Light bulbs

[fishermen13]

hey you guys got a question and seeking you guys advice on the best of better head light bulb to use because the ones that are in now aren't bright at all . Any ideas or suggestions would be greatly appreciated i seen the zxe .... should i go led ..... hollagen . What are some of the kind and brand you guys use thanks in advance

[Brock]

What truck and what bulb size are you running?

[Mattman]

T660 low beams are weak if you have one of these trucks. They use the projector style headlight. Got me some fog lights that really helped.

[JimT]

Interesting question. So, I turned to Google and Wikipedia for some help.

As to the different types of lights, it largely depends what is available for your vehicle, usually aftermarket.

LED lights are still fairly new, use a little less power then other types, are in between HID and Halogen for brightness and don't naturally produce heat to melt snow or evaporate water (Some have secondary ways to providing heat, such as redirecting heat from the heatsink). Didn't see any mention of whether they would work in existing lights or would need a retrofit.

HID bulbs are the brightest, but naturally produce a white almost blue-ish looking light that many drivers complain creates too much glare. They run on AC therefore require some kind of ballast to convert the DC to AC. That means you can't just switch from a halogen bulb to an HID bulb without some kind of retrofit.

Halogen bulbs are about half the brightness of HID and use a little more power. They are also the cheapest and most readily available.

There are some other types, but they probably don't apply to what's available for our trucks.

So, how bright can you legally go? Well, somewhere in FMVSS No. 108 it states the maximum brightness for vehicle lighting, however my brain shut off part way in to reading that. Additional google searching revealed the federal limit as between 20,000 to 75,000 candela. Then many states have their own limits of headlight brightness, such as New York which limits it to 32 candle power (less then a home light bulb). And in case you're confused, a "candela" is a "modern" unit of measurement that roughly equates to the outdated unit of "candle power".

As for differences in actual bulbs, that I don't know. I've only used 2 different brands so far in my tractor (GE and Philips) and I don't have a clear winner. One of my headlights is always dimmer then the other so I'll probably look into replacing the lens/assembly (about $400) eventually.

Hope this was at least marginally helpful. I know I learned something researching it. I'd also love to hear other's thoughts and experiences, especially with different brands of bulbs and different types of lights, such as aftermarket HID or LED.

[Rawze]

Most trucks, if you simply properly adjust them plus keep the lenses form getting frosted out, they work quite well from factory.

[Brock]

(03-21-2020 )Mattman Wrote:  T660 low beams are weak if you have one of these trucks. They use the projector style headlight. Got me some fog lights that really helped.

I am 95% sure that t660 projector can be pulled out the back and replaced with a bixenon evoxr 2.0 from the retrofit source. You would then need to buy a hid bulb and ballast but it would give you absolute savage light output low and high beam.

[Lonestar10]

If you go LED bulbs dont go cheap get good bulbs as the cheap ones are typically not setup correctly for reflector type headlights if the LED isnt in the right spot there is a place that tests bulbs and how they work in different enclosures on youtube that does some decent testing on different bulbs and talks about their + and -s

[Brock]

(03-21-2020 )Lonestar10 Wrote:  If you go LED bulbs dont go cheap get good bulbs as the cheap ones are typically not setup correctly for reflector type headlights if the LED isnt in the right spot there is a place that tests bulbs and how they work in different enclosures on youtube that does some decent testing on different bulbs and talks about their + and -s

I know the Diode Dynamics SL1 led bulbs are a solid choice. They were originally designed to be used in a reflector housing and they focus alot of attention on detail, optics and longevity. They wont be the brightest led bulb on the market but they will have one of the best light distribution and they last long.

Gtr lighting has a real right bulb but I imagine they will burn out rather quickly.

[smorgan87]

Dunno what truck you have but if u have the money get a proper set of projector enclosures and HID bulbs and balasts. If its a single bulb hi lo design youll need whats called a bi zenon (shuttered) projector so it can control hi and low beam because HID bulbs cant be "dimmed". Dual bulb hi/lo has the hi beam.aomed hi and low beam aimed lower and usually a dimmer bulb. Retrofitsource mentioned above sells kits to DIY install xenon and bi-xenon projectors into a factory enclosure with options like halos for ur running lights. Hope it helps. Kits are a lot cheaper than factory bixenon projector enclosures but do require a good bit of work. Several videos online of folks doing the conversions.