I want to upgrade the bulbs on my 2012 Ram to either the Sylvania silverstar ultras or the ZXE...does anyone have them or an opinion on either of them? I don't want to go HID's...I have the quad headlights.

 

Those silverstars are just overpriced crap. Philips xtreme vision (they may have renamed them now) are what you want. Get those for the low beams and the hir 9011 bulbs (you might have to trim a tab on the bulb base, but the filament position is the same) for the high beams.

 

what color light are they? are they "whiter" or still yellowish tint?

 

They're going to be pretty much the same color as the stock bulbs, but much brighter. Any of those bulbs that are trying to look blue are junk. To make them bluer or whiter they put a filter on them to tint the light, but in reality they only let the blue part of the light spectrum through and block the rest, so they're dimmer than they could be if they were normally colored.

 

I put Sylvania Silverstars in my 06' Ram and they were much whiter then the stock bulbs which tend to be a bit warmer in color. I thought they looked better appearance wise and they did make things up close a bit easier to see. That being said, distance wise their was little difference over stock.

The bottom line is no matter what brand or model of bulb you choose, if the wattage is the same as stock you will not get more light overall. It's not possible. Their is no Halogen bulb coating or filament style that fits your headlights housings that can throw more light up close AND at a distance unless you increase the wattage. Most of these "Extreme white" type bulbs are simply giving the impression that they are brighter because the light is whiter in color.

Consumer reports did a huge write up on aftermarket bulbs and they tested pretty much all of them. They too confirm what is reality. I plan on putting some of these whiter light bulbs in my 11' soon. Most likely ill go with Phillips or Sylvania. I am not going to bother upgrading my high beam bulbs because i use them so little. The factory driving lights work great with the standard headlights (for me at least).

Someone may have a detailed write up on how you can use higher wattage bulbs in the stock housings but i would be very leery of doing so unless you have a good understand of automotive electrical systems. You can cause a lot of damage if you overload the factory wiring.

If you want substantially more light without being selfish and blinding other motorists (like people who put HID's in halogen housings) then i suggest adding a good set of driving lights.

 

Silverstar regulars are whiter with a very faint blue hue from afar. I use these because I like the looks of a white light over yellowish.
Silverstar Ultras are quite blue from 10ft out and get bluer the further you go. I tried these at first but quickly pulled them due to the very blue look that I could even see driving down the road.(cop magnet too)

Blue light is unusable to the human eye and is a waste.

Yes they look whiter going down the road and you percieve things as being brighter but they aren't. The coating on the bulb to give this appearance causes them to run hot and degrades their lifespan considerably.

I dont know about any other bulb. IF anything is brighter, it's because they have a less resistive element inside and are ran 'hot' which is technically illegal, runs much hotter, AND most importantly...pulls excessive current. Our trucks are computer controlled and the wiring is only capable of sustaining so much current through them.

 

For the most part you're right about the coatings, but not entirely. The HIR 9011 and HIR 9012 bulbs (they can fit in 9005 and 9006 sockets respectively) actually do have a coating that makes more light from the same wattage by reflecting infrared energy back onto the filament to make it hotter and brighter, hence they're called halogen infrared reflective.

That said you can always do an hid projector retrofit if you want brighter lights without blinding everyone with a pnp kit. That's what I did with my headlights because no bulb was going to fix the crappy optics of them. Check out hidplanet.com and theretrofitsource.com for more info about that. Here are some examples of projector retrofits in new Rams:
http://www.hidplanet.com/forums/show...2-Ram-Retrofit
http://www.hidplanet.com/forums/show...-1500-Retrofit
http://www.hidplanet.com/forums/show...e-Ram-Retrofit

 

While used to be true....no longer is....

Taken from CandlePower webpage: "Halogen Infrared Reflective bulbs no longer have the electo-deposited coating that reflects the filament's infrared (heat) back onto the filament, which was originally designed to maintain a greater lumen maintenance throughout its life expectancy. It also resulted hotter filament that produced more light without increased power consumption."

The newer one's are just have a different design filament as compared to standard halogen style bulbs. otherwise the outer appearance looks identical. The new HIR bulbs are rated at 13.2V which gives them a supposedly higher output on paper. Typical halogen bulbs are rated at 12.8V. It's funny how the HIR bulbs are rated 55w at 12.8v yet they provide lumens at 13.2v.
The HIR's are generally used in plow lights. Ya know those blinding lights over the top of the plow that pick up trucks have. They are a brighter light, but you better be darn sure that you have the reflector bowl in front ot he lightbulb before you use them. Otherwise, your wasting the bulb and blinding others.
Lastly, HIR's wont fit in the Rams. Only 9006 and 9005 bulb bases.


OP, I didnt realize you said ZXE....
Regardless what bulb you pick. In order to be "DOT" compliant, they must be under a certain Lumen rating and watt rating.
Let's pick 9006:
Standard bulb has 1000 lumen
Silverstar Ultras have 1000 Lumen.
GE Nighthawks have 1000 Lumen
9005 bulbs:
Standard replacement bulbs have 1700 Lumen
GE Nighthawks have 1695 Lumen
Silverstar Ultras only have --> 1400Lumen

ZXE are no exception. They merely have a coating that makes the light whiter, not brighter. This is pretty much Sylvanias claim as well. Whiter Light that rivals HID.

So, if your looking for brighter light with more output...Highly marketed Halogen bulbs that manufacturers push on people is not your answer. They are all coated bulbs with hidden Gimmicks. All of the claims of 30%+ or 90%+ are compared to worn bulbs. AND their measurement is off the coil itself, not the typical measurement from other bulbs. Both of these are marketing strategies that should be illegal. Just a bunch of misguided info.
This goes for every single Halogen bublb out there

 

My local performance shop has what he says "are the first of a new LED headlight bulb upgrade that works with stock housings" due in next week. They claim to be as bright as HID's but with a vastly more reliable design. Ill post more info once i see them. I am still doubtful they will not be annoying and blinding other drivers but we shall see.

 

Don't buy that junk, all of those leds are absolutely terrible if you want any useful light at all. You may as well strap a couple mag lites to your hood, it'd be better than those. That person must have been dropped on his head if he thinks they're bright or will work well.