Teh Official "Dude Where's My Forum?" Thread, Brought to you by the minds of Box, and her fiancée, Lorelei Options

[Bitter]

You'll still need to futz with the aim and rotational aim a bunch to get it right. Even with the H4 things it's not spot on, there's play in all the parts and just 1/2 a MM will put the rotation WAY off. Buy one Hella, I guarantee you'll love it and forget about the retro which I know will take longer and be harder and more frustrating than you anticipate.

[Box]

Funny no one seems to mention that when they're trying to sell them to you and make it sound like it's as easy as opening the housings and popping them in and locking them down if it's H4...

At that rate I'll just do the Hellas then, maybe I'll get some 130/100W bulbs just to see how face melting of a beam I can get from the dinosaur tech. Of course more so just to see what can be done compared to the Genesis and to satiate my curiosity, and it'd be after seeing how the CP bulbs do first but if it didn't bother others I might consider it. I thought about maybe running the CP in the driver side then a 130/100W in the passenger side so perhaps it really wouldn't bother oncoming traffic but would light the side of the road better for spotting deer which run rampant around here.

Also found where some site called 4WD.com has the Hella ECE H4 for $40.84 each shipped, seems they specialize in Jeep parts. Guess will do some research on them through the BBB and on Google and if they check out will get them from there since it's $20 cheaper than on Amazon or anywhere else. OR if I just scroll down to the bottom of the page for the BBB link and the payment security credentials...

One question though, I've read before on the Hella ECE H4 lamps the high beam is too high? Was that the case or is it limited to the 7" where I saw it mentioned the most?

This post has been edited by Box: Dec 17, 2016 - 8:21 PM

[Bitter]

Yep, does not affect the 4x6 at all, high beam is just perfect!

[Box]

K, good to know. Will order from there then since it's like $80 and change shipped for the pair and all I need are the housings anyway.

[Bitter]

I saw about the same prices on Amazon for housing only too I thought but those prices change up and down so much.

[Box]

Amazon can be a roller coaster at times, there was one day something I placed into the cart changed prices like 3-4 times in an hour or two.

[Bitter]

All but the $100 kit is gone from Amazon now, so never mind. Did you use ceramic sockets? I did for the Capri.

[Box]

Yup, ceramic sockets with brass pins. Right now I'm conflicted since I went to Summit and it turns out they also carry the Hella H4 bulbs for stupid cheap compared to everyone else, the lamps are cheaper too at $39.09 each though the catch being free shipping necessitates an $100+ purchase. They have the 130/90W bulbs for $2.11 each and the 130/100W Yellow Star bulbs for $4.98 each which I was wanting to try, I was highly considering the Yellow Stars since the slightly yellow should be easier to see with and would be easier on oncoming traffic yet the high wattage should yield a nice strong beam.

Of course that's provided I want to get into the habit of changing bulbs every 50 hours or so, but winter is the majority of my night time driving anyway so I might have to change them 3-4 times a year with most of them taking place in winter.

[SwissFerdi]

Everyone got a bath today! Except wheels are still dirty.



This post has been edited by SwissFerdi: Dec 18, 2016 - 7:14 PM

[Bitter]

Car looks great, wish mine looked so good.


Just get the housings and run with the bulbs you have now, more light may not even be needed, the stock wattage in the H4 housings with the 12ga harness I built is pretty fantastic, I have a hard time picturing more.

[Box]

Reminds me I need to wash mine but mother nature did me the favour so mehh.

Probably right since I was going reuse the CP bulbs first then decide from there, really I was just interested in the Yellow Stars since I need as much help as I can get.

This post has been edited by Box: Dec 18, 2016 - 8:29 PM

[Bitter]

Yellow makes depth perception hard for me but you're weird.

[Box]

It's supposed to be a twinge of yellowish white, not like "JDM yellow" or even a fog yellow. Allegedly it improves visibility since human eyes respond better to slightly yellow than slightly blue, plus it's supposed to be a lot better in rain, fog, snow, etc... where light reflecting back at you is a problem. I figure they're worth a shot.

[Bitter]

Meh, can't hurt to try I guess.

[Box]

At $10-15 a pair kind of what I figured. Will use my CP bulbs first though since apparently the housings were special order on Summit and it'd be into January before they arrived so I just ordered off that 4WD site.

If the Hella lamps can put at least 150-200% more light down the road over the Autopals I'll be happy. Which rode with my brother last night going out for dinner and I noticed even his car could use improvement since I was paying extra attention just to the lighting, I think he could benefit from using some o.e.m. D2S projectors on the low beam in lieu of the stock H11 projectors then some D2S minis for the low/high instead of the H1 minis. That and go to o.e. or Morimoto bulbs and ballasts over the Opt7 stuff. I mean it puts out a good amount of light and fairly cleanly, but you'd think with that many light sources it'd be better. I think with the Hella lamps I might surpass him, which then that can illustrate the benefits of more expensive stuff vs cheaper stuff.

This post has been edited by Box: Dec 19, 2016 - 4:07 PM

[Bitter]

I'm confident you'll see a big improvement on the road, it may not look so good on the wall but on the road it'll be massive, a huge difference, absolutely the best head lights.

[Box]

Within 5 feet they should be notably better on the wall from what you and others have said, but from 25 feet it may not be as notable. Though on the road is what truly matters anyway, I look forward to them combined with the 100/80W CP bulbs.

[Bitter]

More of your light will be farther away where you want it, you may actually be satisfied with standard wattage bulbs and the Hella lamps...if you'd never tried the 80/100 bulbs that is. I might yet just get the Capri a set and toss them in, but I have to make sure the aim is totally correct before that kind of firepower is unleashed. She wants better for her 93 Suburban, I got 9012 bulbs in it now but the lamp itself is of poor design, I don't know if there exist any ECE LHD lamps for that model vehicle, they're not sealed beams so it's not simple.

[Box]

The standard wattage bulbs are now in my grandmother's CRV otherwise would test it just to see. The CP bulbs made a notable improvement over the standard wattage and I've never had anyone flash me, of course I've aimed them properly too.

Here you go: http://www.lmctruck.com/icatalog/csd/full.aspx?Page=47 At any rate they'd be good for a mini H1 retrofit at least, but I seem to recall LS1 Firebirds upgrading to some LMC truck light was popular but not owning one I never really looked into it.

Found these on eBay: http://www.ebay.com/itm/88-98-Chevy-Silver...PAAAOSwf-VWVk5G Depending on which set pictured they are could be a decent set or for retrofitting they'd be perfect.

This post has been edited by Box: Dec 20, 2016 - 3:53 AM

[Box]

Pulled the dash cover out and have started on making a replacement pad, to my surprise the material I decided to try using matches the colour of the dashboard nearly spot on which is kind of funny since I had planned on wrapping the pad in microsuede or vinyl.