Brighter Headlights, What worked best for you?

[markelectric]

I have been wanting to brighten the headlights on the Burb but with my age (lack of memory) and also wanting to do it to the Dodges (mixing it up in my mind) I thought I would ask all of you for your BEST results. I did the dims coming on with the brights on the 95 but have heard of other tricks. I want to do the right thing the first time.

Thanks

This should also help future searches to have all the good ideas in one thread.

[ToddMeister]

I put the Kennedy Diesel headlight harness on my 95, much brighter now.

[Dvldog8793]

The JK harness supplies true 12+ volts and allows for easy 4 light use. Also JCWhitney sells standard 80watt dims and 100watt brights. These are the STANDARD high output, DO NOT fool around with any special "coarings" or "colored" lights as they are mainly desinged to empty your wallet. A 70 watt bulb IS 70watts. regardless of what the maker wants you to think. I have used the Phillips Ralley bulbs in the past and they work GREAT but are no longer available. The JCWhitney bulbs are good but I don't think they will last as long. The higher wattage bulbs are shorter lived normally. Also consider getting some auxilary lighting that comes on with brights only. I have PIAA Pro80 XTs that come on with brights. So on brights I have a total of over 600watts of light. Hope this helps....
L8r
Conley

[Govt issue]

Try refinishing the outside of the fixture. Water sand it with 1500 then 3000 , medium cut compound and thena hand glaze. Turns them from yellow and hazey to almost completely clear.

[jspringator]

HIR bulbs http://hirheadlights.com/ and glass headlights (not projector) from Mr. Tailight. I also have Kennedy's headlight relay kit, but bought it to save the HL switch while towing.

[StephenA]

I'm posting on this thread only so that I can receive emails when someone adds to it. Is there any other way to receive email notifications on threads without posting?

[jspringator]

Go to thread tools and subscribe to the post. I don't know if posting automatically subscribes you to the thread or not.

[Kennedy]

Try refinishing the outside of the fixture. Water sand it with 1500 then 3000 , medium cut compound and thena hand glaze. Turns them from yellow and hazey to almost completely clear.


Good idea! Make all the light that you want, but if the lenses are clouded it won't get out.

The old Philips Rally bulbs were awesome, but no longer available. The Philips Premium that we send in the kits are excellent and outperform most anything out ther that is DOT legal and some that are not.

[TurboDiverArt]

Go to thread tools and subscribe to the post. I don't know if posting automatically subscribes you to the thread or not.
Don't mean to hijack thread. Default is not to subscribe to threads. Go to user CP and edit your profile options. Set to automatically receive email on subscriptions and subscribe when you reply to post. Might also want to turn on to allow private messages and some of the other options.

Art.

[More Power]

Here's a link to an article we did some time ago about a Light Booster (http://www.thedieselpage.com/reviews/lightbooster.htm) product review for the GM trucks....:)

Jim

[garre1tt]

Once again TDP to the rescue. It was only last weekend I was telling the wife I couldn't see sh** driving in the dark. I just assumed that We would have to live with it. Knowing this will make me feel much better with her driving on trips she has in the future.
Michael D

[HANK1948]

I definitely recommend polishing the lenses. On both my '95 and '96 the lenses weren't quite yellow but after polishing them it was such a difference in looks that it made it worth the elbow grease... :cool:

[big61fourby]

For those of you who polished the headlight lenses for better light, what product did you use, or would you care to give more of a step-by-step for those of us who aren't too familiar with this? Where's the best place to get products like this?

[HANK1948]

For those of you who polished the headlight lenses for better light, what product did you use, or would you care to give more of a step-by-step for those of us who aren't too familiar with this? Where's the best place to get products like this?

I used a plastic polishing compound and a unbound cotton wheel mounted on a bench grinder. As long as youre familiar with polishing (know how not to "burn in") it's an easy task. Depending on how pitted your lenses are you might be best wet sanding first. Mine weren't pitted but they were starting to discolor and simply polishing them worked great! They seem to look better than new...

The compound used can be found at most any industrial supply house but I purchased it at MSC Industrial Supply Co. . They can be found on the web at www1.mscdirect.com/cgi/nnsrhm and the polishing compound is PN# 00534107.

[Perry]

Here's a link to an article we did some time ago about a Light Booster (http://www.thedieselpage.com/reviews/lightbooster.htm) product review for the GM trucks....:)

Jim
I purchased and installed the DSG light booster based on this article, and have been really satisfied. It really improved using the stock bulbs, but the big improvement was after installing higher wattage bulbs that came with the kit (70 and 100's). The downside of these bulbs is that they don't last very long as the low beams burned out within a year probably as they were on all the time with the DRL.

I replaced the lows with some silverstars which are 55w and have the whiter light, but I think visibility in inclement weather is better with the clear bulbs, so I ordered a set of 80w along with spares and I'm happy again. With the 80w's I'm surprised that on-coming traffic never flashes me. I just have to be careful when coming up behind people in town.

[Govt issue]

In my body shop we charge $30 per ligtht plus R/I time. Most any body shop can do them for you for less than a hundred dollars. I will go to the back and get the part numbers of the 3m compounds that we use for those of you who want to do it yourself.

[Govt issue]

Ok Start by removeing the lamps from the truck. Then take a DA sander with 600 grit wet sand paper, sand the lens till they are smooth and not pitted. Every step after this is just canceling out the scratches of the lower grit sand paper. Da with 1000 grit wet, then with 1500, 3000 all wet. Then dry the lens. Take 3m 06060 rubbing compound on a wool buffing pad and burn in. Then use any machine glaze. Then use a good hand glaze like Aura 3000. The lens should look white and clear. If not then start back over at 600.

[markelectric]

Perry Do you have the part numbers of those lamps?

[Perry]

Perry Do you have the part numbers of those lamps?

Here's the website I ordered the DSG light booster from. They have just the wiring or wiring w/the high wattage bulbs. Note the bulbs are for "off road use only". Here's a link http://www.dieselservices.com/html/gm_diesel/6_5_Turbo_Diesel/headlight_brightening_kit_p12.cfm?curr=2#flags

I've ordered bulbs from two of these outfits, but they both seem to be out of stock of their high wattage bulbs. I wonder if the feds are cracking down on the sale of high wattage bulbs:
http://www.rallylights.com/hella/bulbs.asp
http://www.hioutputbulbs.com/ (this site has been down for a few days)

And here's a link to JC Whitney's 80w clear 9006 bulb: http://www.jcwhitney.com/autoparts/ItemBrowse/c-10101/s-10101/p-100000228401/mediaCode-ZX/appId-100000228401/Pr-p_CATENTRY_ID:100000228401

[computer-monkey]

I use a painless wire harness 30817 just because I could get it local

[Kennedy]

I had the Painless cheap relay gizmo for a while. It does get all 4, but does nothing for voltage drop or to eliminate load on the switch. Then I put on the headlight booster from Sweden when MP did the review. I later decided that I wanted something a bit better with sealed relays and overload protection so I had my own kits built here in the US. This is one of the first mods that I make to my trucks.

[jspringator]

The Kennedy headlight relay set has performed flawlessly. The Reese relay kit for my trailer lights failed after 2 years.

[GMC Hauler]

Good idea! Make all the light that you want, but if the lenses are clouded it won't get out.

The old Philips Rally bulbs were awesome, but no longer available. The Philips Premium that we send in the kits are excellent and outperform most anything out ther that is DOT legal and some that are not.

Do the bulbs last as long as stock bulbs do with your kit?


The JK harness supplies true 12+ volts and allows for easy 4 light use. Also JCWhitney sells standard 80watt dims and 100watt brights. These are the STANDARD high output, DO NOT fool around with any special "coarings" or "colored" lights as they are mainly desinged to empty your wallet. A 70 watt bulb IS 70watts. regardless of what the maker wants you to think. I have used the Phillips Ralley bulbs in the past and they work GREAT but are no longer available. The JCWhitney bulbs are good but I don't think they will last as long. The higher wattage bulbs are shorter lived normally. Also consider getting some auxilary lighting that comes on with brights only. I have PIAA Pro80 XTs that come on with brights. So on brights I have a total of over 600watts of light. Hope this helps....
L8r
Conley

Me and my father both have experience with these JC Whitney bulbs and they do not last long at all. When i say not long i mean less than a month on several bulbs. I do not recommend them.