Super White ARB bumper clearance lamp bulbs - finally!

[FJoel]

Okay, I've been hating my ARB bumper clearance lamps because:

1. The passenger side didn't work for very long. Connections were good, problem was internal. ARB looked after me to fix this.

2. The rest of my rig has PIAA Xtreme White bulbs, where white light should be (IE obviously not the amber blinkers...) but PIAA didn't make bulbs that would fit in the clearance lamp part of the ARB bumper. I tried these ones but they hit the lens:



PIAA doesn't make them in a "G18", which is the same bayonet connector but a smaller bulb. GE calls them 97/BP2. Still "yellowy." Sure the Xtreme whites have a little blue tinge but the headlight comparison shows they put out the most light and I wanted all the lights to match. I also tried making that whole lens on the ARB bumper emit amber light, but that wasn't cutting it either. Couldn't get the amber lights to be close enough to the same. Bulbs or lenses.

Picky details, I know. But I want what I want.

By lenses, I mean I even tried this:








and finally:




Still different color ambers, wasn't sure if this was legal , and it reduced the clearance from the bulb to the lens. Not interested in melting stuff, seeing as this isn't an intermittent blinker. It is on ALL the time (I am not one to diable DRL's and drive LIGHTS ON all the time for safety's sake).

Finally I remembered this site: Car Lighting Xenon Halogen headlight upgrade bulbs HID

I thought, hey, they had a LOT of bulbs to choose from for the headlight comparison. Maybe, just maybe they have what I need.

I found this under G18. The ONLY listing for G18. But I think it will solve my problem:



MTEC Superwhite G18 [MT-248] - $4.99 : Car Lighting Xenon Halogen headlight upgrade bulbs HID

$4.99 each, and I needed two. Shipping was cheap at less than $9 to Canada.

I will post pics and results when they arrive. Wish I had thought of this sooner.

I'm hoping to save some of you beefy bumper lovers with ARB armor some trouble. If you beat me to this solution, I hate you for not sharing.



Joel

[layonnn]

My passenger side bulb has never worked either. The running light or whatever it is. I checked the connection. Then all the sudden, the other day it worked for about 5 hours. Then no more. I need to replace the bulb in that thing.

I saw that is an 1156 bulb. I just replaced some trailer light bulbs that were 1157's. Did the PIAA look larger than the factory ARB bulbs???
Also, did the bulb say 1156 on the side of it?

[FJoel]

layonnn previously said:

My passenger side bulb has never worked either. The running light or whatever it is. I checked the connection. Then all the sudden, the other day it worked for about 5 hours. Then no more. I need to replace the bulb in that thing.

I saw that is an 1156 bulb. I just replaced some trailer light bulbs that were 1157's. Did the PIAA look larger than the factory ARB bulbs???
Also, did the bulb say 1156 on the side of it?

1156 is a large glass bulb with a single filament.
1157 is the same but double filament.

The clearance bulbs are G18. Smaller glass. Same bayonet connector.

Mine worked occasionally after bumps and such, but then went out again. My multimeter showed it was an internal connection problem. No jiggling seemed to help. It had a mind of it's own that one bulb...

[SoonerFJ]

I thought that it was just me, but my passenger side bulb burns every 6 months. All the grounds are solid, the wiring is correct, and the installation has been done over at least 3 times.

[FJoel]

SoonerFJ previously said:

I thought that it was just me, but my passenger side bulb burns every 6 months. All the grounds are solid, the wiring is correct, and the installation has been done over at least 3 times.

I burned one out in less than that...

I think maybe your bulb is intermittent too, and that may lead to your premature burn outs.

I park in front of reflective glass at work, so I see my lights daily. Sometimes when I back over the bump in the parking lot it comes on and goes out again. This can't be good for bulbs.

Perhaps ARB had a bad batch of passenger side assemblies? These are not the first cases I've heard of...

[layonnn]

SoonerFJ previously said:

I thought that it was just me, but my passenger side bulb burns every 6 months. All the grounds are solid, the wiring is correct, and the installation has been done over at least 3 times.

Burns as in burns out? Mine doesn't even work anymore. Is there and easier way to access it other than pulling out that whole light and fog light assembly. I remember putting that thing in was a PITA.

[layonnn]

FJoel previously said:

Perhaps ARB had a bad batch of passenger side assemblies? These are not the first cases I've heard of...

I thought the lights were interchangable for both sides. As in it didn't matter what side you put either assembly on.

[FJoel]

layonnn previously said:

Burns as in burns out? Mine doesn't even work anymore. Is there and easier way to access it other than pulling out that whole light and fog light assembly. I remember putting that thing in was a PITA.

Nope... you gotta remove the whole thing.

layonnn previously said:

I thought the lights were interchangable for both sides. As in it didn't matter what side you put either assembly on.

Again nope... the have L and R part numbers and are mirrored opposites. Double check your connections with a multimeter and then give ARB tech a call.

Come on bulbs!!!! Where is that postman?

[SoonerFJ]

layonnn previously said:

Burns as in burns out? Mine doesn't even work anymore. Is there and easier way to access it other than pulling out that whole light and fog light assembly. I remember putting that thing in was a PITA.

Burns out. I have gotten to the point that I can almost change the entire assembly in the dark.

[FJoel]

SoonerFJ previously said:

Burns out. I have gotten to the point that I can almost change the entire assembly in the dark.

You must only use two of the three nuts then... That last nut is a major pain in my azz...

Okay I got them in a while back, and finally MADE (not found ) the time to complete this project.



Here are my two bulbs... shipping was fast, cheap, and a good value product so I highly recommend the site I linked to in the first post. I bought headlights for the comparison there and got the same great service.



Before. Bulb on left in photo is not burned out, I had a bad assembly which I swapped out for a new one with no wiring problems... Notice the crappy yellow bulb on the right, and how it doesn't match the mirror lamps. These are stock headlights again just for comparisons sake.



First bulb changed out. Much whiter than the stock headlamp!



Same but a bit further back...



Whites on the right, stocks on the left.



ALL WHITE BULBS! Now I am happy. No more yellowy dim bulbs on this FJ (amber lights excluded! )