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Headlight bulbs

3K views 9 replies 8 participants last post by  hood72 
#1 ·
Hello
I have decided to just change my factory headlight bulbs with something better and brighter. I don't want to do projectors at this time, and suggestions?
 
#3 ·
Check out either Retro Solutions or DDM Tuning HID kits.

You will be amazed how much brighter they will be then the crappy stock lights. Stick with a 6K color as 8L starts to get a little blue (unless you like that).

Some people will tell you that you should not run HIDs in halogen housings but as long as you aim them down a bit your good to go :thumb:
 
#4 ·
I agree that the HID's can be brighter but they can be iffy, due to low voltage on startup. So you may need to get "aftermarket" wiring. You may want to look into replacing your fog lights with Leds, my son did that to my LBZ (chevy) I sold him and they look great as I had Hids and ended up getting a high output alternater (pet peeve of mine the Fords do not have a voltage gage WTF)? He works in the South TX Oilfields and he kept screwing the HID lights up because of the horrible road conditions to well sights , such as when it rains there where long deep mud slush pits I was in the Army and can only think of it as a tank trail with the powder fine dust and when it gets wet it can get into anything mechanical or electrical. Also sure that winter ice snow chemical/salt would be a life shortner for the hids. Although I Had all my lights on my Chevy High,Low,and fog converted to HID's (with the all on when switched to high beams)i could deal with the ocasional outage, since he works almost in mexicio all of the Law enforcment look for reasons to pull over a 4 door truck with blacked out windows, in TX you can get a Prescription for as dark as you want windows except the Windshield (you can but a lot harder to get)
 
#5 ·
What are you talking about.........."due to low voltage on startup?" Most HID ballasts/igniter packages will work at approx. 9VDC to 32VDC, which means that unless you have a battery issue with YOUR truck or you have not installed them with a good ground connection for the ballast, there is NO low voltage issues. I've had a set of the RetroSolutions "Digital" brand HIDs on my 2011 F250 for a little over 2 years and no issues and the same brand/model on my wife's 2008 Mustang for about the same time and NO ISSUES.
 
#6 ·
If you want to stay with halogen bulbs and avoid the expense of installing HIDs, in my opinion, Sylvania Silverstar Ultra's are the best halogens on the market.
 
#7 ·
I just put PIAA extreem white's in my head lights and fogs. They are no HID but defiantly better than the stockers. They are still halogens, I didnt want to deal with all the horror stories of the HID's going bad
 
#8 ·
well on the Duramaxs do not have alternators in general that are high output so on startup its stating the engine no real output from the alt yet and the lights trying to turn on. Part of it was my fault I did the all on high beam (6 lights). This was also no name 4 years ago units , so I went to a shop that specializes in outfitting cop cars ems and so on and bought a very high out put. if you Special order a Duramax you can get 2 alts but how many of us do that 2-5% of truck buyers.
 
#9 ·
My HID's in the fog lights are useless. Unless your willing to turn them off and on for every passing car. The HID's are not designed for these reflector housing. Yes you can aim the headlights down, but what's the use. Now my bright lights are hitting the road 25 ft in front of my truck. After all that, the HID's are brighter and light up better than stock. If I didn't have $300 invested in the HID's, I'd yank them out and put the sylvania's in. I'm sure it won't be long before I get pulled over for my headlights. Also, I would recommend going with the 5,000 or 4300k lights if you do go with HID's. 4300 will give you the best usable light. It is closest to sunlight color. Anything higher than 6k will look blue to purple. I would hate for you to be confused with a honda civic....... I hope I don't offend anyone who drives a honda civic.... Or purple headlights...

After that, anyone want to buy some slightly used HID's? lol
 
#10 ·
thats why i plan on going led as much as possible

i do not know if i mentioned earlier about my duramax i had all hid'd with all on, on high beam i want to do something like that for my for as i live in the hill country and the cops have never stopped me as in the middle of nowhere they would rather have brighter lights than wrecks caused by mostly white tail but also exotics like the Axis which will just stand in a "heard" in the middle of the road. I do not plan nothing crazy for the fronts but do plan on a large one or two led lights on the back for backing and working/loading.

any one have experience on the recon projectors they sell for the 2011-13, i have not called recon about them to see how much better they are than stock (if at all). anyone?
 
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