Last night I tried to put in some new headlights. They are the silverstar lamps from Oreilly's. When I got them put in the high/low beam wouldn't work. The high beam indicator lamp on the dash would stay on all the time. When the lights were on high beam they worked fine. When I put them to low beam they would go really dim. I took the lights back out and put them in my dads 98 and they worked fine. When I put the factory lamps back in everything is normal. Any thoughts? Thanks.

 

possibly your stock headlight wiring doesn't like them, puts too much load on harness. Maybe upgrade harness?

 

I am betting you have the wrong headlight bulbs,, I believe the 94- 98 take the 9004 bulb and the newer ones took the 9007 bulb. They look identical, and both plug in the same style socket, but they are not electrically interchangabe, as the ground i believe are in different locations.

http://www.candlepowerinc.com/pdfs/9004_9007.pdf

look there it will show you better, as to why they work in the 98 but not your 2001

 

Thats was my initial thought.

 

They gave me the 9007 the first time and they didnt work. I went back and they gave me the 9004 and they worked like a charm. I wonder why they have the same socket on them? Oh well, they work great now!

 

Beware on the those bulbs. I would recommend an auxilliary headlight harness . I got one from LMC truck (www.lmctruck.com). This will allow the bulbs to pull the extra power from the battery and not through the harness. I burned up my switch and melted some of the wires. Those bulbs definitely draw more current than the standard bulbs.

 

I had silverstars in for a few years without problems on my stock wiring before upgrading to the LMC truck harness - with no noticeable difference but I'm no scientist either.

I'm hoping for a little Christmas bonus and going to finally throw out the housings entirely and replace with new clear housings - probably use the same silverstars - they've lasted me almost 6 years.

 

Non Sport trucks use 9004 bulbs, where sport uses both a 9004 and 9007 (In regards to 2nd gen's). 9004's are 55w/45w while the 9007's are 65w/55w I believe.

 

Very Good info on headlights and lighting if you are interested.

Daniel Stern Lighting

 

Do you guys have a preference for replacement housings? My lenses (head and fog) are shot to he'll and no amount of polishing or acid is bringing them back...