Hey,
Can someone recommend good replacement bulbs for my 2008 Corolla? Are there any useful specs on the packaging? (The Oreillys website was not very useful.)
I do not do a lot of nighttime driving, but noticed how weak the lowbeams were while aiming the lenses last night.
Thanks,
Rog
They're all going to be pretty similar, honestly. Lots of marketing claims, but the condition of your lenses and the aim is going to be more important. I wash my headlights every time I wash my windshield, and I'll change out the lenses if they cloud up and cannot be polished.
What Keith said. There is a web site called Daniel Stern Lighting that has lots of stuff on bulbs. Super wattage bulbs can melt your wiring or housings so not a good idea. Blue coatings on the bulbs look "whiter" but actually reduce output.
Osram makes a good uncoated bulb in normal wattage, you will likely need to order on-line. Depending on which bulb style you require, you may be able to substitute some more recent designs by modding the tabs on the bulb base.
Interesting comment from Keith about changing the headlight lenses. I'm under the impression that new headlights are either really expensive OEM or cheap junk that doesn't focus the same way as stock.
I learned on the Rio and Accent the H3 type bulbs would see a drop in light output after about 2 years. For $20 every 2 years it was worth no listening to the wife complain about her terrible lights.
this conversation is making me twitch. the proper term is "Lamp" not "bulb"
In reply to mad_machine :
Headlight lamp?
Headlamp lamp?
Headlamp capsule?
Headlamp bulb?
Head lamp?
In reply to mad_machine :
Care to elaborate?
In reply to Bob: Thanks for that. I was thinking just last night that I wasn't getting the same performance out of the Rondo lights.
In reply to boulder_dweeb: I confirm what others have said about Daniel Stern being The Man. And really cleaning up clouded covers helps a lot. Also, I've been reading quite a bit about the importance of correct headlight aim, but I have to say I don't fully understand yet how you do that with "built in" headlights as opposed to old-school sealed beams. It may be specific to every car...? Hive, please chime in.
The best guide for halogen lighting I've found.
Stealthtercel said:Also, I've been reading quite a bit about the importance of correct headlight aim, but I have to say I don't fully understand yet how you do that with "built in" headlights as opposed to old-school sealed beams. It may be specific to every car...? Hive, please chime in.
Every headlight can be adjusted. I'm pretty sure it's required by law. On "aero" lights, it's usually done with a couple of screw heads on the backside somewhere. Check your owners manual.
My experience with changing out headlight lenses has been on a WJ Grand Cherokee and an E39 BMW. The Jeep ones tend to craze on the inside so you can't polish them out. There are lots of cheap OE-style replacements on the market that seem to have the same optics as stock. They're certainly better than a set of cooked stock ones. I recently went to a set of Spyders with projectors and a few other tweaks to get some more light where I wanted it.
The aftermarket lights for the E39 are not the same quality as the brutally expensive OE Hellas, unfortunately. The car came to me with cheapos and I eventually ponied up for the real thing because I was not satisfied.
And yes, halogens do lose light output over time.
mad_machine said:this conversation is making me twitch. the proper term is "Lamp" not "bulb"
Interesting info: 2014 Impalas do not have a horizontal adjustment, only vertical. It sucks, because the factory adjustment puts them on a single point.
Also, the projector housing is designed for HIDs, not halogen, so stock lights in an Impala LT *suck*. An HID retrofit kit makes things better, but there still isn't enough side spill for backroads at night, even with the high beams on (which just flips up a shutter, no increase in brightness happens).
The pinnacle of halogen technology seems to be "HIR" bulbs, witch burn hotter for a given wattage.
There’s lots of information on “upgrading” halogen bulbs with brighter versions or HIR and other such things. If all else fails I recommend the purple box Sylvanias. walmart has them and they do actually seem to be brighter and they stayed that way a lot longer than the tinted bulbs I tried after them.
In reply to Keith Tanner:
Page 382 of my Owner's Manual says that, on vehicles not equipped with the automatic headlight aiming feature [??], I should keep my headlights clean and properly aimed. That's it. The next paragraph suggests that I "avoid staring directly at the headlights of oncoming vehicles." Apparently they're pretty bright.
That should take care of the needs of owners with two-digit IQs.
I can see how that might be the case on some vehicles with self-leveling headlights. They sometimes can be calibrated electromagically. I have noticed that some cars don't have the horizontal adjustment as noted.
I usually just put Sylvania silver stars in everything that isn't hid
For sealed style, these are amazing. https://technotoytuning.com/toyota/ra64/raybrig-racing-headlights
FMVSS 108 (federal motor vehicle safety standard) mandates vertical adjustibility only. Horizontal adjustment can either not exist, or if is does exist, must be capped as to render it inoperable. Thank grossly outdated laws for that gem.
Many manufacturers ignore this out of either ignorance, or willfully....since it seems nobody is enforcing it.
That said, if the adjusters are present, and capped, the caps can be easily removed and headlamps adjusted.
Also if your high and low beam vertical adjusters are linked, and you want to adjust independently, you can take the linkage apart and do that as well, though you may have to remove the lamp to do so.
If your '08 Corolla is anything like our '08 Rav4, I can confirm the awesomeness of the HIR swap. I put in 9012 HIR lowbeams in place of the factory 9006s, and have found a way to stuff them into anything of mine with 9006s. Totally worth it in terms of output, color, and throw distance. I get mine from a guy in Maryland (Candlepower.com), and always buy 3, just so you have a spare at all times. Takes 5 minutes with a dremel or diagonal cutters to modify the bases.
Trackmouse said:For sealed style, these are amazing. https://technotoytuning.com/toyota/ra64/raybrig-racing-headlights
Is the pattern right- or left-hand drive?
Hey,
Rockauto has a listing for these Phillips bulbs:
Phillips 9006PR, 9006VP: Which are listed as 30 to 60 brighter than standard.
Does anyone have any experience with these bulbs. (lamps)
Thanks,
Rog
30 to 60 percent brighter......
TGMF said:FMVSS 108 (federal motor vehicle safety standard) mandates vertical adjustibility only. Horizontal adjustment can either not exist, or if is does exist, must be capped as to render it inoperable. Thank grossly outdated laws for that gem.
Many manufacturers ignore this out of either ignorance, or willfully....since it seems nobody is enforcing it.
That said, if the adjusters are present, and capped, the caps can be easily removed and headlamps adjusted.
Also if your high and low beam vertical adjusters are linked, and you want to adjust independently, you can take the linkage apart and do that as well, though you may have to remove the lamp to do so.
Horizontal its required by ECE/CCC markets and basically everyone outside of SAE. US cars don't require it and makes the lamp cheaper so the OEs have different part number for different regions.
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