• Welcome to The Truck Stop! We see you haven't REGISTERED yet.

    Your truck knowledge is missing!
    • Registration is FREE , all we need is your birthday and email. (We don't share ANY data with ANYONE)
    • We have tons of knowledge here for your diesel truck!
    • Post your own topics and reply to existing threads to help others out!
    • NO ADS! The site is fully functional and ad free!
    CLICK HERE TO REGISTER!

    Problems registering? Click here to contact us!

    Already registered, but need a PASSWORD RESET? CLICK HERE TO RESET YOUR PASSWORD!

obs headlight ??s

Detroit Dan

Detroit Dan

New Member
Messages
1,139
Reaction score
10
Location
Epping NH
I've had Silverstar high beams in my 97 with all4onhi mod for years, never seemed very bright. I recently added Silverstar ultra lowbeams, re-aimed the lights and polished the lenses, it's about 50% better than before but still not sufficient.
I'm considering HIR bulbs, but they are pretty expensive and I'm not sure if my old headlight housings are that great in the first place. Another option would be Hella fogs, but that's only going to help with low beams. Actually, with the all4 mod the fogs might stay on too, (or I'd have to switch them off) which I don't really want since I'm already heating up my headlight switch with 4 headlights and a bunch of extra marker lights and two sets of taillights.

Lastly, I've thought about buying replacement headlight housings in the diamond cut/crystal clear style, but I can't determine if they are actually any better or just styled for looks. Anyone tried them? How do you like them, are the worth it for the performance or do you think they are just for show? If they aren't better performers I'd be better off replacing the stock housings with new housings.

I'm not interested in HID. I don't have much money to spend, but I drive at midnight every night, and it's irritating not having the brightness I want. So, basically my question is are the Diamond style housings worth it, or is there a better alternative that I'm not aware of?

Thanks
 
IMO, from Past Experiences with using the Diamond Cut Lights, all they do is Throw the Light everywhere, like a big Flood Light. Now that might not be the same thing on your Body Style Truck, but that's what I've seen on all the other Vehicles I've Installed them on.

You can get an HID Kit for $50. Same Price you Paid for both Sets of you Silverstars. :)
 
I agree. I've seen aftermarket light housings in many of those style trucks with much brighter lights and different type housings. Your housings are refractors if I'm not mistaken and the aftermarket style are reflector styles, just like the newer style GM trucks. I've seen HID's in those housings and they look awesome. They're really not that expensive either. Like James said, you can get a decent quality kit for $50. I paid a hundred per set for mine and so far, 2 years later, they're still working fine.
 
I thought HIDs were hundreds of dollars. And I think they are illegal in retro-kit form. Not that I'm real worried about getting away with that. The HIRs look good, but they're around $37 a bulb.

I thought the same thing about the refractor/vs reflector thing. When the P-71s first went to the reflectors I thought they were much worse.
 
P-71's lost a ton of voltage in transition from the dash to the actual bulbs. The harness completely fixed that. Supposedly, it does the same for you guys' trucks too.

They are technically illegal in retrofit form but its a DOT law, not an individual state law. I'm sure you know this but since neither of us can enforce federal laws, only applicable state laws. Unless the individual state assimilates something similar to the federal DOT laws, we're good to go and there's nothing any town, city, county or state agency can do.

How do your housings look now? Can you post a picture?
 
Mad Maxx said:
You can get an HID Kit for $50. Same Price you Paid for both Sets of you Silverstars. :)
Click to expand...
Silverstar Ultra 9006, $15 for a pair brand new on ebay. I saw them at Advance auto yesterday for $47 a pair.

I guess I'll look into the HIDs after all, if they have come down in price that much. Cheaper than HIRs, which seemed pretty cool. They operate on new reflector technology, as opposed to higher wattage that fries the wires.

Interestingly, last night I drove home and for the first time in weeks it wasn't raining, and the roads weren't totally wet. The lights seemed far better than they have since I added the Ultra low beams. I know visibility goes way down in the rain obviously, but this was a surprising improvement, particularly when I hit a dry stretch of road, it lit up very well. The rain seemed to soak up my brighter lighting just as much as it was the old ones.

Nick, I don't have any way of posting pics anymore, for the time being anyway. My lights are getting old but not crusty inside or anything. Not new either. I actually did replace one years ago when I got some water damage inside, but now I can't even tell which one I changed.

Thanks for all the input, I knew I came to the right place.
 
Dan, if your lenses are foggy or sun faded, there are many fixes for that too. I just did my car recently and it made a HUGE difference. Not sure how yours look but here's the difference with mine from before the polish and after.

I've been running Ultras in a 9007 in my Ford for a couple years now. I cant believe they've lasted this long. I was going through regular Silverstars like mad when I had my 04 GMC.

I've gone through 5 or 6 sets of light bulbs in my Ford looking for the ultimate light. I had HID's for a month or two before I started having problems and customer service was in China. Thats what I get though. The lighting was incredible but it was throwing light everywhere and I couldnt drive 100 feet without getting flashed. I finally bought a light harness and I couldnt be happier.
 

Attachments

  • light.jpg
    light.jpg
    105.5 KB · Views: 8
  • light 2.jpg
    light 2.jpg
    103.8 KB · Views: 8
I polished mine with rubbing compound and a buffer, they were a little cruddy, now they look good. Can't really estimate how much of the chrome flash plating inside is aged. Maybe I could rinse them out with rubbing alcohol or something?
I just looked at some HID kits on ebay, can't decide if I'd do the low beams or high beams first, if I went that route. Probably low beams, get the most use out of them.

What harness are you referring to? The HID kits have a harness with relay available so you can get steady 12v from a battery instead of from the headlight switch, which seemed like a good idea. But as for my factory headlight harness, I can see where that is probably pretty weary. 12 years old running DRLs all the time and all4onhi has probably taken it's toll. Maybe that's got a lot to do with why the lighting has seemed to go downhill. I know it's not my eyesight because I go from driving my truck to an 07 Crown Vic with stock lights and it's like night and day (pun intended). My wife's 04 Avalanche with stock lighting is even better.
 
Yeah, the current generation Silverado style headlights are awesome. They work very, very well with HID's.

Here's the harness I was talking about:

http://www.suvlights.com/index.php?cPath=24_73&osCsid=de20a20651bddbe5e347d3fac0be7e71

The only person that I know that sells those is Kennedy. It makes a HUGE difference. It dosent increase the wattage, it merely makes it so that ALL the watts that your bulbs are designed to operate at, make it there. You lose so much in wires much like you lose so much power from the flywheel to the rear wheels. Same concept.

HID's are also much less wattage than regular bulbs. Its gonna draw substantially less juice from your electrical system, giving you twice the light output in the process. HID's also last years and years, with around 10k hours for normal bulb lives.
 
Unit453 said:
HID's are also much less wattage than regular bulbs. Its gonna draw substantially less juice from your electrical system, giving you twice the light output in the process. HID's also last years and years, with around 10k hours for normal bulb lives.
Click to expand...

True and it also depends on what kit you buy, some are pure junk, some are good, :thumbsup:
 
This is true. There are enough of us here though that have been buying and recommending HID kits for long enough that I between Mad Maxx and I, I dont think we will steer anyone wrong.

Like I said though, I paid a little over a hundred bucks and they've been great so far. I've also sent the link out to probably 500 people over the years on other forums and I haven't heard of anyone having any problems.
 
so you've got both the harness upgrade and the HID upgrade, right? I think maybe I'll go with the harness first to see what that gains me, since I've got new lights. Then I'll have it in place if I decide to go HID next. But maybe the harness will be enough to satisfy me, at least for a while.
 
In my Ford, I'm just using the harness. It made a world of difference and its worth a try. Its definitely a worth while, cheap upgrade. On a dark, dry road, you WILL see a difference.

I have HID's in my truck, in the low, high beam and fogs lights. I used to run my highbeams alot before I moved. In fact, I used them all the time. Now, I havent used them at all in forever. If you ever get to that point to where you're gonna buy them, unless you run your highs alot, dont waste your money.
 
thanks Nick, good info. Like I said, I always drive at night, and it's on deserted back roads thru the woods, but it's only a ten minute ride, which is why I've put it off for so long. Many nights I can run high beams all the way, but sometimes I'll encounter other cars.
I'll definitely go for the harness first.
 
I know what you mean. Before I moved here, about 2 months ago, my commute to work was 65 miles 1 way. It was all desolate, dark 2 lane, 60 mph roads with no neighborhoods, no lights, no nothing. All that was out there were cattle ranches. I didnt even have cell service for about 40 miles of it. Driving home at 2 or 3am, I wouldnt pass a single car the entire time so naturally, I ran everything I have, all the time. My 600 watts of PIAA's got their work out as did all my lights. I was like a super nova running down the road at 65 mph. Too much wild life out there for me to haul ass though and I didnt take my truck but a couple times a week. I usually drove my Ford, mainly because I dont care about the miles on that. And thats what prompted me to get a harness. On dark roads like driving through the 4th dimension like I was doing, it was a must. You WILL notice a difference on dark roads for sure.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top