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needing some good aftermarket healights, to many options??

J

jbanderson

New member
I bought my wife a 01 grand prix and we love the car! that is untill the sun goes down....
The passenger headlight flops around but has a decent beam, and the driver healight has to be adjusted all the way to the left to get any light on the road and out of the ditch (witch also makes the left light look bug eyed lol and leaves a huge gap by between the grille and the light). Even with both light adjusted correctly they do not shoot a BEAM of light, it just goes everywere, in the trees on the ground, to the side, just seems like the light is shining everywere except straight ahead were we need it. And high beam is worse than low beam!! car has never been wrecked.

The lights are aftermarket OEM copys and I dont know were from but obviously they suck.
I have looked on ebay and found some projector lights but not sure how well they work?
I would like a good set of OEM lights if there are any, or just anything that will shine a nice light (NO HIDS I HATE THOSE! they blind everyone on the road and dont look any brighter from inside the car)
Not worried about looks I just need some good LIGHTS!!
thanks alot
 


Save your self a TON of headaches and just buy OEM replacements. Your can get both left and right for under a hundred bucks. Myself and just about everybody on this site that has tried the aftermarket lights has had issues. Keep the factory brackets off your current car because sometimes the ones on these are not as good as the factory ones eBay - New & used electronics, cars, apparel, collectibles, sporting goods & more at low prices I have these on the 02 GTP now they look great. Here is a good video on how to change them How To Install Replace Headlight Pontiac Grand Prix 97-03 1AAuto.com - YouTube
 
thanks I had those saved under myebay but i wasnt sure if they were any better than what is on there now? only $62 shipped ???
do you have any pics of them on your car? Im not sure if my car still has the factory braket on it or not
 
I never had any problems with my aftermarket headlights, you can see them in my signature. I no longer have them cuz of an accident though. If you just seal them up at the top a bit, you get no moisture and they look really cool. Stock replacements are probably what you need because you want light output. Once again you something to seal up the top so moisture doesn't got in there and make them cloudy again. For best light without HID's get the best ones at the auto parts store. Or get 6000k HID's which are very bright and pure white.
 
jbanderson said:
thanks I had those saved under myebay but i wasnt sure if they were any better than what is on there now? only $62 shipped ???
do you have any pics of them on your car? Im not sure if my car still has the factory braket on it or not
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I don't have any current pics with the OEM lights but they just look like the ones on your car now but brand new with crystal clear lenses. Just having the clear lenses will allow more light to shine on the road. I put in new fog lights also.
 
these are those replacement ones your talking about

Photo0386-1.jpg
 


Hippo Machine said:
I never had any problems with my aftermarket headlights, you can see them in my signature. I no longer have them cuz of an accident though. If you just seal them up at the top a bit, you get no moisture and they look really cool. Stock replacements are probably what you need because you want light output. Once again you something to seal up the top so moisture doesn't got in there and make them cloudy again. For best light without HID's get the best ones at the auto parts store. Or get 6000k HID's which are very bright and pure white.
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Nope.

Best option is ebay headlights for $60 a set or whatever, then go to the junkyard (or if you still have some, reuse yours) and get factory mounting brackets. If you do this all right you'll have crystal clear headlights with good output on stock bulbs for under $100.

And 6000k is not pure white. 5000k is. No one need bother arguing with me on this either, I've seen them side by side, I have 6000k. They're close, but definitely not pure white.

Edit: For clarity, I know they ebay ones are fine because I had a set until my car got wrecked. If you want to play it safe just put some silicon around the edge to assure they won't leak.
 


5000k is going to get better output than 4300k anyway.

As the color temperature gets hotter, the light gets brighter, but as it starts getting more blue, even though it's brighter, you start losing actual visible light.

5000/6000k are going to have the best light output hands down. It's really common sense, but you'll learn it in your physics classes too.
 
SeanGTP said:
5000k is going to get better output than 4300k anyway.

As the color temperature gets hotter, the light gets brighter, but as it starts getting more blue, even though it's brighter, you start losing actual visible light.

5000/6000k are going to have the best light output hands down. It's really common sense, but you'll learn it in your physics classes too.
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HID info. kelvin (color temp) vs. lumen (brightness output))

Everything I've read says otherwise.
 
It says on there 4300k = 2000lm-3200lm
4800k (so closest to 5000k) = 3800lm
5800k (so closest to 6000k) = 3200lm

So they'll drop a few in that extra 200, but still says most 6000k is as good or better than most 4300k, and 5000k is basically the brightest.
 


matt5112 said:
Selective reading comprehension?

That is a specific bulb, not the colour temp.

Compare the same line of bulbs.
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So then everything I've ever learned in physics is wrong, and some guy on the internet is right?

Or do physics not apply to HIDs?

I'm sorry, I'm just not seeing the facts here. In any case, the hotter something gets the brighter and more blue it gets, and that applies to gas-fueled lights as well. And then of course at a certain point, even though it's getting brighter, usable light drops greatly.
 
Just out of curiousity, how are those black ebay ones that look like stock style? I see alot ppl using them. How are the brackets? I need new brakets too, where would I find those? The ones I have are all jacked up. Are brackets off of ebay legit?
 
twol8uluz said:
Just out of curiousity, how are those black ebay ones that look like stock style? I see alot ppl using them. How are the brackets? I need new brakets too, where would I find those? The ones I have are all jacked up. Are brackets off of ebay legit?
Click to expand...

Black ebay ones are the same quality really as the clear ones. You could probably save some cash by buying the clear ones and painting the top and bottom on the inside gloss black, then resealing them nice and tight.

No internet bracket is ever good. Go to the junkyard and get factory ones if you don't have factory lights on your car already.
 
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