'03 Protege5 burning through headlights

[akboss]

After I replaced the original OEM headlights in my 2003 Mazda Protege5 (what a nightmare!) there have been several problems.

The most notable is that the beam seems to be angled too sharply towards the road, giving the impression the bulbs are misaligned, but they seem to be straight inside the housing. The night visibility using the low-beams is very short, even with aftermarket high-end bulbs. The intensity is bright, but the beam doesn't travel down the road.

Secondly it seems to be burning through bulbs quickly, more on the passenger side. I have installed 2 new bulbs this year, and was careful not to touch the lens of the bulb I was installing. And this was a pair of Sylvania Silverstar Ultra headlights, so I'm not sure what's up.

Any ideas for the fast burnouts or the short beam?

Regards.
A.

[mrmikey]

Usually the only thing that will burn out bulbs prematurely is either overvoltage or bad vibration.
As for the aim of the bulb the only thing I can think of is that the replacement bulbs have a different focal point than the OE ones. Shouldn't have but....Mike

[akboss]

Will look into the voltage, maybe bad wiring along the path somewhere. I don't notice any excessive vibration behind the wheel, unless the bulb was mounted loosely inside the housing. Thanks for the input though...

Aaron.