9005 to 9011

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That looks similar to my Buick housing. I was going to swap in 9011 in tthis housing, do you think it will be OK? Here is a picture of the drivers side housing. It has a shield over the low beams but slits in it.




6fwqap.jpg
 
Originally Posted By: buck91
I think we are being a bit dramatic on the glare issue. HIR bulbs are not the same thing as HID bulbs. According to Daniel Stern the 9005 bulb is spec'd for 1870 lumens and the 9011 (HIR) for 2350. This is roughly a 20% increase in output. Compare this to the 3,200+ lumens of the HID drop-ins which we all love to hate and I think that puts it into a nice perspective.


An HIR2/9012 is an 87% increase in intensity compared with a standard HB4/9006. Because an HIR2 bulb's filament shares the physical filament dimensions with a HB4 (or close enough to consider to be "the same"), you can figure that all aspects of the beam pattern will have, very roughly, 87% more intensity. These older optics which allowed acceptable amounts of glare with stock bulbs may allow unacceptable amounts of glare when you drive it with 87% more intensity.

True...it's better than sticking an HID retrofit in there. But an HIR may be problematic as well. It's iffy with these older lamps, which is why I recommend sticking with an HB4 in this case. Glare is problematic for other drivers, but it can also be problematic for the vehicle operator in the form of backscatter from precipitation and reflections from road signs.
 
Originally Posted By: 901Memphis
It has a shield over the low beams but slits in it.


I'd probably not do it in those housings either. The slits in the glare shield can be problematic, and the optics probably aren't ideal, either. GM used very small lamp buckets back then...the physical size of the reflector is quite small. These smaller reflectors just don't do as good of a job of beam control as a larger reflector can. That's logical, too...imagine slowly shrinking that reflector smaller and smaller; eventually, all definition in terms of shape and angles will disappear. And conversely, imagine growing it larger and larger and you can add more and more definition and refinement to the "prisms and mirrors".

Compare how "simple" in terms of design your Buick's lamps are compared to much larger ones, such as from a newer Dodge Ram:

2010-dodge-ram-2500-laramie-mega-cab-4x4-headlight-photo-354470-s-1280x782.jpg


Here are the ones on a CR-V for another comparison, though it does take a different bulb design:

2014-Honda-Cr-V-Headlight.jpg


Don't get me wrong; I'm not saying that HIR2 is hands-down not a good idea. I'm saying that older optics don't have as much glare control as today's cars do, and that it MAY not be appropriate. The HIR2 offers a nice improvement in lighting at the risk of increased glare. Newer optics control glare so well that the increase is often not substantial (because an 87% increase in a very low amount of glare is still a low amount of glare). An 87% increase in a low-to-moderate amount of glare can be problematic.

With these older lamps, my personal recommendation is to stick with an HB4.
 
901Memphis:

ok to do the 9005 to 9011 on the high beams.

the 9006 to 9012 is iffy for all the reasons mentioned in the thread already.

i can for sure tell you that i experience the glare issue from my low beams on the road signs on my low beams.

One other thing to note with these assemblies is that there is only one adjustment for both up/down and in/out, so as I do the majority of my driving on very rural low traffic roads, i have mine set for best setting on high beam. I notice the effect on my low beams as they are not quite "set" the best after that. But if i go the other route, then my high beam alignment suffers a bit.

So fiddle with your alignment(and properly of course) to get the best for your needs.

I will better be able to tell you the effects of the 9011 on high beams and xtravisions next week some time, assuming shipping is on time.

thanks all for the tremendous contributions, questions and thoughts that have gone into this.
 
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Originally Posted By: John_Conrad
901Memphis:

ok to do the 9005 to 9011 on the high beams.

the 9006 to 9012 is iffy for all the reasons mentioned in the thread already.

i can for sure tell you that i experience the glare issue from my low beams on the road signs on my low beams.

One other thing to note with these assemblies is that there is only one adjustment for both up/down and in/out, so as I do the majority of my driving on very rural low traffic roads, i have mine set for best setting on high beam. I notice the effect on my low beams as they are not quite "set" the best after that. But if i go the other route, then my high beam alignment suffers a bit.

So fiddle with your alignment(and properly of course) to get the best for your needs.

I will better be able to tell you the effects of the 9011 on high beams and xtravisions next week some time, assuming shipping is on time.

thanks all for the tremendous contributions, questions and thoughts that have gone into this.



I know all about the poor adjustments, they used to be okay with my OEM headlight housings, but i replaced both of them with new units to get rid of the faded plastic and the new adjustments suck.

I have them aimed about maxxed out pointing up and i think i am barely at the minimum height with my low beams, but the high beams are pointing way too high up. The OEM housing was much better but very aged in many ways.
 
my new bulbs arrived on saturday and i installed them that evening, i went out for a few miles test drive on both sat and sunday evenings and have to say that they are a noticible improvement.

i will post more as i drive with them this week and observe them for a longer period of time on my dark 35 mile commute home this week.....
 
So I have had a few weeks to drive with the new lights and I wanted to post back and report my observations.

Upon installing recommended lights, I immediately noticed an improvement on both the high beam and low beams. The greatest wow was definitely on the high beam lights. I observed as expected a much brighter, whiter, light and further down road projection.

The low beams were an improvement, but were not giving me such a big wow factor on my daily commute as the high beam and that was fine as I largely use my high beams on the commute.

Last night, I drove about 5 hours west into Nebraska to visit the in laws for thanksgiving. My drive took me on 3 separate interstates, through Des Moines at rush hour and as luck would have it snow was falling and the wind was blowing out of the north.

As traffic was extremely heavy, I was only able to use the low beams and this is when I got the wow factor on these lights. The better concentrated beam kept the light down road and it cut right through the snow and allowed me to keep up with the heavy traffic speed.

Seeing the light of the low beams on different colored asphalts, during these conditions really helped me better appreciate the improvements they made.

All in all the new bulbs helped my application in my particular situation tremendously. I would recommend this to anyone with these type housings. As always though, your mileage may vary.
 
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resurrecting this one...

would a 9011 LED mod be advisable in this small lens or should i stay stock size with the 9005 LED? notice i did not say can, i know I can physically make the mod. I am wondering more about the light bouncing around in the poorly designed enclosures? This is for the high beam, i would not try the 9006 to 9012 low beam mod.
thank you
 
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Originally Posted By: John_Conrad
resurrecting this one...

would a 9011 LED mod be advisable in this small lens or should i stay stock size with the 9005 LED? notice i did not say can, i know I can physically make the mod. I am wondering more about the light bouncing around in the poorly designed enclosures? This is for the high beam, i would not try the 9006 to 9012 low beam mod.
thank you



All leds with halogen part numbers are trash, including 9005 and 9011. A true HIR 9011 is going to be the best and brightest replacement for any halogen 9005 bright
 
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