ajg617

There are actually two Silvertar bulbs - one by OSRAM and the other by Sylvania, which is an OSRAM subsidiary here in the U.S. They are not the same. I think you can only get the real OSRAM Silverstar's from abroad. The ones you buy in the local Walmart are made by Sylvania and are not the same. If they have a blue tint, beware. Read this eye-opening article by Daniel Stern.

http://www.danielsternlighting.com/t...good/good.html


The key area is near the bottom. Sylvania SilverStars are not the same as Osram SilverStars. I do not believe that Osram even makes a version of the ULTRA. AND, my Sylvania SilverStars stink!

regards,
AJG617

bulabula

Dead link.

Don't know what it said, but I've been happy with my silverstars for the last 4 years - Much better lighting than what came from the factory and for not a whole lot of money.

kxhonda

How have you got 4 years out of em? I can bearly get a year.

ccmckee

Those things drive me crazy when some one is behind me with them.

MARKY MARK

I'm running the Silverstars I got from Kragen for about 3 years now. No problems and are definitely better than the stock bulb as far as seeing the road.

Mark

old 300

I bought a pair of those silver stars and I have to say that was one of the biggest jokes I have seen. I don't have any trouble with the lights on my truck but was watching tv one night and seen the ad about the lights. I went to the local auto parts store and got some. I came home and put them in and I have to say they weren't half as bright and had a blue tint to them. I took them back out and took them with me the next time I went to the store and asked for my money back. They said they had a few people that returned them saying the same thing. Again my factory lights are quite bright and those just sucked.

CSAGrey1

I had the "Silver Star" but I did try the "Cool Blue" and can say that they offered no improvement. I might even venture to say that I thought they were worse than stock.....

fschiola

Maybe he only drives during the day.

2broke2smoke

exact same here ... took the wife and kids into the garage and asked "is it just me or is the 15$ bulb weaker" ...

got a nice job dad, all that work for less light ...

Mopar440_6

I put a pair of SilverStar bulbs in the truck about a week after I got it. I can say that the SilverStars are brighter than what was in it but those bulbs looked like they had been in it since it left the factory. However, even with the SilverStars the headlights on my truck are just about useless...

ajg617

I thought I'd post the response I received from Daniel Stern regarding which SilverStars are sold here in the U.S. You may find his comments interesting.

> What an astoundingly informative article. Can you tell me what I just
> bought? I went to the local parts store and bought Silverstar bulbs
> for my Dodge truck.

I'm afraid the sad answer is...you bought hyped-up junk. Sylvania's Silverstar bulbs are a scam.

Here's manufacturer data, from internal engineering databases, for output and lifespan at 13.2v for H1 bulbs. The numbers here are a composite of values applicable to the products of the big three makers (Osram-Sylvania, Philips-Narva, Tungsram-GE). Each manufacturer's product in each category is slightly different but not significantly so. I picked H1-type bulbs for this comparison, and while the absolute numbers differ with different bulb types, the relative comparison patterns hold good for whatever bulb type you consider. Lifespan is given as Tc, the hour figure at which 63.2 percent of the bulbs have failed.

H1 (regular normal):
1550 lumens, 650 hours

Long Life (or "HalogenPlus+")
1460 lumens, 1200 hours

Plus-30 High Efficacy (Osram Super, Sylvania Xtravision, Narva Rangepower, Candlepower Bright Light, Tungsram High Output, Philips Premium):
1700 lumens, 350 hours

Plus-50 Ultra High Efficacy (Philips VisionPlus, Osram Silverstar, Narva
Rangepower+50, Tungsram Megalicht, but not Sylvania Silverstar):
1750 lumens, 350 hours

Blue coated 'extra white' (Osram CoolBlue, Narva Rangepower Blue, Philips BlueVision or CrystalVision, Tungsram Super Blue or EuroBlue, Sylvania Silverstar or Silverstar Ultra, which is just a rebrand of the Silverstar product, also PIAA, Hoen, Nokya, Polarg, etc):
1380 lumens, 250 hours

Now, looking over these results, which one would you rather:

(a) Buy and drive with?
(b) Sell?

The answer to (a) depends on how well you want to see versus how often to change the bulb. If you want the best possible seeing, you pick the Plus-50. If you don't care as long as it works and you don't want to hassle with it, you pick the long life.

The answer to (b) is determined by how rich your company's shareholders want you to be, and is obvious: You want to sell the bulb with the shortest lifespan, highest promotability and highest price. That'd be the blue unit, e.g. Sylvania Silverstar.

> Realize that Dodge Ram trucks from 1995-2001 have some of the worst
> headlights ever.

Correct!

Put in a set of the '99-'01 Dodge Ram 1500 Sport headlamps, which are
*much* better than the lamps all non-Sport '94-'02 style Rams got. The Sport lamps use two bulbs per side (a 9007 high/low and a 9004 high-only) and produce much more effective, longer and wider, better focused beam patterns. They physically fit right in, but require some wiring adaptation, which is just as well since the factory wiring tends to starve the bulbs.
Regarding the Sport lamps themselves: There is only one proper operational setup for these lamps, and that is as follows-

Low beam mode: Low beam filament of outboard 9007 bulb on, all other filaments off.

High beam mode: High beam filament of outboard 9007 and high beam filament of inboard 9004 on, all other filaments off.

The low beam filament of the inboard 9004 is not used -- these lamps do not have optics to focus the light from it.

In NO case are the low beam and high beam filaments on together!
Two-filament headlight bulbs are pressurized to about 10 atmospheres COLD.
They are not designed to handle the heat (or the current on the common filament support lead) of running both filaments at the same time for more than very brief periods during beam changeover or headlight flashing.
Doing so carries the very real risk of the bulb grenading inside the headlamp, destroying it. Some people who think they're clever wire it up this way anyhow, and the "Brite Box" people have made a business out of this "clever" (not) modification.

Regards,
AJG617

zulusafari

Interesting reading. Glad I didn't spend the money, but I was close.

I have been wanting to do a Sport conversion, since my V-10 Sport had great lighting!!

I never considerred the Bright-Box idea, since I already know that the factory wiring is too small to handle the juice and the bulbs can't take the heat anyway.

Thanks for the thread!!

bulabula

Just saw this post again. I believe that the bulbs I put in my truck were one of the best investments I've made in it. And those comments are directly opposite from what I've experienced in my truck.

Maybe I've got some good ones; built before some bean counter made a production line decision to cheap-out on it to make a bigger profit? dunno.

I have kept the original bulbs in the old silverstar packaging downstairs these last 4 years in case the silverstars burned out; but truth be told - I'd never put in those dim OEM's in ever again.

infidel

Interesting. I know several people who have had their lights wired up this way for many years. Never heard of even one case of a bulb grenading.

In fact never heard anyone mention a problem on any automotive message boards either but have read of many people doing it on all manner of different vehicles.

Seems like if this were true that makers of bright box and the several other devices that do the same thing would have been sued out of business by now.

CTD NUT

I did the jumper mod on the column wiring that does not allow the low beams to turn off when the high beams are engaged. It has been this way since I have owned the truck....I have never had a bulb longevity issue. From my own first hand experience, I can say that running with both filaments on does not adversely affect bulb life.