[Kinger]

Hey guys/gals I have to share this mod I just did to my low beams. I basically modded my old stock high beams to fit into the low beam socket. This link is were I picked up the info:
http://207.236.3.190/kojih/upgrades/headlamp.html

At that link he tested all the different bulbs including the piaa super white and super plasma, very good reading if you want to know what the best bulb is.

Anyway I did the mod per his instructions on the site and WOW i can SEE. Unbelieveable light coverage, low current draw (car doesn't slow down with Hiper fogs and hiper lows anymore), and basically it covers the road with a sheet of light that is truly amazing if you drive alot out of town. I kept my Hiper highs and there is a big difference in whitness of the light, meaning the lows beams now match my fogs, even though I had hipers in there(must be tinted lens or something) but the highs are really white, this works perfect when driving backroads because you get coverage along with whiteness.

If your into whiteness then this isn't for you, but if you want to see then this is the way to go!!

Thanks gunmetal for enlightening me about how hyper whites are worse then stock halogens, your totaly right!! Now I can see!!!! Or I can say "Ive seen the light!"

 

[BlackCat75]

so u put in 9005 instead of 9006?

 

[Bobnoxious]

Seems like he is saying to cut and put in 9006, while ours are designed for 9005. Kinger, you also rotated the position of your high and low beams??
Sorry, I don't really know anything about head lights.
One of my fog light bulbs is burned out. Is there a replacement bulb that is brighter but will not damage the fog light houseing and lens??

 

[EdgeCat]

And this is neither illegal or dangerous? I had heard people talk about doing this before, and some said it was dangerous as it could lead to melting problems in the headlights, as well as blinding oncoming cars. Also, is there any danger of NOT getting the lights back out? Someone on the board tried this mod before, and managed to get the bulbs stuck in the headlights permenantly. I really want brighter lights, but I do have my concerns.

 

[Kinger]

Hi all!

This mod is totally safe, I'm using less power then when I had the Hiper lows in there (60watt vs 80watt) And the only difference is clearly shown on the link. The harness pops off just like normal. As far as legality its actually proably more legal then using hyper whites just cause you can't tell a difference in the whiteness of light. I'm not sure though so I will say "for offroad use only"

Blackcat75 I used the 9005 (high) in the 9006 (low) socket. All the info is on the link and its very detailed and I invite everyone to check it out if they are interested. Have fun!

 

[Kinger]

Hey guys I forgot to mention but our low beam lens has a like a shield that will only let the light go up so high, therefore oncoming traffic isn't affected at all.

http://207.236.3.190/kojih/upgrades/bulbmod/bulbmod.html

The link here describes the acutal modification and is the nail right on the head when it talks about the oncoming traffic thing. It also nails the part about the low beam 9006 bulb having a shield on the tip of it whereas the high beam does not, this creates the "blanket" affect I was talking about earlier. Lastly to clear things up the only thing were modifing is the bulb, and the harness isn't effected in anyway. So if you don't like it replace them with sperwhites or whatever your pleasure! Take care!

 

[Guest]

D'oh! It wasn't my intention to turn people on to doing this to their headlights... Our headlights don't use a reflector system, so the highbeams actually are pointing directly into other drivers eyes. If you do this mod, make sure to re-aim your lowbeams so you're not doing this. Also, heed the warning not to use over-wattage bulbs.

 

[EdgeCat]

Kinger, have you had any problems with people flashing you about it? If so, I'm guessing just reaiming the headlights would help avoid this? Looking at that website, it's amazing the difference in brightness, and how similar doing this mod is to the superwhite-type bulbs. I honestly am pretty indifferent about "white" lights.. I just want to be able to see better.

 

[Kinger]

Edge cat,

No I haven't had a flash yet, but I'm almost positive that there must be some sort of shield on the headlight housing itself becasue there is a distinct line that stops about 2.5 feet up from the ground measured from about 30 feet away. The light just stops at that point, then when I put the high beams on that light is about 1 ft higher then the lows. If you have replaced your stock high beams you got nothing to lose by shaving them and given it a whirl, its really a HUGE difference. Godd luck

 

[Crispy]

I did this like 3 months ago..... I shaved a tab off the bights to make it fit into the lows socket... I took them out 2 weeks ago, I don't recommend anyone to do it...

I was the person that someone mentioned up there that had the lights STUCK in the housing... even with the tab being shaved its still not a direct replacement fit.. I had to push them onto the clips forceably and then electrical tape the back so they would not jiggle when I went over bumps. They do light the road better than the stock dims, but do not expect a bright white light nor something tragically bright. One burnt out and I had to take a screwdriver and pliers to the housing to pry them out of the sockets... I decided right there that I would not screw up my housings again and bought some bright whites from Sears... They give off ALOT better light then this mod did... and now I don't get flashed by oncoming traffic anymore... Its your lights, do what you want... but this Cat wouldn't do it again nor recommend anyone to mess with that....

Be prepared to buy new housings if something does go wrong....

 

[Kinger]

Crispy,

Thats odd that you shaved your bulb so it would go into the housing, mine just popped right in without any shaving. The only shaving I did was to the little tiny plastic tab inside the bulb plugin on the bulb it self, I never did anything to the housing or harness. I'm not sure why I would ever need to replace a headlight assembly because I pulled the bulbs out of there a couple of times because I swapped the wrong ones initially and just pulled them out and swapped nothing big. Anyway I'm not advocating this mod to everyone, so if you want to try it go ahead if thats not your fancy replaes them. take care guys/gals!

 

[Guest]

Kinger, do you remember if your highbeams had little "nubs" at the top? I think this is what Crispy is talking about. The Contour guys that talked about this mod a while ago mentioned that you have to shave off the nub to make the bulb fit back in the housing, as well as removing the stub in the actual bulb plug.
Actually shaving part of the bulb off makes me very nervous

 

[Bobnoxious]

I had a hard time following the mod on his instructions but it sounds like two different things were done by Kinger and Crispy. Kinger shaved the blub and just switched the blubs not the harness that holds the bulbs. Crispy switched the harness. I could be wrong, just sounds that way.

 

[Crispy]

I shaved the tab on the bulb......Actually there are 2 places on the bulb you shave... you nip off part of the fatter 3 prongs (the wheel shape) and a little tab off the bottom are where it plugs in...

I believe that we both did the same thing... unbelievably his fit into his housings perfectly where mine needed to be jammed onto the wires inside the housing... and then they bounced around when I went over bumps so I had to electrical tape the lights onto the housing... and then when the time came to replace a bunrt out light I spent alot of time trying to pull them out with a pliers... it didn't work and I thought I was gonna have to buy new housings... On my last ditch effort I tried a small flathead screwdriver and pried them out.. replaced them with super white dims and they are way better than the stock brights were before and my I know I won't have to mess with that crap again and risk the possibility of ruining my stock housings.

 

[Crispy]

BTW --- Gunmetal is completely correct... that is what you have to do to make this modification work.... and even after doing that it wasn't a complete direct replacement for me...

 

[Frank]

I have 100-watt fogs, and high-beam 9005 bulbs all around. I also have all my lights aimed slightly higher than stock, but not high enough to blind people. The improvement is tremendous. I can see better driving my car at night than I can driving my grandmother's BMW 323Ci with real HID lights.

I'm using Sylvania off-road H3's for the fogs and Sylvania 9005CB for the highs and lows (not blue at all, just slightly whiter than regular bulbs.)

Note: The 100-watt fogs don't help that much, but re-aiming the fogs helps ALOT.

 

[Guest]

I find it hard to believe that using the hibeams constantly without the light-direction restrictor in the hibeam's housing DOESN'T blind everyone you drive behind, and towards.

I'm fairly surprised you haven't melted any wiring using foglights rated at more than twice the stock ones.

 

[Frank]

Actually, I had one of my 100-watt bulbs burn out after a week. I was sure that I destroyed the housing or something horrible, but it was just the bulb. I replaced it, and the whole setup as been going stong for 5 months now.

I've followed my gf in her Corolla and she said they didn't bother her at all, and I don't get flashed, so I'm not going to worry about it.

But, as always, YMMV.

 

[Guest]

Dunno what YMMV means, but if you say it's not blinding people, that's good enough for me. Not trying to start any fights, just making sure everyone's driving safe

 

[Frank]

It means "Your Mileage May Vary" hehe