Headlight Illumination Issues

[Haus_Z71]

After reading this I went and pulled a bulb on my 2015 Denali built mid May 2015. The bulbs are made by Phillips in Germany 55 watt 9012. I don't have any problem with lights.

I wonder if my SLE would have the same? Or does the Denali just have better bulbs? I'll have to pull mine and check too

 

*Update - checked mine and they are the same Phillips.

Edited December 2, 2015 by Haus_Z71

[Ezekiel2517]

I had the dealer update done to increase voltage and replace the bulbs. I previously had 9011 bulbs installed to make it more bearable. I put my stock 9012s back in before I did the update. The new ones are the better 9012s. Would I get a better performance improvement by putting the 9011s back in after the voltage increase? Thanks!

[redwngr]

I wonder if my SLE would have the same? Or does the Denali just have better bulbs? I'll have to pull mine and check too

 

*Update - checked mine and they are the same Phillips.

All trims will have the updated bulb spec and voltage programming if they were built after the factory changeover date. (as listed in the bulletin)

[WLC]

After having 4 different kinds of bulbs and the GM update I have conceded that 2014 sierras are daytime trucks! The mountains of Tenn. with rain and a patch of darkness in the smokies scared all four of us.70+ mph with no vibs and 20+ mpg was good. Seen gas@ $1.66 a gallon. Home safe!

[Haus_Z71]

I had the dealer update done to increase voltage and replace the bulbs. I previously had 9011 bulbs installed to make it more bearable. I put my stock 9012s back in before I did the update. The new ones are the better 9012s. Would I get a better performance improvement by putting the 9011s back in after the voltage increase? Thanks!

Read SierraRovers comment on page 93. He recommends not putting the 9011s back in.

 

My dealership is ordering the replacement bulbs and doing the TSB for me on Friday. I can't wait to see the difference!

Edited December 3, 2015 by Haus_Z71

[avgas]

I had the TSB done on my truck just over a week ago. I have taken the truck out a few times now to see how the lights are.

I had HID's installed and they were great but I was having issues with them not always firing. This may have been caused by the lower voltage being supplied to the ballast. I pulled the HID's out, stuck the factory bulbs in and took it in for the reprogram and new bulbs.

 

I can say that I am happy with the upgrade, They shine almost as good as the HID's except the color is not as white. I would like to change the bulbs to something whiter but all the reviews I have read about the whiter bulbs isn't very good. They all seem to fail after 6 months or so. If I could find a good bulb in the 5000K - 6000K range I would give them a shot. If anyone has a suggestion on a bulb I would give it a try. I am not interested in the HID and ballast issues at this time.

[Shredzy]

Read SierraRovers comment on page 93. He recommends not putting the 9011s back in.

 

My dealership is ordering the replacement bulbs and doing the TSB for me on Friday. I can't wait to see the difference!

 

Possible to take some nighttime pictures of the current lighting and then once the TSB is performed?

 

Would be interesting to see a comparison.

[Haus_Z71]

Possible to take some nighttime pictures of the current lighting and then once the TSB is performed?

 

Would be interesting to see a comparison.

Will do. I'll take the before pictures tonight. Then after the update is done I'll take exact same ones and post pictures.

 

I have a dashcam too so I'll take the same route and record before and after.

Edited December 3, 2015 by Haus_Z71

[mafd2]

I had the TSB done on my truck just over a week ago. I have taken the truck out a few times now to see how the lights are.

I had HID's installed and they were great but I was having issues with them not always firing. This may have been caused by the lower voltage being supplied to the ballast. I pulled the HID's out, stuck the factory bulbs in and took it in for the reprogram and new bulbs.

 

I can say that I am happy with the upgrade, They shine almost as good as the HID's except the color is not as white. I would like to change the bulbs to something whiter but all the reviews I have read about the whiter bulbs isn't very good. They all seem to fail after 6 months or so. If I could find a good bulb in the 5000K - 6000K range I would give them a shot. If anyone has a suggestion on a bulb I would give it a try. I am not interested in the HID and ballast issues at this time.

I'm using the Xencn 9012 5300K bulbs. They are high quality UV bulbs made in Germany and are a perfect match with the headlight LED's. I'm very satisfied with them so far.

Edited December 6, 2015 by mafd2

[Haus_Z71]

Here are my results from the PIT5374B headlamp update. Not super impressed, but it is better than before.

 

It is really hard to see the improvement in the picture and videos I took, but I did see a small improvement. It didn't seem 30% brighter, but as you will see in the picture, it had a wider distribution of light so you can see more of the road.

 

Before picture: http://i.imgur.com/mbK91emh.jpg

After picture: http://i.imgur.com/5APlH38h.jpg

 

My dashcam really doesn't give much justice here. It truly looks a lot better than you see in the videos. It's the best I could do though.

 

Before video: https://vimeo.com/147915939

 

Mute unless you want to listen to my 15 month olds music. My dashcam has pretty bad night quality, especially with the poor headlights. You will see a bit of an improvement in the after video, but not much.

 

After video: https://vimeo.com/147916202

Edited December 5, 2015 by Haus_Z71

[Shredzy]

The "after " picture looks to show a noticeable improvement over the "before" shot.

 

On the videoes, neither look to be all that impressive, could just be your dash cam.

 

What did you think of the "After" nighttime driving/lighting?

 

Here are your before & after shots for a comparison view:

 

 

[Haus_Z71]

Thanks for posting them like that. A lot easier to see the difference.

 

I almost didn't post the videos because my camera doesn't capture the true lighting.

 

Overall: any improvement over the stock is worth it. I would recommend this update to anyone. There are a lot of dark rural roads where I live and that's where the upgrade really helped me. There is better coverage now and I'm not straining as much to see what's in front of me. The high beam has improved too. Again, most noticeably in the width of light, but also in the intensity at distance.

Edited December 5, 2015 by Haus_Z71

[avgas]

I replaced my bulbs with the Silverstar 9012 white bulbs just for the fun of it. I was hoping that they would be more of a whiter light than the upgraded bulbs that were installed during the update.

 

Don't waste your money, The silverstar bulbs are just as bright but the color is so close to the same as the gm bulbs it wasn't worth taking a picture. I'm going to give the Xencn 9012 5300K bulbs a try and see what they are like.

[mafd2]

I replaced my bulbs with the Silverstar 9012 white bulbs just for the fun of it. I was hoping that they would be more of a whiter light than the upgraded bulbs that were installed during the update.

 

Don't waste your money, The silverstar bulbs are just as bright but the color is so close to the same as the gm bulbs it wasn't worth taking a picture. I'm going to give the Xencn 9012 5300K bulbs a try and see what they are like.

I agree, The Silverstar's aren't worth the money. I think you'll like the Xencn's. They're not too yellow and not too blue. A perfect 5300K and match the LED's perfect on my SLT.

[rufous03]

It is unfortunate that GM will not get off their high-horse and do something for the owners of their GMC on this subject especially when we fork out $45K or more for a vehicle that is supposed to be safe in all road conditions night and day. As I said before I have tried everything in the way of after market bulbs,except HID kits which according to my dealer do not function well. I have the GM update and IMHO wasn't worth the dealers time it took to install it. LED light bar mounted behind the grill was worth the money spent, but GM needs to address the problem.