Philips 60/55w +100% Xtreme Vision headlight globes

Are they worth it? Well, the initial improvement was noticeable, but not as much as the packet would have you believe. After I made up a new harness with decent size cable, the performance improved again. At a guess, the globes alone “improved” my night vision by 10%, the harness by the same. (Those figures are not backed up by any measurements!)
The driver’s side lasted 10 months before the low-beam blew. The auto parts store I bought them from told me that there’s no warranty on headlight globes (Their words were “As we have no control on how they’re handled/fitted, the condition of the car’s electrical system, etc, there’s no warranty”) and I’d have to buy a new pair. Leaving aside Australia’s consumer laws, I would have thought that if the originals lasted 6 years, then 2 years would be fair for you-beaut ones. BTW, the place I work at is a commercial customer of this company, so I thought I may have been given some leeway, but no.
I took it further and spoke to Philips, who duck-shoved me out to the Australian distributor. I spoke to them and was told that a fair life for headlight globes is 300-400 hours of use, according to ADR! That’s the industry standard, so they say. I made a fuss, a sales rep came out and took both globes away for testing and haven’t heard anything further for 3 weeks now.
Now my wife’s R50 Pathfinder has blown one of its globes and these are exactly the same as mine, albeit almost 2 years old but her car drives to and from the station, 10 minutes away, and doesn’t do much on the weekends either. I’ve had to put back the original 1999 globe, so much for the industry standard.
So, are these globes worth the $86.50 RRP? Not for me. I’ve had to remove the old ones, install the new ones, then remove the new ones, put the old ones back in, and I’ve lost one good globe and I have to chase up the bloke who took it away! I reckon you would be better off improving the wiring rather than upgrading the globes if their life is as short as mine. The lack of support from the retailer and distributor is also disappointing.
I hope this information/experience is of use to you
Regards - Roger

Tried Philips in my honda and they would only last 6mths , tried narva +120 and 12mths still going ok put some in my navara so will see how they go half the price philips

I replaced my headlight globes with IPF FatBoy globes ($160 thank you very much) and both of them are shot, I'm back on the original globes now.

I'll change them to cheapies when they blow, or when a decent LED unit is available for less than the cost of my first-born. For distance driving, I will rely on my driving lights - which is soon to become not just a pair, but an array.

Interesting point about the wiring loom. It's very true that the wires are small-ish, and since the max draw is 60W (5A) you could safely chuck a small 10A relay on each headlight and draw the power directly from the battery via 6mm2 cable, which is more than adequate for that power over that distance.

And you know what, it might be something we could make as a plug-and-play - you remove the plug from the headlight and plug it in to the new loom, which connects to earth and the battery, and plug the new loom into the headlight. I could whip something like that up fairly easily with the parts being available - I'll get to hunting those bits down. They won't even need to be Navara specific, just H4 specific.

Sorry to hear the misfortune of you guys with the expensive globes.

I bought some $5.00 H4 Chinese specials from Autobarn a year or so ago as spares for another car. Might keep them for the Nav, in case the original ever blow.

Seriously at those sort of prices, that sucks

Phillips are shit and really not much brighter over oem
mine didn't last 2 mths
you cant expect too much difference with same wattage globes
i now use a 130w h1 high beam globe for $11

This is surprising, I hate narva they never lasted long at all. But love Phillips, crystal vision they are still going strong 12+ months later.
If you guys want new bulbs cheap have a look at power bulbs, always a good price and fast postage

In figuring out the wiring for this addition, I've realised that it's going to be slightly more complex, so it might be worth sticking the whole lot in a project box. Here's a basic diagram:



I'll build it, install it and let everyone know how it goes. I added direct earth from the battery to make sure there's a heavy cable for both sides - hopefully it won't upset the workings.

Old.Tony,
I love your work. Please post up the results and pics of your solution.

I am also keen on a new wiring harness, I just have no idea how the hell to do it haha.

I did this in my old 92 triton. You can just buy a relay with 6 terminals that has two triggers, with two sepeate switching poles.

I can't remember the brand but i brought mine from "a mans toyshop" for about $40 if i remember correctly.

Just did a quick google and there is some on ebay,

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/like/301...e&hlpv=2&ops=true&viphx=1&hlpht=true&lpid=107

And i aslo found a page that sells kits for a decent mark up but it has all the diagrams so you can see how it works.

http://www.traxide.com.au/headlight-wiring-kits/



It may cost a little extra than just using two normal relays but its a lot more compact and can save having extra wires running between relays and what not.

well over 3 years since fitting the ipf fatboys thankyou very much old tony for the tip. I love em couldn't be without them.