Who else seems to blow through headlights on their 1st Gen?

Man, the package for the Silverstars I buy says life of 140 hours, but it seems I'm blowing them like crazy. like every 3 months. with them on all the time I guess thats about right. But at $24 a pop its pricy...

Is there an LED alternative or anyone know a way to actually turn off the lights during the day?

 

You can't turn your headlights off? As in they're always on when the truck is on?

 

Yeah, even when the switch is off they are on. Dash lights and tail lights go out and the headlights dim a bit...

 

I'm a total noob when it comes to diagnosing electrical/wiring issues but you gotta get that fixed or your going to keep going through headlights no matter which ones you buy. Should be able to turn them on/off using the switch on the stalk on the left side of the steering wheel.

maybe @BartMaster1234 can help you out

 

He must have daytime running lights

 

DRL’s = yes Yeah they’ve been like that since day one. This is a one family truck. There’s no real electrical issue I’m aware of. They function the way they always have but it seems lately I’m going through lights a bit faster. ‍♂️

Maybe the manufacturer changed something... dunno. Maybe I’ll try a different brand. I use Sylvania bulbs.

 

140 hours??? Is that a typo? 140 hours ain’t shit. I’m surprised they last 3 months. I use basic Sylvania bulbs in mine and they last years. Not only do I do a fair amount of night driving but I have them on often when driving in daylight. Try a different brand and get the basic bulb not the super ultra killer brighter than bright bulbs. The higher intensity the shorter the life.

 

NO DRL`s so my bulbs last years lights on all the time

Might want to remove the DRL fuse if they are not piggy backed on something critical.

Is your charging system putting out to much voltage or are the headlight plugs corroded ??

A cause of short bulb life .

Just having bad luck ??

I am sure your not touching the bulbs with your bare fingers ??

 

Oem bulbs last years. I "upgraded" to various aftermarket bulbs that lasted months at best, other than Sylvania basic type. I went back to oem with long life again but weak yellow output. I now have Phillips extreme vision something or other. They are still in and going strong. I leave the headlights on day and night by the way. I did have Sylvania Ultra somethings in an '07 Caravan , installed in about '10 sold in '15 still burning. Something happened with Sylvania sometime after 2010. Their bulb life went down tremendously it seems.

The useful headlight output is maximized by clean wiring connections, clean ,clear headlight lenses and proper aim of headlights. I also replaced my stock fog lights with some PIAA led lights. Aimed right, with the fog light anytime mod, they can be used without blinding other drivers and they fill in the dark area between high and low beams. Our local roads are very dark with limited street lighting. Please do not add non- incandescent bulbs to a stock headlight housing. They are not designed, optically, for them.

 

Wiring is clean and good. I use plenty of dielectric grease and the contacts are good. I don't touch the bulbs at all, the filament is burning out and the glass is pristine. Lenses are kept clear with proper headlight maintenance using a good repair kit.

These are their mid-grade bulb with a slightly cooler temperature. I may go back to the warmer basic bulb next time.

Side note, when I turn off the headlights, they do dim a bit. Maybe I'll start turning them off as it appears the voltage drops a bit while the switch is off as opposed to leaving them on (switched on) all the time...

 

I'm still on my factory bulbs, 138k miles, 21 years. I've had 7 cars over 31 years, maybe 800k miles total. I don't think I've replaced more than 1 bulb per car on average.

 

Run OE. Those Silverstars are horrible and are known to blow out incredibly quickly.

If you have your doubts about the OE wiring integrity the ground could be weak and it never hurts to add in a secondary ground to each headlight circuit per side.

 

I'll order some soon and see what happens.

I'm sure theres no wiring issues.

Good input guys, thanks!

 

I hated the DRLs on my truck. First thing I did when I got my truck was disconnect the wire to disable it.