upgraded healight harness+ silverstar ultras?

[catdaddy614]

I have an Heavy duty headlight harness from SUVlights I bought and Im going to install some silverstar ultras. Does anyone have this same setup? Anyways when Im done i'll have some before and after pics hopefully.

 

[Maniak]

I run the silverstar ultra's but I do not have upgraded wires. I like the ultras over the regular silverstars as they seem to last longer.

the silverstars ultra and regular are definatly whiter than the other bulbs I grab from the local chain parts store.

~Mark

 

[techieman33]

I think aldive runs that same setup

 

[aldive]

I think aldive runs that same setup

I did a long time ago, prior to going HID.

It is a great setup; you won't be disappointed.

Good luck ....

 

[catdaddy614]

cool thanks guys!

 

[Bill Kemp]

I have the harness and Ultras on L side & regular SS on the R side. I cant tell the difference between the two.
I like the Silv.Strs. but I cant see where the Ultras are any better. Maby I'm missing something????

 

[Maniak]

The only difference I've noticed between the SS and the SS Ultra is the regular SS only last me about 6 months.. When the Ultra is at about 9 months and counting.

~Mark

 

[toypaseo]

My regular Silverstars, in my Paseo, lasted me for at least since 2004 or 2005. I figured they would have burnt out long ago. Good thing I paid $10 for two pairs from a Habitat for Humanity store

One finally gave out, so my next plan is some H4 Osram Silverstar +50% with my JDM Cynos headlights that I just had clearbra applied to

 

[Anime]

With the popularity of the Silverstars (due to the big price difference from PIAA), the big downside (besides less light output than even standard bulbs, but that's not advertised) was the incredibly short bulb life from overdriving the filament. Rather than risk this highly profitable line tanking from the bad press about short bulb life (and underestimating how much superwhite bulb buyers enjoy buying new things more often), Sylvania worked on it some more and tweaked the filament, coating, and chemicals for whiter light and longer life. The marketing dept. figured out rather than just selling it as the same Silverstar bulb, they'd keep selling the old configuration as Silverstars, and sell the redesigned ones as Silverstar ULTRA..for $10-15 more.

There's no getting around shorter life, though. Whether it's used in the cosmetic bulbs like Sylvania Silverstars or Cool Blues to push enough light to see with through the coating, or to output more light for even better visibility from a clear XtraVision or OSRAM Silverstar bulb, it's achieved by overdriving the filament. The Plus 30% XtraVision (or similar Hi-Visibility +30 from Philips) seem to be the best balance between price, bulb life, and light output.

 

[aldive]

The only difference I've noticed between the SS and the SS Ultra is the regular SS only last me about 6 months.. When the Ultra is at about 9 months and counting.

~Mark

I have previously had regular SS bulbs last years.

 

[Maniak]

I have previously had regular SS bulbs last years.

The Sylvania LL bulbs have lasted me years (2-3) but I don't get that out of the 9004 silverstars.

In addition to just not lasting as long, my guess is that it was a combination of bad battery and rough dirt road I drive on every day. Also, I drive with my headlights on.. so thats about 1.5 hours a day. Most of that time is spent on the freeway so the voltage is at the 14.0ish V area, and not the 13.0 area (13.0 v when a/c is on max, trans cooler fan is on and stereo is on at idle)

I've had a bouncing volt meter for over a year. It wouldn't happen all the time, but it was anoying. I'd see it happen once or twice a day. Basically the volt meter would drop from the normal 13+ area to < 12 area.

The road I have to drive on is a somewhat rough dirt road. It has washout across the road, bumps, camber transisions and more. To make it "feel smooth" I drive it 40mph+ (slow down to 30 for the big dips), but it ain't smooth, just not a constant rough.

After giving up trying to find a bad wire I took the battery in to be tested and it tested at 70% so I got a new battery. I put it in, and no more bouncing needle. My guess is that something in the battery was moving on the hard hits which shorted it internally.

I also changed the headlights right before the battery (couple months) and so far so good... Of course, now the explorer isn't the DD so all bets are off (been retired 1 month).

We ran the Silver Start 3157 (I think its 3157, the one with the flat connector) for brake lights on our '06 mustang. They lasted just under 1 year. I have since switched to LL bulbs as we don't need it as 'bright' since the brakes are modified to turn on all 7 lights when you hit the brakes. So far so good, the LL lights are lasting. Oh yea, to change the brake lights on the mustang required you to remove trim panels, factory subwoofer, factory amplifier, amplifier bracket and then the light assembly. I don't want to change lights on that car.

before anyone asks, yes I wear gloves when I change bulbs.. I wear 2 play nitrile gloves.

~Mark

 

[RangerX]

I bought silverstars a few years ago, and one burned out last week. I still had the old regular bulbs in the garage, so I threw one in to get by.
This week, the second silverstar went out.
I checked the date on it, it's from 2003!
They lasted me seven years and burn out within days of each other!
I think I got my money's worth.
Today I installed the SS ultras.
FWIW, my Ranger takes the 9007s, not 9004s.

 

[BigRondo]

I ran the silver star's in my previous cars. I was very happy with the brightness & performance. I also noticed that they seem to burn out close to each other. Since I got the Ex in February of this year, I have been running the SS Ultra's & I love 'em. For me it is the best bang for the buck. I'm only running them in the low beams.

On a side note: I am running the silver star's in my brake/tail lights and in my back-up lights and the difference over standard bulbs is negligible. Although, the back-up lights do seem brighter.