Headlights, Dumb questions

I have a couple of dumb questions ,even though i have heard there are no dumb questions. My truck seems to burn out headlight bulbs about every three months,OEM bulbs lasted five years but since i got aftermarket about 3 months and have to buy new bulb on one side or another,i have been looking in threads for my answers but ended up with more questions then answers, What does HID mean? and what is Ballast when speaking of headlights? Do you have any recomendations for new bulbs? Should i just go to dealer and buy toyota bulbs? Im not buying any more Sylvania thats for sure, Thanks for any info .

 

HID stands for high intencity discharge. It uses a different kind of bulb that burns hotter and brighter than stock.

A
ballast basiclly hold a charge like a capasator and keeps the out put level.. they are some what cheep and look good.they just blind the heck out of oncomming traffic. Hope this helps.

 

Common complaint w/ sylvania! Maybe consider doing a retro setup?

 

If he were touching the glass part of the bulb they would not last 3 months. They would burn out in days.

 

For regular replacement bulbs, try the Phillips X-Treme bulbs. They're a good alternative to the Sylvania bulbs and produce better light in my opinion. I've had them in my truck for a while now without any issues. Again, do not touch the glass on the bulbs or they'll get 'hot spots' from the oil left by your hands and will burn out very quickly.

HIDs range from the DDM tuning kit for around $40 to the once you see here on group buys for around $110+. If you buy the 35w (not the 55w) and aim them correctly, they should not blind oncoming traffic. They should come with a shield so they don't reflect light upwards into oncoming traffic. They come in different colors (temperatures) and do not have to be crazy white or blue. 4300k is about the color of a stock headlight, 3000k is more yellow and are used by people as fogs, 5000k and above start to get blue and eventually purple as the temp increases. I've got a 5000k kit in my motorcycle and they're a little more blue than I'd like but not bad.

 

Thanks for the replies guys,i know not to touch the glass, and i didnt,also changed them as pairs,still have had the problem and one fix it ticket to boot,im going to the dealer tommarrow and buying stock bulbs thanks again.

 

Wolf pack no problems with any thing except the light burned out,this has happened with two sets of sylvania in 6 months, today i went and bought a set of toyota bulbs,they are a little pricey at $51 bucks ,but they also have a one year warrenty, and since the first set of lights lasted 5 years im hoping these will too. thanks for all of the replies to this thread.

 

**UPDATE***

BONE HEAD MOVE....Ok i bought new bulbs,bonehead move was i started out changing the bulb on the good side where bulb was ok,then got to the other side and looked at the bulb and it looked ok,plugged it back in and turned on the lights it worked,dont do a bone head move like i did and start at the good bulb , i guess it just had a bad connection,well i changed them any way and now i have a spare set,