5th & 6th Generation (2002-2006 & 2007-2011)Toyota Camry Discussion for years: 2002-2006 & 2007-2011
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I had a question, and after some searching with no luck, thought I'd just ask here. I just bought some PIAA Xtreme White halogen bulbs for my Gen 6 Camry. These:
I know they're a bit overpriced, but they seem like a nice alternative to the stock yellowish OEM bulbs as I don't have enough cash for a proper HID retrofit just yet. I didn't want to get HID's without a retrofit and blind everyone. I was reading about a heavy duty harness in this thread:
And decided to buy one, just in case. The bulbs say they output 110w of light while only drawing 55w, but I'd hate to find out that this isn't true later on. You know, the hard way. So out of paranoia I bought a heavy duty harness. I bought the H11 heavy duty harness from Circuit Performance. This one:
My question is, did I buy the correct harness? It looks like it's just the same thing, only heat resistant. If it's not the correct harness, OR, if I really really don't need a harness and I'm just being paranoid, I'll go ahead and return them.
Thanks!
Last edited by JackTheRipper87; 10-11-2010 at 06:47 PM.
You really don't need the harness. Pretty unneccesary for halogen bulbs. Only thing you have to worry about with halogens is if they have a high wattage, and how close they are to the actual headlight. Had a problem with a melted foglight cover thingy with a relative's GMC Envoy because the headlights were those cheap blue coated lights from ebay with a high watt rating and they melted the plastic cover. Had to buy a whole new housing because the cover and housing weren't sold as separate parts.
You really don't need the harness. Pretty unneccesary for halogen bulbs. Only thing you have to worry about with halogens is if they have a high wattage, and how close they are to the actual headlight. Had a problem with a melted foglight cover thingy with a relative's GMC Envoy because the headlights were those cheap blue coated lights from ebay with a high watt rating and they melted the plastic cover. Had to buy a whole new housing because the cover and housing weren't sold as separate parts.
Wow, yeah anything melting would be really bad. Supposedly they only draw 55w, and 55w is stock on the Camry, so I guess I should be okay?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dave-o
um I read somewhere that the advertised 110 watts of light being put out, was marketing hype...it's still a 55w bulb though
maybe someone could chime in
That's what I'm wondering, yeah. Either it's BS, and they really just output 55w of light. Or, it's BS and they draw more than 55w, which could lead to trouble later.
um I read somewhere that the advertised 110 watts of light being put out, was marketing hype...it's still a 55w bulb though
maybe someone could chime in
This may be right, or it could be wrong. I couldn't give you a straight answer on that.
Anyways, I don't really understand PIAA's bulbs as on the packaging it says 12v 55w -> 110w XTRA. These things are expensive too from looking on ebay. I guess if it's really 110w, then I would maybe worry about the clear covers on the fogs melting IF they are left on for long periods of time, your wiring will be fine.
To be honest, I would of just bought some HID's from DDMTuning for $40-45 for the low beams, and bought some h11 silverstars off ebay for the fogs for probably less than what you paid for for those piaa bulbs. I myself got hids in my fogs, but I've got them aimed a little better so theres a little less glare for oncoming drivers, and hids in my lows with the squirrel spotters moved.
This may be right, or it could be wrong. I couldn't give you a straight answer on that.
Anyways, I don't really understand PIAA's bulbs as on the packaging it says 12v 55w -> 110w XTRA. These things are expensive too from looking on ebay. I guess if it's really 110w, then I would maybe worry about the clear covers on the fogs melting IF they are left on for long periods of time, your wiring will be fine.
To be honest, I would of just bought some HID's from DDMTuning for $40-45 for the low beams, and bought some h11 silverstars off ebay for the fogs for probably less than what you paid for for those piaa bulbs. I myself got hids in my fogs, but I've got them aimed a little better so theres a little less glare for oncoming drivers, and hids in my lows with the squirrel spotters moved.
Yeah, the packaging basically says you get 110w of light while only using 55w. I don't know how that's possible, either it's marketing BS, or these bulbs actually draw more than 55w.
I'm not going to use them for fog lights, so melting anything down there is not an issue. I'm going to use them for my low beams, and I'm just worried about melting any of the wiring I suppose.
I also ordered the PIAA wedge bulbs for all my indicators, PIAA for everything, including fogs
overpriced PIAA ftw!
Nice!
Haha yeah they definitely are overpriced, but I hear they look great. I got mine today, and I'm going to install them tomorrow.
Enzie are you going to use a heavy duty harness with your H11 headlight bulbs, or are you just install them without one? I still can't decide what to do.
Haha yeah they definitely are overpriced, but I hear they look great. I got mine today, and I'm going to install them tomorrow.
Enzie are you going to use a heavy duty harness with your H11 headlight bulbs, or are you just install them without one? I still can't decide what to do.
I think i kinda got an okay deal though, better than when i bought my fog bulbs (bought at a shop), but i bought the ones im waiting for now off Amazon.
Anddd nahhh... I'm just gonna stick them in there, cause it says its a 55w bulb and such. Plus my dad put PIAA's in his Tundra i believe (might be a different brand) but they are SUPER bright, and he didnt change the harness or anything and has no problems at all O:
But yeah, just poppin' em in, although if you wanted to be safe, i guess the harness wouldn't hurt. I dont do much night driving and i dont leave my lights on throughout the day like some people. Would you have to go all crazy and splice wires and stuff? or is it just like, plugging in a new harness?
Just plug in the harness and your good to go. Not that you need it anyways.
Since it's 55w which just supposedly puts out "110w" worth of light, I guess your wiring will be fine considering stock halogens are 55w's and they are completely fine. I would only be worried about these bulbs blowing out early.
I think i kinda got an okay deal though, better than when i bought my fog bulbs (bought at a shop), but i bought the ones im waiting for now off Amazon.
Anddd nahhh... I'm just gonna stick them in there, cause it says its a 55w bulb and such. Plus my dad put PIAA's in his Tundra i believe (might be a different brand) but they are SUPER bright, and he didnt change the harness or anything and has no problems at all O:
But yeah, just poppin' em in, although if you wanted to be safe, i guess the harness wouldn't hurt. I dont do much night driving and i dont leave my lights on throughout the day like some people. Would you have to go all crazy and splice wires and stuff? or is it just like, plugging in a new harness?
Nice! It's good to hear that they're super bright. Yeah Amazon has them for a pretty good price too. Glad your dad hasn't had any problems with them.
Yeah the harness is just plug and play, it looks like this:
The end that goes into the bulb is made out of heat resistant ceramic and the other end goes into the cars wiring. No splicing or anything crazy like that. It was only $20, and I went ahead and already bought it. I just I might as well just use it. I don't know. I just don't want the extra 1 foot of wiring causing a mess and the cables to hang really low for no reason.
@Zmon
Should I just go ahead and return the harness and get my $20 back?
Last edited by JackTheRipper87; 10-11-2010 at 10:50 PM.
I might get that same harness you have, but When I put my PIAA low beams in I'm gonna watch them closely for awhile and see if anything bad starts happening.
IMHO, If it's 20$ for the pair, I'd just keep them and roll up the wires and zip tie them so it's all nice and neat. Cause 20$ doesn't seem like much compared to if they actually DID cause the stock harness to melt, y'know?
Leme know how the bulbs look when you get them and how the harness set up goes
Wait wait... u said u don't have money to spend on HID while have $ to spend on this PIAA bulbs for $59? HID is $42.
^ I don't think that cable extension will do much good for your concern. In fact U R adding another joint (where it usually cause the problem) into your setup. The HID harness would be a better choice.
I might get that same harness you have, but When I put my PIAA low beams in I'm gonna watch them closely for awhile and see if anything bad starts happening.
IMHO, If it's 20$ for the pair, I'd just keep them and roll up the wires and zip tie them so it's all nice and neat. Cause 20$ doesn't seem like much compared to if they actually DID cause the stock harness to melt, y'know?
Leme know how the bulbs look when you get them and how the harness set up goes
Yeah I figured the harness is definitely affordable. I just don't want the wires hanging all low, especially because I'm missing the drivers side splash shield under the car. (It fell off some time ago)
I'll probably end up using the harness. I'll definitely take some pictures after setting up.
Quote:
Originally Posted by workerant
Wait wait... u said u don't have money to spend on HID while have $ to spend on this PIAA bulbs for $59? HID is $42.
^ I don't think that cable extension will do much good for your concern. In fact U R adding another joint (where it usually cause the problem) into your setup. The HID harness would be a better choice.
If you look at just getting HID's, yeah they are cheaper than the PIAA bulbs. I don't want to just get HID's though. From what I understand, without a proper retrofit, HID's in halogen housings produce too much glare and blind other drivers. Not to mention they are technically illegal. That's a whole other issue though. Getting a retrofit setup with HID's is much more expensive than $60 bulbs.
Wow that looks awful. See if you look at the packaging for those Nokya bulbs though, it says they are 70w, not 55w. No wonder that happened. There wasn't anything wrong with those bulbs, the car just couldn't handle them.
Last edited by JackTheRipper87; 10-11-2010 at 11:39 PM.
Reason: Too many typo's
From what I understand, without a proper retrofit, HID's in halogen housings produce too much glare and blind other drivers. Not to mention they are technically illegal. That's a whole other issue though. Getting a retrofit setup with HID's is much more expensive than $60 bulbs.
It's all about the aim and cutoff, if U done it properly that $60 is all U need and many have done it properly with minimum glare. My main point is you are replace a halogen with halogen, you won't get much improvement. Just my 2cents.
Quote:
Originally Posted by JackTheRipper87
Wow that looks awful. See if you look at the packaging for those Nokya bulbs though, it says they are 70w, not 55w. No wonder that happened. There wasn't anything wrong with those bulbs, the car just couldn't handle them.
No, if you read on your amazon link it say 55w => 110w......in that thread it say 70w using stock watt which was confirm by that guy to be 55 watt and which was why he just did a simple replace.
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Heavy duty harness for PIAA halogen bulbs?
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