Halogen & LED Headlight Bulb Upgrades

[Spurshot]

From an earlier post on this thread, but with added info on type of bulb at the bottom.

 

http://www.gm-trucks.com/forums/topic/156233-halogen-led-headlight-bulb-upgrades/page-14

 

Even though the brightness gains are not large, there is some gain (1875 lumens to 2350) in going from 9012 55w stock bulbs to 9011 65w bulbs. So, I thought I'd show what's needed to do the swap.

 

First, one outside tab needs trimming. Fortunately, it's a plastic base. I used a small end nipper and then an exacto knife to clean it up.

 

 

 

Next, the inside ribs need to be removed.

 

I placed it in a vice and very lightly tightened it as shown.

 

 

Then I used a narrow, very sharp wood chisel and a very small hammer to lightly tap and cut the ribs out.

 

 

 

 

=======================================NEW INFO=================================================================

 

 

There's some banter on the light forums that this OEM GM HIR1 (9011) is a better output bulb than the Philips. Notice the spherical shape and it's reported to have the reflective coating (the R in HIR) to intensify the light. If I were doing this mod today, I'd try these bulbs. One reviewer said that they had the Toshiba marking. Toshiba produced the first of the HIR bulb technology bulbs for cars. There's some belief out there that they are better than the Philips bulb, which is a simple halogen bulb boosted to make the minimum performance for the HIR1 spec. This might even be worth shelling out another $50 for you guys that already run the Philips 9011.

http://www.amazon.com/ACDelco-HIR1-Original-Equipment-Headlamp/dp/B000C9QPKS/ref=pd_sim_sbs_auto_3?ie=UTF8&refRID=02GSM0B603HNM2ZX0FQ2

Edited December 25, 2014 by spurshot

[jamin87ss]

24 pages, a headache and no clear answers, spurshot i may try your you seem to be the only one acknowledging any improvement even if marginal

[Spurshot]

24 pages, a headache and no clear answers, spurshot i may try your you seem to be the only one acknowledging any improvement even if marginal

 

Well, there is a 25% increase (per the specs) in light output of the 9011. The problem about light output is the same as say...sound output. It decreases/increases very rapidly with change in distance from the source. So, you need big changes in output to make modestly perceivable changes. Go for it. Use that bulb I just found above. GM OEM Toshiba.

Edited December 25, 2014 by spurshot

[Jon A]

 

The idea in a projector is to do exactly what you are not liking (concentrate light in front of the vehicle) so as to avoid blinding oncoming drivers. You would be amazed how much improvement you will get by simply bringing up the angle of the light a touch off the road and in front of the vehicle. Be careful as even with the stock bulbs people will get annoyed. Ideally as a driver I would want the light to be basically straight out of the bulb, however to appease the fellow drivers maybe a 20% down angle is best (the patch of light on the road extends maybe 100-150 feet)

 

Yeah, that's not what I was talking about. Raising the cutoff height isn't the answer. Here's what I'm talking about:

 

 

On the right, you can see the beam pattern of the stock lights on bright (this is with a Phillips 9011 65W bulb). You can see it is overly-focused into a very tall, narrow pattern.

 

That high intensity "hotspot" is what lights up the road in the distance. Instead of being more round, it is very tall but extremely narrow. This is why people complain the lights don't light up the sides of the road at all in the distance. The focus of that bright spot needs to be much wider.

 

The big reason the beam pattern looked so poor with the LED lights you tried was the "clocking" of the bulb. With two sided LED bulbs (that seem to be popping up everywhere these days), if the bulb is in the projector at a slant it will give a funky beam pattern. This is going to be a problem with most LED's out there. I tried some cheap LED's in the past and found if I installed them "upside down" I could get the "blade" of the bulb vertical. This gave a nice beam pattern but the lights were just not very bright (20W 2000 Lumen).

Edited December 25, 2014 by Jon A

[Jon A]

what do you guys think of these? says they are good for use in projectors. you can control the position of the light source and adjust the mount itself.(depth and angle)

 

 

http://www.vleds.com/headlights/lmz-ho-17.html

 

I can confirm that these (I got the 45W ones http://www.vleds.com/shop-bulb-numbers/9006-hb4/lmz-ultra.html with the 9006 collar) do work in the Sierra projectors and that they are a significant improvement over stock. I wouldn't say they're as good or better than a quality HID system but they're pretty bright (I don't have any HID's on hand to compare) and blow away the 9011 65W halogen bulbs. Certainly less hassle to install than HIDs.

 

They solved the problem I mentioned above and allow you to clock the bulb any way you want (I've found the best pattern comes from the bulb being vertical), and varying the depth allows you to fine-tune the pattern.

 

The cutoff isn't quite as sharp and pretty as an HID which is to be expected with four light sources instead of one, but it's nothing that will affect function. The best improvement over stock is how much light they put out to the sides of the pattern on low and have a much wider "hotspot" on bright. The stock lights (as pictured above) on bright only give useful light in that tall, narrow spot, these cover a much larger area with bright light (and can be adjusted somewhat with the depth of the bulb). On dim, the stock lights are really bright in the center but get dim quickly to the sides; these keep the brightness much farther to the sides.

 

Anyway, I'm not going to say they'd make HID aficionados happy, but they are the first plug-in replacement that is a significant upgrade I've found. I'll try and get some pics soon. They're an easy plug and play with one exception--the stock back cover won't fit on the projector housings. I made some bigger ones to fit.

[Mike1220]

 

I can confirm that these (I got the 45W ones http://www.vleds.com/shop-bulb-numbers/9006-hb4/lmz-ultra.html with the 9006 collar) do work in the Sierra projectors and that they are a significant improvement over stock. I wouldn't say they're as good or better than a quality HID system but they're pretty bright (I don't have any HID's on hand to compare) and blow away the 9011 65W halogen bulbs. Certainly less hassle to install than HIDs.

 

They solved the problem I mentioned above and allow you to clock the bulb any way you want (I've found the best pattern comes from the bulb being vertical), and varying the depth allows you to fine-tune the pattern.

 

The cutoff isn't quite as sharp and pretty as an HID which is to be expected with four light sources instead of one, but it's nothing that will affect function. The best improvement over stock is how much light they put out to the sides of the pattern on low and have a much wider "hotspot" on bright. The stock lights (as pictured above) on bright only give useful light in that tall, narrow spot, these cover a much larger area with bright light (and can be adjusted somewhat with the depth of the bulb). On dim, the stock lights are really bright in the center but get dim quickly to the sides; these keep the brightness much farther to the sides.

 

Anyway, I'm not going to say they'd make HID aficionados happy, but they are the first plug-in replacement that is a significant upgrade I've found. I'll try and get some pics soon. They're an easy plug and play with one exception--the stock back cover won't fit on the projector housings. I made some bigger ones to fit.

Pls post pictures of the beam pattern and output that you were able to achieve with the LMZ bulbs. Also is there still enough space for the LED bulb's cooling fins to sufficiently cool the bulb to not damage the life of the bulb? Also how much would it cost to get a set of these new dust covers from you? LED headlights are something I have been wanting since day 1 but nothing had any chance of comparing to the brightness of HIDs but these actually can compete and are made to work better in a projector. I am extremely interested to see output pics and pics of your new covers as well as see a price for a set of these covers. If these bulbs work well enough I may sell the FXR projectors and bulbs I was going to have put in this summer and I will get these bulbs.

 

Also what color temp did you get? 5000K or 6000K?

 

And what did you need to do to install? I know you said they are PNP a so I'm assuming you did not need to use any kind of wire harness or capacitor. Is this correct?

Edited December 25, 2014 by Mike1220

[BowHunter1]

 

I can confirm that these (I got the 45W ones http://www.vleds.com/shop-bulb-numbers/9006-hb4/lmz-ultra.html with the 9006 collar) do work in the Sierra projectors and that they are a significant improvement over stock. I wouldn't say they're as good or better than a quality HID system but they're pretty bright (I don't have any HID's on hand to compare) and blow away the 9011 65W halogen bulbs. Certainly less hassle to install than HIDs.

 

They solved the problem I mentioned above and allow you to clock the bulb any way you want (I've found the best pattern comes from the bulb being vertical), and varying the depth allows you to fine-tune the pattern.

 

The cutoff isn't quite as sharp and pretty as an HID which is to be expected with four light sources instead of one, but it's nothing that will affect function. The best improvement over stock is how much light they put out to the sides of the pattern on low and have a much wider "hotspot" on bright. The stock lights (as pictured above) on bright only give useful light in that tall, narrow spot, these cover a much larger area with bright light (and can be adjusted somewhat with the depth of the bulb). On dim, the stock lights are really bright in the center but get dim quickly to the sides; these keep the brightness much farther to the sides.

 

Anyway, I'm not going to say they'd make HID aficionados happy, but they are the first plug-in replacement that is a significant upgrade I've found. I'll try and get some pics soon. They're an easy plug and play with one exception--the stock back cover won't fit on the projector housings. I made some bigger ones to fit.

 

 

$250 ??????

[Spurshot]

I don't have a dog in this, but it looks like this LED set costs more than any HID kit, by a wide margin. I'm not sure what the aversion is to stringing a few wires that are an essentially plug and play harness. If it is indeed $250, you're into full projector retrofit component prices.

[Stex]

From an earlier post on this thread, but with added info on type of bulb at the bottom.

 

http://www.gm-trucks.com/forums/topic/156233-halogen-led-headlight-bulb-upgrades/page-14

 

Even though the brightness gains are not large, there is some gain (1875 lumens to 2350) in going from 9012 55w stock bulbs to 9011 65w bulbs. So, I thought I'd show what's needed to do the swap.

 

First, one outside tab needs trimming. Fortunately, it's a plastic base. I used a small end nipper and then an exacto knife to clean it up.

 

 

 

Next, the inside ribs need to be removed.

 

I placed it in a vice and very lightly tightened it as shown.

 

 

Then I used a narrow, very sharp wood chisel and a very small hammer to lightly tap and cut the ribs out.

 

 

 

 

=======================================NEW INFO=================================================================

 

 

There's some banter on the light forums that this OEM GM HIR1 (9011) is a better output bulb than the Philips. Notice the spherical shape and it's reported to have the reflective coating (the R in HIR) to intensify the light. If I were doing this mod today, I'd try these bulbs. One reviewer said that they had the Toshiba marking. Toshiba produced the first of the HIR bulb technology bulbs for cars. There's some belief out there that they are better than the Philips bulb, which is a simple halogen bulb boosted to make the minimum performance for the HIR1 spec. This might even be worth shelling out another $50 for you guys that already run the Philips 9011.

http://www.amazon.com/ACDelco-HIR1-Original-Equipment-Headlamp/dp/B000C9QPKS/ref=pd_sim_sbs_auto_3?ie=UTF8&refRID=02GSM0B603HNM2ZX0FQ2

 

Wonder what the life span will be on these? Like stock? Half stock life?

[Spurshot]

STex,

If you google Toshiba HIR, you'll find a bunch of old ricer forum discussions about this bulb. I don't recall what the life was.

 

While searching, I found this website that says the 3rd gen Philips 9011 is 10% better than the Toshiba (out of production). http://store.candlepower.com/hirlighting.html

[thetruck454]

I run those HIR bulbs in my high beams on my 03. They have been in the truck since I got it in 2008 and they are great, much brighter than stock

[MattUofM]

 

I can confirm that these (I got the 45W ones http://www.vleds.com/shop-bulb-numbers/9006-hb4/lmz-ultra.html with the 9006 collar) do work in the Sierra projectors and that they are a significant improvement over stock. I wouldn't say they're as good or better than a quality HID system but they're pretty bright (I don't have any HID's on hand to compare) and blow away the 9011 65W halogen bulbs. Certainly less hassle to install than HIDs.

 

They solved the problem I mentioned above and allow you to clock the bulb any way you want (I've found the best pattern comes from the bulb being vertical), and varying the depth allows you to fine-tune the pattern.

 

The cutoff isn't quite as sharp and pretty as an HID which is to be expected with four light sources instead of one, but it's nothing that will affect function. The best improvement over stock is how much light they put out to the sides of the pattern on low and have a much wider "hotspot" on bright. The stock lights (as pictured above) on bright only give useful light in that tall, narrow spot, these cover a much larger area with bright light (and can be adjusted somewhat with the depth of the bulb). On dim, the stock lights are really bright in the center but get dim quickly to the sides; these keep the brightness much farther to the sides.

 

Anyway, I'm not going to say they'd make HID aficionados happy, but they are the first plug-in replacement that is a significant upgrade I've found. I'll try and get some pics soon. They're an easy plug and play with one exception--the stock back cover won't fit on the projector housings. I made some bigger ones to fit.

 

 

anyway we can get a few pics of this setup? maybe some night shots and how they fit behind the bulb cover on the back of the headlight

[Jon A]

OK guys, I finally got some pics uploaded. I apologize for the lousy quality--I was having real issues getting my old POS camera to focus well at all (I actually got a new camera for Christmas but too late for these). Also these were on a rough dark colored rock wall so they don't look as clean as they would with a smooth white background. But, they should be good enough to give people the general idea of what they can expect.

 

Dim

 

Bright

 

On a dimmer camera setting:

 

 

 

Maybe when the weather clears I'll see if I can do better with the new camera as the cutoff looks better than that in real life. But anyway, there they are. Something else the pics don't show is at the extreme sides the cutoff begins to angle upward a bit. It's off to the sides so far it won't be an issue with oncoming traffic so it's no worry--it actually seems to help lighting up the ditches even more.

 

Here are some comparisons with stock--actually a Philips 9011 65W bulb which is noticeably brighter than stock. Again, it's hard to translate what you see in the real world to the camera but these should give you an idea:

 

 

On a dimmer setting:

 

 

As you can see, the halogen has a brighter spot right in the very center, but away from that spot the LED provides more light. With properly aimed lights, that bright spot with the halogen shows up on the centerline of the road in front of you--not far enough away that its brightness is helpful. More light to the left and right is helpful, and the LED provides that.

 

 

 

 

 

On bright you can see how the halogen is overly-focused to a very narrow hotspot and provides very little light away from that, giving the feeling of driving behind a pencil beam. The LED has a much larger hotspot and provides a lot of light surrounding it as well. There is a trade-off naturally as the larger the hotspot the less intense it will be.

 

So far, I like this setup quite a bit better than stock. On dim it lights the sides of the road close to the vehicle much better and on bright the light up a much larger area, removing the feeling of driving behind a spotlight.

 

The area I'd say they're most lacking is long distance on bright. I would guess an HID setup (especially 55W) with a more focused hotspot (but not as narrow as stock) would be superior there. But everything is relative, these are certainly better than any of the halogen equipped vehicles I've ever had or been around. Also, I've been spoiled by many years of using high powered driving lights/lightbars to augment the brights so I'm not sure any headlights alone would give me enough distance reach to make me happy.

[Jon A]

Some install pics:

 

 

That's where I ended up putting the collar. If you'll notice, one of the cooling fins is an arrow--when that is pointed up after installation, the blade will be horizontal. With the collar as shown, the arrow will be at 90 degrees, making the blade vertical. For depth, I ended up screwing the collar all the way on until it stopped, then unscrewing it about two and a half full turns until oriented as shown. Unscrewing it farther will give a wider beam pattern and a cutoff that looks a bit cleaner, but as the pattern gets too wide it starts to have a dim "gap" in the center. I suggest playing with different settings until you're satisfied though, don't just take my word for it--production tolerances in the projectors may call for different settings as well.

 

 

They don't come with a grommet, I stuck that one on where it eventually goes through the cover. I wish they had given another inch or two of line between the box and bulb as it's tight making those fit.

 

The new cover giving the bulb space:

 

 

Installed:

 

 

 

 

With the cover on:

 

 

I double-sided taped the control box in that spot. Once I'm sure I'm done messing with them I'll glob some silicone or something into the grommet to seal up the hole completely. That's it, very plug and play.

 

Did I forget to mention they look pretty good?

 

 

 

 

 

 

These are the 6000K. My PIAA LED fogs are also supposed to be 6000K and I'd say these headlamps are a bit whiter than those, but the stock LED signature lights are a bit more yellow. These are a very nice white color.

[Mike1220]

Some install pics:

 

 

That's where I ended up putting the collar. If you'll notice, one of the cooling fins is an arrow--when that is pointed up after installation, the blade will be horizontal. With the collar as shown, the arrow will be at 90 degrees, making the blade vertical. For depth, I ended up screwing the collar all the way on until it stopped, then unscrewing it about two and a half full turns until oriented as shown. Unscrewing it farther will give a wider beam pattern and a cutoff that looks a bit cleaner, but as the pattern gets too wide it starts to have a dim "gap" in the center. I suggest playing with different settings until you're satisfied though, don't just take my word for it--production tolerances in the projectors may call for different settings as well.

 

 

They don't come with a grommet, I stuck that one on where it eventually goes through the cover. I wish they had given another inch or two of line between the box and bulb as it's tight making those fit.

 

The new cover giving the bulb space:

 

 

Installed:

 

 

 

 

With the cover on:

 

 

I double-sided taped the control box in that spot. Once I'm sure I'm done messing with them I'll glob some silicone or something into the grommet to seal up the hole completely. That's it, very plug and play.

 

Did I forget to mention they look pretty good?

 

 

 

 

 

 

These are the 6000K. My PIAA LED fogs are also supposed to be 6000K and I'd say these headlamps are a bit whiter than those, but the stock LED signature lights are a bit more yellow. These are a very nice white color.

What did you have to do about the air box? Cut a hole In it so that you could fit that cover on the back of the passenger side headlight? Also the biggest question left, how much would it cost to get a set of those back pieces made and sent to zip code 70065, Louisiana?[emoji4] I would really like to know so I can know how much I need to send you so I can get a set of these headlight bulbs as well