2017 headlight Q

Jdkno · February 21, 2017

My 17 SLT has the HID lights, not the LED. From an output standpoint are the OEM LED'S that much better than the HID'S that it would be worth the $$ to switch? Would the OEM LED's be plug and play in place of my HID's?

cbrsilv15 · February 21, 2017

You can make a harness to adapt to the leds or you can buy it from gen5diy.com.

aaronarf · February 21, 2017

I wouldn't change them, most HID outperform LEDs all day everyday. I've had both (different vehicles) and I actually prefer HID

Jdkno · February 21, 2017

Well that's good to know that there is nothing BCM or programing related.

In all honesty I don't mind the HID, just curious if the LED system is a worthwhile upgrade. I know some would do the swap just because but if there isn't a significant output difference then to me there is no need to spend the time or money on it.

A few times a year we go to the in-laws in the north GA mountains and at night up there 4 50" LED bars would not be overkill. Since my truck is a city dweller 90% of the time it's hard to justify adding a lightbar.

aaronarf · February 21, 2017

Well that's good to know that there is nothing BCM or programing related.

In all honesty I don't mind the HID, just curious if the LED system is a worthwhile upgrade. I know some would do the swap just because but if there isn't a significant output difference then to me there is no need to spend the time or money on it.

A few times a year we go to the in-laws in the north GA mountains and at night up there 4 50" LED bars would not be overkill. Since my truck is a city dweller 90% of the time it's hard to justify adding a lightbar.

Now aftermarket lighting, yes LED all the way. Baja Designs or Rigid.

HID vs. LED in the same projectors you won't see a substantial difference.

Jdkno · February 21, 2017

I was talking about switching out my entire OEM system, housings and all, from the HID to the OEM LED'S setup.

Black Denali Canada · February 21, 2017

I had some heavy duty HID's on my last truck. 55w Morimoto XB D2S bulbs in the FX-R projector (one of the best on the market).

That setup will blow any stock HID out of the water. With that said my 2017 Denali has the full LED headlights and I'm very happy with them.

Are they better than my old custom setup, no but they are very good.

Will the new LED headlights outperform Stock HID's most likely!

If you want post up some output photos and I'll do the same so you can get a little bit of an idea of the LED's vs HID's

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skully85 · February 21, 2017

I have a 2017 Sierra SLT with the HIDs as well. Can the bulbs be changed to a higher output? As you can tell I am very new to this whole HID vs LED thing

Black Denali Canada · February 21, 2017

You may be able to upgrade to a 55w ballast if your stock is 35w for example. And if you want to get crazy you could disassemble the housing and retrofit a better projector inside. That's a lot of work though (what I did to my old f150 headlights)

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Sierra706 · February 21, 2017

I have the leds but honestly I would prefer the hids. The leds don't output enough heat to melt snow and slush buildup.

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Black Denali Canada · February 21, 2017

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Skeeter McSkeet · February 21, 2017

I have a 2017 Sierra SLT with the HIDs as well. Can the bulbs be changed to a higher output? As you can tell I am very new to this whole HID vs LED thing

You may gain a little, but you will be limited by the projector itself at a certain point, that's what ultimately dictates the output and throw of the light down/onto the road. I don't know what type of projector they are using in the 2017 models or how well they perform.

Black Denali Canada · February 21, 2017

Most oem projector housings are "middle of the road". I agree 100% with skeeter, the stock projector is going to be your limiting factor.

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Black Denali Canada · February 21, 2017

To get "amazing" output out of a HID projector you have to get top of the line and retrofit. That's what I did with my F150 like I said earlier. Bake open the housings, extensive modifications, aiming is a nightmare lol, but the results are awesome !!

The stock headlights were just halogen reflector buckets. Here is what I did.

TRS FX-R projectors.

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