# high wattage car headlamps?



## offroadcmpr

After looking around on the internet for a little bit, I don't quite get some things regarding car headlamps.

It seams that for a headlamp to be dot approved it can not put out more than around 1600 lumens on high beams. But if you get HID headlamps that are DOT approved, they can put out over 3000 lumens?:huh2: I thought that the reason for this is that once you get over 55 -60 watts of incan it starts to blind other drivers. What makes the HID lights that are putting twice as much light out OK? Shouldn't we be allowed to put in higher wattage halogen or xenon lights(like 80 - 100 watts) to make up for this?

Are HID lights better contained to not blind other drivers or something? Or am I just missing something?

Off to the side, how much of a difference does once company make? I was thinking of maybe getting 55/100 watts for my car, but they range from $10 - $40 depending on the brand. Is it worth it to get the better brand in terms of light output and longetivity?


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## Banshee

offroadcmpr said:


> After looking around on the internet for a little bit, I don't quite get some things regarding car headlamps.
> Off to the side, how much of a difference does once company make? I was thinking of maybe getting 55/100 watts for my car, but they range from $10 - $40 depending on the brand. Is it worth it to get the better brand in terms of light output and longetivity?




Be VERY cautious when upgrading to higher watt bulbs. I am currently running 80/100 H3 bulbs in my Caprice "SS". BUT....I have euro spec (not DOT approved) glass housings and a custom very heavy duty wiring harness to handle the additional load. Many OEM headlight harnesses are of poor quality at best. Anything more than stock wattage may cause overheating of the OEM plastic lenses, cooking of the wire harness or even an underhood fire.
Check places like SummitRacing or JEGS for aftermaket harnesses to better (safely) handle any lighting upgrades.


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## Lips

I am running 80/100 or maybe 120 offroad lamps in my explorer with stock wiring for 6 months with no problems yet. Much whiter than stock and a little brighter. The problem is the explorers headlight not that great of a reflector.


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## offroadcmpr

I'll try to be carefull. I was thinking of getting the 55/100 becuase I would be using the low beam a lot more than the high beam, but would like a little extra power when I need it. The low beam is not too bright to blind other people too often, and it is within what is probably safe for regular use. Especially because I drive a 96 4runner, which only has one pair of headlamps, and I can only turn on either the high, or low beams, not both at the same time as with my parents suburban.


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## Vortex

Be sure to check out www.suvlights.com they have pre-made plug and play heavy duty headlight harnesses. Be sure to specify that you have a Toyota because many toyata vehicles use ground switching (negatively switched) They also sell higher wattage H4 bulbs like 80w/100w they would be a good step up.

The reason why vehicles with 3200lm HID don't blind you is because they have a sharper horizontal cutt off which means less light is emitted above the horizon. You see lights that meet North American DOT specs. have to emit a certain amount of light above the horizon in order to light up overhead signs.

Also cars equpped with HID tend to have much wider beam patterns that's where most of the extra light goes. 

You should be fine with higher wattage bulbs in your vehicle because most japanese vehicles have what are called harmonized beam patters, they are somewhere between DOT and ECE. ECE is european spec which have very sharp cutt off. Just make sure your lights are properly aimed.


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## marshall

Vortex said:


> ...The reason why vehicles with 3200lm HID don't blind you is because they have a sharper horizontal cutt off which means less light is emitted above the horizon. You see lights that meet North American DOT specs. have to emit a certain amount of light above the horizon in order to light up overhead signs.
> 
> Also cars equpped with HID tend to have much wider beam patterns that's where most of the extra light goes.
> 
> ...Just make sure your lights are properly aimed.



Yes, it is truely about how the lights are "aimed", and also the cutoff horizon, differences in kelvin color temps, etc. 

For instance on the "correct aiming", I have had this happen to me before...I'm coming at a vehicle which is going up a hill w/ a decent incline, the car coming at me shines above what is the normal low-beam horizon, and I am blinded like it is their brights. Just watch someone following you down a bumpy street at night, it's almost like they're flashing their hi-beams at you, simply due to this as they bounce.

You could take the reasoning behind the certification of OEM 4300k HID units to a very in-depth level, and beyond simple cutoff points etc. (speaking of cutoff points, 90%+ vehicles on the road do not even have them, reason being why they blind people with crappy aftermarket HID kits installed, which are spreading light everywhere). But, if you are simply looking for a way to use high-powered halogens, get away with it, and not learn the photonic lessons involved with these seemingly "odd" reasonings (I assume you'd rather not care), here is my suggestion...

Get a "xenon" pair which IS NOT, I repeat IS NOT colored blue. Highest wattages will be fine (80/100w?). Troopers know that a majority of the people with the blue xenon lights are youngsters trying to immitate HID's, and it's also a dead give-away to most of them you have illegal headlights installed. They do not look like HID's, you won't fool anyone but kids under 18, and you're losing available light output due to the fact there is a blue coating (think about a clear 100w house light bulb vs. a white coated one). If you have these "xenon blue" lights and ever end up on rain-soaked slick pavement at night, the blue will not "reflect" off the road (back at your eyes), and you will think your lights are off! Try this with yellowish fog lights, they are even more visable on a drenched and reflective surface than high kelvin standard halogen.

Anyways, if your lights are a little on the bright side (lows) and they are clear, it is much easier to oncoming drivers eyes as well as the "blend-in" factor.

If you want true HID's installed for lows, you'll need projector assemblies like my car has.


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## IsaacHayes

I have 4 bulbs, 2 highs, 2 lows. I took a pair of highs, dremeled out the lines inside that keep you from connecting it to the stock low wiring harnes. Then I dremeled down the tab where it fits into the housing. No drivers have flashed me yet and these are 60watt instead of 51stock now. Also the bulb has no paint on the tip, but if I get complaints I'll paint them. It puts out a lot more white light, and when compared to the stock low beam, it makes it look orange!

Just thought I'd share. 9006 lows 9005 highs style. All 4 of my headlights are 9005 now.


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## marshall

IsaacHayes said:


> I have 4 bulbs, 2 highs, 2 lows. I took a pair of highs, dremeled out the lines inside that keep you from connecting it to the stock low wiring harnes. Then I dremeled down the tab where it fits into the housing. No drivers have flashed me yet and these are 60watt instead of 51stock now. Also the bulb has no paint on the tip, but if I get complaints I'll paint them. It puts out a lot more white light, and when compared to the stock low beam, it makes it look orange!
> 
> Just thought I'd share. 9006 lows 9005 highs style. All 4 of my headlights are 9005 now.



That sounds very "odd" might I say. If it works for you, and it's producing more visability, then stick with it (I guess?). What's throwing me off is the orange color you mentioned, only thing which comes to mind is dirty/dis-colored lens's. Be aware(!), you cannot just paint the bulbs...they use a special ceramic coating which will not fry on the very hot glass. Sounds to me like you converted an old-school sealed beam setup to conventional halogens. Is the light more yellow-ish/amber, or really closer to an orange?

You are probably losing large amounts of available lumens due to the fact the output color is not a wide-spectrum emmision (I.E.: proper kelvin temp). You may be ommitting some of the color spectrum, and therefore losing contrast against certain object colors in the night. Again, I'm a bit confused, but orange is on the wrong end of the desired (kelvin) spectrum!


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## IsaacHayes

Nope, these are stock headlights that take 9006 and 9005 bulbs. I left the stock low beam in the right side, and put my modded high into the left. Shined them on a white garage door, and the difference is quite noticable (orangish/amber) when compared side by side like that. Like some luxeon tints are noticeable only when compared to other luxeons. But in normal use you don't notice it that much, it just seems typical yellowish car headlight... My headlight lenses are crystal clear.

As far as the paint, would high temp exhaust paint not work? That is what I'd try, but like I said, no one has bright lighted me yet. Heck most people drive with their brights on here they are too dumb to know any better. I see maybe 3-4 people a night that drive with no lights too and if you flash them they don't get it... but what can you do?

The beam patern is exactly the same with either bulb. It just puts out more light in the same spot. Now if I turn on my highs, they have a seperate reflector that focuses the light much tighter and a bit higher up. Just switching back and forth the highs look white because it's focused tighter...

I'll try to get some pics sometime of comparing them.


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## offroadcmpr

I'm trying to stay away from the blue colored bulbs for several reasons
1) it decreases the output slightly
2) I am not that fond of the color, unless it is real HID
3) Companies usually try to charge more for them.
4) If the sylvania silver stars mean anything, they don't last as long as other bulbs

I think that the 55/100 are still the best for me. I think that I would have a less chance of being noticed with those, than with 80 watt low beams. I am mainly getting them for the high beams.

Is there any difference between these lights?
like these expensive 
http://abdracing.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=ADIAR&Product_Code=01-9400BW
or 
http://www.aeasyshop.com/products.asp?lang=HALOGEN_BULBS_9004-prod-17118795-24043854
How much of a difference would there be between bulbs such as these?

After further research I noticed that by law, bulbs cannot go over a certain lumen limit. Which means that all bulbs should be relatively the same. Or not?

Are there any good xenon bulbs that don't have the blue coating on it? It seems like most halogen bulbs don't, while most xenon do.

thanks for the replies


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## Lynx_Arc

I was running 100 watt driving lights in the mid 80s and took 55 watt lights with metal cases and glass lenses, swapped out the bulbs and put in heftier wiring. You could do the same with higher wattage headlights just use heavy wiring and put relays using the feed from the regular harness to energize them but the main difficulty is the extra heat and load on the electrical system. I had both halogen headlight high beams and the driving lights on at the same time and the alternator would really whine. I came across 2 130 watt H3 bulbs and in time perhaps I will find a nice host for them to mount somewhere.....


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