Ordered some Philips Xtreme Vision headlight bulbs from Amazon.com.
I had the "Xtreme Power" ones in my Ranger. Very good lights.
I'm sure they will do just fine in the F150.

 

All the headlights that state they burn brighter are all a marketing gimmick. They do their tests comparing their bulb to a worn out used standard bulb. As it's known that bulbs dim over time, their claims are false.

The brighter whiter lights just burn out faster. And I hope you don't have DRL's.

Not trying to bring bad news, and if you like them, that's all that matters. It just sucks how much extra these companies charge for bulbs that burnout faster. Slightly whiter, sure, but not enough to make much of a difference when compaired to a brand new long life bulb. The stock old ones, sure, any bulb will be brighter.

 

No drls... They made a difference in my ranger.
I don't think $32 for 2 bulbs is bad.

 

My last pair of xtreme vision bulbs lasted 5+ years....

 

We're the bulbs prior in your ranger stock? If so, like I said, any new bulb is going to be brighter as bulbs dim over time.

 

While I don't doubt any companies ability to fudge the truth to sell you their new whiz bang, there are clear differences in light bulbs. You are right that the brighter ones are usually over powered so you can expext them to burn out sooner, not always though. So far I've been pretty happy with my stock lights and none have burnt out so I have yet to replace them.

 

I don't disagree with you. However, I would change clear differences, to slight differences.

I've used everything in the sylvania line. Not that were speaking of that company here, but the bulbs will be similar.

Standard longlife will have a bit more of a yellow tint as they're around 3000 kelvin. Their brightest and whitest bulbs put out 4100k and 4200k respectively. While that's a slight increase in kelvin, the difference would be no where near something like a high pressure sodium bulb (2200k) to say a 5500k metal halide. The difference is so minimal compaired to the huge difference in price when it comes to these headlights.

 

The ones replaced in the ranger were replacement "stock" type bulbs (regular sylvania's) a friend told me of the Xtreme power bulbs (Now called Xtreme vision)

 

For what it's worth, I've been reading these posts in this and other threads about improved lighting being a "gimmick" and that the bulb life is reduced, but my experience was different.

When I got my 2005 F150 used in 2007, I was immediately dissatisfied with the quality of the OEM headlights. They just seemed "dimmer" and I could not see as far at night as I had been able to with my other vehicles.

So, after looking around a bit, I decided to replace the bulbs with SilverStars. These were not "blue", but were more like "daylight", and, in my opinion, they DID provide better illumination without producing the glare that is so annoying to other drivers.

I also installed a Ford DRL module, because I do a significant amount of driving on two-lane roads and wanted other drivers to see me coming toward them during the day. (It also gave me a small reduction on my vehicle insurance premiums which ultimately paid for the part.)

I had those same bulbs in my truck from 2008 to 2015, when I traded it in on my current F150. And, anytime the truck was being driven, they were on, either due to the DRL, or because it was night. They never had to be replaced, and, I appreciated the improved lighting they provided.

I don't think they were a "gimmick" at all.

My 2014 truck has OEM projector lights, and I'm very happy with those. And, I had the dealership do a software update to the truck's computer to turn on the parking lights as DRLs. Again, my insurance premiums are reduced by having DRLs.

- Jack

 

I put Silverstar Ultras in my truck in 2012 to refresh the age dimmed factory bulbs. It was noticeable at first, after a year I put a stock original bulb back in ( I have a habit of keeping stuff like that ) and the silverstar lost its 'wow' and had dimmed down to almost the level of the original bulb. Still slightly better though. All depends how much you use them.

Newer bulbs is never usually a waste. Better vision and fresher parts in your illumination is never a bad idea. But the only way to get stellar output will be to have a retrofit done with high end pieces.

 

I've been using the Silverstars for as long as I can remember. Even prior to the "Ultras". I've never had one burn out on me. I bought my '94 T'bird in '02. I put Silverstars in it right way. Then when the Ultras came out I put them in. I think that was around '05-'06 maybe? Not sure really. They were still in the T'bird when I sold it this past Jan.. Usually I'll take them out if I sell the car I have. But I really didn't have another use for them so I left them in the car. As soon as I took delivery on the truck I put Silverstars in it. Of course now I have the '13 HID updated headlights on her. But oddly enough, I liked the low beam illumination of the Silverstar halogens over the low beams on the HID headlights. Better spread and further reach. No comparison on high thou....

 

Received the bulbs today in the mail. Installed them.
from the brightness on the wall of my garage, these appear very good.
Will do a test drive later on when it's dark out.

 

My conclusion after test drive: Excellent bulbs. These are better than ordinary stock bulbs but are no HID in output. That said, the bulbs are a clear bulb, without any 'Blue" or any tinting on the bulb many manufacturers use to give the impression of a brighter, whiter bulb. I have always been an advocate that any coating on a bulb takes away from it's true performance, and Philips, Xtreme Vision bulbs certainly won't disappoint, especially at $30-$36 for two bulbs. My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars.

 

I understand your point. It's very hard to do apples to apples when most of us are replacing 2+ year old bulbs with brand new. In that case even the "green" bulbs would probably be an improvement.

If anyone has cars that use 9006 bulbs there are 80 watt ones on clearance at rockauto for $2.70 each... also 100w 9005's. I'd HIGHLY recommend you install a relay kit with a bulb like this or you have a pretty good chance of smoking a wire. If you're interested, you can find them in 2006 toyota matrix, though loads of cars use 9005 and 9006, this car uses both.

It looks like one of the "HID kit" makers now has what looks to be a good LED kit that is available in 9008/H13. I requested a discount unt, so if I get it I'll share my results... the list price is around $90 though so it better throw better than stock light IMO.

 

And if we measured bulb brightness in kelvins instead of lumens, everything you wrote above might mean something.
A 4200k bulb putting out 2800l is going to wipe the floor with a 5500k bulb putting out 2200l.
Bulb temperature and bulb brightness are not the same thing.