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96 Deville Headlights


jndnaps

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Drill holes in the roof, and attach a big light bar across with four 8" lights.

Only kidding!

Only thing i would consider is conceiling a 12" led strip in the open bottom part of the bumper. Whatever you decide upon should be as conspicious as possible.

I was thinking if you have led's aimed close to the ground in front, you can aim your headlights a little out further and this will help reading signs at night.

Also, sometimes when i am looking for a street sign on the right and no one is behind me, i put my right directional on. You would be surprised how that little bit of light from the cornering lamp reflects on the sign.

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  • 3 weeks later...

I used the Silverstar bulbs in my 99 STS, was very happy with them. Brighter, but not too blue, maybe slightly blue. Whatever you do, don't exceed the wattage of the original bulbs by too much, you run the risk of melting the plastic socket. I think OEM was 55 watts, I wouldn't go over 65W.

Never underestimate the amount of a persons greed.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Chiming in a little late, but I hope I have a few worthwhile considerations.

The headlights in question (as all halogen headlights) are designed to work with a very small, omnidirectional light source: the filament of the halogen bulb. The reflector and lens are designed to project the correct light pattern from that light source. An LED replacement "bulb" consists of several LED:s mounted to emit light in about the same directions as a filament would have, but since each such little LED is a light source and emits light in other directions than those along lines from where the filament of a halogen bulb would have been, the light pattern will be altered. There are also light rays missing that would have been there in between the individual LED:s, which also alters the light pattern. The smaller the headlight and the larger the LED "bulb", the larger the effects on the light pattern. How big a problem this is in practice I do not know, because I have never tried a replacement LED "bulb". I doubt that any of them are legal replacements for halogen bulbs. For lights that are not intended to project a very specific beam pattern, such as tail light or side markers, this would be much less of an issue. Of course if you drive in snowy weather, the lower amount of heat produced by the LED:s would result in less snow-melting ability (turbulence behind the car quickly results in the rear end being covered in snow when you drive on snow). This also goes for the head lights. In certain conditions, the whole front end can get covered in an ice slush, with the exception being the part of the headlights where light exits. I have had this happen to the point where it was impossible to use the high beam (since it got iced up when I was running on low beam). With LED:s, it would probably have iced up completely. Of course ice and snow is of no concern to the OP in Florida...

An HID bulb also has a very small light source: the electric arc inside of it. This arc is, however, not identical to a filament, and there are also color variations within the arc. Unless they have good filters, they may emit to much UV radiation that could damage the reflector and lens (which could also be a problem with a cheap halogen bulb if the manufacturer skipped the UV filter). I doubt that any HID replacement kits designed for mounting in halogen headlight housings are legal.

The 9005/HB3 and 9006/HB4 bulbs are DOT approved, and it is not just the electrical power (wattage) of the lamp that is regulated in the standard, but also the total light flow. It is around 1000 lumens for a 9006/HB4 low beam bulb, and is allowed to vary about 10 % if memory serves me right. This means that there is no legal low beam bulb that outputs 30, 50 or 80 % more light than the standard bulb. When a manufacturer makes such claims, they make a bulb with a smaller filament that is positioned with great accuracy. A smaller light source means a more focused light pattern, which translates to higher light intensities in the brightest parts of the light pattern and less stray light. In this way, it may be possible to increase the amount of light in the brightest spot by perhaps 30, 50 or 80 %, but the total light output of the bulb is always within the regulated output limits for any legal bulb. A "+50" bulb may still be a good idea, but do not do not be fooled and think that it actually produces 50 % more light - what it does it that it aims the light more precisely by better filament design. I would not be surprised if the reference lamp used in such marketing is the worst possible lamp within the limits of the standard, but I do not know that.

For 9005/HB3 and 9006/HB4 it is possible to use HIR1/9011 and HIR2/9012 after trimming one of the plastic tabs in the fastener. This is easy to do and outlined here among other places: http://store.candlepower.com/mohirbuba.html. Always wear safety goggles when working with halogen bulbs - unlike regular incandescent light bulbs, halogens are pressurized and could burst. Never touch the glass of a halogen, as it could result in later cracking or grease being evaporated onto the reflector. 9012 is a DOT approved low beam standard used in some cars with projector lenses, e.g. Dodge Viper (the lamps in such cars look like HID projector lenses, but are powered by halogen bulbs). These bulbs have exactly the same filament placements as 9006, and also the same fastener tabs, except that one is a bit wider (which is possible to change by trimming it). They do, however, lack the black top, so the low beam must have a protective metal cup that prevents light from going directly from the lamp and out of the housing, without first being reflected by the reflector. Otherwise they will cause unacceptable levels of glare. The output is over 1800 lumens for 9012 low beam bulbs, so they output about 80 % more light than 9006 lamps - for real. I have seen this myself and it is very noticeable. Since the power (wattage) is the same, 9012 bulbs will not produce more heat than 9006 bulbs and therefore not damage the housings. The rated lifetime is also not worse for 9012 compared to 9006. The higher light output is achieved by better lamp design.

It is not legal to use a 9012 bulb in a housing designed for 9006 bulbs in traffic, but in my opinion it is a much better option than the also not legal LED or HID conversions that are available. On a 1997 DeVille (different lamp housings compared to a 1996), the low beam does have a metal cup, but the metal cup has little slits (openings) in it. Those small openings do not cause a glare problem in my eyes, and I have not seen others flash their lights (as some would if they were annoyed by glare) from the use of 9012 low beam bulbs. HID:s of today output somewhere in the order of 3000 lumens, and in my opinion it is safer for everyone with properly aimed 1800 lumen lights in cars with halogen lights compared to 1000 lumen lights, even if the former do not comply with regulations. This does not mean that I endorse or recommend anyone to do any illegal modifications.

Edit: The OP's 1996 DeVille looks very nice. :-)

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