best 9004 bulb availible period. might ditch the hid's

[fivespeedsteed]

so i got ahold of the american muscle 8000k hid kit for free, and put it in and its bright as hell, but the brights dont really do anything when you switch to them. i made a trip out into the country on a twisty windy road and noticed how i cant see as far ahead of me as i could when i had my silverstars (not ultras) in. whats the best bulb i can get in a 9004? i wont be using fogs, and i just want a nice bulb. people on jeep forum have some crazy ones they get online and say silverstars are **** compared to them, any ideas? or just go with silverstar ultras?

 

[QUICK91LX]

I run Silverstars in EVERYTHING...the ones I had in my Ranger lasted for about 4 years too. I had the headlights and the 55w H3 fogs, and friends would complain all the time when I followed them at night.

I started with standard Silverstars in my 98 F150 and then when the Ultras came out I upgraded to those because they were on sale at Advance Auto...but the difference didnt seem to be enough to justify the price. Maybe they reached a little bit farther but didnt seem any brighter.

I have heard Hella bulbs are pretty nice, and they are more expensive at Advance than the Silverstars so maybe they are the ones the Jeep guys are talking about, but if they are something they get only online I couldnt tell ya, though the one thing I'd worry about is longevity. Replacing expensive bulbs often sucks.

For my money, its Silverstars.

 

[aar0s]

+1 on the silverstars.

 

[bentley429isBAC]

I heard on the svt site that the eurolite bulbs are pretty good. Around $20 on ebay. Thinking about buying a bunch.

 

[PNW LSC]

Silverstar bulbs are crap, well, at least the ones they sell here in the US. The ones sold in Europe don't have the purple/blue tinted glass, but still have the higher tungsten filament, making for much better lighting. We get the tungsten, but it's behind that tinted glass, meaning they put out LESS lumens than stock bulbs.

Go here:
Daniel Stern Lighting Consultancy and Supply

 

[fivespeedsteed]

so what does he recommend? what about luminics? id be prepared to add wires from the battery and convert to 9007's


whats got the tungsten in it but a clear bulb housing

 

[QUICK91LX]

Silverstar bulbs are crap, well, at least the ones they sell here in the US. The ones sold in Europe don't have the purple/blue tinted glass, but still have the higher tungsten filament, making for much better lighting. We get the tungsten, but it's behind that tinted glass, meaning they put out LESS lumens than stock bulbs.

Go here:
Daniel Stern Lighting Consultancy and Supply

My understanding is that the light blue tint filters out the yellow element of the light, creating a cleaner, white light.

I dont care if you have a brand new OEM headlight bulb, it is garbage compared to a silverstar.

 

[aar0s]

yeh i dont know about that, my silverstars (and the ultras i put in my wifes 01) are brighter than the stockers by quite a bit

 

[MahFiVeOh]

I have Silverstars in mine at the moment and they are quite a bit brighter than regular bulbs.I bought the bulbs when i had my old "stock" lenses and they were ok but when i went to the Diamond clears they look 100 times brighter.I guess it depends on what condition your lenses are in, if they are crappy and yellowed the light is going to suck regardless of what bulbs you have in.

+1 for Silverstars.

 

[Darkwriter77]

Silverstar bulbs are crap, well, at least the ones they sell here in the US. The ones sold in Europe don't have the purple/blue tinted glass, but still have the higher tungsten filament, making for much better lighting. We get the tungsten, but it's behind that tinted glass, meaning they put out LESS lumens than stock bulbs.

Go here:
Daniel Stern Lighting Consultancy and Supply

Bingo. This is why I don't buy the things. They're simply the same exact bulb as the Sylvania XtraVision bulbs, just with an added riceboy blue tint to make it LOOK like you've got a fancy HID system. Yes, Silverstars are brighter than stock, but no brighter than XtraVision bulbs, and they cost twice as much as those bulbs.

My understanding is that the light blue tint filters out the yellow element of the light, creating a cleaner, white light.

I dont care if you have a brand new OEM headlight bulb, it is garbage compared to a silverstar.

Nobody seems to quite grasp the concept that when you pass light through a FILTER of any kind, you're going to get LESS LIGHT OUTPUT. There's no "good" or "bad" light - it's just frickin' LIGHT, and the less you allow to pass through that bulb right from the get-go by putting a colored tint over the bulb surface, the less light you're going to have available then to bounce off the reflector and then pass through ANOTHER lens (which is usually yellowed with age for a lot of us folks with stock lenses). Silverstars are a waste of money, IMO - again, you're basically just paying twice as much for XtraVisions with a pretty blue color that makes people think you've got HID's and gives the buyer a placebo effect that makes them think they're getting more visibility. Yes, they're brighter than stock, but no, they're not worth the price.

 

[fivespeedsteed]

i put the silverstars i had back in, took out the hids, and they are pointed down some. thats where i watned them for the hids so they werent blinding people, i got new headlights so i didnt bother aiming them but now i must ask, how do you aim them?

 

[Mercedez]

so i got ahold of the american muscle 8000k hid kit for free, and put it in and its bright as hell, but the brights dont really do anything when you switch to them. i made a trip out into the country on a twisty windy road and noticed how i cant see as far ahead of me as i could when i had my silverstars (not ultras) in. whats the best bulb i can get in a 9004? i wont be using fogs, and i just want a nice bulb. people on jeep forum have some crazy ones they get online and say silverstars are **** compared to them, any ideas? or just go with silverstar ultras?

I agree I had silverstars in mine. If you have new lenses that helps.

 

[QUICK91LX]

Dave...you clearly havent actually USED silverstar bulbs. They kick the you-know-what out of even the xtravisions. They do not "look" like HID's AT ALL they emit pure bright white light. They do NOT appear blue when turned on. They utilize a different filiment which burns hotter and brighter. THAT is how they achieve the brightness.

I bought Xtravisions once because I wanted to save money and figured they wouldnt be that much different than the silverstars. Boy was I wrong. Marginally better than OEM, nowhere near silverstar level.

They are a bit more expensive than they probably should be, but they are leaps and bounds better than OEM and significantly better than Xtravisions too.

As soon as I get a set of silverstars in the Vic' I will post pictures to compare.

 

[Mercedez]

I have Silverstars in mine at the moment and they are quite a bit brighter than regular bulbs.I bought the bulbs when i had my old "stock" lenses and they were ok but when i went to the Diamond clears they look 100 times brighter.I guess it depends on what condition your lenses are in, if they are crappy and yellowed the light is going to suck regardless of what bulbs you have in.

+1 for Silverstars.

Are you using those headlights I saw in the LateModelMustangRestoration catalog? They are a clear headlight.

 

[Darkwriter77]

Dave...you clearly havent actually USED silverstar bulbs. They kick the you-know-what out of even the xtravisions. They do not "look" like HID's AT ALL they emit pure bright white light. They do NOT appear blue when turned on. They utilize a different filiment which burns hotter and brighter. THAT is how they achieve the brightness.

I bought Xtravisions once because I wanted to save money and figured they wouldnt be that much different than the silverstars. Boy was I wrong. Marginally better than OEM, nowhere near silverstar level.

They are a bit more expensive than they probably should be, but they are leaps and bounds better than OEM and significantly better than Xtravisions too.

As soon as I get a set of silverstars in the Vic' I will post pictures to compare.

Incorrect. I HAVE had them in the past. I was not impressed. I switched from Silverstars back to XtraVisions and noticed no difference between the two, other than the color. Again, you're buying into the placebo effect of the blue color of Silverstars. Blue-colored light is NOT necessarily brighter than unfiltered light.

 

[MahFiVeOh]

Are you using those headlights I saw in the LateModelMustangRestoration catalog? They are a clear headlight.

Not sure what lights you mean but i'm guessing yes.These are the ones i have.
View attachment 249830

 

[PNW LSC]

I've also had the Silverstars in a couple cars. I switched to XtraVisions in my truck and saw no difference except for color and my Mustang got HIR bulbs for the aftermarket housings, which DID make a difference. And they are called HIR, not HID. They were designed by GE and made by Toshiba.