One side of my car's headlights is no longer sealed as I see moisture inside the lenses. Should I just get a stock replacement ones or upgrade to LEDs or some other type of lights? I do not need any fancy looks but a quick search on RockAuto didn't yield any stock replacement headlights. I also do not ride the car at night so not really concerned about the brightness. It is a weekend cruiser.

 

What kind of car?...

 

92 Camaro RS

 

get stock replacements or upgrade stock replacements(silverstar or whatever that stock upgrade was)

 

https://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog/...amp+bulb,11701

 

Thanks. I found it after I posted here. I was looking under "Headlight assembly" section which didn't have anything. Then found the "Bulb section".

 

Any auto parts store will still have them on the shelf. Buying them local gives you the chance to inspect them for damage or defects. And you can be sure you get a well matched pair, took me three stores to find a pair of high beams that where one wasn't old enough to have birthed the other.

 

I bought them off Amazon. Got the standard replacements (not the long life or extra bright) as I only drive the car during the day. They were very inexpensive at $28 for all four. That compared to $460 for a single headlight for my wife's car.

 

For those of us that do drive at night, what are the best and brightest headlight replacements that don't require wiring changes or modifications to the buckets?

 

I have Hella ECE H4 retrofit with led H4 bulbs. They have a perfectly sharp cutoff, dip on the left and significant flare on the right. They work really well in city driving and as long as you take a few minutes to adjust the height they don't blind oncoming traffic. Just make sure you use the harness they come with or swap the pins on the headlight harness and high and low beam are swapped. Also get good quality led bulbs that mimic the way the filament is positioned in a halogen bulb, not the cheap crap ones that have a bunch of LEDs around the circumference.

 

I am reluctant to install "conversions". I did that about 5 years ago. The first problem was too much current draw through the headlight switch. So, I installed relays to provide the power to the bulbs. I then had problems with the relays "sticking" due to the way the H4 bulbs are wired internally. They have a ground feedback loop inside them that sometimes would not allow the lights to switch properly between high and low beam. Also, that conversion required extra cutting of the headlight bucket that caused problems getting them to align correctly.

 

i really like Sylvania Silverstar for an upgraded replacement headlight.
i'm debating getting Holley Retrobrights for my Trans Am but they're quite expensive (like $200 a piece). lot of money for headlights!

 

Installing anything other than a dead stock replacement is going to bring a little heartburn. There are a lot of really crappy options out there that are significantly worse than just the basic, 'what you have'. I didn't have to modify anything on the vehicle besides swapping the pins at the connector. The bulbs are Phillips counterfeits but decent quality and clock in at about 30w vs the 55w of a stock halogen bulb, so no relays or additional wiring required. The Holley retro bright seem like a good option for ease of installation but $400 is a bit much, especially considering all it takes is an unlucky rock hit on the road and it's toast.

 

I like the look of stock OE replacements, so the Sylvania SilverStar's are good... BUT they don't last very long.... both the sealed beams and the bulb types. With moderate use they last maybe 2 years, with heavy use they can last a year or less....


For the 3rd gen I went with the Hella H4 conversion bulbs and threw in some LED H4 bulbs.

I miss that yellowish glow but the performance of the LED bulbs is great.. I got some extra bezels and cut the back a little so there is easy access t change out the bulb without dismantling the whole headlight (firebird) . You can always also use actual H4 halogen bulbs as well...........




Keep in mind though that thy are not the cheapest.

 

I have the silverstars and have had them for about 4-5 years with no issue. If I really wanted much brighter lights and plug and play I would do the Holley retro brights, if/when the silverstars go that may be the way I go but I don’t drive the GTA at night a lot.

 

That might depend upon whether you're replacing just the two low beam headlights or all four.

If only two, then I'd think you'd want to match the high beams, so if they're the stock type, then the best of those are probably Sylvania Silver Star and Philips Crystal Vision Ultra. IMO, the Philips light output is slightly crisper, cleaner and whiter, but Sylvania is good too. Pep Boys sold Philips, but most Pep Boys are gone now, so the internet is probably the only source, maybe truck stops.

Holley Retrobright LED headlights, while "stock-style," won't really match, if placed side-by-side with stock sealed beams, although they might be considered to match "well enough" in some opinions.

The other advantage to stock style is that you can walk into any auto parts store and buy them. Except Pep Boys lol.

If replacing all four, then good LED headlights can be very expensive. The Holley headlights will give a stock-ish appearance, if that's a goal. Aftermarket reflector housings with removeable bulbs will too, sort of. Otherwise, none of the other aftermarket LED headlights are going to present a stock appearance, but they'll be bright!

After driving with stock, reflectors and projectors, IMO, modern reflectors are the best. No doubt, projectors have a coolness factor that's hard to deny, they perform well, and they were definitely a high-end thing for the auto industry for a while, but even auto manufacturers seem to have reverted back to reflectors (with LED), for the most part, and I don't think it's to keep costs down.

Something like the Vision X 4x6 reflector housings, or similar, not typical "ebay" reflector headlights, are going to give you a stock-ish appearance, an excellent beam pattern, and you can install the light source of your choice to give you the output you want. I can't say whether or not you'd have to open the back of the buckets a little bit. And whatever you choose from today's bulbs might require you to re-pin their plug. But for a combination of stock-ish appearance, good beam pattern, and the capability of a bright output, reflector housings are probably going to be your best and most affordable option, if replacing all four headlights.

Edit - PS: I'm a night driver, both for work and for pleasure. While I can usually see OK with crappy headlights, I've still been on a quest for good, better, best headlights for my cars and trucks for about 12 years, and A LOT has changed during that time, especially in the last 5 years or so, particularly for classic cars. 12 years ago, there weren't any modern headlight options that fit classic cars, whereas today, there are several excellent options that fit 3rdgens. But as the automobile lighting industry continues to evolve and progress, I don't expect to see much more, if anything, developed for classic cars. There was a big push to produce products for us, and the aftermarket came through. But what's available to us right now, is probably all there will ever be, so now is probably the best time to upgrade, if so desired. Some products are excellent, but more are not. And as we all know, if people don't buy, then the good products will go away, and people will be back to trying to cobble together their own.

 

Try Seallight bulbs on amazon.


I use the 9006 in my daily Camry for night driving for work in rural dark areas and they are a huge upgrade over stock 9006 bulbs. They also out perform and out last the Sylvania Silverstar Ultras... those were okay but didn't give that much better light over stock and burned out quickly with heavy use.

 

Honestly if you want to make the car easier and safer to drive in all conditions then I'd stay away from the sealed units and the cheapy chinesium led headlights. A set of 4x6 housings that allow the 9006 or 9007 series halogen bulb to be replaced is the way to go. Most manufacturers even the ones from China work just fine and fitment has never been an issue for me. But stear clear of thise with plastic lenses, opt for glass and they'll never fog or get crusty. Andif you want to move to an led light the 9006/7 halogens have led counterparts. Sealed units aren't available everywhere right now and that'll only get worse while every store carries the bulbs listed above. You say you don't drive the car at night and that's fine but you may find yourself having to drive it at night if you get a flat or something and it's repair takes longer than expected. Even the best sealed units are like having a jam jar full of fire Flys compared to a good modern bulb and they're like a wet match compared to the led bulbs available. Just check the laws where you live concerning brightness and you should be good to go

 

https://rmslighting.net/collections/...rness-adapters

 

Those don't look too bad, and the price is not bad for glass housings, either. I'm converting everything I can to LED, since they usually take fewer amps, resulting in less load and wear on the wiring and sockets, and usually provide much more light.

 

Still prefer my old HID retrofit over anything LED, but sylvania silver stars are very bright and still 55w (same as stock).