headlight upgrade

[blkfordsedan]

A couple years ago I replaced the headlight bulbs with some Sylvania SilverStars. The improvement was incredible. This morning I noticed that the Low beam on one of the bulbs had burnt out so I went to Wal-Mart to get a single replacement. Unfortunately, all they had in our fitment was a set of 2 bulbs (9004ST/2). I looked through the Sylvania catalog and noticed that the 9007 bulbs (mid-90's+ Taurus, Mustang, F-Series, etc.) appear to be the exact same bulb except they are rated at a higher wattage and lumens on the Low beam. The High beam appears to be the same rating. Since I only needed 1 bulb, and the SilverStars are about $19 each, I went to AutoZone and got another single 9004.

Has anyone ever tried to use the 9007 bulbs in their Festiva? I'm curious if the wiring/relay will handle the increased wattage on Low beams (45W for 9004 vs. 55W for 9007). I suspect it probably will, but the life span of the bulbs and relay may be shortened? Then again, the wattage on High beam is naturally higher and is the same for both 9004 and 9007 (65W). Following are the specs for the two (as best as memory serves):
LOW BEAM HIGH BEAM

9004- 45W & 700 Lumens 65W & 1350 Lumens

9007- 55W & 900 Lumens 65W & 1350 Lumens

[sasquatch]

im 99% shure that the bulb socket is not the same.

[FB71]

9004 and 9007 are physically not interchangable. Different bulb socket and different electrical connector.

[getnpsi]

I beg to differ...lol...youll needs a dremel and flip high beam and ground. voila! You then glue the bulb into the socket and the plastic trim rings hold em in. Ive owned way too many 1980s fords with the "aero" lights.

Never mind. FB71 you are right, they are different but its not a brick wall.

Going to 9007 wont help your output with the yellowing and the fogging going on with these years. Probably not worth doing it. Spend the time fiding other OEM stuff that can be implemented into your car, like the round vw project...pretty much anything eith european code kicks butt. both 9004 and 9007 are a joke.

[blkfordsedan]

I really don't need any better lighting, I was only considering it if was just a matter of buying the different bulbs! In the packages, they looked identical. Same shape of plug, same connector pins in the same location, etc.... they looked like they would just plug in!
Of course, I couldn't open the packages to actually measure or compare them.

Switching to the Silver Stars alone made a tremendous improvement over the stock Halogens. I would recommend it to anyone for a simple, cheap upgrade on their Festiva or any vehicle.

[Otakuphill]

I had blue 9007 bubs in for about about 6 months. they will work but they stick in high beam. Just get the 9004 and forgo the hassle.