looking for easy headlight upgrade

[mike042]

hey all anyone know of a headlight upgrade that i just plug in and go? i came across a old post here about someone trying to get a set of hella lamps to plug in to existing light but cant find it again and dont know if it worked out into a plug an play kit or not. the original headlight on my 83 venture is crap and looking for something to cange it without change or adding a bunch of wireing and electronics. thanks for any help

[GaryZ]

I put a 90/100 bulb in my Gen 1 headlight and added $20 worth of Wal-Mart driving lights mounted to my engine crash-bars!

Edited June 23, 2011 by GaryZ

[Flyinfool]

For an easy upgrade either a higher wattage H4 bulb or a Silverstar Ultra bulb.

If you go with the higher wattage bulb You will want to plug it in and run it at home for a while to be sure the wires are not getting hot.

 

HID is worth the hassle of the rewiring.

[Yammer Dan]

SilverStar and Wally World 20 dollar driving lights.

 

Change it to 86 up headlight is best way to go. Costs a bit and getting hard to find.

[reddevilmedic]

i just installed a plug n play h.i.d. easy to do. pretty cheap. SUPER bright.

[alvald83]

Hey Reddevil,

Do you have part #'s of the parts that you used? I am looking for a nice bright light just like yours. I have an '83 as well.

[reddevilmedic]

http://myworld.ebay.com/ebaymotors/fortemotors/. thats the link to their store. i hope. h4 bulb. hi low flex hid bulb 6000k #110566287005 $39.99 part #NBEK101 Edited June 23, 2011 by reddevilmedic

[reddevilmedic]

oh. i should say that this has no high beam. doesnt need one. but if you nwant one, you need to order the bixenon. that has a bulb that moves back and forth in its housing. it also sets off the headlight icon. anybody have the thread for using jumper wires in the cmu?

[Flyinfool]

Here is the thread of the changes that I had to do to my 88 to be able to use the Bixenon bulb. If you are willing to give up your hi beam (I would not even consider it) then you can go with one of the plug and play systems.

 

The changes in that thread almost literally took longer to type up than to do.

[barend]

I looked at the WalMart driving lights too, can't beat the price, but ....... the two wire leads exit the housing at the tip of the cone on the back and the ones I had in my hands did not have a rubber grommet to protect the wires where they exited the housing. I think they were 50 or 55 Watts.

 

So I went to O'Reily's, same size light except 35 Watts (which is good given the crappy stator we have), the two wire leads exit the light on the side (next the the mounting bracket) of the housing which makes for a cleaner install. They do cost $5 more than Wallyworld and the lens bezel does not have the extra step in it, which I actually prefer

 

Even though I have a set of Squidly's brackets, I installed mine on the old horn brackets which keeps them tucked in tight. The downside of that approach it that you cannot angle them out to widen your field of vision, but considering the size they just didn't look right "out there". (Btw. I have a Stebel mounted on the air dam)

 

As far as the stock headlight, the quick, easy and cheapest thing to do is to install the Ultra.

[Venturous Randy]

In my 83 I have upgraded to the 86 up setup with a PIAA bulb and $20 driving lights and that is a great improvement from the 83 setup.

RandyA

[reddevilmedic]

the low beam only setup is so bright that people flash me constantly. guess that means they see me! i light up both sides of the road with it. i have them installed in my 4 wheel thing too. ive had them in the car for a year, and on the bike for 2 months. no problems yet. it blows away the light output of both my friends hd's, even with their other lights.

[Flyinfool]

the low beam only setup is so bright that people flash me constantly. guess that means they see me! i light up both sides of the road with it. i have them installed in my 4 wheel thing too. ive had them in the car for a year, and on the bike for 2 months. no problems yet. it blows away the light output of both my friends hd's, even with their other lights.

 

Did you ever check the aiming of your new HID?

If you are constantly getting flashed and you say that you have no need for a hi-beam, you may have installed it so that you effectively are always on high beam. Do you really want to risk blinding an oncoming car or truck so that it drifts into your lane?

 

Yes you want to keep both Hi and Lo beams working and make sure they are properly aimed.

I have had to reaim the headlights EVERY time I have ever changed a bulb on any vehicle, every bulb has manufacturing tolerances and is just a little different.

[bongobobny]

Take off your black rubber bezel and paint it white then reinstall it. Last time I checked white reflects light whereas black absorbs it...

[reddevilmedic]

its aimed.

[Snaggletooth]

Ok, I give up..... it was me!

 

I was one of the few to convert the headlight to the Hella 90mm modules.

 

Cheap ....... not really. A little over $200.00 for everything I needed.

 

Easy ....... with the right parts yep.

 

Plug & Play ....... yep! Uses stock wiring and switch.

 

But if you want the inexpensive route the SilverStar H4 is the best way to go. Way more light than the stock OEM bulb for under $20.00. I started with that and I was happy with it. Until something better came along. LOL!

 

I had the 65 watt Burners from Wally World with the SilverStar and they did the job. I wanted something with a little less drain on the system and better looking so they got changed to a set of 4 1/2 chrome Drag Speciality driving lights with 35 watt bulbs.

 

With the Hella Modular lights the "Down the Road" light was covered. The 4 1/2 inch lights I can run day and night and increase my odds of being seen without being distracting to other drivers. The triangulated lights do seem to catch others attention and that was one of my goals. I wanted to be seen.

 

Some pics and a couple comparing the SilverStar high beam to the Hella 90mm high beam.

 

Mike

Edited June 23, 2011 by Snaggletooth

[bongobobny]

its aimed.

Trust me on this one, it really makes a difference!! Last I checked, headlights do not emit a pencil beam, it is diffused...

[reddevilmedic]

i am trusting you. i also have these on my car.

[bongobobny]

Ahhh!! Sorry, got a little confused by your post! Thought you were saying painting the bezel white wouldn't help because the headlight beam is focalized! My bad!! I sort of missed the post previous to mine and Ass-u-me'd you were referring to my post...

[Canadian Venture]

http://www.royaldistributing.com has HID kits compete with ballast and a true hi/low kit pt#01-002003 for $229.99 as quoted in their 2010 spring /fall catalogue. Comes in a set of 2. Have been wanting to try but don't need 2!

Oh! They are from Canada b8ut I am sure they will take your money anyway!

[Squidley]

I just installed a PIAA xtreme white anti vibration bulb in my '86 tonight when I got home from work. I ordered it from Amazon, the twin pack was $65 shipped to my door. I installed it as soon as I saw it in the house and went for a short ride HUGE difference, got flashed on lowbeam 2 times in 5 minutes and I know it's aimed right. Changed it out in less than 5 minutes, can't get much cheaper or easier than that....

[Keemez]

One thing I would caution against is doing what I did. I went to the 80/100 watt bulb without making any other changes. You can see what resulted. It wasn't like this last time I looked at it. I have the fortune of living in a somewhat northern climate where it's not oppressively hot most of the time. You folks that live where it gets blistering hot in summer might be even more likely to experience this phenomenon. Looks like I'll need to convert over to HID sometime next year.

[greg_in_london]

I've got the HID 'bulb' and am really pleased with it. I've seen some threads elsewhere showing (admiitedly very old - 8-10 years) test results showing that HID units in H4 headlamp reflectors are not as well focussed as the original, so there is a spread of light outside the main illuminated area.

 

I often don't believe this scaremongering - people said you couldn't use halogen bulbs in older units when they first came out, but I know I'm getting blinded by a lot of car headlights and have started wearing those yellow driving glasses to avoid headaches. I might just be getting older of course, but suspect that maybe I should have the headlight pointed slightly lower than I would have done with the standard bulb. It's not hard on the venture, after all !

 

On that other point, I had my headlight connector block melt several years ago while touring and it wasn't a hot day, so check yours has a good connection, whether you upgrade or not ! (Next time you're in there, finish your coffee first - it's not that urgent).

[Canadian Venture]

Mechanic, high school shops teacher and friend relayed story on how he "upgraded" lights on his Jetta TDI. Enjoyed truly superior lighting performance until both connectors melted off! Can't tell you which lights he used but obviously you need to be careful!

 

Canadian Venture

[reddevilmedic]

ive been running this h.i.d setup on my 83 for 7 months without a glitch. i can even turn them off using the switch cuz theres no high beam. running them in both cars also, one, for over 18 months now.