Best headlight bulbs??

Osram Rallye 70/65w!! I emailed Daniel Stern about them and this was the bulb he recommended in the Tacoma. He said the wattage was completely safe in the Tacoma since it's marginally higher. The set in my 2013 lasted two years before one went out. I have them in my 2015 also and like them. It's an uncoated bulb but still puts out a whiter light than the stock bulbs and throw further. That with modded H9's in the fogs and it's a very nice lighting upgrade.

http://store.candlepower.com/64205.html

 

Didn't read through all the posts to see if it was mentioned, but I'm running PIAA nite tech bulbs in my Jeep and pretty happy w/ them.

 

The Philips are great I've used the +60 and currently the +100. Great output on both and reportedly better longevity than the sylvanias.

 

Yes, you will find negative comments about anything. Michelle Pfeiffer was in a Miss California pageant; she came in 6th runner up.

 

So which is the one to get with stock wiring?

 

I've been really happy with my +60 and +100 Philips. Pretty good prices on Amazon.

 

FWIW, lights still worked 2 years after this. I sold the truck a year ago and I can't say if thy are still working. But, for 2 years they were excellent!

 

Ok. Just ordered the Osram Rallye 70/65w +50.... While I do hope they are brighter I am really hoping for whiter. I switched to LED Fog's but the OEM headlights seem so Amber/yellow now.

Osram Rallye 70/65w +50
What exactly do the three #'s Mean?. I assume 70 watt High Beams & 65 wall low beams but not sure about the +50.

 

The +50 is an unregulated advertising claim. Several manufacturers use +30, +50, +60, etc as representing a bulbs percentage of brightness brighter than their "normal" (or an OEM) bulbs.

The way I understand it, it's not real "science". There is validity per comparison among a manufacturers bulb offerings, but they're not true/calculated measurements of brightness. At best, they represent a loose relative comparison.

What does this mean to you? The +50 is gonna be a little brighter (and often whiter) than a +30, but not brighter (or whiter) than a +100. It also means it'll burn out faster than a +30 but not as fast as a +100. Usually.

 

While you may be getting "brighter" bulbs you may or may not be getting "whiter" bulbs. What you have to pay attention too is what kelvin output they produce. To get light that is "similar" to your LEDS you would need a bulb that is around 5700-6000 kelvin. Higher watt bulbs don't necessarily mean "whiter" light.

 

I ran these bulbs for some time before installing the ultimate headlight upgrade. RearViewMirror's assessment is spot-on - both Osram Rallye (70/65W and 85/80W) bulbs are brighter than stock, with the 85/80W variety being the brightest of the bunch, but neither is LED-color matched.

 

Just. Wow. 3 pages before this is mentioned...

There is no better halogen headlight upgrade. Lumen output is greater than any stock wattage halogen, HIDs and most LEDs.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/the-ultimate-headlight-upgrade-not-led-or-hid.398066/

 

Yup...

Those are the ones that lasted 11 months. They were great when they worked but... They didn't last. Output was great (as you can see from the pictures) but it wasn't a happy ending. I bought a different set that were actually better in design but they lasted all of 30 mins so I suppose they weren't really better huh lol? "Eventually" LED technology will catch up to the aftermarket bulb replacement but it just isn't there yet. Cars that come from the factory with LED headlights are "engineered" to run LED's. Cars that come from the factory with halogen bulbs, there really isn't an option out there (other than the one you mention) until LED technology catches up or retrofitting your lights for HID's. I may eventually get around to retrofitting my lights like my last truck. Until then I'll just stick with halogen.

 

To add to this post a little bit. I spoke of Kelvin temps to get the white light. That was one of the reasons I "tried" LED's in the headlights. It gave me the look and performance (albeit for a limited time) that I was looking for. I'm sure that @crashnburn80 setup does guarantee more light output but that's not what I'm looking for. My lights are bright enough. I'm VERY detailed oriented (to the point of being ocd) and I want the things that I do to my truck to have purpose and look the way "I" want them to look without sacrificing. I've no desire to do the "ultimate headlight upgrade". Just not something I'm interested in. I am interested in achieving a uniform look around the truck and still maintain the desired light output. I've been able to do that with halogen bulbs that have lasted for over 1.5 years. The only issue I have and it bugs me is when the lights are off there is a blue tint in the reflector bowl when turned off. I can live with it but I'm less than happy about it. But it works. Until I retro mine I can live with that.

 

A lot of people will say don't get the blue coated bulbs because they're "fooling" you into thinking it's brighter when it's actually just a little whiter. And this often gets incorrectly translated to "the blue tint blocks a portion of the light spectrum so the bulbs are actually dimmer- they just look brighter". There's more to the story.

On +30/60/100 bulbs they "overdrive" the filament. This is why they tend to burn out faster-- because they ARE burning brighter. I explain it like this...

Let's say the legal brightness of hiway bulbs is a 7 on a 1 to 10 scale. And let's say the OEM taco bulb is a 6... So, you upgrade to a brighter (non-blue coated) +50 bulb of brand X that has a brightness of 7 (overdriven filament). You're happy, a slight improvement over OEM (but it's ACTUALLY burning brighter so it's not gonna last as long). They burn out in about 18 months.

Now you go to replace them and you want even brighter/whiter than you just had--- but remember, the 7's you just had is the legal hiway limit! So... Enter the +100 blue bulb. With blue bulbs, they overdrive the filament to the point that they're ACTUALLY burning at a brightness of 9. Then they "coat" them, and this brings the brightness back down to the legal 7. So, yes the coating robs some of the light, but they're still just as bright as the Uncoated 7's. Plus... they are slightly whiter-- they call them a +100 because they do appear to be brighter than the +50's (but these are only gonna last 12 months).

So, yeah, in this case the +100 (blue coated) is a little misleading. But don't think you're not getting your money's worth.

OEM is a 6, the +50 is a 7, and the +100 is a 7. But the +100 looks brighter due to the color temp change from the blue coating. That blue coating isn't giving you "less useable light" as many will suggest. It may well still be as bright as is allowable by law.

Make sense?

 

Bump... I'm looking at the following bulbs. According to the Sylvania packages the average driver will use their low beam headlights for 100 hours per year (that sounds like a conservative estimate, imo), so that should give you some perspective on the expected lifetime of each bulb. I'm thinking that the Sylvania Basic bulbs look pretty good if you are ok with the output of the factory OEM bulbs. Otherwise the Philips bulbs advertise better lifetimes across the board as compared to the Sylvania alternatives. What would you guys and gals buy and why?
Philips X-treme Vision +130% Headlight Bulbs (Pack of 2) (H4 60/55W)
lifetime: 450 hours
power: 60/55W
$21.00

Philips 9003 Vision Upgrade Headlight Bulb, 2 Pack
lifetime: 400 hours
power: 67/60W
$16.08

Philips 9003 VisionPlus Upgrade Headlight Bulb, Pack of 2
lifetime: 300+ hours
power: 67/60.5W
$15.63

Philips 9003 X-tremeVision Upgrade Headlight Bulb, 2 Pack
lifetime: 300+ hours
power: 67/60W
$26.44
Philips 9003 CrystalVision Ultra Upgrade Headlight Bulb, 2 Pack
lifetime: 300+ hours
power: 67/60W
$26.53
SYLVANIA 9003 (also fits H4) XtraVision Halogen Headlight Bulb, (Contains 2 Bulbs)
lifetime: 160 hours
power: 55/60W
$19.75
SYLVANIA 9003/H4 SilverStar Ultra Halogen Headlight Bulb, (Contains 2 Bulbs)
lifetime: 145 hours
power: 55/60W
$43.99

SYLVANIA 9003 (also fits H4) SilverStar High Performance Halogen Headlight Bulb, (Contains 2 Bulbs)
lifetime: 140 hours
power: 55/60W
$33.75
SYLVANIA 9003 (also fits H4) Basic Halogen Headlight Bulb, (Contains 1 Bulb)
lifetime: 1110 hours
power: 55/60W
$8.75

SYLVANIA 9003 (also fits H4) SilverStar zXe High Performance Halogen Headlight Bulb, (Contains 2 Bulbs)
lifetime: ? (not great I'm assuming)
power: 60W/55W
$50.83
OSRAM Night Breaker Unlimited H4 (Twin Pack)
lifetime: ? (~50% less than a standard bulb according to the package)
power: 60W/55W
$21.90

PIAA 10704 H4 (9003 or HB2) Night Tech High Performance Halogen Bulb, (Pack of 2)
lifetime: ?
power: 60W
$45.55
GE Lighting 9003NH/BP2 Nighthawk Halogen Replacement Bulb, 2-Pack
lifetime: 150/800 hours (see here)
power: 67/60W
$29.71
GE Lighting 9003 NHS/BP2 Nighthawk Sport Replacement Bulbs, 2-Pack
lifetime: 200/800 hours (see here)
power: 67W/60W
$18.67

GE Lighting 9003NHP/BP2 Nighthawk Platinum Halogen Replacement Bulb, 2-Pack
lifetime: 125 hours (see here)
power: 67W
$51.84

Genuine Toyota 90084-98033 Bulb
$28.69

Just out of curiosity I looked up the bulb from my local Toyota dealers online parts sales site, Part Number 9008498033, $23.44 each plus tax.

 

I'm interested in new drop in replacements for my OEM ones. I'm running the same bulbs that came in my truck when I drove it off the lot 140k miles ago. They still work fine but I feel like they are dimming a bit. I just need more light output.

 

New drop-ins will likely provide only a marginal upgrade over stock. More light output = the ultimate headlight upgrade.

 

I found these, they are supposed to last 3,000 hours. Documentation

 

Yes, but I am thinking anything new will be better than the ones I have. They have nearly 10 years of usage. I'm VERY surprised they haven't burned out yet.