Short Lived headlight bulbs

I go thru a set of bulbs about every 1.5 yrs maybe less. Sylvania silverstar is what Ive been running. Its been sort of an issue since ive owned it 2012 bought it new. Its not a huge issue but seems excessive.
T

 

Normal for silverstars. Brighter output comes with shorter life.

 

I’ve gone back to the cheap $18/pr bulbs; they’re legal and last 7 years. I gave up on that other shit

 

My oem bulbs were still good 7 years later when I swapped them out. Now I replace them almost yearly haha.

 

I will try the cheapos next time. I feel the light output is a tad bit better but then again i live in the mountains and my headlights lens need cleaning regulary. Which is free

 

have you ever heard the saying those who shine the brightest are the first to burn out. brighter bulbs love to cook off faster, are you touching the bulb at all? had a kid come in once said he kept having his light bulbs burn out like monthly. and needed a diag. i opened things up and instantly saw a dirty fingerprint cooked on the glass, still ran my diagnostic on the electrical system checked fuses and put new bulbs in and cleaned them up and then had a really long chat that handling the bulbs was why he was blowing them out so fast

 

They make about 4 levels of brightness. The Silverstars are the brightest with the shortest life. Dropping down just one level is better than factory and they last me 4-5 years. I got 7 years out of factory, about 1.5 years with the Silverstars. A lot depends on how often you use them. If you do a lot of daytime driving with them on in rain plus a lot of night driving they don't last as long.

 

I need to spend $70 every 1.5 years; not

 

are you wearing gloves putting them in or are you touching the bulb when installing them?

 

Yup Im super careful

 

Im well aware of this, but thanks for the quote.

 

I bought the Silverstars and the passenger side is askew high and right. May not bother me if they are short lived.

 

Did you double check if the bulb is seated correctly? Was the spring hard to get into place?

 

I even removed the washer fluid tank to make sure it was correctly seated. Looks good except for the direction.

 

They are nice and bright but don’t last long either in my experience.

 

Sylvania Silverstars are rated for 150 hours
go Philips RacingvVsion GT200 speced for 200 hours https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...-not-led-or-hid.398066/page-159#post-24595268
$33 a pair should last you 2 years

 

Try Perde H4s brighter about 4K type color and better than stock. Long lasting and between $15-30 a pair and a warranty but never had one burn out in 5 years.
May not be the perfect bulb for many on TW but price and output works for me.

$30 PERDE Replacement for Solar Series Platinum H4 Xenon-Enhanced Halogen Bulbs Left & Right Set

PERDE Replacement for Solar Series Platinum H4 Xenon-Enhanced Halogen Bulbs Left & Right Set (amazon.com)

 

Had/have the same issue, and it seems like its always one side that burns out before the other (can't remember which one). Mine would last less than a year most of the time. I started a thread about it a few years ago. One thing that seemed to help is cleaning the contacts on the side that kept burning out. On mine, there was a bit of gunk in the housing that didn't look helpful, so I cleaned it out, and it seems like they last longer.

Another thing I've done is simply stopped running with headlights on during the day unless specifically required by law. Obviously that just cuts down on how many hours they are running, and would drastically impact the life of the bulbs. I may also look at some of the other recommendations above, because the Silverstars are expensive and don't seem like anything special.

 

I gave up on Sylvania. I am trying these…

 

My terminals also seem a little gunked up i did clean it a little and use dielectric grease this time around.
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