bought new headlamps

[woof]

I bought a pair of GE Nighthawk Platinum bulbs for my '03. The stock ones have always seemed ineffective to me. Does anyone have experience with these bulbs? They were $40 at Fred Meyers and I bought them on a whim. I want some input from you folks who actually know something about available bulbs before I open the package. Thanks

 

[jgillott]

The reviews I've read online for them are that they provide a brighter light but have a shorter life than a normal bulb. I haven't used them myself and can't give you any other direct feedback.

 

[seafish]

I have been using the Phillips Xtreme Power , as well as the newer Xtreme Vision bulbs in all my vehicles for over 5 years now after first installing them in my 2005 truck.
They DO in fact provide a brighter, more usable, but still yellow/white light and they DO last a long time. The Phillips Xtreme series are NOT a gimmick, while I feel that many of the other brands upgraded bulbs are a gimmick, providing a brighter light at a MUCH shorter change interval. or simple bluer light that looks brighter but is actually not.
I have recommended the Phillips Xtreme series to others on other forums and the feedback has always been positive from those who choose to run them. I by mine form Candlepower.com becasue of their excellent customer service and affordable shipping, though amazon also sells the Xtreme bulbs as long as you know the correct ones to order. for your truck.

 

[petersonj]

I have an 02 and Daniel Sterns (a very knowledgeable guy on lighting) recommended GE Night Hawks or Philips Extreme Vision. He said that the optics are engineered very well on these bulbs. I chose the Philips Extreme Vision and I am very satisfied. For me the headlights aren't "brighter", but I can see farther down the road and off to sides of the road on both low or high beam compared to using the factory bulbs.

Woof - Something that frequently gets overlooked is the actual voltage present at the bulb with the headlights on and the engine running. You should be seeing around 13.2 volts using a digital multi-meter with the probes testing the power and ground right at the bulb. You may be seeing far less. Most bulb manufacturers rate their bulb light output at 13.2 volts.

The second generation trucks (mine) have a serious voltage drop at the headlights because all the current that passes through the bulbs has to pass through the headlight switch and dimmer switch. To make matters worse, the wiring is greatly undersized. Before I relayed my headlights and increased the wiring size, I was reading less than 11 volts at the bulb. This calculated out to approximately 50% loss of light output (voltage drop and light output are not linear)! I now have 13.3 volts at the bulb and the headlights are lighting up the road well.

Changes have been made in the third generation trucks, such as a control module now controls power to the headlights. But, according to the factory wiring schematic, only 18 gauge wiring is used. I think it would be worth doing the voltage test at the headlight.to see where you stand.

- John

 

[Wayne M.]

Good topic. I have 4600 hours of runtime, and amazingly I'm still on my original bulbs! I use em at least once a day due to my early shift. To expand this, I's also like to add discussion about headlamp assemblies themselves. They're starting to cloud up. This frustrates me because I took real good care of them. Never harsh soap, always glazed them with aircraft canopy polish etc etc. So with that said, what are we using for an OE style replacement? I changed the assemblies in the '98 Durango with rock auto budget but CAPA rated units, and while they work OK, they were real cheaply made.

 

[jgillott]

Wayne, I recently checked at our local dealer and OEM headlight assemblies are listing approx $200 per side. I can't decide if that is worth the extra cost or not over aftermarket.

 

[lpennock]

I had a friend buy a set of Nighthawks about 10 years ago. They did seam to put out more light than my Sylvania Xetra Vision (same tech as the silverstars with out the blue tint gimmick so actually brighter). His Nighthawks didn't last 6 months while my XV lasted years.

If you run them would be nice if you let us know when one goes out so we can see if they improved life.

 

[TWebster]

the cloud is from uv and can be polished out

 

[Wayne M.]

the cloud is from uv and can be polished out

Thanks J, I didn't think OE was still available.

TWebster, that's the first step. After that, they start peeling and it's all over. That's where I'm at.

 

[TWebster]

Understand

Good Luck

 

[gapayne]

Headlamp Assembly

Genosgarage.com has a headlamp assembly for the 03-05 for $115 per side, other years at other prices. They describe the replacement for the driver side as an "affordable OEM quality replacement," I have always been very satisfied with parts I have purchased from Genos.

 

[Wayne M.]

Yes I agree. If it's from Genos it works on our trucks. Just checking options.

 

[gapayne]

Right--I should have looked at your membership and realized that you were well aware. Well maybe someone new might learn from the post being in the thread.

I used one of those lens kits to polish my headlights on my 96 Jeep Grand Cherokee, now gone, surpassed by my RAM. I took them from hazy yellow to crystal clear in a few hours with the kit supplies and liberal applications of elbow grease (don't hear as much about that stuff anymore--don't have as much of it available anymore either!)

But you mentioned that it was peeling. The first step in my kit was to remove the outer layer of the lens with two grades of abrasive. Once the surface was glassy again there was a liquid to apply to coat the plastic. This was ten or more years ago so I don't know if that same process is still sold or if I remember it exactly. But I'm quite certain that was the general idea. Does this have any potential for you? My lenses are still in good shape. So, I have no idea what yours would look like.

 

[Wayne M.]

Do you remember the name of the kit? I'll consider it as a last resort.

 

[FOXY005]

My 03 needs new headlight units also, I did the polish the lens thing once and it turned out pretty well. Don't remember the brand used it was whatever the local auto parts place was selling at the time.
But it didn't take vary long for the haze / frosted look to return to the plastic, guess once they start to go it is inevitable that they are moving on past their expected life span.
I will most likely buy the replacement units from Geno's and install the Phillips bulbs referenced in this thread, Thanks to this thread for the bulb review.
My lights on the 03 have been crappy since day one, I can drive with the highs on and never get flashed.
Since I live in the Northeast and the cold weather has set in I most likely I will wait till spring time to do the replacement job.

 

[Wayne M.]

It's my recollection that the force behind the 06 redesign was for better lighting.

 

[jgillott]

It's my recollection that the force behind the 06 redesign was for better lighting.

Of my 3 trucks, the '07 has the best lighting. The 2010 isn't much better than the '04.5.

 

[Northfork]

Appreciate the review. On our way home in the new-to-us 07 the one thing I was not thrilled with was the lo beam on the headlights. This gives me some options, will purchase a set of the Phillips
Extremes, probably the newer ones, and give them a try. Helpful information for sure.

 

[gapayne]

Kit name?

Back again, sorry for the delay. We were visiting my brother-in-law southeast of Rochester, NY and left for home later in the morning, after my last post on 12/6. Wanted to ge going before the lake effect snow started. Took two days to drive home and I had a couple of appointments yesterday.

I don't remember the name of the kit. I purchased it from K-Mart, but don't think it was a Craftsman product. Cost between $10 and $20, I believe. Mine lasted for several years, although the headlamps did need refinishing again when my daughter finally disposed of the Jeep in 2013. I had transferred it to her.

Looking at the kits currently sold on Amazon, I'd say the one from Sylvania is most like what I did. It involved removing the damaged exterior, smoothing the surface, and applying a polymer to seal and protect the plastic. That's what I did and any which do the same most likely would be good. Sylvania looks closest to the steps I took about 15 years ago. Hopefully products would be even better now.

 

[crispyboy]

I have used the polish kit made by 3M which worked well on our 2002 grand Cherokee about 3 years ago. Lights are starting to haze over again so this time I think some new assemblies are in order. The 2009 truck has one light starting to haze on the top of the lens. I have a bit of polish left over which I will try to clean up the lens to get a few more years.