This is an excerpt from another thread here on TS. I ended up going with the lows and highs from this text. The bulb modifications were a piece of cake and the lighting is most definitely an improvement. Plus, for four bulbs (lows and highs) I paid $88 with shipping. I wouldn't waste my time or money with silverstars or other more pricy brands (piaa, hella, etc..) for just a simple bulb upgrade.
This is a direct link to the thread, this post is on the first page..
Thoughts about the H9 in the H11 mod
[QUOTE-greghad]Here's what I put in a earlier post, mostly from Daniel Stern lighting, and as I have said, I did both the low and high-beam with great results!
"For what it is worth, I went through Daniel Stern Lighting at the suggestion of another forum member, and have followed his suggestions with great success.
His reply follows below:
> I am looking to replace the high beam, OEM fog, and low beam bulbs,
> along with any others that can be easily accomplished (Daylight
> running lights, interior, brake, back-up, turn signals with something brighter.
OK...that's doable.
The upgrade for the low beams is to install H9 bulbs (2100 lumens) in place of the original H11 bulbs (1350 lumens). You have to shave a slight ridge of plastic from the H9 bulb's connector so the H11 socket will fit it. H9 direct order link is here:
H9 bulb
Your high beams can also be significantly upgraded if you will Replace the existing 9005 bulbs with 9011. The new bulbs are not some tinted or overwattage version of 9005, but rather employ a relatively new technology called HIR, Halogen Infrared Reflection. The mechanical dimensions of the bulb are all virtually identical to the 9005, but the bulb glass is spherical instead of tubular, with the sphere centered around the filament. There is a "Durable IR Reflective" coating on the spherical glass. Infrared = heat, so the coating causes heat to be reflected back to the filament at the center of the sphere. This causes the filament to become much hotter (producing more light) than it can by passing electricity through it, *without* the shorter life or greater heat production that comes with overwattage bulbs (to say nothing of overwattage bulbs' incompatibility with stock wiring.)
Here's the comparison:
stock: 9005, 12.8V, 65W, 1700 lumens, 320 hours
compare: 9005+50, 12.8V, 55W, 1830 lumens, 175 hours
new: HIR1, 12.8V, 65W, 2530 lumens, 320 hours
These bulbs are costly as bulbs go - $29/ea - but their cost is worth considering in context: Any number of companies will charge you more than this for a tarted-up 9005 with blue colored glass (PIAA and Sylvania Silverstar come to mind) that doesn't produce more light and has a very short lifespan.
The HIR bulbs have a double-wide top ear on the plastic bulb base, this is to comply with the law requiring different bulbs to have different bases.
The extra-wide plastic top ear is easily trimmed or filed to make the bulb fit your headlamp's bulb receptacle. Once that's done, they go directly into the headlamp, and the existing sockets snap on. Please see HIR bulb base modification for details.
The direct order link for these bulbs is 9011 (HIR1)
The fog lamps take 9145 bulbs. Despite the bad info circulating on the internet, it is neither safe nor wise to hack any other bulb type to fit in place of the 9145. Leave the standard bulbs alone. If you want your fogs to be more effective in fog, make 'em yellow; see Daniel Stern Lighting Consultancy and Supply
If you're trying for yellow fog lamps, the stick-on films don't really tint the light very effectively. You can get good results by removing the fogs, cleaning the lenses *thoroughly*, and spraying them with several coats of Dupli-Color Metalcast yellow, which is a transparent yellow paint
product: METALCAST™ . Let each coat "flash off" (dry most of the way) before applying the next, and use thin coats so you don't get drips and "sags" in the wet paint. With each successive coat, the yellow tint will grow deeper. Make them about 2 moderate shades deeper than you want to wind up with, and let them dry completely before taking the vehicle on the road.
> HID is not out of the question,
Actually, it is. See
Daniel Stern Lighting Consultancy and Supply
The front turn signals can be made 25% brighter with these:
Plastic wedge base[/quote]
Installed Silverstar Highbeams, Any Low's available?
Linear Mode
