[firetruck41]

***UPDATE 2/2010*** My original HIRs are still going strong over 3 years later.
Forum users report the JD bulbs are hard to source, several users have had good experiences with Candlepower Inc. - HIR page. They have the Toshiba bulbs for the lowest price I have seen recently (~$22), and also have the Philips HIR which specs out as having more lumens.

***UPDATE 12/2007***: The price of the JD bulbs are no longer $12, current pricing is in the $25-$30 range, there are also other sources for the same bulbs in that price range.

I bought the John Deere HIR bulbs, I used http://jdparts.deere.com/ to order them for $12.50 each. I actually had to call the dealer and reorder as they have never had anyone order over the web and had deleted the email they got with the order from the jdparts website.

These are John Deere part number AH211917. They replace the low beam lights, and are also known as 9012 bulbs. What I got when I picked them up, was Toshiba bulbs which made in China (PRC). The printing on them says: Toshiba HIR2 12V 55W, and DOT 9012. They do require you to trim one tab, which you can do with wire cutters, or some other implement on a handy leatherman. I replaced my dead stock bulb today, and the HIR is definitely brighter, though I have yet to see them at night. I will try to get pics of that later.

**Stock/old** bulb below:

[firetruck41]

Box the new bulb came in:

[firetruck41]

New John Deere HIR bulb (Toshiba):

[firetruck41]

New HIR bulb with tab trimmed:

[firetruck41]

The pics are not that great, and I have not seen them on the road yet, but there is a definite but somewhat subtle difference between them. The focused beam is a little brighter, but I noticed the surrounding light is more noticeable/brighter than stock.

***US driver side HIR, passenger side stock***

[cary]

Man, I saw that first picture and though you had been screwed, those are the right bulbs for the low beams.

[Arya Ebrahimi]

You trimmed the tab completely off? Interesting.

Not sure why you would do that since it's so easy to cut it to the correct shape. I think you will have problems with the bulbs popping out of the sockets on rough roads. Just my take.

[KANE]

Firetruck, nice find! I took your lead and ordered a couple from my John Deere dealer for $11.50 a piece. I love being able to get stuff local. Now, how about the high beams?

[firetruck41]

Originally Posted by Arya Ebrahimi

You trimmed the tab completely off? Interesting.

Not sure why you would do that since it's so easy to cut it to the correct shape. I think you will have problems with the bulbs popping out of the sockets on rough roads. Just my take.

It's a very tight fit in the socket after trimming the tab. With the other two tabs "engaged", there is no way it will pop out, I doubt it will even move. I was going to try to shape it like the original bulb's tab, but the plastic is kind of brittle and just broke almost comletely off, so I just smoothed it out.

[psfpilot]

I had good luck trimming my JD HIRs' tabs to approximate the 9012 tabs with a Dremel tool cut-off wheel.

[DaveyBoy]

Originally Posted by firetruck41

It's a very tight fit in the socket after trimming the tab. With the other two tabs "engaged", there is no way it will pop out, I doubt it will even move. I was going to try to shape it like the original bulb's tab, but the plastic is kind of brittle and just broke almost comletely off, so I just smoothed it out.

I think those are the same bulbs I just put in.
(although I spent more money than you from the guy on ebay )
The tab broke off on one of mine as well and it's still a very tight fit.
I doubt it will come loose at all.

[Yossarian]

For $11.50 each, tab, no tab??? Time to find the local John Deere dealer.

[cary]

When trimming the tabs with sidecutters (dykes), nibble a bit off at a time so you don't have the entire tab break off. I've done about 12 of them this way with no problem, it just takes 1 minute to trim instead of 10 seconds.

[Sno bored]

I got the JD for my low beams, and I got some high beam bulbs from Daniel Stern lighting. The high beams are great too, and no trimming required. If you search I'm sure you can find the info for ordering.

[97 FZJ80]

$9.99 each from my local JD dealer! I'm ordering a pair

[Rookie2]

Originally Posted by firetruck41

I bought the John Deere HIR bulbs, I used http://jdparts.deere.com/ to order them for $12.50 each.

Hmmm, my local guy is high compared to that. Before I put the screws to him, did your $12.50 include shipping?

BTW, nice write-up, can't wait to hear your on-road evaluation.

Thanks,
Rookie2

[sjcruiser]

It's $9.98 each here in San Jose, CA. Same dealer that charged me $28 each for the "Made in Japan" counterpart last year.

[firetruck41]

Originally Posted by Rookie2

Hmmm, my local guy is high compared to that. Before I put the screws to him, did your $12.50 include shipping?

BTW, nice write-up, can't wait to hear your on-road evaluation.

Thanks,
Rookie2

I think each dealer has their own markup, and the price on the website does not include shipping to your location. I believe it is an item that they can get with their normal parts shipment, so there should be little or possibly no shipping charge for them to get it to their store. I did pay $1.50 shipping per bulb, according to the invoice. Mine arrived one day after ordered, and I went and picked it up at the store.

EDIT: oops, I did pay shipping, I just thought it was tax. Changed the above to reflect that.

[MDarius]

I'm all over this. But have any of you thought how sick you have to be to take all those pics of a light bulb, sit in your car in a closed garage taking pictures of your lights on the wall...I'm sure you were adjusting the camera exposure and only selected the pictures that looked best...AND THEN have a group of people get all excited about it?

I love this place! I think this is my next upgrade.

[BPMOU]

Good find, I just talked with m y local JD parts department and said that they are $9 and no shipping to them.