The truth about aftermarket headlight bulbs...

[Guest]

I like that commercial for some brand of bulbs that uses an animation to show you how much better you can see....

Why not just use the real thing?

[Jeff P]

I've had standard halogens, Sylvania Cool Blues, and Sylvania SilverStars.  What I've found is that the standard halogens had low light output, it was actually hard to see.  The Cool Blue bulbs were a great improvement and lasted a lot longer.  The SilverStars were *not* an improvement on the Cool Blues, except for very slightly whiter light.  I don't believe they were worth the money.

My Bonneville, on the other hand, has a much better beam pattern than my Beretta and therefore does excellent (still a lot better than my Beretta) with its stock GM halogens.

Thanks for the link, Paul

[brilamb2]

the biggest thing nobody seems to mention is the aiming of their lights.  if your lights arentaimed rigth, you either cant see or your blinding everybody else.  its not the bu;b so much as the housing and aiming

[Jeff P]

Very true, Brian.  And no one ever thinks about it.  The procedure is in the factory manuals and it isn't that tough, you just need a fair amount of room, level ground, and a wall.  The dealer can also do it, and sometimes has the special tool for it.  Recently one of my headlight brackets cracked, throwing the alignment off, but up until then I re-aimed the lights at every oil change.