9003 LED Bulbs

When it comes to factory lighting upgrades, many car owners prefer upgrading to LEDs. And there are many good reasons to go this way, especially if a car owner wants to remain within reasonable budget and get a product that is not only bright, but lasting.

Here are some other reasons, why people select LEDs:

• LEDs last 6 times longer, than regular incandescent bulbs;
• LED bulbs are resistant to vibration, moisture, humidity, etc.;
• LEDs are way brighter, than regular stock bulbs;
• Installation of LED bulbs does not require major mods to the headlight assembly or wiring;
• Such bulbs feature plug-and-play installation.

9003 LED Bulb: Specs of the Bulb Size

In general, 9003 is one of the dual-beam bulb sizes that many vehicles come equipped with. If your vehicle features 9003 bulbs from the factory, there are certain things you should know.

1. 9003 is dual beam bulb; it means that one bulbs works both for high and low beam;
2. Bulbs marked as 9003 are almost identical to the ones, marked as H4 or HB2;
3. 9003, H4 and HB2 bulbs are completely interchangeable (from the technical point of view);
4. If you are about to upgrade your 9003 headlight bulbs to LEDs, 9003, H4 and HB2 bulbs will fit into the housing right;
5. Bulb size (9003, H4 and HB2) does not matter if you are looking for the brightest or the most powerful LED for your car, truck or SUV.

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Are 9003 bulbs identical to H4 and/or HB2?

Technically, these 3 bulb sizes are the same, and can be installed into the same headlight assembly without extra modifications. Technically, these bulbs are identical, though there are certain legal differences in terms of using these bulbs.

1. 9003, H4 and HB2 bulbs may be used both in the US and Canada and can be installed into the headlight assemblies that are marked as “DOT HB2”.
2. Car makers install only 9003 or HB2 bulbs into the headlights marked as “DOT HB2”. So if you are about to replace the light bulb and you live in the state where state inspection checks DOT markings, make sure to install 9003 bulbs, not H4.
3. H4 bulbs can be used on cars, trucks, SUVs and motorcycles both in and outside the U.S., where vehicles are not required to have DOT markings on the headlights and bulbs.

9003 vs H4: Historical Aspect

1. 1971 – H4 bulbs were introduced in Europe and became the first bulbs, that work both for high and low beam (later on, such bulbs were referred to as ‘dual beam’). At that time, cars, trucks and SUVs in the US came equipped with sealed beams, that did not allow replacing just the bulb, so H4 bulbs became popular everywhere except of the America. However, motorcycles in the States did not have sealed headlights, so some models quickly adopted H4 bulbs.
2. 1983 – DOT allowed using non-sealed headlights. However usage of the bulbs that feature altered focus when replaced was still illegal, so dual-beam bulbs were still not permitted for usage in America.
3. 1991 – DOT restrictions applied to the bulbs were changed, so it became technically possible to use H4 bulbs. But at that time US standards used 4-digit codes to denote bulb sizes, so the H4 bulb sizes were marked as 9003 for the U.S. market.
4. 1992 – The first vehicles that were equipped with 9003 headlights from the factory appeared that year.

Hikari 9003 LED Bulbs

Hikari offers LED replacement bulbs in this bulb size in the following series:

• Basic LED conversion kits;
• Top CREE LED conversion kits;
• Ultra LED conversion kits.

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LED Headlight Bulbs: Questions & Answers