Halogen & LED Headlight Bulb Upgrades

BringTheRain403 · October 12, 2013

The kits nowadays are plug and play for almost any factory bulb type. The only thing you need is some double sided tape to mount the slim ballasts. Most of the issues with aftermarket HID has been with crummy light dispersion when plugged into a non-projector housing. Fortunately the Sierra comes with projectors stock!

Don't forget you need the harness to fit the Sierra so the computer doesn't shut the lights off. It's like $9 from ddm...

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DanielAcosta · November 6, 2013

One other question: I read that only hi beams work on this truck and that low beams are controller by a shutter. This is evident by the distinct line drawn where the low beams end. But this line is so close to the vehicle that traveling down unlit roads at night is kinda scary on low beams. Is there any way to adjust the height of this shutter to shoot the low beams a little further?

Philips screwdriver adjustment, very easy to do. Google it for photos and videos showing exactly where to find it.

MikeNH · November 6, 2013

The kits nowadays are plug and play for almost any factory bulb type. The only thing you need is some double sided tape to mount the slim ballasts. Most of the issues with aftermarket HID has been with crummy light dispersion when plugged into a non-projector housing. Fortunately the Sierra comes with projectors stock!

Just having projectors doesn't automatically mean the vehicle is good to go for HIDs. The reflector inside is still different. And I still hear of occasional issues even from the "big" brands of HID junk with failing ballasts that you may have to wait weeks to arrive from China for.

GMC-AT · November 6, 2013

Off subject a little.. but related.. does anyone know where to purchase a LOW/HIGH beam kit.... so the low beams stay on when you turn on the hi beams?

I had this kit on my old silverado... and that's the ticket! really helped. I can deal with the factory low beams around town.. but out in the woods.. I would like everything to stay on.

clayp · November 6, 2013

Off subject a little.. but related.. does anyone know where to purchase a LOW/HIGH beam kit.... so the low beams stay on when you turn on the hi beams?

I had this kit on my old silverado... and that's the ticket! really helped. I can deal with the factory low beams around town.. but out in the woods.. I would like everything to stay on.

on the Sierra this won't be possible because there is only one bulb being used (shared) by both the high and the low.

Edited November 6, 2013 by clayp

GMC-AT · November 6, 2013

damn!

Imcrazy · December 26, 2013

Looking to put something along the lines of silverstar ultra's in my '14 sierra. I don't see anything listed on sylvania's website. I thought I saw in the HID thread that 9006 bulbs would fit, would that work for the silverstars also?

Thanks,

Aaron

MotoMedic · December 26, 2013

Halogen 9006 will fit, though some brands might require a slight alteration to do so. Nothing major.. at most just snipping a piece off the plastic tab with finger nail clippers.

I believe the zXe's are currently Sylvanias "whitest" bulb.

GMC-AT · December 26, 2013

Are they any improvement to stock? Can you post a link to the bulb

geektoad · December 26, 2013

If you replace your stock HIR bulbs with regular halogen bulbs, you'll be going from about 1800 lumens to about 1000 lumens of output. I don't care if it's whiter light, there's no way it's worth cutting your light output by nearly half.

MotoMedic · December 26, 2013

Are they any improvement to stock? Can you post a link to the bulb

https://www.sylvania.com/en-us/products/automotive/Pages/silverstar-zxe.aspx

As far as the other comment above, ultimately it's up to you if it's worth it or not. No 9006 is going to put out as much light as a 9012. No 9012 (currently available) is going to give you any "whiter" light than the stock bulbs.

Imcrazy · December 27, 2013

If you replace your stock HIR bulbs with regular halogen bulbs, you'll be going from about 1800 lumens to about 1000 lumens of output. I don't care if it's whiter light, there's no way it's worth cutting your light output by nearly half.

So your saying the HIR bulbs that come in the truck are brighter than the Halogen bulbs on the market now?

Not really looking for a 'white' look just more lumens, especially when I put the brights on.

MotoMedic · December 27, 2013

So your saying the HIR bulbs that come in the truck are brighter than the Halogen bulbs on the market now?

Not really looking for a 'white' look just more lumens, especially when I put the brights on.

Geektoad was correct about the bulb's output:

9006 - 55 watts - 1000 lumens

9005 - 65 watts - 1700 lumens

9012 - 55 watts - 1870 lumens

9011 - 65 watts - 2350 lumens

Commonly, vehicles use 9006 for low & 9005 for high. Unfortunately, the Sierra's have "bi-xenon" lamps which basically means the 9012 bulb is always on, always putting out the same amount of light. For lows, a little shutter blocks some of it (especially above the top of hood) and when you hit the highs, the shutter moves, and you get light cast in additional places... but the lumens never change. It sucks! Headlights are the one area I'm really jealous of the Silverado's (they have separate bulbs for highs)

For this reason, you'll see many on this forum switching to HIDs or adding LED light bars.

Imcrazy · December 27, 2013

Thanks for the info Motomedic Maybe I'll take a closer look at your HID thread and see if I want to put in the effort to switch! I didn't realize the silverado had better functioning head lamps.