Well, the problem started with me being bored, and having 4 fresh 100w H3 bulbs laying around (just upgraded my off-road lights to 130w). SO I was thinking what to use them for....

...So I pulled the tail light, tweaked here and there on the bulb mount, and stuck it in. Hmm. Not too bad. Drilled a small hole in the bulb socket for the wire to pop through, spliced it to the stock power wire, and left the ground through the socket.

Right now I have one functional, I haven't messed with the other side because:
A) i need to look at the stock harness and see what kind of power it can support. Before installing a relay.
B) didn't have the camera handy for how-to pics
C) want to see the improvement when the sun goes down tonight.

So what I've come up with.

Pro - 200w worth of reverse lights
Con - may blind people (eh? so what, usually aren't on that long)

Pro - 200w reverse lights
Con - Heat on the plastic (how long are they usually on though?) and stock harness
Fix: Add relay

Pro - Better lighting without going with big aftermarket lights that are usually awkward to mount, and tough to make look "good"

 

Thoes would be some bright @$$ reverse lights. But I bet that you would have to run all new wires.

 

I really really like the idea. BUT...DEFINATELY upgrade the factory harness and ADD A RELAY!! Wire them up just like a pair of aftermarket off road lights. (relay, 14-16ga wire, switched via your black/pink wire.

A concern other than melting wires and starting fires..... How are the taillamp housings sealed? Condensation would definately buildup in the lenses if you dont use a rubber boot thing like on cars with H4 bulbs or H3 bulbs.

 

I will be using a relay, but the condensation isn't a concern since it uses the stock bulb socket.

 

I hate to break it to you but
http://www.autobarn.net/des20108.html

 

Thats not bursting a bubble, since it's 1/2 the wattage of the ones i have.

 

In a light housing as small as our reverse lights, there will come a point where the only thing you are gaining is melting plastic. These will plug right in with no modification at all and are much less likely to cause destruction. Just a suggestion.

 

I appreciate the advise. Without trying to sound like "im right, your wrong". I think heat is a concern. But, since we're talking reverse lights, and not say, headlights. I think the heat issue is a fairly small concern. I can't think of the last time I've had my reverse lights on for even more than a minute. It'll take some time to do any damage to that plastic. Figuring it's the same stuff that people stick in a 300* oven for 20 minutes to do the headlight mod on.

 

is that plug and play or do you still have to add relays and such?

 

stockers are about 26w i think, so about 3a between the two. 50w lights would be about 7a together, and a pair of the 100watters like mine are about 14a. I don't think you'd "have" to run a relay for the 50w lights. But i will for the 100w pair

 

I had them in my truck for a while...55w 3156's. They did improve rearward visibility...but being in the stock housings, there really wasn't much output...but still...a big improvement over stock incandescent 3156's.


BUT...NOTHING beats 130w back ups below the bumper. Seriously. Backing up Tre's truck at night w/ 2 130w back ups, and backing up mine with the two plug in 55w 3156's......it's night and day differences.

 

What a bright idea.





Pun intended.

 

To put an end to the melting housings debate, a long time ago, a co-worker of mine took the 3157s out of his Lincoln LS and replaced them with some 900X (9005 to be exact I think) bulbs. The o-ring on the 900X bulbs held it in the housings (That and some all purpose duct tape for good measure). The tip of the bulb is very nearly touching the lens.

They are in his daily driver, he backs into every parking spot, they are bright as hell in the middle of the day, oh, and yeah, his housings haven't melted.

 

HIDs lol they burn a lot cooler in temp than halogens...

 

A 9005 is a large 65 watt bulb. The H3 he wants to use is a small 100 watt bulb. It is not the same and doesn't put an end to anything. Also, they are not the same light housings. They only thing that will put it to end is trying it and seeing what happens.

 

And HIDs do not take too kindly to being flicked on and off so quickly, which is why high beams in factory HID-equipped vehicles, are still halogen filled bulbs.

 

Technically its a large 100 watt bulb, they are Nokya Arctic Whites, if we want to split hairs.

Yes they are not the same housings, but a bulb that close to the edge is producing a lot more directed heat at that one point than a small H3 bulb.

Yes doing it is the only way to be certain, but the odds of melting housings is EXTREMELY slim.

 

Factory equipped HID's use the single lamp for high and low. A shield or the entire lamp mount moves.

 

Does depend on the vehicle. some use halogens for highs, some use a flap door for hi-low.

 

The ones that use the HID for high are sick. I wish the hi/lo retrofit kits for our trucks worked as well as those do.

 

wait...how'd this turn into an HID thread again?




Goody....git r dun and tell us the results. You seem bright enough to add a new harness and use a relay, so i wont tell you to do it. lol.

 

I've wired about 40 aftermarket relays in the last couple years lol. i will have to swing by a junkyard and grab a relay with harness connector. i have relays but i want a little better weather/mud connection if it's going to be near the bedside. probably be a week or so

 

sorry :-( just a thought!