I am looking to get new headlights for my ride. Has anyone installed any xenon or white bulbs in their ride. I am only 18 and dont have a lot of money so I am looking for something affordable. What have yall found to be a good upgrade

 

phillips vision plus works the best for me

 

Sylvania Silverstars

 

Sylvannias Silverstars!

 

Ditto. Also if you have a 96-98 4Runner then you can also upgrade the headlamp assembly for the newer ones for the mirror like reflection and get better lightings.

 

Often a new headlight wiring harness can help as well. A simple check of the voltage drop across the headlight bulb itself is a good indicator. If it is not within 0.5 volts of the battery voltage, then the stock wiring is limiting the current to the light. Older wires and switches and higher wattage bulbs can all lead to increased voltage drops. I found my stock '85 headlights were only getting a little over 10 volts at the bulbs, resutling in a 40% loss of light. Adding an upgraded relay harness bumped it up to within a few tenths of a volt of the battery and much more light output:

http://www.4crawler.com/4x4/CheapTri...#WiringHarness

 

I own a 2nd gen so part of this may not apply but just in case it does....

By **FAR** the best $80 bucks I ever spent on headlight upgrades came from the two very simple upgrades:

- 4Crawler upgraded headlight relay wiring harness link
- Sylvania Silver Star replacement bulbs

Do those two simple things which should take you far less than $100 and 60 mins to install - I damn near promise you that you will see a huge improvement/upgrade and will have no regrets at all. Its an awesome, cheap and reversible improvement (although I can not imagine you will even think about any of those things after its all said and done).

 

Sylvania Silverstars

 

Why does everybody like these? I HATED mine! They're terrible in the rain, cost $50 and dont last long!

 

I like the Piaa's much better. I've tested the Silver Stars and they give more of a green look, compared to the piaa's. the Piaa's looks more pure white and more hid looking, slight bluish/purple tinge. There is a big difference between them visually, but they perform similiar. Maybe I'l just addicted to the Piaa color, but I love them. I have a few customers replace the silver stars with Piaa's and they really like them.

Some pics compared to stock bulbs.

 

The PIAAs are sweet but for the cost of just the PIAA headlamp bulbs I did both my headlamps and driving lights with Silverstars. I figure if the bulbs don't last a year then I'll consider something else but for now the Sylvanias are a big step over OEM.

 

Reduced headlight voltage can be one contributing factor to lowered headlight bulb life with any halogen style lamp. This is because the halogen gas, that serves to reflect metal ions back to the filament, needs to reach a certain temperature for this affect to work. If that temp is not reached, the lamps can burn out fairly fast. That is why it is critical to run the buulb as close to it's operating voltage as possible. Best to stick a voltmeter right on the lamp's terminals (while running) and see what the voltage reads. If more than 1/2 volt less than the battery voltage, consider upgrading the wiring harness.

 

Agreed. I had the PIAAs too and they weren't that great either.

I went back to stock and my eyes and wallet are happier now

Bob

 

I think the Silverstars also work better with the '99+ headlamps ve the frosted lamps since I had the Silverstars in my '97 and in my '99 they are much brighter.

 

I was reading a research in the magazine one time about why amber colored lights were better in the rain than white lights. I think it had something to do with the white or blue type lights reflect too much back into the windsheild making the glare much greater, where an amber light will throw the light further and glare is not too bad.

 

how much do these sylvania's cost, i am wanting all my lights to match, healdights, foglights, and corners (i have clear corner lenses)

 

The fogs on a '99+ Runner are really just driving lights but you could tint the bulb housing in yellow and they would improve fog visibility.

 

Y'all know good ol Roger Brown can make some top of the line stuff (like body lifts..) but he is an EE by trade....listen to what he says about electrical stuff.

Factory wiring harnesses are a compromise of quality and cost. The upgraded headlight relay wiring harness' work very well.

 

Get tha 95/100w bulbs on ebay for about $5 a piece and get the wiring harness with thicker than stock wires from Wal-Mart for less than $4 a piece.

Super bright and have not had any problems in over a year.

 

Im running the Gee Headlight boster system ($200), with a upgraded wire haness backing that ($40). To Raybrig White sonic bulbs ($120). Still not bright enough for me. I have the adjument knob set to 120 of 200+ and people think Im running with my high beams on.