Phillips 9011 bulbs

[Sharpb]

I have a set of 9011 bulbs on the way. I know from reading other posts that I will have to modify the plug housing. My question is: Has any one who put these bulbs in had any problems, i.e. re-aiming headlights or wiring issues?

[Spurshot]

Not I. I haven't seen or heard of any problems either. I posted the "how-to'' pix using a wood chisel to cut the ribs out of the socket and clip the lock tab. Don't modify your plug on the truck. Just do this to the bulbs.

 

 

 

 

 

[frenchsquared]

Is the Chevy the same?

How these just brighter, with no wiring changes?

[spectaculous]

the bulbs pull higher watts. since the voltage (electrical "pressure") in the vehicle should not change, that means they see more amps (electrical flow). more amps means more energy at the filament-- meaning more lumens.

 

i'm sure an electrical engineer can poke holes in my explanation here

[sugarjohnson]

I put the 9011 on my Silverado. All they needed was the one tab trimmed. No ribs were present in the bulb socket like pictured above. Super quick and yes they are brighter and a tiny bit whiter.

[Sharpb]

How hard is it to get to the headlights under the hood?

[Spurshot]

If you don't have a spare battery, the left side is directly accessible without any tools. The passenger side requires that you loosen the hose clamp at the air cleaner box snorkel, push the hose back, unplug the MAF sensor, and yank upward on the air box by the snorkel until the three grommets on the bottom of the air box let loose. Remove the air box from the engine compartment. The rear of the headlights will be directly accessible thru the plastic cap at the rear of the assembly. Access takes less than a minute after you've done it a few times.

[Spurshot]

I put the 9011 on my Silverado. All they needed was the one tab trimmed. No ribs were present in the bulb socket like pictured above. Super quick and yes they are brighter and a tiny bit whiter.

 

What brand were the bulbs? The bulbs in the pictures above were the Philips from Home Depot online. The 9012 does not have the ribs.

[POS VETT]

Topic said Phillips which I assume is the bulb brand.

 

I've been looking into this myself. Is there a perceptible difference in light output?

[sugarjohnson]

 

What brand were the bulbs? The bulbs in the pictures above were the Philips from Home Depot online. The 9012 does not have the ribs.

 

Phillips from Candelpower. Home Depot was out of stock online although these prices were not to bad.

 

http://store.candlepower.com/9011.html

[Sharpb]

Yeah, I had to wait a couple weeks for Home Depot to get some in stock

[patriot]

the bulbs pull higher watts. since the voltage (electrical "pressure") in the vehicle should not change, that means they see more amps (electrical flow). more amps means more energy at the filament-- meaning more lumens.

 

i'm sure an electrical engineer can poke holes in my explanation here

You've got it right...except for one addendum....higher wattage=more heat at the bulb, the connector, AND the wiring, as well as possibly blowing a fuse. Instead of changing to a higher wattage bulb, a better approach would be changing to a more efficient bulb pulling the same or less current, but with greater light output. LEDs come to mind here, as well as a few other choices.

[gbo62280]

No problems here. I have some GE Nighthawks.

[Spurshot]

You've got it right...except for one addendum....higher wattage=more heat at the bulb, the connector, AND the wiring, as well as possibly blowing a fuse. Instead of changing to a higher wattage bulb, a better approach would be changing to a more efficient bulb pulling the same or less current, but with greater light output. LEDs come to mind here, as well as a few other choices.

In theory, what you said is true about an LED being a better choice. . However, while some LED bulbs may generate more light output, there have none that seem to have more useable light output when mounted in the Sierra projector due to the specific arrangement in the reflector. Still waiting for that.

 

The wiring in the truck is protected by the fuse. The fuse and wire has plenty of margin to handle another 10 watts. Touch the wires if you like. I ran 65 watt bulbs in my 2008 truck for 5 years with many all night drives. Never had a problem. Others had the same. No electrical engineer cuts it that close when sizing a light circuit.

[patriot]

You

 

In theory, what you said is true about an LED being a better choice. . However, while some LED bulbs may generate more light output, there have none that seem to have more useable light output when mounted in the Sierra projector due to the specific arrangement in the reflector. Still waiting for that.

The wiring in the truck is protected by the fuse. The fuse and wire has plenty of margin to handle another 10 watts. Touch the wires if you like. I ran 65 watt bulbs in my 2008 truck for 5 years with many all night drives. Never had a problem. Others had the same. No electrical engineer cuts it that close when sizing a light circuit.
In theory, what you said is true about an LED being a better choice. . However, while some LED bulbs may generate more light output, there have none that seem to have more useable light output when mounted in the Sierra projector due to the specific arrangement in the reflector. Still waiting for that.

The wiring in the truck is protected by the fuse. The fuse and wire has plenty of margin to handle another 10 watts. Touch the wires if you like. I ran 65 watt bulbs in my 2008 truck for 5 years with many all night drives. Never had a problem. Others had the same. No electrical engineer cuts it that close when sizing a light circuit.
In theory, what you said is true about an LED being a better choice. . However, while some LED bulbs may generate more light output, there have none that seem to have more useable light output when mounted in the Sierra projector due to the specific arrangement in the reflector. Still waiting for that.

The wiring in the truck is protected by the fuse. The fuse and wire has plenty of margin to handle another 10 watts. Touch the wires if you like. I ran 65 watt bulbs in my 2008 truck for 5 years with many all night drives. Never had a problem. Others had the same. No electrical engineer cuts it that close when sizing a light circuit.
In theory, what you said is true about an LED being a better choice. . However, while some LED bulbs may generate more light output, there have none that seem to have more useable light output when mounted in the Sierra projector due to the specific arrangement in the reflector. Still waiting for that.

The wiring in the truck is protected by the fuse. The fuse and wire has plenty of margin to handle another 10 watts. Touch the wires if you like. I ran 65 watt bulbs in my 2008 truck for 5 years with many all night drives. Never had a problem. Others had the same. No electrical engineer cuts it that close when sizing a light circuit

Being an EE myself, you'd think I'd agree with you on this, but we don't always have the luxury of a nice, wide design margin. Bigger safety margin costs money. Even a few cents' worth of wire can be shot down my the budgeting bozos. I wish that weren't the case, but that's the way it is.

 

Oh....and you might want to re-edit your post and kill the repetition.

 

edited to add:A 20% increase is cutting it a little fine. Typical design safety margin is ~ +/-10 % at MINIMUM.