My plastic headlight lenses (95 mercury cougar) are fogged over with age, which makes them kinda dim. I see Pep Boyz has Sylvania SilverStar headlight bulbs on sale right now. The sylvania web site calls them "high performance", but no real specifics. My question is, would these bulbs be brighter and help to overcome the fogginess? I can't see to drive at night or in the rain.
Thanks, Libby
Headlight bulbs are only legally allowed to be so 'bright' or to put out a certain amount of lumens.
Lots of companies try to imply their colored or high intensity (focused) lights make you see things better.
The 'performance' label normally just means they will burn out really fast....
You need new lenses. There isn't much getting around that.
Mike
86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail >
No, in fact you will find that most of the bulbs are no brighter than the OEM types, except for high intensity lamps which pull more current and require upgraded wiring.
Just pull the lenses and polish them with a good plastic polish. It will take a couple hours but if you don't have the money to replace them, it will be just fine.
--scott
I was gonna suggest that too, I've had good luck with 3M clearcoat polish and a machine buffer, gets that yellow cloudy off those old Ford headlights...brighter bulbs (if you can find them) will only scatter more on trying to pass through the lens, with little or no net gain...
Libby
The only fix is to get new headlight lenses from the dealer. You may be able to buy just the lens, or you may have to buy the entire headlamp assembly.
Much less expensive than running into someone when it's raining.
Definitely get a plastic polish, you should be able to salvage the lenses. As far as the headlights go, Silverstars actually put out _LESS_ light than a stock halogen bulb. They claim "brighter" because it's a whiter color, but its actually projecting fewer lumens onto the road. Oh, and they burn out about 3 times faster than a regular bulb too.
If you want better headlights, the only thing I've found worthwhile are GE Nighthawk bulbs...they won't last as long as a regular halogen, they actually do produce noticeably more light. Only bulbs I've been impressed with.
For reference...here are the numbers on the H4 halogen bulb:
Stock 55w 1000 lumens 450 hour life $7 Sylvania Silverstar 910 lumens 150 hour life $20 GE Nighthawk 1148 lumens 300 hour life $13
Only place I've found Nighthawks is at Walmart, strangely enough.
Hope it helps.
- J
At our dealership, the detailer will polish out some fogged up lights; so it can be done; if you don't think you can do it, check with a auto detailing service that works on dealership cars.
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