Need more light! - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

BiG_B · 01-02-2005, 02:39 AM

Hey all, im a noobie here. i have a campletely stock green 96 camry 4 dr and the headlights suck! they were ok when i got it (2000) but over the years their brightness has declined. i do not want to buy hids or anything like that...just a simple change of bulbs or something. i always see on tv those canadian tire commericals advertising a brighter bulb for 30 bucks each. are those any good? what other possibilities are there? what is the best upgrade on a budget of 200 bucks? sorry if this has already been covered. thanks in advance!

anuthaCamry · 01-02-2005, 03:28 AM

clean the outsides of the lenses regularly with maguires plastic cleaner, and you may also want to follow up with plastic polish by that same company. These 96 lenses are markedly different from the ones on the 93, wheras the 96 seems to be made out of polycarbonate which is ten times stronger than acrylic, but chemically unstable with a tendancy to turn yellow. The earlier ones seem more like an acrylic which is way more resistant to the elements and chemically stable.

as far as lighting is concerned, I'm currently trying to improve that on my car as well: i've put some cheap fogs and some silverstars for the highs. I feel like I should have gone with the yellower xtravisions though, but no matter. I think I'll just round out the package with silver lows and whiter clearance lights in front. I'm wanting to get the hella/optilux 2020 foglight/driving light combo so I can put some bright ass lights in the dl portion for driving through the country out here. dude please don't get hid lights, have some consideration for other drivers. the only thing worse than hid lights is hid bulbs in lamps not designed for them.

SmokingTires · 01-02-2005, 03:41 AM

CLEAN YOUR LENSES!

That's a start. They get a foggy yellow color to them over the years. Then get Silver Star bulbs. $25 each in the US, nice white color. Best I have seen. Worth every penny.

Notice how they match the color of my HID fogs

islandboy57 · 01-02-2005, 04:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by anuthaCamry

dude please don't get hid lights, have some consideration for other drivers. the only thing worse than hid lights is hid bulbs in lamps not designed for them.

I've seen some HID conversions that look good and are functional, but lately I'm starting to notice more that put out less light than stock halogens..with the added glare to oncoming drivers. Driving home last night there was a Civic hatchback with HIDs and despite me being 10 cars ahead, its glare was still really annoying.

I'm sticking with SilverStars, and I think I need to clean the lenses on my headlights though. I also have "driving lights" from WalMart but I need to align them. I just used double sided tape (the good kind) that came with my PIAA foglights to adhere them to my car but it's obviously misaligned. I'm not too worried though because they're pointed lower than my headlights and standing in front, you have to bend down to get any type of glare from the lights.

jackfrost1031 · 01-02-2005, 04:45 AM

http://rallylights.com

Get some Hellas mounted on a lightbar.

Or in your bumper if you like that non-rally look

Toysrme · 01-02-2005, 11:09 AM

anuthaCamry the differance between a normal 55w 9006 halogen and a 65w 9005 silverstar is barely noticeable in terms of light output. That goes for snow fog, rain and a clear moonless night. Give me a break dude... I don't have problems with 6000K U's in the fog and they're white/blue. (even worse that white. The less "softer colors" you have in the light the worse it is in fog.)
And for the record... Fog lights scatter light and glare worse than normal halogen's. That's why they're always mounted as near the ground as possible on US market vehicles.

islandboy57 grab some Silverstar's and align the fog's and you'll be fine

.

95camguy · 01-02-2005, 02:52 PM

i just did the 9005 coversion on my 95 v6. really happy with the results too. i would have gotten the siverstars but i am a cheap bastard. the 9005 conversion with cheapo bulbs is still way freakin better than the stock setup.

BiG_B · 01-02-2005, 03:05 PM

Thank you all for the info. i think i am going to go with the silverstar bulbs. are they failry easy to install? i should only buy 2 right. and ill try cleaning the plastic. ive got hids on my other car and i like them a lot. its got the cut off line so it doesnt shine into the eyes of oncoming drivers.

i also have another problem, the rear passenger side door does not shut evenly with the body panel. when it is closed, it sticks out a bit, like 1 cm. is that a major problem? also, when the front passenger side door is closed, the door ajar light stays on...and when i pull it tight the light goes away. id hate to go to the stealership to fix these. any advice

chronoti · 01-02-2005, 03:14 PM

there the little ring it closes on too.... try moving that in closer to the car and maybe cleaning the door switch

BiG_B · 01-02-2005, 03:28 PM

how can i move the ring? its bolted to the car!

***EKam*** · 01-02-2005, 06:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BiG_B

i also have another problem, the rear passenger side door does not shut evenly with the body panel. when it is closed, it sticks out a bit, like 1 cm. is that a major problem?

IMO, it's not a major problem if it doesn't leak in the rain. You can adjust it with a screwdriver by changing the mounting point on the door.

Quote:

Originally Posted by BiG_B

also, when the front passenger side door is closed, the door ajar light stays on...and when i pull it tight the light goes away. id hate to go to the stealership to fix these. any advice

It probably has to do with the switch that's along the door frame. It's a big nipple covered by black round rubber molding on the lower B-pillar. If you try to push it when the door is open, you can see the door ajar light turns on and off.

BiG_B · 01-02-2005, 06:10 PM

what mounting point?

cam98hi · 01-02-2005, 07:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SmokingTiresV6

CLEAN YOUR LENSES!

what's the best stuff to use to clean on the 98head lights, i noticed you said the plastic cleaner is that the only one?

tntang · 01-02-2005, 08:24 PM

Quote:

IMO, it's not a major problem if it doesn't leak in the rain. You can adjust it with a screwdriver by changing the mounting point on the door.

My driver's side door doesn't match evenly with my body panel either. I am also wondering where this mounting point is?

anuthaCamry · 01-02-2005, 10:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cam98hi

what's the best stuff to use to clean on the 98head lights, i noticed you said the plastic cleaner is that the only one?

i guess you didn't read my post, maguires plastic cleaner, i think they also make wax