73k5blazer said:
At $18/piece, I think I'm going to get the Hella route, the clear lens with the replacable bulbs.
That's what I just did, with a relay kit that uses the OEM headlight and dimmer switches to just pick the relays and keep the high current 12V on the engine side of the firewall, straight from the junction block to the lights (via relay).
I just wanted to get rid of the sealed beams, brighten things up, and get better/tighter beam control of euro-spec reflectors & lenses - and the inexpensive replacement bulbs didn't hurt my feelings.
I was going to just put 4 silverstar sealed beams in, because I have a pair of SS H4 bulbs in another car and like them a lot, but the voltage I was getting at the K5 headlight plugs was abysmal (hence the dim yellow headlights, even though they were OEM halogen SBs). A new headlight switch helped somewhat, but I was still dissatisfied.
So the relay kit got put in, which helped a lot (by getting the headlight plug voltage up where it should have been), and while the relay harness kit was sitting on the shelf I went ahead and ordered the 4-lamp Hella kit and those went in at the same time, and in stupid reality show terminology, "that took it to the next level". Now when I hit the lights, it's like a new truck, not a 21 year-old beater, and it makes night driving much more enjoyable.
About 200 bucks for the parts, enough to buy 10 silverstar sealed beams, but in the long term (I'll never sell the K5), it's a winner of a deal, and the beam control is so much better than sealed beams (and thus they are also friendlier to oncoming traffic).
