Headlight upgrade?

steve remchak · **Posted:** Thu Nov 21, 2013 3:46 pm

Scott Johnson wrote:

Steve - at your age, are you even allowed to drive at night?

Good question Scott. I don't know.....

Roger McDaniels · **Posted:** Sun Nov 24, 2013 7:24 pm

Any reason not to use a compact driving light? If I needed some extra light, then I'd probably get a set of PIAA LP530's or something along those lines. Just make sure to get a flat beam pattern so you can use them on the street.

We used LED lights on the race car this year and were happy with them.

steve remchak · **Posted:** Mon Nov 25, 2013 9:11 am

Roger McDaniels wrote:

Any reason not to use a compact driving light? If I needed some extra light, then I'd probably get a set of PIAA LP530's or something along those lines. Just make sure to get a flat beam pattern so you can use them on the street.

We used LED lights on the race car this year and were happy with them.

The current fogs work great. It's the headlights themselves. I'm going to try some Silver Star Ultra bulbs first.

Michael Westerfield · **Posted:** Mon Nov 25, 2013 9:37 am

steve remchak wrote:

Roger McDaniels wrote:

Any reason not to use a compact driving light? If I needed some extra light, then I'd probably get a set of PIAA LP530's or something along those lines. Just make sure to get a flat beam pattern so you can use them on the street.

We used LED lights on the race car this year and were happy with them.

The current fogs work great. It's the headlights themselves. I'm going to try some Silver Star Ultra bulbs first.

Those bulbs only last 6-12 months in my experience...

steve remchak · **Posted:** Mon Nov 25, 2013 10:04 am

Michael Westerfield wrote:

steve remchak wrote:

Roger McDaniels wrote:

Any reason not to use a compact driving light? If I needed some extra light, then I'd probably get a set of PIAA LP530's or something along those lines. Just make sure to get a flat beam pattern so you can use them on the street.

We used LED lights on the race car this year and were happy with them.

The current fogs work great. It's the headlights themselves. I'm going to try some Silver Star Ultra bulbs first.

Those bulbs only last 6-12 months in my experience...

And what? They burn out Mike?

Roger McDaniels · **Posted:** Mon Nov 25, 2013 12:43 pm

Fog lights and driving lights have very different beam patterns. Fogs have a very short and wide pattern while driving lights have a longer pattern than OE headlights, like so:

I also had a bad experience with the Silverstar Ultras. Apparently they run hotter than stock bulbs and melted the plugs on my Civic. Now I just use OE bulbs and fill in with aftermarket lights when necessary.

Michael Westerfield · **Posted:** Mon Nov 25, 2013 1:22 pm

steve remchak wrote:

Michael Westerfield wrote:

steve remchak wrote:

I'm going to try some Silver Star Ultra bulbs first.

Those bulbs only last 6-12 months in my experience...

And what? They burn out Mike?

Yes, they burn out. It's annoying when they last 1/2-1/4 as long as standard bulbs and cost twice as much.

Karl Shultz · **Posted:** Mon Nov 25, 2013 10:34 pm

Roger is right about fog lights. They're meant to solve a different problem.

The ones I have are Philips XtremeVision bulbs. I think they're fine, but I wasn't blown away. They are less expensive than Silverstars though. I go them on Amazon.

Unlike Michael and many others, I've had reasonably good life out of Silverstars. Had them in my Excursion for years, for all I know Kevin might still have them in there. There's a set in Ram's S2000, too, although only for high beams. I put them in that car probably back in early 2007, shortly after I bought it. One of the tricks I learned is to put bulbs in with rubber gloves on, to stop me from getting dirt or grease on the surface.

Let us know what you end up doing. I'd like to make my lighting better too.

TomFreeman · **Posted:** Mon Nov 25, 2013 11:15 pm

Insert snarky comment about how Dave Davis doesn't work on Fords...

In all seriousness, can you do an upgrade to the grille and headlights from a new SuperDuty? I've seen some of the older SD's with that upgrade, but I don't know the years that the swap will fit.

At the very least, you can get a newer, less cloudy housing design. At the best, you can find some factory HIDs.

steve remchak · **Posted:** Tue Nov 26, 2013 9:05 am

TomFreeman wrote:

Insert snarky comment about how Dave Davis doesn't work on Fords...

In all seriousness, can you do an upgrade to the grille and headlights from a new SuperDuty? I've seen some of the older SD's with that upgrade, but I don't know the years that the swap will fit.

At the very least, you can get a newer, less cloudy housing design. At the best, you can find some factory HIDs.

Dave does own a Suburban and the Silver Star reccomendation came based on that. I've seen some YouTube upgrades to the front of older Super Dutys but there are a lot of zip ties and sketchy backyard engineering involved.

RodneyWright · **Posted:** Tue Nov 26, 2013 9:53 am

steve remchak wrote:

Dave does own a Suburban and the Silver Star reccomendation came based on that. I've seen some YouTube upgrades to the front of older Super Dutys but there are a lot of zip ties and sketchy backyard engineering involved.

Well, seeing that you're a chump car racer, this seems a natural fit... :mrgreen:

steve remchak · **Posted:** Tue Nov 26, 2013 9:58 am

RodneyWright wrote:

steve remchak wrote:

Dave does own a Suburban and the Silver Star reccomendation came based on that. I've seen some YouTube upgrades to the front of older Super Dutys but there are a lot of zip ties and sketchy backyard engineering involved.

Well, seeing that you're a chump car racer, this seems a natural fit... :mrgreen:

Maybe, but if the front of the truck falls off on the way to an event it could put a damper on the weekend............ :wink:

Karl Shultz · **Posted:** Wed Nov 27, 2013 4:39 pm

I took back roads home yesterday in the Merc, and that part of Durham county is not well lit at all. I definitely want a lighting upgrade - I could hardly see the lane markings half the time.

RodneyWright · **Posted:** Wed Nov 27, 2013 6:18 pm

Funny you talk about lights. Even though the mustang has the optional HID's, the highbeams are worthless. I really don't want to add other lights to the front of it. Do they make upgrade bulbs for the HID's?

steve remchak · **Posted:** Sat Dec 07, 2013 12:17 am

I installed the Silverstar Ultras. Haven't spent much time driving with them but at first glance not much better. Whiter and maybe slightly further projection distance but not what I was hoping for. At 70mph I'm mostly driving in the dark.

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