Best way to improve headlights? - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

xcmtb83 · 10-25-2009, 11:41 PM

So I polished the heck out of the lenses on my 95 Camry in hopes that it would improve their effectivness while driving at night but it hardly did anything. I am able to drive around with my brights on and not even get flashed. And yes I have adjusted the headlight angle. My next step is going to have to involve brighter headlights but before that I have some questions and want some opionions. Is there a popular mod or trick to make these headlights brighter? Does anyone else have this problem? I was thinking of just starting out with four new SilverStar bulbs and see if that would suffice but I don't want to risk spending all of that money and not be satisfied. I also read the thread about modifying a 9005 bulb so a 9006 female plug would accept it but I am afraid that the factory wire would not be able to handle the increase in current, any thoughts? The third option I have is to install some higher wattage bulbs with relays to protect my factory wiring but I am wondering if the additional heat made by these bulbs would cause any kind of headlight plastic damage, thoughts? If I went the last route I would do so with the assitance of http://www.danielsternlighting.com/home.html. Please chime in with any thoughts and or recommendations before I hit a deer! haha

deezeejoey · 10-25-2009, 11:55 PM

silver stars are pretty good, but if your anything like me, after a while you'll end up wanting to go HID. Plus, silverstar bulbs generally only last 1 year, and at about $50.00 a pack, that adds up.

360glitch · 10-25-2009, 11:57 PM

I am in the early stages of improving my lighting by doing an HID projector retrofit. It's not the cheapest route however properly done the results are stunning, you will have more light than you know what to do with.

abew330 · 10-26-2009, 03:44 AM

^^^^ i think he just wants the lights a little brighter im guessing not really into spending too much $$$

quick google search:

http://www.wikihow.com/Clean-Headlights

http://www.scoobymods.com/clean_nast...og-t5844.html?

http://www.wonderhowto.com/how-to/vi...lenses-155443/

deezeejoey · 10-26-2009, 08:29 AM

yeah, but if he's thinking of buying silverstars the cost will even out over time.

PortugalFocus · 10-26-2009, 12:06 PM

Before you go out and spend $50 on Silverstars, go to ebay and buy yourself a new set of headlights. They are only $15 more. At less than $65 shipped, that's hard to pass up.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/95-96...Q5fAccessories

xcmtb83 · 10-26-2009, 12:19 PM

I have already polished my headlights and am confident that new ones will only yield a very small amount of improvement so the cost of new is not worth it. But they are a good deal had I not already spent the time to polish mine! Can anyone say with certaintly that the low beam wiring will hold up to 65W bulbs? I am still contemplating the 9005/9006 mod.

PortugalFocus · 10-26-2009, 12:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by xcmtb83

I have already polished my headlights and am confident that new ones will only yield a very small amount of improvement so the cost of new is not worth it. But they are a good deal had I not already spent the time to polish mine! Can anyone say with certainly that the low beam wiring will hold up to 65W bulbs? I am still contemplating the 9005/9006 mod.

Yes, well, I did the mod on my 00 with no issues. It is a bit of an improvement. Not a great deal, but noticeable.

Bojack77 · 10-26-2009, 12:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 360glitch

I am in the early stages of improving my lighting by doing an HID projector retrofit. It's not the cheapest route however properly done the results are stunning, you will have more light than you know what to do with.

I have a 94 LE and want to do projector/ HID, can you please point me in the right direction(s)???

Thanks

the_professional · 10-26-2009, 01:09 PM

the 9005 mod works, the wiring/sockets are same gauge for both hi/lo beam IIRC

Tom 2000 · 10-26-2009, 04:50 PM

http://hirheadlights.com

xcmtb83 · 10-26-2009, 09:59 PM

Thanks for the input guys. I got to looking at my bulbs tonight and realized that my low beams are only 51W. Is this a common wattage or is it usually 55W?

touringcamry · 10-27-2009, 12:53 AM

They are the same thing. It says 51W because that rating is at 12V. For USA, bulbs are rated at 12.8V per DOT so the wattage is higher.

Dick Tuck · 10-30-2009, 06:44 PM

I'd measure the voltage AT THE BULB to see if you have at least 13V with the engine on. If not a relay mod with 12 or 14 ga wire and hooked (through a fuse of course) right to the battery will help. OEM crimp connections age and halogen bulbs do not like low voltage. You use the existing headlight lead to trigger a relay which is fed from a good fat wire run right to the + battery post. That feeds the tow low beams through 12 or 14 gauge wire. That being said, the low beam bulb in the Gen 3 is not impressive in wattage OR the in actual harness connections. The H4 bulb male connector (in the Gen 4) is the same size as the standard .250 auto connector and can be directly connected to. The low beam on a family Gen 3, even with new headlamp unit from 1A Auto Parts is not very good. Euporeans tend to be a lot more fussy about headlight peformance and it would be interesting to see what a European Gen 3 lamp system looks like.

absolutemagic · 10-31-2009, 02:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by xcmtb83

So I polished the heck out of the lenses on my 95 Camry in hopes that it would improve their effectivness while driving at night but it hardly did anything. I am able to drive around with my brights on and not even get flashed. And yes I have adjusted the headlight angle. My next step is going to have to involve brighter headlights but before that I have some questions and want some opionions. Is there a popular mod or trick to make these headlights brighter? Does anyone else have this problem? I was thinking of just starting out with four new SilverStar bulbs and see if that would suffice but I don't want to risk spending all of that money and not be satisfied. I also read the thread about modifying a 9005 bulb so a 9006 female plug would accept it but I am afraid that the factory wire would not be able to handle the increase in current, any thoughts? The third option I have is to install some higher wattage bulbs with relays to protect my factory wiring but I am wondering if the additional heat made by these bulbs would cause any kind of headlight plastic damage, thoughts? If I went the last route I would do so with the assitance of http://www.danielsternlighting.com/home.html. Please chime in with any thoughts and or recommendations before I hit a deer! haha

Dear xcmtb83,

OEM headlights will never really be that bright for older cars like ours (I have a 96 Camry). I recently bought this headlight cleaner from ebay: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/PLAST...Q5fAccessories

At the time I got mines for like $5, but it was only like 1 ounce. It works pretty good and my headlight lens are a lot cleaner now. But if you really want bright lights I suggest getting some 5000k-6000k HIDs (I have 5000k). You can get a bulb and ballast combo for about $70 average price on ebay (I got mines for $65.00 w/shipping). I always tried to go cheap before with xenon headlights and such but those all suck. Silverstar sucks too and it's overpriced like hell (my brother had to replace his a bunch of times and finally had me install HIDs in his car too). So yea I finally got HIDs, it came with a 2-year warranty and now I can see street signs from like 4 blocks away. It's so much brighter and I always have fun driving around at night with them on.

Here's a link to the same HID bulbs I got: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/HID-k...ZViewItem#shId

That's actually cheaper, only $50. Well worth the money! It comes with instructions which are easy to follow. It will take you about 20-30 minutes if you don't know how to install it already.

Good luck!