Opinions on H4 bulb choice?

[quagmire]

One of the little projects I will be doing this winter is an H4 conversion on all 4 lights.  My night vision isn't so hot anymore, and I'd like to go HID but I refuse to use the projector housings I've seen available. 

I modified and upgraded the wiring with a heavy duty switch and relays for both high and low beams when I completely rewired the car.  In addition to that, they are wired so that all 4 lights will work on both low and high beams as long as I use combination bulbs.  I have an alternator that tested out to 240 amps total, with over 150 at idle so I should be okay on that end too!  The whitest bulbs I've personally used were Sylvania Silverstars, but they do not last very long and aren't very cheap either.  I know many others with these bulbs and they too were disappointed with the life of them.  So, I was wondering what other options you guys have used for bulbs.  Any feedback is mucho appreciated.  

[GoodysGotaCuda]

I have some who-knows brand ebay H4 bulbs thats have lasted me three years with no problems. Personally, I am upgrading them to 6000k HIDs once I can swing it..

[quagmire]

What kind of housings are you going to use?  I haven't seen any that look even remotely close to stock.  I'd love to go HID if I could find some good looking housings.

[GoodysGotaCuda]

I just have some basic ebay headlight conversions. Hella makes some. I'm one not to be overly concerned running HIDs without projectors. I don't have much for complainers with my truck running HIDs, that is much much higher off the ground than my Barracuda...the lighting improvement is dramatic over basic Halogens..

This is what I have, nothing fancy.

[Aussie Challenger]

 

One of the little projects I will be doing this winter is an H4 conversion on all 4 lights. 

I modified and upgraded the wiring with a heavy duty switch and relays for both high and low beams when I completely rewired the car.  In addition to that, they are wired so that all 4 lights will work on both low and high beams as long as I use combination bulbs.   

  Personally I wouldn't bother having all 4 lights on when on low beam, no real advantage and besides you can adjust the centre high beams higher for max. lighting penatration.   
  You have done most of the good things with wiring upgrade & relays, I think you will be more than suprised at how bright your lights will be compared to before.   

[quagmire]

Where I live I know I will get pulled over for the bad cut off of improperly retrofitted HID's, unfortunately.  My brother and several other friends have gotten pulled over numerous times, the cops around here don't mess around with non DOT retrofits or excessive brightness.  I know people with stock HID setups who have been harassed in the Chicagoland area.  So it seems I might be stuck with the halogen conversion for now at least.  The only reason I have all 4 lights on is to spread the light out a little better, even if the light isn't really much brighter on low the spread helps my peripheral vision out with the stock sealed beams. I can always rewire it no biggie if whatever lighting (H4 halogen or HID) I settle on is too much on low.  Bulbs seem to be my biggest obstacle right now, I need to find some nice, white bulbs that last longer than Silverstars. 

[Aussie Challenger]

  Two more things, I don't know what your police are like but if I was driving down the road with all 4 headlights on in a built up area I would get pulled over.   
  The low beam light has a shaped prism so that the light doesn't blind the oncoming traffic but still lights up the kerb side, so fitting a second set of dual beam lights is really a waste of time and effort and as I stated above you will have less distance vision when on high beam, try your lights now that you have fitted the relays.   

[Bullitt-]

  Bulbs seem to be my biggest obstacle right now, I need to find some nice, white bulbs that last longer than Silverstars. 

I don't understand "last longer" as I have a set of Silverstars in daily use now for 3-4 years with no failure
& installed a set of Silverstar Ultras in another vehicle a year ago so far with no issues, these are white & somewhat brighter.

[GoodysGotaCuda]

I don't understand "last longer" as I have a set of Silverstars in daily use now for 3-4 years with no failure
& installed a set of Silverstar Ultras in another vehicle a year ago so far with no issues, these are white & somewhat brighter.

I'd agree with that, my parents car ran for awhile with no problems running Silverstars. Just make sure you do not touch the glass when installing any Halogen or HID bulb.

[quagmire]

I've gone through at least 3 pairs in two years on two of my cars, my brother had a few go out on his car after about 9 months.  I seem to burn one out every 6-9 months or so.  I know quite a few others who've had similar results, and I've read A LOT of complaints about them online too.  At $20 a pop, that gets old quick.  I know about not touching the glass, heck on the one car they are sealed units so there isn't really any way to contaminate the bulb.  I've heard about a some bulb called Nighthawks that supposedly are close to the silverstars in whiteness but last much longer.  I've never seen them in a store or seen them used in person though. 

[quagmire]

After talking to my brother about the cost of the HID kits he has been using for his headlights and fogs for the past two years I think I will buy a set for two lights and see how it works with the housings I'm getting.  If it is too blinding I can swap it out, but if it works okay they'll pay for themselves in bulb savings after a few years.  And because the Challengers have seperate high and low beams I won't have to lose my highs or deal with the aftermarket combo kits.  Most of them are very expensive or don't work well. So we'll see how it works!

[GoodysGotaCuda]

Yep, I paid $65 for my HIDs in my truck on eBay, about 5 months with no problems. Just make sure you don't "flash" them really. HIDs hate to be flashed..

[Bullitt-]

Take a look at these.... I can get them for you for less than $10 ea for most of the 1st 3 pages.
 Most HID kits on pages 7&8 $150 or less.
http://www.petra.com/index.php?page=1

[quagmire]

Just an update, but I will be retrofitting OEM bixenon projectors into the H4 conversion housings I ordered in the next few months and installing HID lighting.  That way I will have the proper focus and cutoff so I get the most out of the conversion without the potential blinding and policia problems.  I have an idea of what I will do now, and some plans drawn up.  My goal is to integrate them so that they look completely stock when off while having that awesome lighting at night.  I will take a bunch of pictures and make a DIY on it for anyone interested. 

[the_engineers]

Hope I'm not too late, but this has been discussed multiple times.  Here's one of the last threads on it, along with the link the place I used.
http://www.cuda-challenger.com/cc/index.php?topic=49875.msg521659#msg521659