DIY: The Best Headlight Upgrade You'll Ever Do For Under $50

fto12345 · Post by **fto12345** » Wed Sep 01, 2004 9:59 pm

Mate, I have no idea what you are saying but what we are talking about here has nothing to do with the high beam!
You're not even touching the high beam.

Simply put, think of putting the same bulb that you put in to high beam, you are putting that exact same bulb in to your low beam as well.

That's all.

ruchi · Post by **ruchi** » Wed Sep 01, 2004 10:48 pm

fto12345 wrote:Anyway, what is the difference between doing this and changing the same bulb to a higher wattage one?

Price. The only HB4 globes that I could find that offered a similar brightness were over $100. This solution costs about $30.

Boris · Post by **Boris** » Wed Sep 01, 2004 11:07 pm

fto12345, Let me re-word it, I was simply checking, that the current high beam, will no be as bright as this upgrade.

What I wrote makes sense to me...

FTO338 · Post by **FTO338** » Wed Sep 01, 2004 11:31 pm

ruchi wrote: The only HB4 globes that I could find that offered a similar brightness were over $100. This solution costs about $30.

Hey that just click, so what happen if i decided to use a higher W rating HB3 instead???

Wouldn't that be brighter once again????

RichardH · Post by **RichardH** » Wed Sep 01, 2004 11:48 pm

I've been running Philips Rallye low/high globes for almost 4 years.

70 Watts low beam, 100 Watts high beam.

No fuse or cabling issues arose. No heat issues either.

And damn are they good! But it looks like they are no longer available. So I'll be doing the RuchiNotRushi mod.

It's worth noting that at no point in your hacking, filing, swearing frenzy of globe modification should you lay a finger on the actual glass bit. If you do, there goes any hope of the globe lasting any length of time. It has to be totally untouched, with no oily fingerprints.

- Rich

ruchi · Post by **ruchi** » Wed Sep 01, 2004 11:53 pm

Boris, I'm glad your messages make sense to you because aside from fto12345 you are also confusing the hell out of me too

This has nothing to do with the high-beams, we're not touching them. Only the low-beams.

All we're doing is adapting a high-beam globe to fit in a low-beam socket. If you use the same bulb in both your high-beams and low-beams, then the brightness should be the same from each. The difference will be the distribution pattern of that light.

Kev, you're spot on, and for this very reason I am not making recommendations as to which globes to go for. Some people may decide to go for brighter globes, others for different colour globes. I've listed the ones I've used, but it's up to you as to which ones you use.

The key concept is simply that of using high-beam globes in the low-beam socket to improve the output of light.

I will say this however, I would be surprised if you wanted to go for higher wattage globes after seeing what the output of the 60W HB3s look like. Keep in mind that the light output is around double that of the normal headlights and is only 1/3 less bright than HIDs.

ruchi · Post by **ruchi** » Thu Sep 02, 2004 12:02 am

RichardH wrote:I'll be doing the Ruchi Not Rushi mod.

LOL!

RichardH wrote: It's worth noting that at no point in your hacking, filing, swearing frenzy of globe modification should you lay a finger on the actual glass bit. If you do, there goes any hope of the globe lasting any length of time. It has to be totally untouched, with no oily fingerprints.

really good point - take note!
It will be pretty hard to avoid touching the globe, so get yourself some isopropal alcohol, it's the stuff they use in cleaning fluid for cassette and VCR cleaners. I bought a pack of 5 isopropal alcohol wipes from Jaycar for around $4.00. If you can't get the wipes, just get some head cleaning fluid from Dick Smith or Tandy and put it on a VERY clean cotton cloth. Use this to clean the globes and remove any traces of oils that got on the globes from your skin.

Isopropal alcohol is a very thin alcohol and leaves no residue, hence this is why it is used for cleaning purposes. It is however HIGHLY evaporative. If you leave the wipe alone for 2 mins it's completely dry.

Post by **smorison** » Thu Sep 02, 2004 9:42 am

Seung: i'll be doing this at some stage so i'll show you what needs to be done once i've done it

sxcfto · Post by **sxcfto** » Thu Sep 02, 2004 12:09 pm

Hey Ruchi would consider donating the time to do mine

fto12345 · Post by **fto12345** » Thu Sep 02, 2004 12:14 pm

hey stephen,

Well, I got what they are trying to do, but I was just wondering what the difference between doing this mod and getting a higher wattage bulb?
Ruchi is saying that because of the price difference, but what I am saying is that no matter what you are still increasing the wattage of the bulb, as the high beam bulb that you put into your car is still higher than your low beam ones. Right?
If that's the case then why not increase the wattage a lot more and not do any mods!
Let's just forget about the price for now.....does my logic make sense to any one?

Btw, I used to us 100W low beam bulbs and they blew twice, and one of those times the actual socket fried. So I am trying all I can do avoid from increasing the wattage as much as I can....

So, I guess I'll find out on saturday but what wattage was the one from Autojoy?

Thanks,

ruchi · Post by **ruchi** » Thu Sep 02, 2004 12:41 pm

higher wattage = higher temperatures & greater power requirements.

The low-beam housing is not designed to handle the sort of heat that is generated from 100W globes, and although unsure, the wiring and fuses may also need to be upgraded if you went to those sort of wattages.

But lets put this in perspective. By using the HB3s in place of the HB4s you will be roughly doubling the light output. It will only be 1/3 less bright than a HID setup. We are talking REALLY bright!

I think the simpliest way to answer your own questions is to flick your high-beams on and ask yourself would I be happy if my low-beams were this bright? (note the pattern will be a little different). I would be very surprised if the answer was not "yes".

efteoh · Post by **efteoh** » Thu Sep 02, 2004 1:15 pm

im probable going a little over board here but, did you know that repco sell 130W narva HB3 globes!??!

like what fto12345 said, would they melt the housing?....

sounds like it would thou..

ruchi · Post by **ruchi** » Thu Sep 02, 2004 1:33 pm

hmmm... this is now getting ridiculous

wildfaye · Post by **wildfaye** » Thu Sep 02, 2004 2:24 pm

would it be possible to change the connectors on the bulb and lamp housing of the low beam to those of the high beam?

Post by **smorison** » Thu Sep 02, 2004 2:38 pm

wildfaye wrote:would it be possible to change the connectors on the bulb and lamp housing of the low beam to those of the high beam?

that's possible but you need to ask yourself... will the wiring handle it???

i suspect the answer is no

wildfaye · Post by **wildfaye** » Thu Sep 02, 2004 2:47 pm

hmm...than wouldn't the higher wattage bulb in a lower wattage housing cause it to burn out? isnt it the same?

i'm not a physics person, so i duno bout such thing...

ruchi · Post by **ruchi** » Thu Sep 02, 2004 3:57 pm

The wiring appears to be the same for the high and low beams, so I don't think that is an issue.

Wildfaye, you could replace the HB4 connector with a HB3 one, on the wiring, but I don't think you can change the plate where the globe locks into place, so you would still need to trim the flange anyway.

Personally I'd just leave the connectors standard and mod the globe. Modifying the globe would be easier than changing the plugs and plate and also means you can easily plug HB4's back in if you ever need to.

efteoh · Post by **efteoh** » Thu Sep 02, 2004 4:08 pm

what would be the most sensible wattage to go up to? obvisouly 130W is a tad over kill.

fto12345, you mentioned one of the sockets was fried, what happended to the other one?

ruchi · Post by **ruchi** » Thu Sep 02, 2004 4:09 pm

Agree with you Steve, sorry my last message was in reply to wildfayes first message.

But again, why on earth is anyone considering putting 100W globes in when 60W globes double the brightness?

Jono · Post by **Jono** » Thu Sep 02, 2004 6:21 pm

hi guys,

just made a mistake,...

bought Narva HB3 12 v 60w they dont look like a upgrade atm..

but i guess i will have to see tonight..

I was looking on the Narva website and it says the Narva HB3 +30's are 60w not 65w...

so make sure u write down the part number.. hehe