Need some brighter bulbs

Blackmirror · 01-08-03, 07:20

When I replaced the bulb on my 96 caravan it was just a regular halogen bulb. I am wondering if there is a different or special brand that makes bright white bulbs for the caravans. Thanks for any help.

dboat · 01-08-03, 07:40

sylvania silverstars.. very white light... have them myself..
get'em at AutoZone.. they are on sale now..

Scottwax · 01-08-03, 07:59

Quote:

Originally posted by dboat
sylvania silverstars.. very white light... have them myself..
get'em at AutoZone.. they are on sale now..

Same here.

ExplEddieBauer · 01-11-03, 08:20

Ditto that. One of my friends has a pair of those and they outshines my PIAA Superwhites and my PIAA's were $30 more than the SilverStars.

Scottwax · 01-11-03, 08:28

Speaking of Silverstars, I did the 9006 to 9005 conversion today. The high beam 65 watt Silverstars are a definite improvement over the 55 watt Silverstars. 1700 lumens instead of 1000. I adjusted my lights slightly down and towards the passenger side. No one flashed me at all, and they sure put a lot of white light on the ground. Not quite as much as true HIDs, but a lot more than stock.

BTW, if you heat a knife, it makes short work of the plastic guides you need to remove. Took me less than 5 minutes to remove them from both lights by simply heating the blade of the knife on the stove.

Guess My Name · 01-11-03, 10:15

Watch the watt rating of the new bulbs versus the old bulbs....

The stock wiring is rated for the whatever the FUSE (or Relay) is rated for and you do not want to overload this and either burn the fuse or pop the relay.....

HTH

Scottwax · 01-11-03, 11:54

Quote:

Originally posted by Guess My Name
Watch the watt rating of the new bulbs versus the old bulbs....

The stock wiring is rated for the whatever the FUSE (or Relay) is rated for and you do not want to overload this and either burn the fuse or pop the relay.....

HTH

65 watt bulb in a factory harness is fine in place of a 55 watt bulb. 100 watt bulbs though? I would upgrade the harness for sure!

spincycle · 01-12-03, 12:24

hey everyone,

Sorry, but I'm going to hafta give the Silverstars

. I've done a lot of research into automotive lighting and the Silverstars we get over here in North America are a rather poor design. They don’t produce many more lumens over stock lighting units, but do produce a high colour temperature light making it appear brighter when it actually isn’t. You’ll notice it can actually be more difficult to see in inclement weather because the “whiter” light produced by these bulbs is actually a narrower band of light. This decreases the effect amount of reflected/refracted light from some objects.

If you are looking to throw more light at a further distance on the road, look for products which are made for the European market. They take they’re lighting very seriously. Remember when you’re speeding down the Autobahn at night you need a real improvement in lighting, not a gimmicky product.

Philips Vision Plus generate a 50% brighter beam and a longer beam pattern. This means a brighter road without blinding oncoming traffic. Orsam (aka Sylvania) European SilverStars are made to compete with the Philips product. The version we get over here in North America is very different. You can order from www.powerbulbs.com. They are based in the UK but have free shipping anywhere in the world.

I hope this helps!

Ming

ice_nyne · 01-13-03, 08:58

FYI - If you are even REMOTELY considering beefing up your Ford headlights/parking lights with higher wattage bulbs, you WILL need a wiring harness. Competition limited makes/sells the one we T-Bird/Cougar/Mark VIII/Lincoln LS folks use. Too many times have I read posts on Ford forums from those whose wiring melted due to the stronger bulbs. My .02

Neb · 01-14-03, 03:26

i've heard good things about the vision pluses, and plan on getting them when my stockers burn out. (they've lasted over 3 years

)

Old Rattle Flat · 01-14-03, 07:15

I had a '96 Town & Country with the same problem. Spent a lot of time looking into it. Unfortunately, the design of the head lamp units in the Chrysler minivans was arguably the worst in the world for a number of years. Sylvania Xtravisions will help somewhat, but no bulb can really overcome the underlying bad design.

For What it's worth! The Sylvania Cool Blues and the Silverstars tend to be appearance items that alter the light color to whatever your preference may be, but do not actually do anything to improve visability. The Sylvania Xtravision actually does improve visibility with better bulb performance, but doesn't do anything for appearance.

Daniel Stern Lighting has fairly extensive information on this topic. Also, because Chrysler products, especially the minivans, have historically had such horrible lights the "rec.autos.markers.chrysler" Newsgroup periodically have some fairly extensive or intense discussions about these bulbs. As Dan Stern is part of the Chrysler newsgroup, if you do a google search for "Daniel Stern Lighting" and than look under the Groups tab, you will find extensive discussions, links, and threads, about the various bulbs, and the Chrysler minivan headlights.

dboat · 01-14-03, 07:22

I am some agreement with your statement on the appearance value of SilverStars, however, I have to tell you after having changed them in my elderly parents car and truck and then my own truck, they really are brighter and whiter and therefore lend themselves to improved vision at night..
My parents were astounded. My skinflint father was aghast at paying $100 for new bulbs for his vehicles but after we put them in he said it was worth every penny. And this type of complement from him doesnt come easy..
Dana