short headlight life

[tonkater]

I've been thinking of upgrading to an aftermarket headlight harness for all three of my trucks. However I've heard that some guys are experiencing very drastically shortened life of their bulbs - whether oem, sylvania heavy duties or etc.
If these harness draw power directly from alt and not bat , could the fluctuations in alt output be what is killing the bulbs ( kind of like "dirty power" to our home computers)

Besides the headlight life issue , I'm also concerned with whether this change , plus changing to running all 4 bulbs on high beam could create any kind of fire hazzard ?

[FirstDiesel]

tonkater


I'll give you my 2 cents here. I have run high output Hella H4 lamps in my sportcar for years with no noticeable bulb life issues. Since the truck doesn't use H4's I and the Hellas were expensive for 4 bulbs I tried Eiko lamps. When they light they are wonderful but so far I have gone through 4 bulbs in 4 weeks. The dealer claims they have had no issues with these bulbs but since each one has failed in a different mode of failure I refuse to blame the truck, especially since the stock bulbs are fine.
I think bulb life equals manufacture quality. That doesn't mean a "name brand" bulb might still not be junk.

As for a fire hazard with all 4 lamps on, I guess it would depend how you do it. Buy one of those cheap kits that just jumps the lamps together and uses the stock wiring, maybe. Get a Kennedy harness, no way. The thing is stout!!

[ccds]

try doing a search for headlight harness you will get lots of info from members that have already gone through some of the problems you are having.

here is a sample:

http://forum.thedieselpage.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=5&t=000144&p=

I have used JK's harness and bulbs since Oct. and not one problem....

smile.gif

[mdrag]

tonkater,

I've had the KD harness on my truck since 11/2001 with the 70W/100W Philips bulbs and no problems to report - except that I don't like it when I have to turn OFF the high beams tongue.gif

It is my understanding that high performance bulbs such as the Philips Rally series will have a shorter lifespan than regular bulbs - a good analogy would be noticably reduced rear tire life with frequent performance box exercising... :D

As far as a fire hazard, the KD harness is VERY heavy duty with fusible links on the power leads, and if installed correctly - should not pose a fire risk. I would be much more concerned using one of the cheaper conversion that use relays and the OEM harness - especially if you go to higher wattage bulbs.

I'm moving this topic to the 2500HD/3500 HD Trucks and Drivetrain forum.

[JimWilson]

Here's another harness you can check into...

http://suvlights.tripod.com/suvlightscom/html/wire-harness.htm

I have one of these sitting on the workbench in my basement, but since it hasn't gotten out of the 20's here in a few weeks it's gonna sit there until spring! tongue.gif

[ZFMax]

Just lost one of the 70w low beam bulbs in my Kennedy harness setup. It's been in there almost exactly one year. The glass literally melted, the bulb shape deformed. The 70 watters not being readily available at auto parts stores, I just slapped in some 51w stockers.

One thing about all of these bulbs, be very careful not to touch the glass with your fingers. That'll shorten bulb life in a hurry, and can also put a fog on the inside of your headlight assembly. But that's not what happened here. The bulb just failed early for whatever reason.

[IndigoDually]

I lost a 70w Phillips after about a year of service. I don't think that's too bad. I have heard that others are burning out much quicker. I would like to see bulbs for the DRL's that will last longer. Even the long life ones are kinda short lived. My DRL sockets are looking kinda burnt also.

John

[JimWilson]

It seems more DRL bulbs don't work then do, which is another reason I'm glad I pulled that fuse. ;)

Getting only a year from a quartz halogen bulb is not good, especially if it actually melted. If it were me I'd be concerned there's something else going on.