And WOW what a diffrence! It would have taken less than 10 minutes to change all 4 lights (heads and fogs) except that I droped the part that holds the buld in the headlight assembly. Looked to over 45 minutes and could not find it (arggg) even unbolted a part of the engin, drove over speed bumps really fast (to hopfully shake it lose) and to no avail...

So it's secured in there really well right now, and I have to goto dealer to get the part,, Kragen dosen't carry it.

But now about the extra light, it's a very nice white light with a slight bluish tint, now it only looks blue when your around other cars because of the contrast between the standard Halagon and the SilverStars.

It looks like your drving around with your brights on from inside the truck, and the fogs are way bright, big diffrence with not having them on compared to having them on.

For the 9005's to fit in the fogs you do have to trim down one of the flanges a bit, used a pari of needle nose pliers to chip off the extra plastic, took a few seconds per buld and they fit nice and snug.

Highly recomended, I only had one car flash there lights at me on the way home, and that was on a dark residential street. Now when you flash you high beams, look out, everyone will see you coming!

The whole cost was a touch over $100, $24.95 a bulb. I say well worth it, still not as bright as the HID lights but very close, and over a $1000 cheaper.

They do pull more power, so when the engin is not running, you can definatly kill your battery a lot faster.

 

What wattage are they rated to be? Ive had quite a few cars and trucks come into work lately with warped headlight lens's and melted connectors due to aftermarket bulbs.

 

The fogs are rated at 60/70 (low/high) for the headlights and 70 for the fogs.

I will be looking occasionally at the lens/connectors to make sure they are not melting.

 

See my MODS GALLERY, have cool pics of difference between stock lights and SilverStars...i LOVE 'em! However i did not have to trim my 9005's, they fit in well...and work great!--medic

 

heres why i was telling you to be careful:

SPECIAL SERVICE MESSAGES
15557 USE OF AFTERMARKET LAMPS - DO NOT USE HIGH WATTAGE BULBS
SEVERAL AFTERMARKET COMPANIES OFFER REPLACEMENT HEADLAMP BULBS OF A HIGHER WATTAGE RATING THAN OEM STOCK BULBS. THESE BULBS ARE NOT DOT APPROVED AND ARE TYPICALLY SOLD WITH THE DISCLAIMER OF 'FOR OFF-ROAD USE ONLY'. IN ADDITION TO POSSIBLY BEING ILLEGAL FOR STREET USE, THE BULBS ALSO DRAW MUCH MORE CURRENT THAN OEM BULBS. THIS INCREASED CURRENT CAN RESULT IN ACTUATION OF THE SHORT-CIRCUIT PROTECTION FEATURE (LOOKING LIKE BULB BURNOUT), OR DAMAGE TO THE HEADLAMP SWITCH, MULTIFUNCTION SWITCH, WIRING, WIRING CONNECTORS, OR EVEN THE HEADLAMP ASSEMBLIES THEMSELVES. THESE HIGH-WATTAGE AFTERMARKET BULBS SHOULD BE REPLACED WITH OEM BULBS, AND CUSTOMERS ADVISED NOT TO USE THEM.

 

Where can you buy these at?

Brian

 

www.performanceproducts.com

 

You can also get them at Kragen and Autozone.

 

Thanks for the warning jefflaws, I will occasonly look at my headlights and watch the electrical system as well.

Still love the lights, and hopefully they don't cause any problems. Next step is to modify the switch.

 

Advance Auto Parts also carries them (Discount Auto Parts in the Deep South)

 

I would also recommend caution with respect to higher wattage "off road only" use bulbs as Jeff mentions. Since I just bought the fogs myself, then saw this thread, I thought I'd offer some thoughts.

Sylvania is a very well respected lighting company, and I would not be overly concerned with using their bulbs as direct replacements. They do comply with the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard for direct replacements. Remember, the stock fog uses a 9145 (right?) so this is technically NOT a direct replacement as confirmed by several people having to modify the bulb plug itself! Hello!! They do that for a reason!

Using the same bulb number in the main headlights should be no worry at all. Why may there be a concern using a 9005 to replace the 9145 in the fog position? Heat is one, however the greater risk is power. Assuming the specs, Silverstars are up to 70 watts, stock is 42 watts. Since the F150 is still a 12 volt electrical, we can use the simple formula P=V * I (Power in watts equals volts (V) multiplied by current (I) in amps). The stock bulbs draw about 3.5 amps, these draw 5.8 amps. If all of the wiring from the electrical system & switch is 14~16 gauge, that is a bit less than you need for 6 amps (16g stranded is 5a capacity). Don't know about you, but when I did my switch mod those were more like 18g wires, not 14~16.

Bottom line: There is a somewhat reasonable risk of overheating the factory wiring.

You know, the whole HID conversion kit on Sylvania's site is $899 including 2 headlamps, ballast, harness, ans shipping. Fits the 97-02 F series.

Greg O.

 

I got mine for $799 through autobarn. Haven't had any overheating from my silverstars in the fog lamps. I too thought of the power dissipation when I got them, but there has been no problem thus far.

 

Does anyone know for sure if the wiring to the fogs is a 18 guarge or is it more like 16-14? The switch could simply be a control to a relay, or is it actually a switch directly to the lights?

Everyone brings up good points, but I would hope that Ford wouldn't get so cheap that it wouldn't cut the wiring so close to the tolerance of the stock fog lights... Well now I am worried...

 

the wire to the headlamp switch is only a relay control side wire.

 

Now, I am not an EE but I have an observation. Shouldn't the circuit protection be designed in such a way as to avoid wiring and electrical system damage from too much current draw? It would seem to me you should blow a fuse long before you "let teh smoke out". Of course if you do blow a fuse, you might be driving witout lights; not good at night. Additionaly the fuse will not help a bit against melted parts from teh additional heat from the bulbs.

Another question about these "high wattage" bulbs. The wattage refers to how much power it takes to run the bulb. Are they actually brighter as well. It is completely possible to go from a 55w bulb to a 70w bulb and have no more light available.

On my motorcycle I feel I found the ultimate bulb. It fit the stock socket, and the low beam is the same lumens (light output) as stock, same wattage too. The high beam is (100w) much more lumens than stock. No flash flash games when on low beam, and I can really light up the road to look for Deer with the high beam.