Morimoto HID Install

bersh · January 11, 2016

I installed the Morimoto Sierra Spec Elite HID system last night. Plenty of threads about them, and most cover the basics, but thought I'd add a couple notes that might make life easier. I didn't take any pics, as nothing I did was much different than the other threads.

I went with the 35w 4500K kit, as I hate any blue tint and wanted as much light output as possible without going with the 50w. I ordered from The Retrofit Source and they processed the order very quickly. After reading a number of comments about the harness being a bit too short for the trucks, I contacted TRS after I had placed the order and they threw in an extender free of charge. Shipping was quick and I received the package a few days after ordering.

My overall impression when I opened it up to inspect was that it appears to be high quality. The relay harness and the rest of the wiring was well done, with everything covered with expandable wire shield and shrink wrapped connections and ends. After install, my only comment is that even though this was a Sierra Spec kit, it's indeed a touch too short in stock form for a clean/tucked away install, but not too bad. Without the extension it would have been tight to get it to fit right.

Having a gasser, my battery is tucked at the passenger rear of the engine bay. The power and ground leads for the relay harness were more than long enough. I used the power block for the positive and went direct to the neg terminal for neg. I modified the ground lead for the anti-flicker capacitor to make it long enough to also go directly to the neg post as having a good ground is essential for these kits to work correctly. In my opinion, the length of the wire leads on the igniters is a bit too short, which limits how/where you can mount them. Either the leads for the bulbs or the leads from the igniter module to the ballast should be a couple inches longer and it would make life a lot easier.

I drilled out the dust covers to install the grommet for the bulb leads with a 7/8" spade bit as that appeared to be the size needed for a proper fit of the grommet. The problem is that it wasn't quite big enough to fit the original bulb feed connector through the hole. A 1" hole would probably work, but I wanted a tight fit of the grommet and 1" looked like it would extend past the circular indent in the dust cover. If you go with 7/8" hole, the trick is to use a pick to press down on the tiny plastic tab holding each metal spade connector into the housing, then pull the wire out. Slide each wire through the hole you drilled, clip each wire back into the connector, and then slide everything down and install the grommet. It sounds more difficult than it is.

I didn't totally dismantle the front of the truck, just popped the top radiator cover off which allowed me to run the ballast lead for the driver's side and once the cover was put back on it's hidden. If I didn't have the extension, I'm not sure this would have been possible as the additional routing reduces the overall length by a couple inches, so in that case you could run the wire along the top of the radiator shroud. I removed the airbox, but kept it handy and dry fit it a couple times to make sure I was leaving room for routing/install. I mounted the ballasts on the inside of each radiator support (as in, the side facing the radiator) using heavy duty double sided tape (cleaned all surfaces with alcohol wipes prior) and also with zip ties. I went with the insides of the supports as they have relief holes cut out of them already, and I wanted to run the zip ties as backup in the event the tape gave way. I ran the zip ties in the middle of the ballast, between the plugs for the wire leads. I also removed the orange mounting brackets from the ballasts. The ballasts were mounted with the plugs facing down to hopefully prevent any water getting in. The igniters, due to their short leads, were a bit of a challenge. I mounted the passenger side using zip ties to the factory wire loom that runs just below the headlight. I mounted the driver's side igniter using the two sided tape and a couple zip ties to the back of the washer fluid tank. This wasn't the spot I wanted to use, but it was the best thing available given the short leads.

The relays ended up being a bit of a challenge. Again, due to the the length of the leads I was somewhat limited in mounting locations. It would have been nice to tuck it over by the coolent overflow tank. Instead, I settled on using a small aluminum bracket and used the passenger side radiator support bolt to mount my bracket to, then mounted the relay to this bracket. It's tucked enough out of the way, and is very secure. From there I double checked everything, zip tied everything to death, buttoned everything up, and went for a drive.

A couple notes:

The total install time was about 3 hours, but the vast majority of this was spent looking/dry fitting things to get everything out of the way, but still accessible. If I were to do it again I could probably cut that time in half.

The difference in the amount/quality of light output is substantial. As expected, the light is a lot brighter and whiter than the stock bulbs. I didn't have the TSB update done yet, as the bulbs are on national backorder, but this was a huge improvement over the stock setup. There is also a lot more light spread out on the road, especially to the sides. It also shines further down the road.

A couple things these lights also show compared to stock is the shortcoming of the factory projector housings. Due to the brighter light, a few dead spots in the pattern are more visible. I expected this and the overall output is so much better it's not a big deal. Also, the cutoff isn't quite as sharp, and there is a bit of stray light that bleeds up over the cutoff. It's not a blinding amount of light, and between last night and this morning I haven't been flashed at all, so I'm not sure I'll worry about it. On the plus side, it's just enough light that signs are now visible. The other thing they show is just how poorly the high/low beams match up. I have them adjusted so the cutoff is where it should be on low beams, but the high beams are much higher than they should be. I'm not worried about this too much as the high beams are still functional and considerably better than stock.

Chances are pretty good that I will do the FX-R projector upgrade at some point, but I'll drive it like this for a while. If I stumble on a set of OEM headlamp housing for cheap, I may pick them up to use for the retrofit as I don't want to mess with mine while it's still under warranty.

That's all I can think of for now. It's not a terribly difficult install, just takes some time. trial, and error to get everything where you want it.

fondupot · January 11, 2016

Just did mine this weekend too. made a video of my wire layout.

I drilled out the dust covers to install the grommet for the bulb leads with a 7/8" spade bit as that appeared to be the size needed for a proper fit of the grommet. The problem is that it wasn't quite big enough to fit the original bulb feed connector through the hole. A 1" hole would probably work, but I wanted a tight fit of the grommet and 1" looked like it would extend past the circular indent in the dust cover. If you go with 7/8" hole, the trick is to use a pick to press down on the tiny plastic tab holding each metal spade connector into the housing, then pull the wire out. Slide each wire through the hole you drilled, clip each wire back into the connector, and then slide everything down and install the grommet. It sounds more difficult than it is.

And for me, the 7/8" bit worked fine, but like you mention the connector is a little tough to get through the hole. I just sorta shaved down the sides of the hole with a box knife enough to get the connector through the hole. I also squeezed the connector slightly to make it fit. Ended up just fine.

Did you seal the rubber grommets on your dust covers? I did with some clear silicone, just to get an added layer of protection.

I will agree that the harness could have been longer for pretty much everything, but I was able to make it work pretty good without any issues. Sounds like you were able to do install without issue too.

I will also agree on the new light output. It is considerably better than the stock lights. And I even had the TSB update for the new bulbs and BCM reprogram.

bersh · January 11, 2016

Just did mine this weekend too. made a video of my wire layout.

And for me, the 7/8" bit worked fine, but like you mention the connector is a little tough to get through the hole. I just sorta shaved down the sides of the hole with a box knife enough to get the connector through the hole. I also squeezed the connector slightly to make it fit. Ended up just fine.

Did you seal the rubber grommets on your dust covers? I did with some clear silicone, just to get an added layer of protection.

I will agree that the harness could have been longer for pretty much everything, but I was able to make it work pretty good without any issues. Sounds like you were able to do install without issue too.

I will also agree on the new light output. It is considerably better than the stock lights. And I even had the TSB update for the new bulbs and BCM reprogram.

Nice video. I didn't seal the grommets as they seemed to seal well on their own. I left the driver's side factory headlight lead in place, if for no other reason than to keep the holes sealed. I mulled putting the relays and ballasts under the radiator cover like you did, but in the end I decided I wanted to be able to get to everything if something happens or need to replace components.

I haven't driven in daylight yet, and it sounds like if there is a polarity issue it will surface with the DRLs, so I'm going to go for a spin in a minute and make sure everything is OK.

fondupot · January 11, 2016

Nice video. I didn't seal the grommets as they seemed to seal well on their own. I left the driver's side factory headlight lead in place, if for no other reason than to keep the holes sealed. I mulled putting the relays and ballasts under the radiator cover like you did, but in the end I decided I wanted to be able to get to everything if something happens or need to replace components.

I haven't driven in daylight yet, and it sounds like if there is a polarity issue it will surface with the DRLs, so I'm going to go for a spin in a minute and make sure everything is OK.

Thanks yea. I thought the grommets did a good enough job without the silicone, but I figured it couldn't hurt.

I figured under the cowl is easy enough to get access too if I need to replace something. Those push pins are easy to remove.

I drove this morning in daylight without any issues. You should be good too.

bersh · January 13, 2016

Having now driven for a bit in varying weather conditions, including about an hour drive last night in white out snow, I'm very impressed with this upgrade. This is the way these trucks should have come from the factory.

success · January 13, 2016

Great posts guys. Will be using for my install

alchrist3 · January 22, 2016

Had my Sierra spec bids 6000k for about 10000 miles and replaced 1 bulb in October and the other bulb blew today not really impressed right now with them actually for being a brand new 2015 Gmc 2500hd

Munruben · June 30, 2016

Great topic, I have just done the upgrade to morimoto, I used 4500 35w and the difference is truly night and day. If anyone is considering doing this because of poor factory lighting, I highly recommend it! Thanks again to the original poster, you have really helped

JAREDM77 · August 19, 2016

Just did mine this weekend too. made a video of my wire layout.

And for me, the 7/8" bit worked fine, but like you mention the connector is a little tough to get through the hole. I just sorta shaved down the sides of the hole with a box knife enough to get the connector through the hole. I also squeezed the connector slightly to make it fit. Ended up just fine.

Did you seal the rubber grommets on your dust covers? I did with some clear silicone, just to get an added layer of protection.

I will agree that the harness could have been longer for pretty much everything, but I was able to make it work pretty good without any issues. Sounds like you were able to do install without issue too.

I will also agree on the new light output. It is considerably better than the stock lights. And I even had the TSB update for the new bulbs and BCM reprogram.

What

Great topic, I have just done the upgrade to morimoto, I used 4500 35w and the difference is truly night and day. If anyone is considering doing this because of poor factory lighting, I highly recommend it! Thanks again to the original poster, you have really helped

What tsb and BCM reprogram? I put a set of these on my 2015 hd and have a popping noise when lights come on (in drivers side speaker). I do have my radio amped up and figured it's causing the issue but not sure.

jhplak325 · August 21, 2016

What tsb and BCM reprogram? I put a set of these on my 2015 hd and have a popping noise when lights come on (in drivers side speaker). I do have my radio amped up and figured it's causing the issue but not sure.

TSB is for 2014 1500's and up to January 2015 build date on 1500/2500/3500 Sierra's only, Silverado's are not part of the TSB.

JAREDM77 · August 31, 2016

Thanks

Jlash · August 31, 2016

I wish the sierra/silverado spec kit came qith new projectors as the ones in my silvy are halogen projectors (not 100% on the sierras) but they may be and that would be the reason for not having a tight and concise cutoff as well as some dark spots and possibly having the lights appear to be going super far down the road.. but for the price.. its a good kit

Jaycreek7908 · July 10, 2017

Attempting to do my kit and what I've got is driver's suss stock output-> capacitor-> relay-> ballast-> igniter-> bulb. I haven't connected the bulbs and fired it up yet because I can't figure out if this connector is necessary and if so, what the Heck does it go to?