Got 2010 today and wondering what is the brightest white/blue bulbs I can get without buying a conversion kit??

 

Touchy subject. Depends if you're concerned more with looks or more with headlight performance in terms of safety/visibility. You can get really really blue ones if that's what you really want, or you can get kinda-ish white/blue bulbs like Silverstars (spendy and tend to wear out quickly) or you can get something like the XtraVision which should put out a little more light than the stock bulbs without wasting it through a blue-tinted bulb.

For instance, look how tinted these bulbs are: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/COOL-...Q5fAccessories

The problem with the Silverstars (read this on another site) is as they are also tinted, the filaments are somehow overdriven (not sure?) to still put out an acceptable (read: legal) amount of light, and therefore wear out quicker. I have had one pair of them in a previous vehicle and they only lasted maybe 6 months. I used the XtraVisions after that and was happy with them. However, you probably wouldn't be since they don't look "blue."

 

looking for what will light up the road the most. the brightest doesnt need to be blue. just not yellow. Ha Ha

 

I hear ya on the yellowish looking OEM bulbs. Haven't replaced mine yet - will probably wait until one bites the dust first. As I said I have had decent luck with the Sylvania XtraVisions:

http://www.amazon.com/Sylvania-H13XV...5405602&sr=8-1

 

I've experimented a bit with bulbs over the years and read all I could find on the subject.

Truth of the matter is, a slightly warm colored light as put out by a quartz bulb, is the best for night visibility. The blue looks brighter initially but it reflects off atmospheric moisture and causes glare on wet roads. All this blue light leads to more eyestrain. I've noticed this but so have others (motorcycle endurance riders and truck drivers). The warm light produced by standard bulbs is more relaxing to the eyes and cuts through moisture and rain without reflecting back as much.

blue=bad
yellow=good

And I should add, if you can get more voltage to the bulbs they will appear more white. This is good.

 

I agree with this. You can strive for "whiter" bulbs but don't stray too far up the color temperature scale. For instance, your average "yellowish"-looking auto halogen bulb is around 3000°K. "White" is more toward 4000-5000, beyond that you start getting into much cooler blue, hence the "8000K HID" kits you see around. Here is an extremely scientific photo to illustrate my point:

 

I have the Silverstars in my truck going on 2 1/2 years now with no issues. I love, but it seems to be getting harder to find em. Try PIAA I heard they have a pretty good product

 

I haven't had any issues with SilverStars and have used them for many years. However, I tried PIAA this time around and pleased with their headlight bulbs. PIAA doesn't make a fog bulb for our trucks, so I opted for the SilverStar for them.

 

Got the Silverstars for the headlights two months ago. They did not have the right number for the fogs. What number did you put in?

I replaced our Explorer's fogs with I think 9145 that look and work well.

 

I have used the SilverStars in 6 vehicles now and never had one fail. I currently have them in my '09's head and fog lights. I used the 9145 for the fogs as they were only 5 watts "hotter" than the 9140's of the stock fog light bulbs, and I run them all the time with no problems. Plus it really looks good that the bulbs match and the light is whiter than the yellowish stock bulbs.

 

I use the 9145's as well.