Just ordered a new set of headlights but need some help figuring out what what to do with my headlight bulbs. Suggestions?

Keep the 9004
sylvania ultra or silverstar or other suggested

Do 9007 upgrade (dakotasram did the swap)

Run higher watt 9004 with relay harness (like jasonw)

 

After cleaning my headlight lens and switching to the 9004 silver star ultra, I'm very happy. Just my 2 cents...

 

The relay setup, whether you go higher wattage or not, is recommended to save the weak switches that Dodge used for the headlight switch and multi-function switch.

I need to redo mine this weekend, as I did it improperly (was in a hurry) the first time. Used electrical tape rather than proper connections like solder, wire nuts, or crimps (yes, I know, I did a big "no no"). Now that I have a garage and a free weekend, I should be able to do it right, rather than a parking light and dwindling light.

I would not recommend the 9007 swap. The filaments are oriented differently in the bulb than 9004s, and our factory housings are not designed for that type of orientation. 10w of extra light won't matter if it doesn't put the light where it's supposed to.

If you don't believe my reasoning, trust my experiment: I tried it back before I started trying aftermarket headlamp assemblies. The 9007 bulbs put out a worse light pattern. On top of that, to get them into the 9004 holes (to match up the tabs and slots), you have to have the bulbs turned at an angle that the MFG did not intend. This contributes further to the light pattern being off, and overall, worse.



EDIT: The only higher wattage 9004s that I can find are the blue coated bulbs. I believe I am going to try a Philips Nightguide set of bulbs next (stock wattage, no coating) and compare them to the light output from the high wattage, blue coated bulbs I am using now. (My bulbs are currently 100w highs, 80w lows.)

 

Dakotasram goes over the pin out difference in his thread and claims the low beam out put difference was quite a bit although his picture was hard to tell. Dakotasram cut the two bottom notches out of the light housing so the 9007 fit correctly with just the top notch. On the other hand after googling the 9007 swap I found another guy who cut notches in the bulb base instead. I knew that the 9007 glass width was different from the 9004 but the lenght was the same. However I did not take notice to the orientation change of the filament so thanks for pointing that out, and can see where than can make things different.

Putco looks like they make a nice upgrade harness for 100w but the wire shield is yellow lol. I would be really interested in your results between the phillips and the ones you have before I order bulbs.

I did find these that arn't coated blue

http://cat.hella.com/hella-nafta/jsp...sp?nologin=yes

If the link doesn't work, here is the path - Lighting\bulbs\halogen bulbs\H1 9004\

Last one listed part # H83155131

 

Erm.... aren't headlights legally limited to 55 watts? Or, does that vary dramatically by state as well?

 

stupid question but the 9004 will fit with no modifications? and what does a set of them run for.

 

Probably... but I think I have a better shot of not getting pulled over for using brighter lights vs. hids in non projector housing. Not to mention hids are illegal in pa if they wern't OE equiped (for obvious reasons).

 

I haven't seen too many cops with light meters lately...... and I don't recall EVER seeing someone get a ticket for it.... unless they were running their off-road lights on the street......

Something I may have to investigate. My headlights suck.

 

HID's are the best for vision. They are best if you do a retrofit and put projectors in your stock headlights. If you do that the glare isn't too bad and the light pattern is great. This is really the way to go instead of wasting your money on tons of cheap coated or high wattage bulbs, most of which are worse than stock when it comes to light output.

PNP HID kits also are better vision wise than stock headlights, but the glare is horrible for these trucks so it's horrible for oncoming drivers which is why you need to do the retrofit.

I've tried several cheap bulbs, and 90% of them were horrible. My favorites I found were the Farenheit high wattage ones, but even then they don't compare to HID's.

 

Went HIDs and will never go back! spendy up front, tons better than stock. I'll never go Non-HID again on any vehicle.