HID Headlight Bulbs / HID Projector Retrofit

[morrislee]

Now that I am back from vacation I plan to have the rear install method adapters done for the Sierra. Pics this weekend I hope.

 

How about the LED DRLs?

[5RWill]

So as you guys know i sent my Can-bus' back after Spur told me they recommended capacitor links and HD relay harnesses. My exchange went through today and they went ahead and added the items to cart that i requested. Though i just wrote as my explanation that i ordered the wrong merchandise should've gotten the 2014 sierra kit with the capacitor links instead of the Can-bus.

 

They added the Mopar Spec Low Beam harness with a capacitor link to my cart for me. The description says this harness is for mopar vehicles: chrysler, dodge, etc. which makes sense. Except i have a sierra, will this be a problem? Also thought i would need two capacitor links?

http://www.theretrofitsource.com/components/harnesses/morimoto-mopar-xenon-relay-wire-harness-48660.html#.VSQXEPnF-Sp

 

I realize the HD harness is for my bulb the 9012 but shouldn't i just have the morimoto HD relay and two capacitors? Like this.

http://www.theretrofitsource.com/components/harnesses/morimoto-9012-low-beam-relay-wire-harness.html#.VSQW1_nF-So

[Dunc]

I'm kind of confused about this whole DRL and needing the capacitor on the Sierras. I haven't tested my car yet with the multimeter which is why I'm asking. Is this model specific because my denali does not turn the headlights on during the day...it only has the LEDs working. I'm wondering if the capacitor is needed on the SLE/whatever other model that doesn't have the LEDs and has the headlight on all the time. Or is the denali headlight PWM'd when it turns on during the night? Any light to shed on this?

[FastWS6TA]

So as you guys know i sent my Can-bus' back after Spur told me they recommended capacitor links and HD relay harnesses. My exchange went through today and they went ahead and added the items to cart that i requested. Though i just wrote as my explanation that i ordered the wrong merchandise should've gotten the 2014 sierra kit with the capacitor links instead of the Can-bus.

 

They added the Mopar Spec Low Beam harness with a capacitor link to my cart for me. The description says this harness is for mopar vehicles: chrysler, dodge, etc. which makes sense. Except i have a sierra, will this be a problem? Also thought i would need two capacitor links?

http://www.theretrofitsource.com/components/harnesses/morimoto-mopar-xenon-relay-wire-harness-48660.html#.VSQXEPnF-Sp

 

I realize the HD harness is for my bulb the 9012 but shouldn't i just have the morimoto HD relay and two capacitors? Like this.

http://www.theretrofitsource.com/components/harnesses/morimoto-9012-low-beam-relay-wire-harness.html#.VSQW1_nF-So

Mopar harness is what you need. They put together the Sierra kit because so many people were confused by the Mopar title. Lol.

[5RWill]

Lol I see. They confirmed it and it's ordered. Thanks.

[FastWS6TA]

I'm kind of confused about this whole DRL and needing the capacitor on the Sierras. I haven't tested my car yet with the multimeter which is why I'm asking. Is this model specific because my denali does not turn the headlights on during the day...it only has the LEDs working. I'm wondering if the capacitor is needed on the SLE/whatever other model that doesn't have the LEDs and has the headlight on all the time. Or is the denali headlight PWM'd when it turns on during the night? Any light to shed on this?

I don't have the capacitor link in my SLT and it all works just fine. Because I sell Morimoto kits I just sell the capacitor kit because no matter whether SLE or SLT I know that with the capacitor they shouldn't have an issue. It seems that some have had issues with their HD radios and the capacitor solved it. So for many reasons I say just get the $5 capacitor. Lol

[DanY]

I'm getting ready to install my TRS HID kit this weekend and need a little advice.

 

I plan to remove the grill to get so I can pull out the headlight assemblies to work on them.

Also a good time to install new bowtie emblem.

 

Ballasts and ignitors are going under the radiator support shroud. Not sure about relays.

I think they will hang from the back side of the radiator support inboard from the air box.

 

Where is the best place to pick up the battery connection? The only obvious place I

see is the nut that tightens the battery terminal clamp. Anywhere else? What's under

the plastic lid on top of the battery and how do you remove it?

 

Thanks for the help.

[LongrangeLauber]

I'm getting ready to install my TRS HID kit this weekend and need a little advice.

 

I plan to remove the grill to get so I can pull out the headlight assemblies to work on them.

Also a good time to install new bowtie emblem.

 

Ballasts and ignitors are going under the radiator support shroud. Not sure about relays.

I think they will hang from the back side of the radiator support inboard from the air box.

 

Where is the best place to pick up the battery connection? The only obvious place I

see is the nut that tightens the battery terminal clamp. Anywhere else? What's under

the plastic lid on top of the battery and how do you remove it?

 

Thanks for the help.

That's where I pulled power from. Trimmed a groove with a cutoff wheel for the wires to sit in the plastic. I mounted my ballasts here:

 

 

And my relays here:

 

 

Very clean and wasn't too hard except for fishing the wires properly. Since then I've actually uninstalled them but plan to reinstall soon

 

Please mind that that is not the proper wiring which is why I uninstalled them because the ballasts blew out

Edited April 9, 2015 by rdnckhntr94

[FastWS6TA]

I'm getting ready to install my TRS HID kit this weekend and need a little advice.

 

I plan to remove the grill to get so I can pull out the headlight assemblies to work on them.

Also a good time to install new bowtie emblem.

 

Ballasts and ignitors are going under the radiator support shroud. Not sure about relays.

I think they will hang from the back side of the radiator support inboard from the air box.

 

Where is the best place to pick up the battery connection? The only obvious place I

see is the nut that tightens the battery terminal clamp. Anywhere else? What's under

the plastic lid on top of the battery and how do you remove it?

 

Thanks for the help.

Run the relay harness under the radiator shroud. do yourself a favor and do not bury your ballasts under stuff making them difficult to access. Reality is that you could have issues with your hid system sometime down the road. Make it easy to get to the components without having to tear your truck all apart again. On my Sierra my ballasts are velcro to the back of the housing. I can get to my relay harness by taking off the radiator shroud (easy).

[dcarl]

I have to share my experience with y'all in hopes that you won't make the same mistake. I was on the Planet HID site reading about the Osram 66240 CBI bulbs and how everybody raves about them. And I thought I'd like to give them a try. I ordered them from TRS and arrived in a couple days since I'm local. Now here's where the dilemma starts... I put them in (FX-R Projectors) and went for a drive and the first thing I noticed was that there was a significant amount of light on the sides of the road but not much on the road itself. As a matter of fact, it seemed pretty dim. Pretty disappointing after spending $180 for a set of bulbs. Then I went and shined the lights on a wall and the cutoff was different. Like it had a flare to the right on each projector. I called TRS and talked to one of the guys there and he told me it sounded like the bulb wasn't seated properly, and that they do get brighter over time. He recommended driving with them on during the day just to put some hours on them. Anyway, I took the left side out, re-inserted it and it still had the same pattern and dim appearance. I even ordered some 50w ballast to compensate for it.

 

I flew back into Atlanta yesterday afternoon and decided to stop by TRS since I was close by. They were nice enough to let me pull truck into there shop and troubleshoot the problem. It turns out the bulbs were put in upside down. Talk about embarrassing .... The bulb can fit into a FX-R projector either way but the notch should be at the 12 O'clock position.

 

I'm happy to report that both lights are shinning the right way and I have a lot of light on the road now!! I did want to post this though to help anybody else avoid making the same mistake. It's easy to make when leaning over the fender....

 

Special thanks to the guys at TRS too.

[Mike Sabol]

I've read through all of these post in this thread and I am still uncertain as to what I want to order. Although, I have narrowed it down. I have a 2015 Silverado with projectors and I am not going to do a retrofit. I am just going to buy a kit from TRS.

 

http://www.theretrofitsource.com/hid-systems/morimoto-elite-hid-system-silverado-low-beam.html?carDisplay=2015+Chevrolet+Silverado++w%2F+Projectors&preselect=RELAY-H11#.VSgA5a10wy8

 

The kit above I would imaging is what I need. I want it to be completely plug and play and reliable. If this kit is ok, what should I get 35W or 50W. I want white light with NO blue.

 

Also, where is a good place to get LED's for the fogs to match?

[Mike1220]

I have to share my experience with y'all in hopes that you won't make the same mistake. I was on the Planet HID site reading about the Osram 66240 CBI bulbs and how everybody raves about them. And I thought I'd like to give them a try. I ordered them from TRS and arrived in a couple days since I'm local. Now here's where the dilemma starts... I put them in (FX-R Projectors) and went for a drive and the first thing I noticed was that there was a significant amount of light on the sides of the road but not much on the road itself. As a matter of fact, it seemed pretty dim. Pretty disappointing after spending $180 for a set of bulbs. Then I went and shined the lights on a wall and the cutoff was different. Like it had a flare to the right on each projector. I called TRS and talked to one of the guys there and he told me it sounded like the bulb wasn't seated properly, and that they do get brighter over time. He recommended driving with them on during the day just to put some hours on them. Anyway, I took the left side out, re-inserted it and it still had the same pattern and dim appearance. I even ordered some 50w ballast to compensate for it.

 

I flew back into Atlanta yesterday afternoon and decided to stop by TRS since I was close by. They were nice enough to let me pull truck into there shop and troubleshoot the problem. It turns out the bulbs were put in upside down. Talk about embarrassing .... The bulb can fit into a FX-R projector either way but the notch should be at the 12 O'clock position.

 

I'm happy to report that both lights are shinning the right way and I have a lot of light on the road now!! I did want to post this though to help anybody else avoid making the same mistake. It's easy to make when leaning over the fender....

 

Special thanks to the guys at TRS too.

I did the same thing for my driver side at first haha. Only thing is you have the excuse of looking over the fender. I put my bulbs in before I put the projectors in my lights haha.

 

Finally got to do my retrofit and it came out incredible! Love the FXRs especially compared to the OEM projectors. After having 55W HIDs, 45W LMZs, and halogens in the stock projectors, I can say that NOTHING compares to the FXRs, I got 50W HIDs in them. Not sure which ones they are but they were some upgraded set from TRS, I think the XB35. My advice for anyone who wants to improve the lighting, just go for the retrofit. It's well worth it.

Also I want to give a big thanks to Dcarl for some help that I got from him while I was doing the retrofit and a big thanks to Phil from Fastheadlights for creating the adapter bracket, the bracket made the retrofit so much easier

[dcarl]

I did the same thing for my driver side at first haha. Only thing is you have the excuse of looking over the fender. I put my bulbs in before I put the projectors in my lights haha.

 

Finally got to do my retrofit and it came out incredible! Love the FXRs especially compared to the OEM projectors. After having 55W HIDs, 45W LMZs, and halogens in the stock projectors, I can say that NOTHING compares to the FXRs, I got 50W HIDs in them. Not sure which ones they are but they were some upgraded set from TRS, I think the XB35. My advice for anyone who wants to improve the lighting, just go for the retrofit. It's well worth it.

Also I want to give a big thanks to Dcarl for some help that I got from him while I was doing the retrofit and a big thanks to Phil from Fastheadlights for creating the adapter bracket, the bracket made the retrofit so much easier

Hey Mike,

 

Glad to hear you got it all together! I've got the XB55 Ballast now and the lights are nice and bright. I figure I can live with sacrificing 20% life for 20% improvement in light output over a period of a few years (I hope...). If not, I've got enough spare ballast and bulbs to keep in the truck to not worry about it.

 

Dave

[Mike1220]

Hey Mike,

 

Glad to hear you got it all together! I've got the XB55 Ballast now and the lights are nice and bright. I figure I can live with sacrificing 20% life for 20% improvement in light output over a period of a few years (I hope...). If not, I've got enough spare ballast and bulbs to keep in the truck to not worry about it.

 

Dave

Same man! I ordered the 50W ballast but the bulbs said XB35 on the box. Sound right? Or should I have also gotten a XB55 bulb?

I'm the same way. I'm more about the here and now for seeing on the road. If I have 20% more light now, I'll gladly purchase a new set 20% sooner haha

[dcarl]

You'd have a hard time finding a true 50w bulb from what I've read. It's my understanding that OEM bulbs like the Osram and Philips will handle 50w better than most aftermarket bulbs, however, the Morimoto bulbs have been rated pretty well even at 50w, but I haven't seen much info about the higher rating on them specifically. In my case I happen to have a set of 4500k and 5000k Morimoto's that I can use as back ups if the Osram's fail. I don't know if it was worth the money to buy the Osram bulbs yet because I have a few hours on them so far, and the experts say you need almost 100 hours to completely break them in for them to reach the full color and brightness.

 

I liked the idea that between the 50w ballast and Osram CBI at 5500k the color would actually be more closer to 5000k.