Headlight bulbs

[Bandit12]

I drive 30 miles one way to work thru the northeastern Sierra Nevada mountains. That said, my winter commute means driving that 30 miles home in pitch black conditions with zero street lights for most of the trip. I've been on the hunt for better brighter headlights and fog lights for a while. My truck is a 2018 Ram 2500 with the projector lamp headlights. I found this place to have an excellent set of lights to replace the stock bulbs. I bought the low beams first, installed them, then ordered the high beams. Yes it was double work for me to remove the headlight assembly twice but I'm glad I did it that way. They were totally plug and play with the existing wiring. I can turn on my street, hit the high beams and light up the street sign 5 blocks down. www.headlightexperts.com

To replace the fog lights, I ordered a set from Diode Dynamics. These were an outstanding upgrade over stock. A little more involved installation, but not too terribly difficult, merely had to remove the stock assembly and transfer the mounting bracket from the stock lights to the new assembly. I did need to turn the lights on before reinstalling the assembly to insure they worked properly. One did the other did not and all I had to do was unplug the light, turn the connector 180 degrees and plug it back in to get it to work.
https://www.diodedynamics.com/

Finally, I upgraded the reverse lights on the truck to LED. I found these at Diesel LED and they are like putting headlights on the back of the truck. Makes backing up at night really easy and they image in the back up camera monitor is like daylight. I liked them so well, I ordered a second set for our Subaru Outback. Again, all plug and play.
https://dieselleds.com/

[Terryj]

I personally have not seen headlites that where not aim able. However I have heard stories of such. They vehicles we work on tend to be older. Can you provide a year make and model please, I would like to do some research.

That being said, if a vehicle comes in for a safety inspection, and the headlites are out of aim, the vehicle will fail.

If the lights are out of aim and there is no adjustment then in my opinion something is damaged, worn, or sagged. It is your responsibility as an owner to have a safe vehicle and that includes properly aimed headlites

[Jwsnags]

Heres my recent experience with changing headlights… (I live in Michigan)
2014 F150, standard halogen bulbs, changed to LED, great improvement…, then winter came. Guess what? LED produced NO heat and in a good snow, the lens quickly ices up and presto… you cant see crap ahead of you on the road. So I switched back to the Silverstar halogen bulbs… but hated the loss of bright clean lighting… did some more research, put the LED bulbs back in, and now I put Rain-X on my lenses and the no longer ice up, I I can see great and drive safely.
Jon

[chuckster57]

Originally Posted by Terryj

I personally have not seen headlites that where not aim able. However I have heard stories of such. They vehicles we work on tend to be older. Can you provide a year make and model please, I would like to do some research.

That being said, if a vehicle comes in for a safety inspection, and the headlites are out of aim, the vehicle will fail.

If the lights are out of aim and there is no adjustment then in my opinion something is damaged, worn, or sagged. It is your responsibility as an owner to have a safe vehicle and that includes properly aimed headlites

Every vehicle I have worked on for the last 40+ years have had adjustable headlights. One way or another the housing can be moved. I’ve even worked on cars that the headlights “turn” when you turn the steering wheel.

I started this thread in a quest to find recommendations for brighter lights. I found them.

[locomech]

About two years ago I installed BeamTech LED bulbs in my 2013 F-150 and it was a huge improvement over the halogen bulbs. I live in northern Illinois and experience a variety of weather extremes throughout the year and have not had any issues with them.

The LED bulbs I installed have a fan on them and although some users have complained they can hear the fans I cannot. I didn't expect them to last very long because of them being made in China, but it's been over two years now and they still work. The new and improved version of the same bulbs do not have a fan and for about fifty bucks I like them.

BEAMTECH 9007 LED Bulb, HB5 Halogen Replacement,12000LM 50W Fanless 12000LM 50W In Line 6500K Xenon White

[flybouy]

Originally Posted by chuckster57

Every vehicle I have worked on for the last 40+ years have had adjustable headlights. One way or another the housing can be moved. I’ve even worked on cars that the headlights “turn” when you turn the steering wheel.

I started this thread in a quest to find recommendations for brighter lights. I found them.

There are some vehicles where the the bulb socket is adjustable and not the housing itself. Glad you got your lights replaced. I'm guessing at least another dozen posts on what you "should" use.

[Life-in-Him]

Originally Posted by chuckster57

Ok guys, I work on cars and RV's but I don't know that much about the different headlight bulbs and what's the brightest without being TOO obnoxious. I am looking for help in how they are rated please.

We had similar problems on our 2004 pu. Final solution was to replace the whole headlight assembly. That included new reflector & lenses.
Also put in all new bulbs & what a difference. Now we can see @ night.
Cost was less than $300 for everything.
Tried just bulbs & polishing lenses but all were a waste, essentially I was working @ less than $5/hr & they still needed replacement.
Should have listened to my dad's philosophy: do it right the 1st time or you'll do it over till you do it right.