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Old 09-23-2007, 03:10 PM   #1
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I try to avoid driving at night but on our last trip we left late afternoon to travel to Grand Junction CO. We drove about 2 hours in the dark and stopped at a rest area off I70 West of Vail. I was not happy with the brightness of the Headlights and was ready to stop as the deer frequently get hit in this area. Did some reading/research and liked what I read about the Sylvania SilverStar Ultras. Expensive but they did the trick. If anyone is interested the Ford Taurus 2005 is the OEM for the 2006 Itasca Sunrise Model. Not sure if the same is true for all gas models in the Winnie/Itasca line.
Frank O.
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Old 09-23-2007, 03:10 PM   #2
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I try to avoid driving at night but on our last trip we left late afternoon to travel to Grand Junction CO. We drove about 2 hours in the dark and stopped at a rest area off I70 West of Vail. I was not happy with the brightness of the Headlights and was ready to stop as the deer frequently get hit in this area. Did some reading/research and liked what I read about the Sylvania SilverStar Ultras. Expensive but they did the trick. If anyone is interested the Ford Taurus 2005 is the OEM for the 2006 Itasca Sunrise Model. Not sure if the same is true for all gas models in the Winnie/Itasca line.
Frank O.
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Old 09-23-2007, 04:04 PM   #3
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The first thing anyone needs to check on motorhome headlights is that they are properly aimed. We had a long discussion in 2004 on the Winnebago list on Yahoo, and virtually all involved found their headlights to be poorly aimed. Mine were way high and to the right. A Winnie dealer told me they were right on, but I then took the rig to a truck service place and learned otherwise. Correcting the aim cured the problem for some, but a few of us still were not happy, and looked for alternative bulbs. (The above mentioned Winnie dealer told me to "get larger bulbs" if I wanted more light ...didn't explain what "larger" meant).

After the re-aiming and a lot of research, I eventually replaced my low beam bulbs with HIR2 bulbs (mfg by GE) ...very hard to find at that time as the only car they came on was the Dodge Viper, and "unofficially" on a Toyota Camry. I went with them based on their lumens rating and how much (little) heat they put out. (Many of the knock-off bulbs don't do that much to light things up out front but generate enough heat to melt your headlight buckets!). I paid $39 each off the net. I found one site that tested and compared bulbs, and Silvania Silverstars were rated at 20-30% more light than standard 9005/9006 bulbs. There were at that time a European silverstar that was much brighter, and some other US "silverstars" that were total rip-offs.

Our end result was that the low beam lighting is still just OK to poor, while high beams are great. We too normally are not driving the MH at night.
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Old 09-23-2007, 04:15 PM   #4
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Thanks for the feedback. I did adjust mine before the trip and found the distance/aim to be fine but the brightness was just too "yellow" compared to my Acura. I have no sight problems at night driving the Acura which has the brighter lights. You are right about the high beams but I feel guilty running high beams on Interstates though I got very few flashes during my drive. I bought the Ultras which are rated higher than the std Silverstars. I hope the heat you mentioned will not be a problem.
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Old 09-23-2007, 07:12 PM   #5
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<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by FrankO:
Thanks for the feedback. I did adjust mine before the trip and found the distance/aim to be fine but the brightness was just too "yellow" compared to my Acura. I have no sight problems at night driving the Acura which has the brighter lights. You are right about the high beams but I feel guilty running high beams on Interstates though I got very few flashes during my drive. I bought the Ultras which are rated higher than the std Silverstars. I hope the heat you mentioned will not be a problem.
Frank O. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

The last time I same someone running his high beams on the interstate I was following behind him and a Conneticut State Trooper pulled out from a rest area and pulled him over for doing so. It is unlawfull to run the interstate with your high beams constantly on in some states.
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Old 09-25-2007, 05:17 PM   #6
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There have been a few threads elsewhere about "dim" lights, and several responders have suggested the before you do a wholesale changeout on lamps that may be just fine, to get a meter and look at the B+ at the lamp. Apparently it's not uncommon to find well below chassis voltage at the lamps. Lots of reasons: excessive length, too small gauge of wire, poor assembly, etc. The quick fix is to install a contactor from battery to lights (fused), and drive the coil from what used to be the headlight B+.

(edit: spelling)
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Old 09-29-2007, 05:58 AM   #7
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I dunno if this is revelant, but.....
I had a BMW K1200LT motorcycle (1999) and a notoriously weak halogin headlight. I replaced the OEM halogin bulb with the Sylvania SilverStar Ultra. I think the beam was somewhat brighter but the downside was that the Sylvania SilverStar Ultra didnt last long. I thought maby it was a fluke so I replaced it with another Sylvania SilverStar Ultra and it too had a reletivly short lifespan. I think it was maby 1 yr or so. I finally went back to the OEM bulb that the bike came with and never had another replacement (aprox 4 years till i traded for a new bike after the replacement of the sylvania bulb).
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Old 09-30-2007, 03:53 PM   #8
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I had my headlights aimed by the dealer and found that it was an improvement but not quite right. I used a wall to aim my lights (front of coach should be 25 feet from wall). first I used my jacks to level the coach. Then I used a cheap lazer to mark the left and right edges of my coach and also the height of each headlight on the wall using masking tape. After that it was a piece of cake to aim the headlights. Should be slightly below level and slightly to the right. After aiming, it was like driving my car. What a difference!
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Old 09-30-2007, 07:09 PM   #9
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<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">I used a wall to aim my lights (front of coach should be 25 feet from wall). first I used my jacks to level the coach. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
I used to use that technique with cars, but why use the jacks to level the coach? Many go down the road slightly lower in the front than the rear, so it seems that aiming the headlights with the coach leveled would result in the headlights being aimed low. But guess it worked in this case!!
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Old 10-01-2007, 08:50 AM   #10
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Good point Paul. You want to aim your lights when you are level and flat. Most of the time while your driving even if you are going up or down a hill the road directly in front of you will be on the same level as your coach. If you are off even a few inches at 25 feet just imagine how far off it might be 100 feet in front of you. If your coach is lower on one end on level ground then you should find the most level spot to park when aiming the lights. This would compensate for the natural drive height. The best way is to find someone with a headlight aiming system that will take the time to do it correctly.
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