mattbatson

the headlights on my 97 are getting a little yellow/dimmish it seems, and I was looking at these supposedly "brighter" bulbs at the local advanced auto

they are supposed to cast more light, and brighter light, with more coverage out to the sides.

actually the claims on the back of the box were pretty impressive...

So, I'm wondering if anyone on here has tried this kind of thing, and if the results were really all that outstanding.

Or, I could be the first, and give a little review

xcfunrunner

Hey there! Personally, I haven't tried those bulbs specifically, however, I do run the brightest I could find at my auto parts store. A few things to think about, bulbs that are brighter (halogen) don't usually have as long of a life. They are more expensive and burn out quicker. Also, the physics between bulbs that are supposed to cast more light to the sides. The bulb is longer/sticks out more into the housing, which is why they cast out more light sideways. This however, defeats the purpose of having the reflective backing to a certain degree. The light housing is engineered to put a large majority of the light forward (where you want and need it). Having the bulb in front of the focus point of the mirror will cause the rays to be going in all different directions versus a majority going forward. That being said, my light bulbs are very bright and a bit longer than normal, so I too get some scatter on the sides. And having brighter bulbs that scatter light may still make the light path in front of you brighter even though less of the total rays are going in the forward direction.
All in all, I would advise going to the junk yard to see if you can pick up a set used. If not, I know that you can buy them online. From what I have heard, you want to buy genuine Toyota head light assemblies though as the others don't scatter the light very well. 99+ are the ones from what I hear. If getting new housings that are perfectly clear on the lens still isn't enough for you, go for the brighter bulbs!

Rule So Hard

Another lesson I have learned. Wattage wattage wattage.... I used to buy the nice bright silver star headlights but then I learned it was all hype. There is no replacement for wattage with halogens. If you look in your light section you should be able to find a higher wattage bulb in plain packaging that is extremely cheap. Or you can find them on eBay. Most likely you will be looking at a 75-100 watt bulb. Possibly a 50 watt.
For example, on my chopper I have a custom aluminium projector light I run and it had 35 watt bulbs from the factory. I installed silver stars and while it was better it still sucked. I learned about this little trick and put a $7 75 watt bulb in and it is perfect.
Keep in mind that increasing wattage increases amps and you may have to upgrade your wiring. Also keep.in mind it is illegal to run high wattage lights for on road use.

mattbatson

great info!
greatly appreciate it amigo's...and now I begin a search for new headlights

and then, if not enough, I'll look into boosting the wattage

thx

Jomoka

I run some really cheap eBay 90/100 watt specials. I think they're $10 a pair, shipped, or even less. One time when one burned out I didn't have a replacement and I stuck a Sylvania Silverstar in on that side and it was really dim in comparison. I returned it and bought a 4-pack of eBay cheapies so I'd have spares in the future. $50 for two dim bullbs, or $15 for 4 really bright ones? Pretty much a no brainer for me.

Gamefreakgc

Be careful though with running considerably higher wattage. You will be pulling a lot more amps, so make sure the wiring can take it. Any poor connections or damaged wiring will potentially be an issue. Also, if you plan on using them alot (driving lights, etc) I wouldn't recommend it.

Jomoka

The wiring on the 4Runner seems a lot thinner than the wiring on my other cars (Volvos). But I've used the higher watt headlights for several years now with no ill effects.

Gamefreakgc

That's good, you're right about the wiring being small. There's people I know that have had wires melt with aftermarket lights, so it does happen.

RAD4Runner

Correct. Sylvania itself mentions that on its Silverstars, etc. packaging.

Agree with Gamefreakgc

Not yet.

Need to review your headlight wiring. IF it is same scheme as earlier gens, headlamp current (as high as 17 amps if using 100-W high beams) runs over about 15 feet of thin wire to cabin, through your dimmer-combo/stalk, back to engine compartment to ground. It causes lots of power loss over the wire, meaning less power to your filaments, and will eventually fry the combo switch. See 4crawler article on this "convoluted" path.

donomite49

i tried the silverstars on my DD with halogens, took them back for a refund.
overpriced and NOT as good as other brands that are cheaper from amazon for example.
i have found that HELLA brand halogens are better than other brands that i've had. i do run high wattage bulbs too.
i will run HELLA brand bulbs only untill i find something better.

Injohneer

We took several cross-country trips in my wife's 2005 Mitsubishi Endeavor. It used the 9007 bulbs. Anyway, that car went through headlights and tail lights faster than any other vehicle I've ever owned - but maybe that is because we left the lights on all 100% of the time - so unless we hit high beam, the lows were on. Basically, from Jan 2009 when we got the car til Jan 2014 when we gave it to friends, we replaced the headlamps 3 times.

The last time I replaced them, I was driving back from Florida to Oklahoma, and somewhere in Louisiana a headlight went out. I had run a set of the "mid grade" Sylvanias and was not impressed, so I had a set of the "low grade" ones in and they seemed to not suck all that much worse - but regardless, the lights on that thing sucked. So I decided to try the most expensive set, why not, won't know til you try. And, this was going to be the most accurate comparison yet, since I was changing from one set to the other, at night. No memory loss between sets.

Wow! It was definitely worth the money. Now, it wasn't like adding a set of KC's, as in, it didn't seem like stuff was lit up all that much brighter, but it seemed like things were easier to see. I no longer felt the vehicle was creeping along with a mag light.

As far as longevity, we drove on the expensive sylvanias for another 6 months before parting with that vehicle. My buddy has the car now and he hasn't mentioned replacing the lamps, so they're going on 7 months.

I recommended to him to buy the expensive set if needed. And If I had to do it over again, I would have gone with the expensive set sooner. They were that much better, and they did not wear out super fast compared to the other bulbs

mattbatson

just an update/fyi

I went ahead and bought the Sylvania silverstar's,

I installed one of them, and lowered the garage door at night, backed up about 30 ft and compared.

big difference to the originals.

it was a bright white light instead of dim yellow, and it just seemed like more in volume too.
it also lit up a larger area...it was really obvious when comparing on a dark garage door.

I am so far, a happy camper

Shoua

I've used them before, and from my experience, they are brighter and whiter. That said, they also don't last as long as standard halogens. They even print that on the package.