Headlights

[bonnieman17]

How long does the Sylvania Sivlerstar lights last? I was reading some reviews and people were saysing they dont last that long is this true?

[mntnbkr]

I put silverstar bulbs in my old 2000 cavalier before I gave it to my sister about 3 years ago. They're still in there and working.

[Gumball]

moved to Gen Chat.

I havent heard of them burning out any quicker than stock bulbs. which can last years.

the SS's I had in my old headlights had to be at least 3 years old, before an accident broke them.

[swampthing]

never used them myself, I have heard about them being more sensitive to vibration and due to that if you have any vibration in that part of the car they will blow very quickly


you might want to do a little research on 9011 and 9012 bulbs they require a little modding to fit but are supposed to be the brightest non-HID you can get

[mntnbkr]

I can say with confidence that the sensitivity to vibration is a myth. I drove my cavalier for quite a while after putting in silverstar bulbs on some of the worst dirt roads in Michigan, and they didn't fail. To make the scenario worse, both headlight housing mounts were damaged (one due to a deer hit and the other from a large chunk of asphalt) causing the headlight housings to shake whenever I hit a bump. I just recently replaced one of the housings for my sister and the bulbs are still working OK.

[J Wikoff]

It may be the different bulb style that a Grand Am uses, but I had SS Ultra headlights and normal SS fog lights in it. The headlights burnt out in less than a year, within an eerily close window of time (like a couple days). A month later one of the fogs burnt out.

[LeSabre in Buffalo]

Regular SS bulbs have a very short design life.

Look into a $10 relay harness marketed for driving 9006 HID kits and doing the 9005 swap. That made a very noticeable difference in the light output of my car, and cost about $30 to do. Or less than SilverStar bulbs. I've had mine for about a year. Replacement 9005 bulbs run about $15, vs. $30-50 for SilverStars.

[rrounds]

I swapped my 9006(55w) lights out with the 9005(60w) light bulbs about 5 years ago and thats all I did(no relay). You get 70% more light by doing this simple mod, no need for the SS lights just get a cheap(about $8) GE 9005 light bulb for the extra light.
I do this on every car I have that has the 9006 low beam lights. I also put a 85w bulb in my motorcycle and in my Ford truck I put high power(80w) bulbs in the low beam side, now I can see the road and miss all the pot holes.
Here is a how to on how to put the 9005 bulb in the 9006 side
http://www.bmwe34.net/E34main/Upgrade/More_light.htm
or if you want a LOT of light put this bulb in the low beam side
http://www.rallylights.com/detail.aspx?ID=1414

ROD

[bonnevillain]

I did the 9005 swap a year or so ago, and just put in the relay harness about a month ago. They seem a little whiter, so I think it helped some. Not a ton though.

[94SilverSSEi]

I just got the silver star ultra ultra or whatever the heck they are they are the best bulb you can get supposedly and they are supposed to be twice as wide and twice as deep as far as how far the light goes I really like them but I dont notice a lot of difference in the city with them. In the country or darker areas these are really great bulbs.
Also they are said to be superior to anything else and only last a year because they are so much better

[LeSabre in Buffalo]

The advantage of the harness is supplying cleaner power and avoiding any issues with the factory wiring. Could be the 00+ cars have better wiring than the earlier cars. I noticed a large difference in color when the harness went in. The 9005's I had went from halogen yellow to whitish. It also evened out the light levels of the headlights, as my factory headlight wiring is messed up on the passenger side, which made that light dimmer.

The SS Ultras last a year because they're designed to die after a year and make you spend more money on overpriced trash, not because they're so much better. They purposely over-drive the filament so it burns out quickly, and use the blue tint to trick your brain into thinking you can see further down the road because the light is white.

If you're going to spend $40-50 on bulbs, get HIR2 bulbs. More light (~1800 lumens for HIR2 vs. ~1150 for SS) and longer life (~800 hours for HIR2 vs. ~150 hours for SS). Or spend $15 at China-Mart for European-made 9005 bulbs that last a wee bit longer than SS bulbs and still throw out 1700 lumens of light.

I intensely dislike SS bulbs because they're a ripoff. There are better options outlined in this thread.

If you have the SS and like them, great! Just be aware they have a very short life.

[J Wikoff]

I've had the same set of PIAAs in the Bonneville for several years. Silverstars have nothing on them and only last a fraction as long.

[BonneMe]

SS will run hotter due to their coating, they're overpriced (IMO) and many here have seen them die earlier. I liked some philips bulbs I ran in my '93.

But a 9005 does do 70% more light. You have to go to HID's to get that kind of difference.

[rrounds]

I just got the silver star ultra ultra or whatever the heck they are they are the best bulb you can get supposedly and they are supposed to be twice as wide and twice as deep as far as how far the light goes I really like them but I dont notice a lot of difference in the city with them. In the country or darker areas these are really great bulbs.
Also they are said to be superior to anything else and only last a year because they are so much better

You could have saved some money and get more light from the 9006/9005 bulb swap.
1700 lumens(9005) vs 1000 lumens(9006) bulb, when the SSU burn out go get a cheap GE 9005 bulb and you will see the difference between the two bulbs.

ROD

[SSEimatt93]

I did this bulb swap on my SSEi, will never go back, what a massive difference...been in there for a few years now.

[rrounds]

Wait till you get to be my age Matt, I need all the light I can get.

ROD

[ChilinMichael]

I had all Silverstar Ultra, I had the headlamp low beam on left go after about 1 year...I now use PIAA Intense White and I'm far happier with the light intensity and color.

[John Deere Boy]

I've had SS's in my car for 5 years, no burnouts. Not much improvement in light output either.

I've had SS's in my bike for 3 years, no burnouts. VAST improvement in light output.

[rrounds]

I've had SS's in my bike for 3 years, no burnouts. VAST improvement in light output.

If you have the H4 bulb, try this bulb-it lights up the road....
http://www.rallylights.com/detail.aspx?ID=1404
I have the 85/80w and it is 2 1/2 years old. I use the stock head light harness and it has not giving me any problems.
I had a 130/90w bulb but its made for racing so it didn't last very long, but it did light up the road.

ROD

[bonnieman17]

so what do i all need to do the 9005 coversion?