Sherwood

So on my endless journey to improve on these sub par stock headlights, I came accross this little gem. "Boosting" halogen headlights. Ballasts are used to increase the voltage output to regular halogen bulbs, increasing their output exponentially. Apparently the only company that made the ballasts was "Cats Zeta" and they have since discontinued.

Thought I was on to something for a minute.
Here's the thread where I found this:
http://www.chargerforums.com/forums/.../t-154844.html

Sherwood

Also a bit curious about "HIR" bulbs, or Halogen Infra Red, which were also another non HID improvement thats fallen by the wayside

MixMastaMM

With all of the eBay cheap HID kits out there, HIRs didn't have a chance. Everyone wants HIDs Bro! Who cares if the HIDs look like crap, are less bright than halogen and blind everyone in front of you.

I put a set of HIR bulbs in my 2006 Chevy Trailblazer and they were awesome. I probably have close to 5 years on the bulbs and they are just starting to fade out and need to be replaced.

As for our trucks you have three options, Sylvania Silverstars halogen bulbs, get a HID retrofit with projectors for your halogen housings or get 2013 HID headlights and a wire harness. The Sylvania's are the easiest at just changing a bulb.

LastResort

They basically up the output by running up the power consumption in the lamp(more voltage into a fixed resistances = more current draw), drastically reducing life and potentially damaging housings.

I put them in my WRX with a bit of trimming to the lamp base to remove the rejection keys. Super awesome upgrade for the dollar, but not doable in our vehicle.

Sherwood

not to be an *** but bulb life is a tradeoff I am more than willing to make. My 700 km trip to and from work in the middle of nowhere every week means top notch lighting is essential. I already have hood mounts and 100 watt halogen KC's on the way and an LED bar mounted.

From what I have read people have never had any damage to their headlight housing using these. They only increase the voltage to 14.8 volts and the headlight housings on vehicles are made to withstand excess heat above the stock bulbs.

Either way, they are no longer being sold.

LastResort

1/4 of the life seems like a pretty steep tradeoff to me.

Sherwood

hitting a deer or moose is an even worse trade off. I spend enough money on other bs in the span of a weekend, I can drop $60 on some bulbs once in a while.

LastResort

You are unique in your point of view, which is what I suspect happened to the boosters.

byte

If you want to increase the output... a relay and heavier wires going to each bulb might help... leave the lights in and turn them on... check voltage at the base of the light... many stock wiring harnesses use such thin wire that the voltage drop is huge... the bulb may only have 9-10 volts when light is on... the relay and bigger wires will feed a solid 12 volt to the bulbs. wanna step that up again... instead of drawing from the battery (12 volt) feed the headlights from the alternator... then you will have 14.4 volts at the bulb...


Here is one ...

Sherwood

I didn't realize I was the only one concerned enough about hitting wildlife in my $40000 truck that I'm willing to pay $60 every 8 months or so to help protect my investment and my life. I pass 1500lb moose on my way to work quite often, hit one of those and its game over I'm afraid. I suppose inner city folk don't have these kinds of problems though.

How do people even afford to fuel one of these trucks if they are worried about that kind of money? To each their own I guess