Headlights - bulb options

[czwan]

Been noticing that I don't seem to have a good view driving at night, and remembered that the last time I changed my headlight bulbs, I'd bought the totally cheapest ones. There's sort of a yellowish cast to the light. Really not great visibility.

I want to be able to see as best as possible when driving at night. Just went to the obvious AutoZone/O'Reillys/etc, and they predictably had 3-4 different options/price ranges, with the cheapest (dimmest/yellowest) at around $20, all the way up to super-bright, clean, blue-ish for up into the $50 range.

Almost bought the most expensive ones, but wondered if I was getting ripped off and thought I'd check here. I'm not getting these to pimp out my crappy car, I'm doing it for safety/visibility reasons. Wondered if anyone had any recommendations on the brightest/purest headlights that might be cheaper than what you'd buy at your average auto parts store.

Thanks for any advice!

[czwan]

Looking on Ebay, I see mainly "Xenon" bulbs, and "Clear Halogen" bulbs. Am I on the right track here?

[Nd4SpdSe]

Electrical & Lighting
viewforum.php?f=38

There's 2 things you can do to improve your headlights.

1 are better bulbs. I'm running Silverstar Ultras in my truck's headlights, and just the regular sylvania halogens in my fogs (cause you can't get fancy fog lights). I love them, but they burn out quickish, usually in under a year, so it depends if you want to spend C$70 on new bulbs every year (keep the receipt). I've heard good things about the GE Nighthawks too.

2 is that the headlights are plastic and they fade. Polishing them up helps alot, and there's several different ways that people do it. Other options is getting glass headlights from overseats (right-hand drive has the wrong beam pattern, but easiest to get ahold of), or do with the eBay projectors.

[pox]

Or you can buy those ebay projector headlights. Those are a huge step up. (so Ive heard)

[czwan]

Hey, thanks. The Silverstar Ultras are what I was pondering getting from AutoZone. I had heard that they burn out faster, or become dimmer over time....sucks. Keep the receipt? Do they have some kind of guarantee on the time frame they'll last?

My lenses do have that matte/cloudy look to them...was thinking about polishing them; think I saw a tutorial here on how to do it.

Hadn't heard of projectors. Looking at them on Ebay, looks like they have some kind of reflective shield around them or something...?

[czwan]

Oh, and I forgot to mention. The whole reason I started thinking about all this--I was following my gf home the other night, and she said "do you know you have a headlight out?" I was like "no". The next night I double checked, and my headlights were fine. A few nights ago, I could see in the reflection of a truck in front of me that my left headlight was out, only when the brights were on. Last night and tonight all worked fine. Haven't messed with anything yet....could one of the bulbs just be loose?

[Nd4SpdSe]

I think they have a 1yr guarantee. Ya, there's a few ways. Mine was Macguires metal polish, than follow with plastic polish. Some use a buffing wheel.

Nope, that's normal, just means your high-beam filament is burnt, nothing unusual.

Look up at how projectors headlights "project" the light, and you'll understand their design.

[czwan]

Well, I grabbed some Silverstar Ultras. Kept meaning to put them in during the day while it was warm, but ended up doing it at night. Amazing how much more difficult doing something simple is when you're freezing and not wearing warm clothes....kept struggling with the driver's side one--could barely fit my hand & the bulb assembly around the overflow reservoir while being careful. I wore disposable plastic gloves to avoid touching them--hopefully no oily grime from under the hood got on the bulbs. Read a lot of reviews saying these bulbs often have a short life.

Can't say I noticed a miraculous difference--just a whiter/blueish light instead of the old yellowish beam. But my plastic headlights are pretty hazy/dull/cloudy. Will I notice much improvement after I polish them?

Does it burn them out quicker when you switch the brights/high-beams on & off?