive HID systems.

 

Link: http://www.streetglow.com/H11-Xenon-Bulbs?...p;category=2834

 

My question is should I worry about these 100 watt bulbs melting the headlight housing in my Sierra? I am worried since the website says to use these I would need to buy a wiring harness ($17 on their website) that acts as a heatsink of sorts so the factory harness doesnt get burned/melted.

[DwayneJ]

I tried Silverstars with the blue coating and hated them in fog, rain and snow.

 

IMO those bulbs are more for the pretty blue light than any meaningful upgrade.

[Superperv23]

This is the style of bulb when you hear people say that their HID kit melted their housing are talking about, the 35watt kits with real ballasts will produce less heat and strain on the electrical system than these. Chances are with these you will need to upgrade the fuse to keep them running which should be the first sign it is a bad idea. I personally would not do it and thought that these products had basically disappeared with the drop in price of HID kits and the problems that people have had.

 

The real question is what are you looking to achieve? A hid look or brighter lights? If it is hid look then a set of PIAA xtreme white plus are likely your best bet as they have white look, decent output and good life. The high output halogens such as silverstar ultras will give you the same white look but with a lot more light, the price you pay however is lifespan which can be only a few months if you drive a lot, 300hrs I believe and in a truck where it seems the easiest way to change bulbs is to remove the grill you really dont want that.

 

A side note about the PIAA bulbs you will see them say 55w = 110w but that doesnt mean they are 100w lights just PIAA feels that they put out the same amount of light that a conventional 110w halogen would.

[grimmysnr]

Not sure where the expensive HID system thing is coming from. I have tried the $150 kits and the $35 kits from DDM and both have performed flawlessly. Ultimately, what you want is the ballast anyway because new bulbs of any kelvin can be easily purchased from ebay for $30 or less. At the end of the day I really don't see that much difference between the more expensive kits. My 2006 ran some local guys $150 kit in both lows and fogs. Still running them to this day after I sold the truck. When starting up with the remote start one of the lights sometimes fails to fire up. So just have to cycle the light control on and off and they are good to go.

 

Running Spencers HID on my 2010 Sierra in the lows 55w kit. These are the $150 kits and when using my aftermarket remote start on this truck I have a similar issue as described above. Just turn lights off and back on then good to go. I have a $35 DDM 25W kit in my fogs on the same truck. Fire up fine, doesn't melt the housing, and light output is not overkill as with normal 35W kits in fog light housing.

 

I think what most people have issues with and why there are a lot of people who dislike HID in halogen is simply because nobody takes the time to re-aim the lights after you install them. Sure there is still some glare but with the GMT-900 housings these lights are aimed very high from the factory. Once you install HIDs you can see where the cutoff can hit oncoming drivers at eye level. Take some time and aim them down so that the cutoff is on the ground in front of the vehicle probably about 30 yards ahead of you and they are good. I do run across a lot of people around here to just throw HIDs in and not aim them differently and then blind even me sitting in a 3/4 ton truck. It's these idiots who have no business with HIDs.

 

I have also used PIAA and Silverstar bulbs long before I ever switched to HIDs. The prices on these just keeps going up to well over $70. They don't last nearly as long as I was switching them out more times in a year than they are worth. By the time I got switching out the lights over the course of a year I could have bought HIDs three times over. The longevity and brightness with HIDs over those stock halogen upgrades is not even on the same planet. If you live in places that requires investing in automotive lighting suck as places with lot of animals running around or low street lighting HIDs are where its at. Driving around in a big city, not so much.

[Josh185]

This is the style of bulb when you hear people say that their HID kit melted their housing are talking about, the 35watt kits with real ballasts will produce less heat and strain on the electrical system than these. Chances are with these you will need to upgrade the fuse to keep them running which should be the first sign it is a bad idea. I personally would not do it and thought that these products had basically disappeared with the drop in price of HID kits and the problems that people have had.

 

The real question is what are you looking to achieve? A hid look or brighter lights? If it is hid look then a set of PIAA xtreme white plus are likely your best bet as they have white look, decent output and good life. The high output halogens such as silverstar ultras will give you the same white look but with a lot more light, the price you pay however is lifespan which can be only a few months if you drive a lot, 300hrs I believe and in a truck where it seems the easiest way to change bulbs is to remove the grill you really dont want that.

 

A side note about the PIAA bulbs you will see them say 55w = 110w but that doesnt mean they are 100w lights just PIAA feels that they put out the same amount of light that a conventional 110w halogen would.

 

Yea what I am looking for is the HID look and brighter than stock lighting at a lower cost than a HID kit. Most "good" kits I find cost over $200. I am basically looking for the best/brightest non HID bulbs I can find. These PIAA bulbs you suggested seem to be what I'm looking for.

[DanJS10]

I tried Silverstars with the blue coating and hated them in fog, rain and snow.

 

IMO those bulbs are more for the pretty blue light than any meaningful upgrade.

 

 

My silverstars don't have a blue coating on them... Maybe you had the Cool Blue version? The silverstars are more white than anything.

[xPosTech]

I tried Silverstars with the blue coating and hated them in fog, rain and snow.

 

IMO those bulbs are more for the pretty blue light than any meaningful upgrade.

 

 

My silverstars don't have a blue coating on them... Maybe you had the Cool Blue version? The silverstars are more white than anything.

 

+1

 

Also I haven't noticed a longevity problem with Ultras if precautions are taken. I've had them in my Eldorado for two+ years without a failure - including DRLs.

 

Two causes of bulb failure are oils on the bulb and overvoltage. I always handle them with a fresh Viva paper towel when installing, etc. Never accept one of these bulbs in an opened blister pack - chances are it's been handled with bare hands.

 

The DRLs on the Eldo are high beams at 50% vehicle voltage (~6.5-7V). The electrical system on the Eldo runs 'tight' regulation. The system voltage hardly ever varies. If it does, there is a problem somewhere, probably the battery going out. The system voltage on the truck swings all over the place. I've seen it bounce from 13V to 15V (and verse visa) just going to work. This loose regulation has me hesitant to put Silverstar Ultras in the truck.

 

Every volt over that rated for the bulb will decrease the life 50% for the length of time it's over. i.e. one volt over for one hour will use two hours of bulb life. And it's exponential. Two volts over for one hour uses FOUR hours of life. One hour at one half of rated voltage will use one quarter hour of life. One hour at rated voltage will use one hour of bulb life. For a bulb with a limited life to start with, overvoltage is a killer.

 

Ted

[DwayneJ]

I will take a look at Silverstars again but the first set I used admittedly years ago was coated blue and the high beams went out in 6 and 8 months. This time of year I use them too and from work so I do use headlights a lot more than most.

[xPosTech]

I tried Silverstars with the blue coating and hated them in fog, rain and snow.

 

IMO those bulbs are more for the pretty blue light than any meaningful upgrade.

Right on with the blue light. This is why fogs should be relatively low wattage, aimed correctly and used with low beams only. Fogs are designed and aimed for low reflectivity from the fog, rain and snow. They should be aimed low, to get under the fog or whatever. Too much light just gets reflected back into your eyes.

 

Amber tints work best. They may not be cool to look at but they're really the best to look with.

 

We have lots of fog down here on the Gulf Coast, both naturally generated by Mother Nature and generated by refineries in the area. Some refineries have made improvements to their distillery and cooling towers just to reduce the fog drifting across highways.

 

Ted

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Get some cheap JLM hids of amazon or something, they've lasted just fine for me and don't flicker at all. And they cost about 65 with shipping. Much better than the cheap xenon bulbs I had, they had a nice color and all but the light output on certain roads was terrible.

[uchi]

those cheapy ricer bulbs are gonna give you a blue look without too much light output and they wont last too long. i hate to say it but silverstars as bright as they are are complete crap. they burn out much too fast for the amount of money they cost. i dont mind changing a 3 dollar bulb once a year but when youre looking at 25 or so a piece, thats just not right.

[Josh185]

One other problem that I keep hearing about with HID lights is that they dont work well with DRL. I want to keep full DRL functionality so that is another reason why I am heseant to buy an HID kit. I also don't want to have to do little tricks like turning them off and on in order for the lights to work. I want them to just work. A local installer here that I checked with told me he would likely disable DRL if I got an HID kit with him so I decided not to buy from him.

[[email protected]]

That is true, you'd have to get a relay to use and keep the drls. Because the drls use lower voltage.......I think, I may be wrong on that, if I am there wouldn't realy be a problem using them for drls.

[grimmysnr]

Yes you would have to use a relay to keep full voltage going to the HID ballasts. Basically the DRL voltage would just be a signal wire and the actual voltage would be pulled from the battery. Its very easy to setup. As I said though, there are way too many misconceptions on some of these cheaper HID kits. While some are complete crap the majority all come from China whether it is the $150 kits or the $35. Components are still the same. The light output however you want to measure it is still far more than standard halogens and where I just moved from and currently live having light helps. Especially when theres deer and all kind of other big animals strafing across the road. Like i said I have the more expensive and least expensive kits. I wouldnt hesitate to buy the lower cost ones. By the time you have any issues with the cheaper kits the $35 would have long paid for itself. Those silverstars used to burn out on my once every quarter. Thats $60 to $70 every 4 months. Ill take my chances with a $35 kit that would last a couple years.