h4 Bulb Recommendations

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Cruzerman

Cruzerman

Joined
Apr 23, 2005
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I live out in the country in rainy Oregon. It is very dark out here and winter is coming soon. I'm looking to upgrade my H4 headlights.

Currently I have Cibie e-code headlights with 55/60W bulbs. I'm not sure who manufactured the bulbs. I want to go to a higher watt bulb for more light. I know I have to upgrade the wiring harness.

Can anyone recommend a bulb? I'm thinking about the Philips / Narva Rally 90/100W or 100/130W bulbs. But I would like some feedback from others who run higher wattage bulbs. Remember, I live where it is dark, rainy, and often foggy. TIA.
 
I use Hella H-4's in all mine, 80/100's I think. I do have the Hella Weatherstar 110/85W,yellow bulbs in my 60, havn't had much chance to review them yet.

but for the most, I have used Hella H'4 80/100 and have been quite happy
 
Are you running the Hella's through the stock harness? You may get more candlepower by switching to relays...

I'm over here in the ditch (Willamette Valley); I switched over to the H4's (55/60, I believe) when I almost creamed a calf coming home from work in the dark awhile back. Locked all the way up, chirping down the road at an angle and actually bumped the thing with my fairlead. Calf just looked at my 40 like it was my fault. Went home, changed my shorts and logged onto Rallylights.com :D
 
Daniel Stern Lighting (.com) sells some Osram H4 bulbs that are something like 70/65w

Not a whole lot brighter than 60/55, but brighter, and less likely to cause electrical issues with a stock wiring harness.

Having said that- upgrading to relays does make a big difference.
 
Close call on the cow! Don't think there would be a real winner in that confrontation. Last year I hit two deer in one week driving to work in Corvallis. Bought me a welder and have a deer proof bumper on the list of projects for this winter.

Would love to hear a review of the Hella Weatherstar 110/85W bulbs. That just may be the ticket for me.
 
Cruzerman said:
Close call on the cow! Don't think there would be a real winner in that confrontation. Last year I hit two deer in one week driving to work in Corvallis. Bought me a welder and have a deer proof bumper on the list of projects for this winter.

Would love to hear a review of the Hella Weatherstar 110/85W bulbs. That just may be the ticket for me.
Click to expand...

You shoulda skipped the welder and just gone with the 110/85's...you could probably lay a nice bead with one of those :D. Don't personally know of anyone running 'em, though.
 
I run 100/130s. Used to have a set of 110/165s, but they melted the headlight plug. I could have redone the connection with heavier wires and spades, but I changed back to 100/130s and called it good.

The quality of the bulb makes as much difference as the quality of the light itself. I put a no name bulb in an IPF light and an IPF bulb in it's mate. The patterns from the IPF bulb was much sharper with much less side scatter and fuzzy edges.


Mark...
 
I am under the assumption that a higher watt / brighter low beam will not be too big an issue since the lenses seem to focus the light on the road. Correct?
 
I believe that this type of light uses a different method of lighting the road. A "standard" sealed beam headlight uses a shotgun approach to lighting the road, with a mass-production attempt to define the beam. It has to let a certain amount of light travel up high to illuminate road signs, but that same light will also blind oncoming traffic, thus the restrictions on wattage.

The Hella/IPF style light has a little better QC when it comes to defining the light pattern, so technically you could throw quite a bit more wattage to the lamp without risking the wrath of oncoming traffic. That does have its limits, of course, and aiming the headlights is a little more critical. Then there's always the legal issue...you know that these are strictly for off-road use, right? :D
 
I'm running the IPF MG Extra White Bulb. It only draws 55/60W but is rated as an "Optical Equivalent to 110W Low Beam/130W High Beam Output" That comes from ARB's website.

I choose these so that I did not have to upgrade my wiring harness. I have been very happy with them. Have not yet been pulled over but people in cars will often flash brights at me thinking I'm running my high beams. The IPF inserts focus the light pretty good as well. My only complainit would be while running the high beams you do not get much to the sides of the road.
 
I'm not sure about the rules up in Oregon- but here in CA you need to check and make sure your lights have a DOT sticker on them if you want to stay legal. Most of the higher wattage bulbs don't have the sticker.

I'm currently running some Sylvania Silverstar head lights and I love them. They are a direct replacement for the stock headlights and they are much brighter even though they are only 55/65 watts.
 
RE: Legality... Some states specify only DOT spec lighting. Many do not care. Here, I am only required to have a light sufficient to reach a certain minimum, and that is vaugely defined. I can run as much power as I care to, so long as I dim my high beams and my low beams to not glare in the eues of oncoming drivers. I run aircraft landing lights slaved to my highbeams, along with my 100/130 bulbs in my Cibie lights. Perfectly legal for on road use.

RE: DOT' Approval" No such thing. DOT sets standards, but does not inspect or issue "Approval". Those claims on packaging are pure BS. Marketing crap. But DOT has no concern about advertising claims and they are violating no laws.

RE: Wattage "equivilency claims. With the same technology, a lower powered bulb puts out less light. You can compare a decent bulb to a s***ty one and get all sorts of difference on light output. The claim of getting 100 watts of light from an 85 watt bulb is marketing crap. They just compare it to a $2 made in china piece of crap.
It lets them sell a bulb that will last lnger and is a little cheaper to make. It will perform fine in a stock wiring system, and does not put as much draw on the alternator. These are all valid advantages over a more powerful bulb. But it does not throw as much light as a more powerful bulb designed with the same technology.

RE: Light patterns. These are determined by the reflector and lens. A bulb which does not locate the filiment in the correct spot to allow the reflector/lens to focus the light can degraed the pattern. But a bulb can not improve the pattern over the original design parameters.

RE: higher power on low beam. So long as you have a properly designed AND ADJUSTED headlightlight, low beams should not bother oncoming drivers, regardless of the power of your bulb. Quality aftermarket headlights, as well as almost all modern headlights in cars being currently built and sold, are much more effective at keeping the patterns away from the eyes of oncoming drivers than the old style lights that these rigs came with.


Mark...
 
I hate oncoming drivers who's lights are aimed wrong and thereby blind me, but I also hate not being able to see well.

I have the e-code Cibie lenses with 80/100W H4 bulbs, with an upgraded harness. Lights are aimed very carefully. I can see great, and I've had somebody drive my cruiser back towards me and it does not blind/flare in any way.

I was tempted to run the 100/130W bulbs, but the lifetime of a bulb goes down as the watts go up. For me, the 80/100's seemed like a good compromise.

The Cibie lense is awesome (noticably better than the Hella's). More light where you need it.

The upgraded harness by itself will also make a big difference. Light output is highly dependant on voltage. With the stock harness on my 60, I measured about 12 volts at the bulb. With the upgraded harness, I get the full 14.5 volts. That's a big difference, and is noticable.

The upgraded harness is essential if you go to higher watt bulbs.

I used the yellowstar bulbs for a few months. 85/115. Didn't like them. I know that they are supposed to improve visability in rain/mist/etc, but that wasn't my experience. HOWEVER, I used these in my Hella lenses. Now that I've switched to Cibie, I'm tempted to put the yellowstars back in to see how they work.
 
lovetoski said:
The upgraded harness by itself will also make a big difference. Light output is highly dependant on voltage. With the stock harness on my 60, I measured about 12 volts at the bulb. With the upgraded harness, I get the full 14.5 volts. That's a big difference, and is noticable.

The upgraded harness is essential if you go to higher watt bulbs.
Click to expand...

Been meaning to ask you guys... what's the easiest route towards upgrading your harness? There doesn't appear to be a kit for the 60 series... are you just making your own? It looks like Daniel Stern can hook you up with an upgrade but I imagine it's no different than sourcing things yourself. I've always wondered if the Slee upgraded harness for a first generation 80 series (40 something bucks) could be adapted to an FJ62???

This is one of many things on my to-do list before winter and ski season officially arrives.
 
Great information everyone. As for the harness, I'm making my own. That way I'm sure that it will be more than enough for any type / wattage bulb I decide to put in. And I know the quality of parts will be good. Besides, that way the wires are the right length for the way I want to route them.
 
ballardcruiser said:
Been meaning to ask you guys... what's the easiest route towards upgrading your harness?
Click to expand...

Making one is an option. I have a couple of different soldering irons if you want to borrow one? I think wiring is fun, but not everbody agrees. However, I didn't make mine. I got the harness for my 60 from Slee. Not sure if they sell one for a 62 though.
 
If you're making your own harnesses, crimp, solder, & shrink-wrap.

Re power vs light: watts are a measure of power draw (volts x amps) whereas candlepower is a measure of light generated. For a given bulb they are related. For differnt bulbs, no. So it is possible for a lower wattage bulb to generate more candlepower.

I'm waiting for someone to try bi-xenons in the e-code Cibies. THAT would be something!
 
I have 30 amp relays and heavy duty wiring on each headlight, and saw a voltage increase on each side of just over 1 volt.
 
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