Bright headlight bulbs.

[dodge man]

I've installed a set of the brighter headlight bulbs in both my Dodge Truck and my sons Old Aurora. I can't remember what I installed, but Silverstar is one of the brand names.

Both the Aurora and the Ram had mediocre headlights. The Aurora was the worst. The bulbs made a big impact, more so on the high beams. I ended up aiming the headlights higher and that helped the low beams also.

On the Ram, it helped the low beams the most, but also the high beams.

To sum it up, if you have some headlights that are a little bit borderline, it will help, but not dramatic.

 

[phiferpharm]

I just got the Dodge Ram Longhorn edition and I mentioned to my son last night that the lights were not as good as the ones I had in my Avalanche. I think they were Sylvania Silverstar Ultras, so I hope I can find them for the Dodge

 

[QRTRHRS]

I just got the Dodge Ram Longhorn edition and I mentioned to my son last night that the lights were not as good as the ones I had in my Avalanche. I think they were Sylvania Silverstar Ultras, so I hope I can find them for the Dodge

I had the Sylvania Silverstar's in my Dodge. The Ultra's were not available then but I put them in my older Ford and they make a difference.

Before the Silverstar's, I had Piaa's in my Dodge. The Piaa's cost like twice as much or so and do not work as well IMHO.

 

[Marveltone]

I put Sylvania Silver Star Ultras in my Dodge Ram also. Although a poorly designed reflector is still a poorly designed reflector, they did help as much as can be expected. I hesitate to promote Walmart, as I don't like the place, but they are available there. I'd definitely buy the Silver Stars again.

Joe

 

[boomer1025]

So your going down the road now blinding everyone you pass especially when it's raining.
Remember it's 2 to the right and 2 down when aiming headlights on passenger vehicles.

 

[CowboyRon]

The best ones I've had are the HID bulbs. They are twice as bright as any halogen, and last longer.

 

[rsewill]

So your going down the road now blinding everyone

Agreed! Agreed! Agreed!

 

[Marveltone]

So your going down the road now blinding everyone you pass especially when it's raining.
Remember it's 2 to the right and 2 down when aiming headlights on passenger vehicles.

Silverstars are just a brighter shade of white. They're not HIDs, projector bulbs, or any other annoying blue/purple headlights, nor do they change the focus. They are still halogen bulbs, just not so yellow. Unless you're doing something weird with them, like refusing to dim for approaching traffic, you'll not blind anyone any worse than you previously did. You will see a bit better at the outer edges of the illuminating pattern. That is all.

Joe

 

[coobie]

Silverstars are just a brighter shade of white. They're not HIDs, projector bulbs, or any other annoying blue/purple headlights, nor do they change the focus. They are still halogen bulbs, just not so yellow. Unless you're doing something weird with them, like refusing to dim for approaching traffic, you'll not blind anyone any worse than you previously did. You will see a bit better at the outer edges of the illuminating pattern. That is all.

Joe

I fully agree,changed my bulbs out in my 2004 dodge.Never had any on coming traffic flash there headlights at me.Some folks on here just got to complain to get attention.coobie

 

[phiferpharm]

+1 on the not blinding anyone. I actually get more benefit from the low beam- it seems to give me better coverage on the sides. That means I may have a better chance to see the deer and avoid hitting one. THAT occurs where I live almost weekly.

Now as far as blinding oncoming traffic, I think my best bet is to put the roof bar and lets say 4-6 aircraft landing lights on it That would be reserved for the folks who don't care to turn off their high beams when I do....

 

[dodge man]

So your going down the road now blinding everyone you pass especially when it's raining.
Remember it's 2 to the right and 2 down when aiming headlights on passenger vehicles.

No not exactly, like others have said, I never get brighted.

Like someone else mentioned, some vehicles just don't have the best headlight desgin. Some of the Rams fall into this area, mine is a 2004. I also notice some newer cars that seem to have the brights on, but don't. Its just the desgin.

 

[Diamondpilot]

No not exactly, like others have said, I never get brighted.

Like someone else mentioned, some vehicles just don't have the best headlight desgin. Some of the Rams fall into this area, mine is a 2004. I also notice some newer cars that seem to have the brights on, but don't. Its just the desgin.

I get flashed at almost daily in my Titan. The lights are so bright in low beam everyone assumes I have my brights on. Like you said, some just have better lights then others. I have never had any that were bad. I dont remember my 03 2500 Dodge having poor headlights but thats been a while ago but I will say some have much better lights like my BMW 335I has really nice headlights.

Chris

 

[nue2farm]

Thanks for the input. I have been thinking of better lights for my 07 dodge....

 

[aczlan]

I get flashed at almost daily in my Titan. The lights are so bright in low beam everyone assumes I have my brights on. Like you said, some just have better lights then others. I have never had any that were bad.

Reminds me of driving down in Argentina. In 2005 we had an '02 Corolla and an '03 Kia Carnival (Badged as a Sedona in the US). We constantly got flashed with high beams as people assumed that we had our high beams on. They were just used to their older (80s) Renault, Fiat, etc cars with weak headlights and our low beams were brighter than their high beams (we had non-cloudy lenses which helped).

Aaron Z

 

[JESSE1]

I can understand replacing the bulbs to inprove the lighting. My problem is how bright they are to oncoming traffic. I know of one truck I meet early in the morning while it's still dark that has had the headlight and fog light bulbs replaced with those brilliant blue bulbs. I'm sure he can see better but his headlights are blinding, even though they're on low beam. Might be better if the headlight lenses were designed for the bulbs.

 

[dodge man]

I can understand replacing the bulbs to inprove the lighting. My problem is how bright they are to oncoming traffic. I know of one truck I meet early in the morning while it's still dark that has had the headlight and fog light bulbs replaced with those brilliant blue bulbs. I'm sure he can see better but his headlights are blinding, even though they're on low beam. Might be better if the headlight lenses were designed for the bulbs.

I think if we met on the road, you would not find my headlights to bright. You are correct, some people headlights are annoying, and the HID's can be pretty bad sometimes. My wifes 300C I actually lowered the headlights by using the aiming screws, she was getting brighted all the time. As far as fog lights go, some of those can be bright also. Maybe I'm just silly, but I only turn on my fog lights if its foggy out.

 

[Marveltone]

I can understand replacing the bulbs to inprove the lighting. My problem is how bright they are to oncoming traffic. I know of one truck I meet early in the morning while it's still dark that has had the headlight and fog light bulbs replaced with those brilliant blue bulbs. I'm sure he can see better but his headlights are blinding, even though they're on low beam. Might be better if the headlight lenses were designed for the bulbs.

The brilliant blue you describe are HID's. The Department of Transportation (DOT) states that improperly-installed HID's are getting a lot of complaints. Vendors will usually include a disclaimer that they are intended for offroad use only, but it's no secret that people don't follow this rule. HID's require a totally different design to the reflector and lens assemblies. This is often not done, hence, the blinding problems.

Once again, Silverstars aren't HID's, nor are they blue, nor do they change the beam pattern. They are merely white (4000K) direct replacements for your stock Halogen bulbs.

Joe

 

[dodge man]

I have a Dodge Challenger that has factory HID lights, and I don't get brighted at all. My wifes 300C does not have HID lights, but she was getting brighted all the time. I noticed on a foggy night you could see the passenger side light was pointed at the tree tops. Its not just the type of light, but how they are aimed.

Just my own personal idea here, but I just kind of aim them by pointing them at the garage door and cranking them up and down as needed. No real science involved. Then I drive the vehicle and get a feel for how they look and if people are flashing their lights at me or not. I will also have someone else drive the vehcile at me when I'm driving another car, and get a feel for how the look to oncoming traffic. I know the service manual usually has a page or two dedicated to the correct way to aim the headlights, but I've never done it that way. I think the real problem is the factory often does a lousy job of aiming them, or people have a wreck or something and they don't get aimed correctly.

 

[QRTRHRS]

+1 on the not blinding anyone. I actually get more benefit from the low beam- it seems to give me better coverage on the sides. That means I may have a better chance to see the deer and avoid hitting one. THAT occurs where I live almost weekly.

Now as far as blinding oncoming traffic, I think my best bet is to put the roof bar and lets say 4-6 aircraft landing lights on it That would be reserved for the folks who don't care to turn off their high beams when I do....

Having more than a few miles under my belt and with very few deer strikes, I agree with the low beams. Besides, I cannot be bothered to be switching back and forth all the time. My wife bugs me all the time at night with "how can you see with those low beams"?

Really amazes me when I see people running improperly adjusted driving lights or even driving lights at all during a snow storm because of all the reflection.

Running driving lights constantly is one thing but what bugs me is when one of these idiots is up my butt behind me and too ignorant to turn them off.

Most of the factory drivng lights (Dodge Ram especially) are mounted way to high for highway use. To be effective under conditions where they really should be used, the lights need to be mounted way down low. And properly aimed of course.

 

[sklunk]

The brilliant blue you describe are HID's. The Department of Transportation (DOT) states that improperly-installed HID's are getting a lot of complaints. Vendors will usually include a disclaimer that they are intended for offroad use only, but it's no secret that people don't follow this rule. HID's require a totally different design to the reflector and lens assemblies. This is often not done, hence, the blinding problems.

Once again, Silverstars aren't HID's, nor are they blue, nor do they change the beam pattern. They are merely white (4000K) direct replacements for your stock Halogen bulbs.

Joe

Yep, most people don't realize that just replacing a halogen bulb with an HID bulb is actually ILLEGAL in the U.S. You must have a complete design (bulb, ballast, reflector, lens) which is what you get on vehicles that have HID's from the factory. Of course there are thousands of people running around with these retrofits in their vehicle but the cops have better things to do than stop them, although in our area the police are starting to enforce the law more.

If you have some time to kill there is an excellent explanation here:
Daniel Stern Lighting Consultancy and Supply

(if you poke around his site he also explains blue bulbs and other auto lighting issues)