Using a 9005 bulb in place of a 9006 bulb... will it hurt anything?

[vibenvy]

So, I was researching headlight bulbs online and I came across a broken link for using a 9005 bulb in place of a 9006 bulb, so I searched for info on Google and came up with a ton of links about people modifying a 9005 bulb to fit the 9006 harness. What I am wondering though is since the 9005 bulb has 10 more watts (9006=55w / 9005=65w) will there be a possible problem with overheating the wires or anything? I've found a mix of opinions on this topic. Some say they've had 9005s in their low beams for a long time with no problems, while others say their harnesses melted, etc. I just can't bring myself to buy HIDs for my halogen housings, so it would be nice to have a bit brighter light, but than again, I don't want to ruin any wiring harnesses or anything.Any opinions are greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance.

[lowincash]

I've tried using 9005 in 9006 housing before when I had my accord. It looks a lot brighter but actual light on the road was only a bit better than stock so it wasn't worth the risk. I only had it for a month or so then went to HIDs. Using the 9005 messed up the headlight's cutoff line so it created more glare. Not all the light being focused onto the road =/ I've heard of people using them for a long time without any problems and some not so lucky.Why not go with HIR bulbs? Little bit of modification and fits right in. I tried those for a while too and it was significantly brighter than stock without blinding oncoming traffic. Those were the best halogen bulbs I've ever used. If I ever go back to halogen, I'll use HIR abagin.

[ponta2147]

I will definitely second the HIR bulbs, I love mine so very much.

[vibenvy]

I've read up on the HIR bulbs, but holy s***... people say SilverStars are expensive. I'm going to be sticking with the stock bulbs for now, so I figured this would be a good way to get more light from the stock bulbs. I was actually just messing around to see if it would be possible to just switch the bulbs, harnesses, wiring, etc. and it seemed like it would be if I messed with it a little more. I will do this later and see if it's possible, at least that way I wouldn't have to worry about the wiring because the bulbs would still be in their respective harnesses, just switched around (i.e. 9006s in the high beams & 9005s in the low beams).

[jackie879]

Carrie, you flip-flop on this HID thing more than a politician does at election time. Anyway....I would not recommend using a higher wattage bulb in a harness that wasn't designed to handle the extra load. I made that mistake when I had my Sunfire - I installed some higher wattage rice bulbs and a few months later one went out. When I went to replace it, I was greeted with a melted harness. However, buying something like this would most likely prevent any melting. It was what I used with my Sunfire after the melting incident and I never had any further problems. http://www.amazon.com/Luminics...=1-14

[vibenvy]

Quote, originally posted by jackie879 »Carrie, you flip-flop on this HID thing more than a politician does at election time. Anyway....I would not recommend using a higher wattage bulb in a harness that wasn't designed to handle the extra load. I made that mistake when I had my Sunfire - I installed some higher wattage rice bulbs and a few months later one went out. When I went to replace it, I was greeted with a melted harness. However, buying something like this would most likely prevent any melting. It was what I used with my Sunfire after the melting incident and I never had any further problems. http://www.amazon.com/Luminics...=1-14I'm not exactly ruling out the HIDs, I just won't be able to get them anytime soon so I am just wanting to get some more light out of the stock bulbs.I will check that link out. Thanks Jackie !

[star_deceiver]

I've had 80W bulbs in since last fall. No damage. I checked the wires after running with them on after I installed them. Brighter and for only $7ish, good ol' chinese carp!!! I think it's almost been a year, probably more then the rated 320hrs.

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[vibenvy]

I am thinking what I'm going to do is go ahead and modify the 9005s to fit in place of the 9006s. If the light is indeed better and it seems worth it, then I am going to give the Sylvania XtraVision bulbs a try and I will shell out the $20.00 for the pair of upgraded harnesses just to be on the safe side. Anymore I just prefer the coloring of a good old halogen bulb, hence why I'm unsure of getting HIDs. I would prefer that the color of all the bulbs in and on the Vibe match so the XtraVision bulbs would provide the color I'm looking for while hopefully putting out at least a little better light than the stock bulbs.Thanks for the info and opinions everyone . I will keep you guys updated when I modify the bulbs and such and I will be sure to post pictures.On a bit of a side note... this is my 1000th post!!!

[Whelan]

You can get HIR bulbs from John Deere. Just go to their part site and lookup the 9012 bulb. That is the 9006 low beam. The 9005 require you to chisel out part of the holster as it has a tab that is made to fit the 9005 connector (so you don't confuse with 9006 since they look similar). You will lose light with the 9005 in a 9006 housing. The 9005 is a high beam bulb which means it will scatter light and produce more glare than helpful lumens.Look into the Phillips Xtreme Power bulbs. Many sizes, reasonably priced around $15-20.

[vibenvy]

The Philips Xtreme Powers looked promising, until I discovered they only sell 9006s for the low beams. Call me crazy, but I'd at least like to have the high beams match and preferrably the fog lights as well (9145). There are 9005s availabe but they're all located in Europe which to me isn't worth it.The HIRs are way too expensive in my opinion. For now I guess I will just be sticking with the factory bulbs. I will probably end up going back to SilverStars eventually since at least though I can get to all match.