ecbsykes wrote: ↑Mon Dec 02, 2019 3:51 pm
Nothing really funny about blinding oncoming drivers, which in some cases can create a true hazard to safety. I understand that from the driver's perspective it can be argued that having brighter lights increases your safety, which may be true...but at the expense of others. Kind sucks. My 2 cents: do it right or not at all.
New replacements housings are cheap and effective. Projector retrofit is not hard either, though a little pricier. I did an HID projector retrofit and the results are stellar. Great light, and the cutoff beam is below the heads of all oncoming drivers.
That's a great idea. Would you mind sharing your build thread or links to what you used here?
The prebuilt projector housings are around $300 which is way beyond my budget.
I've been running the lights for two nights now, and I have to say it's a massive difference. If I'm blinding drivers I can't tell, but I have my lights properly adjusted to the ground and there is very little if any dazzling effect when it look at the lights. Not anymore than those terrible candles they call halogen bulbs. Where I live I'll never need to think about blinding other drivers though, I did a count last night and out of 100 vehicles I counted 80 had the newest brightest bulbs that were even brighter than mine (and in my eyes), and of those vehicles about 75 of the 100 were trucks, SUVs and cross overs where my bulbs don't even shine above their bumper. Hahaha. I live in a highly rural suburban area where people live in the woods to raise their kids. I believe the proper term is "exoburbs" 90% of the roads I drive on are up over hills and down blind turns covered in dense Forest and full of those tricky deer.
Here's my current synopsis:
Low beams: (9006) are definitely brighter than the old non fancy stock bulbs by about 3x. They do a great job of down road illumination but not so much that you're blinding everyone that passes by like those new Escalade, Mercedes and BMW bulbs. They do an amazing job picking up the reflection of road signs, and the reflective bits in street paint. They also do a very good job of casting left and right so I can see those free-range Bambi's. In the woods they do a great job, and I really like them. The product listing says they are 12,000 lumens, and I don't think the low beams are anything close to that. Maybe 6,000 combined (stock halogens are 1000-2000 each depending on bulb type)
High Beams (9005): these are maybe the brightest thing I've ever seen short of a helicopter search light. They're so bright that wherever they're pointing looks like day light. They work fantastic for back roads and highway driving, allowing you to see nice and far away at 75 mph. That being said though, they're definitely too bright to use in someone's neighborhood. These I believe are 12000 lumens. Seriously when you flip these on it's like one of those "let there be light" moments
How I adjusted the lights: I used the stock Volvo leveler bubble on a flat surface, and brought them to pointing down just a touch from the stock location. This seems to give me the maximum down road, side road, and immediately in front illumination.
Installation: was quite literally plug and play. I'll be honest the coolers on the back are massive. But they do fit inside if the housings with the dust covers on. The manufacturer recommends pulling the retaining ring from inside the light to install, but I did the old twist and turn, and it was fine.
Final verdict: for $15/pair with free two day shipping on Prime you really can't beat this. I would highly recommend these bulbs to anyone who needs superior bulb performance but can't justify $70/pair for Sylvania Silver Star Ultras.
I'll get some pictures tonight to post so you can see them in use.
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1995 Volvo 850, Non-Turbo, VVIS, LH FI, Green, 215,000 miles. B5254FS engine. Herman.
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1996 Volvo 850, died at 280,000
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