1991 Ranger LED swap

[Hoosierman]

On every single vehicle I have owned, and then some, the stock bulbs are either Osram or Wagner, and usually the older vehicles had Wagners. I would also like to add that since you mentioned the Sylvanias, my experience has been over the past 23 years that Silverstar Ultras are probably the pinnacle as far as Sylvanias go. I've had the ZXE and the ZXE Gold and as far as my eyes can tell, those are more expensive bling lights that really have no business in a headlight, unless white lights are what you crave, I noticed no noticeable lighting improvements with them. Recently I put in a pair of Philips Crystal visions in my '88 Ranger+harness+new lenses. They are often compared to some other higher end halogens such as the Silverstars and some PIAAs (which I run exclusively on my motorcycles). I must say, at least out of my setup, the Ultras smart still better than the Philips, but I am pleased as hell. On my Bronco II, I will be running Crystal visions because they are less than half the price and about 90-95% as brought my my estimate. To me, that's actually more bang for my buck.

Incidentally, I don't subscribe to the believe that any one bulb or headlight is the end all be all. No sir, I had a 2004 Mustang GT that went through four different sets of headlights while I owned it and I saw 4 very different results out of them. Pretty much I just stick to what I know, though this latest experiment with Philips was a huge and pleasant change for me.

 

[JoshT]

I wanted to say that Silverstar Ultras haven't been out for 23 years, but then I realized that 23 years isn't as long ago as I thought.

To each their own, don't expect anyone to agree with me, just stating my experience with the Silverstar Ultras. For me the regular Silverstars were good, the Ultras were too much blue and did not have better output. Maybe I just got a bad set of Ultras, but it was bad enough that I won't buy them again.

Haven't tried the Phillips bulbs, most stores around here just carry the Sylvanias. Maybe AutoZone carries the Phillips, but I don't shop there if I can avoid it. Speaking of the zXe, I just looked them up and I don't recall them carrying the Silverstar branding in the past. These marketing teams play around with their branding too much, makes it not mean much.

Are you running Crystal Vision sealed beams, or conversion housing with H4 bulbs in the '88? Conversion housings with good bulbs is at the top of my list for the '85. Also considering some LED conversions. Something like these, these, or these. I think the first probably has the best output, but the second two (probably off the same assembly line) have the better appearance for an old truck.

 

[Hoosierman]

I had it somewhat backwards and incomplete. In the 23 years I've been doing my own vehicular maintenance, I've had Sylvanias and Osrams, and at least since 2008-ish I've been using the SSUs.

Okay to answer your question in full about the Philips, here is what went down. On my '89 Jeep Comanche, and on my '88 Ranger, I had a common stock setup. That is, 5x7 glass sealed beams, original factory wiring. Both trucks got aftermarket headlamps, the Comanche received IPF 820H assemblies (an H4 conversion), plus the harness upgrade and SSUs. Then when I did the Ranger, I put in H4 headlight assemblies sold through LMC, which are probably not IPFs, I recall them being in rathe generic packaging. I added the upgraded harness through LMC as well, had to redo some wires and connectors from old age, dropped on H4/9003 Philips Crystalvision bulbs. I do not run sealed beams at all, and the Bronco II will get the same exact treatment as my Ranger got. I am very, very happy with the Philips.

I don't need my light to be the brightest on the road, or even have the best scatter, but if I can 90-95% of a $55 bulb out of a $25 bulb, I'm gonna do it.

And in case anyone was curious, I bought the Philips Crystalvision H4/9003 twin pack at Menards of all places.

 

[SenorNoob]

I will have to look into the 6054 Crytalvision when it come time to replace mine since the GE Nighthawks are NLA

 

[Hoosierman]

I will have to look into the 6054 Crytalvision when it come time to replace mine since the GE Nighthawks are NLA

Many comments I see about the Crystals is that they are a helluva value for price point and performance. I think that's where they shine, pun slightly intended.

 

[JoshT]

I had it somewhat backwards and incomplete. In the 23 years I've been doing my own vehicular maintenance, I've had Sylvanias and Osrams, and at least since 2008-ish I've been using the SSUs.

Okay to answer your question in full about the Philips, here is what went down. On my '89 Jeep Comanche, and on my '88 Ranger, I had a common stock setup. That is, 5x7 glass sealed beams, original factory wiring. Both trucks got aftermarket headlamps, the Comanche received IPF 820H assemblies (an H4 conversion), plus the harness upgrade and SSUs. Then when I did the Ranger, I put in H4 headlight assemblies sold through LMC, which are probably not IPFs, I recall them being in rathe generic packaging. I added the upgraded harness through LMC as well, had to redo some wires and connectors from old age, dropped on H4/9003 Philips Crystalvision bulbs. I do not run sealed beams at all, and the Bronco II will get the same exact treatment as my Ranger got. I am very, very happy with the Philips.

I don't need my light to be the brightest on the road, or even have the best scatter, but if I can 90-95% of a $55 bulb out of a $25 bulb, I'm gonna do it.

And in case anyone was curious, I bought the Philips Crystalvision H4/9003 twin pack at Menards of all places.

Missed your post and thanks for the reply. The IPF housing are a new one on me. I researched conversions housings for the F-100 and everything was pointing towards Hella or Cibie, I ended up with the Hella H4 housings. The intent is to install a relay harness and good halogen bulbs, but for now its got some Amazon sourced LEDs installed to avoid the load on the factory switch and wiring. Anyhow, I was considering Hellas for the Ranger too, but I'll research these IPF housings.

 

[Hoosierman]

Missed your post and thanks for the reply. The IPF housing are a new one on me. I researched conversions housings for the F-100 and everything was pointing towards Hella or Cibie, I ended up with the Hella H4 housings. The intent is to install a relay harness and good halogen bulbs, but for now its got some Amazon sourced LEDs installed to avoid the load on the factory switch and wiring. Anyhow, I was considering Hellas for the Ranger too, but I'll research these IPF housings.

I had Hellas in a prior truck (were on it when I got) and don't get me wrong, they are Hella nice. Pun intended. But, these IPFs I put in the Comanche and soon the BII are very VERY high quality for the price, made in Japan, so none of that Chinesium business here, and I will note that IPF is the producer and they are usually sold under a different brand. I think ARB... I don't recall exactly who. Can be found on Quadritech I think.