This may or may not have been covered previously.

The vehicle in question is a 1997 Camaro.

I've been reading the various threads and methods of replacing the bulbs in the stock 4351 headlamp assemblies.

However, there is no mention of anyone using an 80watt replacement bulb rather than the stock 55 watt.

Has anyone done this with the stock wiring successfully?

I've been looking at the autooptics conversion lense

view of this assembly

link

and the use of the ASTRA CLEAR, HIGH OUTPUT, 3200K bulbs

($25 from autooptics).

Ultimately, I may just get the bulbs locally (from some other brand), but the concern is if the stock wiring can support the additional current...

COmments?

 

FYI, stock bulbs are around 3100 K so you're not going to get a whiter or "blueish" hue to it. However it sounds like you're thinking right ( ) and looking at the lumens, which is how bright they are.

I just siliconed mine in, Used GE Xtravision 9006, which put out 1090 lumens, a whooptie 90 over stock. I really can't tell to be perfectly honest. Silverstars, sold in Autozone, are 4000 K, so they are very white, without being blue, and they are also rated at 1090 lumens if I am correct.

This topic gets discussed a lot in the appearence forum. I doubt that 80w will kill the wiring, but for the price of relays it may be worth it to put them in as well. I probably would have went with 80w bulbs if I could have found them anywhere.

I toyed around with the idea of putting high beams 9005's in the low beam housings, as they are very efficient (1500lm) at only 65w. I decited not to in the end. If you were going to do that, you would need to file off the little tabs on the inside of the 9005 socket so it will fit.

 

Thanks for the response.

There just happens to be an autozone here in town, so I'll see what they have tommorow and give the 9006 in the 4351 assembly mod a try.

I talked to one of the techs at auto optics this afternoon. He seems to think that the stock wiring can handle the 80 watt bulbs without difficulty. He also mentioned that there is no fuse for the bulbs themselves, but from past experience, I'm pretty sure there is either a fusable link or a circuit breaker (in the switch possibly?) that would trip if too much current is passed.

I really don't want to cut into the stock wiring, so i'll have to research some connectors/wiring harness options instead.

55 vs 80 is 50 watts difference on the two, which is roughly 4 amps. So ~8.6 vs 12.6 amps.


Decisions decisions.

My headlamps are original on the car, back from 1997, so anything would be an improvement at this point.

 

Just a short update.


Ended up going with sylvania 9006 XV (extra vision).

Used the original lenses and jb weld to hold the new bulbs in place.

They seem a tad brighter than the original 6 yr old bulbs. Although I suspect if the old bulbs were new, the brightness would be the same.

I'm glad I didn't go with the silverstar bulbs, probably would not have made much difference.

I got some aftermarket fog lights installed (CATZ), one of whose bulbs is burned out, so I suspect once thats replaced, the lighting on the road will be improved somewhat.

For $25 for the pair of bulbs & jb weld, I guess it was cheaper than replacing both lenses.

Next time around however, I dont think i'll be able to remove the bulbs too easily without busting up the lense. I hear that jb weld stuff is pretty strong.

 

I went to one of my friends that runs a ricer speed shop (contradiction in terms) And bought some of those blue bulbs... 80w low and 100w high..they worked just fine. They are regualer 9006's and 9005's. All i did was took my old bulbs out.... it was kinda a pain but it worked.... Then blue glued the new ones in. Worked like a charm! Alot of my camaro buddies don't know how to do it... And they think i got soe special ****...even after i told them bout it...

 

I would suggest you NOT do business
with these guys.....they do not back
up their bulbs anymore and are
selling mostly bulbs from Korea
and they last 90 days

 

Hey dude check out my thread:

http://web.camaross.com/forums/showt...hreadid=208870

 

Read the threads but I don't
know what it has to do with
AutoOptiks.com and how their
Korean bulbs are short lasting
and how AutoOptiks does not
stand behind what they sell.

 

I read that thread the other day & was impressed, you made it look easy w/ good results. WTG

 

Thanks, it was very simple and cheap!