Headlights - 83 GMQ

[MattsLincoln]

i was wondering what brands of headlights produce a huge amount of brightness. Mine have a tint of yellow to them and they don't seem to be bright enough. Looking for brands for the high beams and low beam. And no Xenons. I like the brightness of Silverstar lights but i dont know if they make silverstar lights for my car.

[pstrbrc]

First, relay your headlights. Here.
It's probably not your headlights so much, as not getting a full 14.5v to the bulb. And, no, just pulling a headlight out and measuring the voltage at the socket won't tell you, because the volt meter won't tell you how much is being lost to resistance at the current level the headlights pull.
Then convert them to h4's on the low beam, h1's on the high beam, and pack the h1's with 100watts. You'll burn up the night.

[87gtVIC]

I have silverstars in my car. Do the headlight relay upgrade first then see if you need new lights.

[MattsLincoln]

i wonder if my alternator has something to do with this two as when i give my car gas the headlights get brighter but duller when i decelerate.

[Lincolnmania]

check the voltage

[pstrbrc]

Hmmm...
Lights dimming at idle sounds more like battery. If your battery was up to snuff it would make up for the alternator turning too slow to maintain voltage.
Here's how you check:
You need a volt meter. With the engine off check the voltage of the battery. It should be ~13-13.5v.
Start the car. With the engine running about 1200rpm, measure the voltage. It should be ~14-14.5v.
If you get less than ~14 volts or more than ~15 volts with the engine running fast idle you at least have a bad alternator. And bad alternators eat batteries. But if you get ~ 14.5v with the engine at fast idle, but don't get 13.5v with the engine off, your battery is dying.

[gadget73]

Weak alternator (stock is 55 amps with lousy idle speed output) and not having the lights relayed I'd bet you're not getting more than 12 volts at the headlights. I measured mine about 11.5 before the harness, and now they read about 13.8. The difference in brightness is pretty impressive, and I'm running original 1986 high beams, and some random cheap low beams that have been in the car since I got them.

Also, the Sylvania Xtravision lamps are bright without being silly expensive.

[91waggin]

The silverstars rock. They don't look like they do much until you get on a dark road by yourself. Then they really show you how far you can actually see. I also like that they don't dazzle you because they don't reflect off wet road surfaces as badly as a warmer colored light would.

Also, do the 3g alternator upgrade. Much better idle output.

[sly]

I need to do the 3g upgrade myself... sub tends to dim the lights just a bit at idle but has no issues at cruise. I think I'll do the relay trick first since I have a pair of 30A relays just laying around.

[1990LTD]

did later cars have headlight relays? I know some earlier ones don't have horn relays but mine does, so I'm curious about headlight relays. It sounds like adding them might be worth looking into if not?

[gadget73]

none of the boxes have headlamp relays. Its a worthwhile upgrade. It also takes the load off the headlight and high beam switches so they'll pretty much never go bad.

[1990LTD]

Will it stop things from dimming inside the car when I turn the lights on? Doesn't dim like crazy (like a bad charging system) but the clock and any idiot lights change slightly after I pull the light switch out.

[gadget73]

it may help. It will take the load off of the in-car electrical system. I doubt it will go away completely though.

[1990LTD]

hey, anything that could help! i love a car that you can modify and improve with about 5 bucks worth of plastic and wire.

[sly]

the clock has a dimmer in it so it's not as bright when the headlights are on (this makes it so that the stuff dims at night and isn't so bright in the cab as to be distracting - digital stuff only... shouldn't affect the idiot lights).