I hate my stock headlights, well, not them, but the bulbs. What's my options in terms of replacing? I want them overall brighter. Any ideas will help me figure out what I want to do. Please include links, pics, thanks!

 

I replaced all of my stock headlight bulbs with Sylvania Silverstars, 9005 and the 9006's. Their cheap and I'd say signidicantly brighter. I changed the license plate housing with an 'Adjure' unit and installed 'Polarg' M12 Super White 28/7W bulbs. It's like two fog lights now backing out of my driveway.

 

Halogen bulbs are just a waste of time. If you really want better night vision then go HID.

 

Get an HID kit from JW Motoring-they're like $90.00,and about 3 times brighter than stock,with a much whiter light.

http://shop.jwmotoring.com/product.s...6&categoryId=4

unfortunately, I see Jhonathan is out of stock right now...

You WILL need to adjust the headlights if you go with the HID's,so you need to make sure your adjusters aren't frozen up(which is real common)

They can freed up,as long as you take your time,and use plenty of oil-but if you break one,replacements aren't available by themselves,you need to get the whole headlight bucket assy.

IF you go with Sylvania Silverstar Ultra's,you probably won't need to adjust the lights,and they are very bright,just not as bright as HID's,and they're about $50.00 per pair.

I've tried them both,and I defifntely recommend the HID's

 

I changed out the low beam stock bulbs for the Sylvania Ultras and frankly it was a waste of time and money. I was so unimpressed that I won't bother with doing the high beams.

I don't do a lot of night driving but if I did, I would probably go the HID route. As everyone knows, changing out the bulbs is a major PITA to do, so it's worth it to do it right.

Jerry

 

I have the plug and play HID kit from JW Motoring mentioned above.

6000k Headlights.

3000k Fog Lights in Euro housings from theradioflyer.



Next to stock in dad's vette

 

Ditto, did the same and was not really impressed, I am thinking HID as well, they are a pain to replace and I had to adjust to get them back on track.... Don't know why but they were way off. I double checked that they were seated correctly...

 

For a Non HID option the best is Toshiba HIRs...

 

For all those having issues replacing bulbs, HID or Halogens, it is pretty easy to take out the entire headlight assembly and have unrestricted access. Look at Patches' post:
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c5-g...otsa-pics.html

Focus on the pics in post #2 which shows you how to easily remove the entire headlamp capsule.

Or my post at http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c5-g...s-of-pics.html

I do this for any work on the headlights or anything else under the headlights like the fogs, corner lights, etc.
It is REALLY very easy, easier that it looks in the pics.

This will save you a lot of scraped hands and frustration. And once you have them out be sure to use some lube on the headlight adjusters and with patience you can get them working well again.

 

I have a set if someone wants to buy them

 

I did 6k hid fogs and some Sylvania Silverstars. The silverstars are brighter then the stockers and combined with the fog lights I can actually see now. Hell I can use the fog lights only and still be brighter then the stock headlights. I didn't get hid headlight since I don't wanna blind other drivers and the housing is a non projector unlike the fogs so the pattern will be all jacked. I got my hid fogs from JW

 

I went with Sylvania Silverstar Ultras first and they were a big improvement and about 6 months after that I went with HID from JWMotoring, The HID's are a lot better than the Sylvania Silverstar Ultras, The HID kit is plug and play, Very easy install, I now have HID's in lows, Highs and Fogs.

 

g e nighthawk some what better than stock, about 25.00 pair

 

Thanks

We should have more by the end of the week or early next

 

JWM's HID kit is great, too cheap for what you get IMO. well worth the expense and the pain to install. now i just need to do something about the brights.

 

This is the best plug and play option that will keep you legal. It also will not screw up your pattern.

 

my JWM HID's look great with his switchbacks

 

Brights are not a problem (copied from another forum member,can't remember who,but Thanks...)

Here's the info on the first mod, which works great in keeping your low beams on when your high beams are turned on:

Radio Shack Automotive Relay Part #275-226 ($6.99)

Locate harness connector plug for headlights/motor on passenger side up front near the headlight and disconnect it. (You can do this on either side of the car, but passenger side is closest to fusebox and battery compartment.)

Run #12 AWG wire from fusebox power terminal to relay location and connect to pin 87 on relay. I mounted my relay to the battery compartment separator on the battery side.

Tap into high-beam (green) wire on the main harness side of the connector and connect to pin 86 on relay.

Tap into low-beam wire (brown) and connect to pin 30 on relay.

Tap into ground wire (black) and connect to pin 85. I actually ran a separate wire to a chassis ground bolt.

Connect #12 AWG wire you attached to pin 87 to +12V power. I ran mine to the large nut on the fusebox with the two red cables. I added an inline fuse, too.

Done, now, go blind people with 4 lights. Just kidding.

Here's a diagram of the setup described above. Note that the pins may not be oriented in the right place in the diagram, but the pin numbers are indeed correct:


This mod results in a small change to the stock flash-to-pass feature, which won't affect many people. In fact, if you don't use the flash-to-pass feature in the daytime, you won't even notice the change, so you're good to go right here, and don't even need to read any further.

Normally, when using the flash-to-pass feature during the day when your headlights are OFF, the fog lights flash. The high beams also flash, but since the headlights aren't up when your lights are off, you don't notice them flashing.

Now, with the mod described above, the headlights DO pop up when you flash-to-pass with your headlights OFF. Why? Because the headlight doors pop up whenever power is supplied to the low beams, and since this mod supplies power to the low beams whenever the high beams are activated, when the high beams receive power from the stock flash-to-pass function, the headlights pop up.

As I previously mentioned, if you don't use the flash-to-pass feature during the daytime, you won't notice anything different in this area, so this mod will do what you want just the way it is by keeping your low beams on when your brights are turned on.

However, I use my flash-to-pass in the day, and I don't want the headlight doors popping up when I flash-to-pass during the day, so I've come up with a 2nd mod that prevents the lights from popping up when flashing-to-pass during the day.

What we need to do is supply power to the relay we installed in the diagram above only when the lights are turned on. That way, when the lights are off, the stock configuration is in place and flash-to-pass does not raise the headlights. But, whenever you turn on your lights, the side effect of this mod raising your headlights becomes moot because with or without this mod, your lights pop up whenever you turn on the lights, so the relay end up just doing it's originally intended job, which is to power the low beams when your brights are turned on.

 

Or you could just buy my 'hi-4" harness
Does the same thing but is completely plug and play in the fuse box area.

 

I need to get one of those George... You still have em in stock? Your harness combined with the HIRs would be the pinnacle for the stock headlights IMO.

Now i just have to find some HIRs!

Tim