HID Headlight Bulbs / HID Projector Retrofit

[pjerzy]

I have searched but reviews on long term reliability don't seem to pop up much. I want to upgrade my lights on my 2015 Silverado 1500 LT. I would like to go to projectors for a better pattern and better light penetration for overall night driving. I know there are a lot of DIY kits out that can be bought, but cutting open my own headlights make me a little nervous if for some reason it does not work I would be out a vehicle. Any one have any suggestions for a full swap assembly or locations for cheap stock headlights that I wouldn't be out too much if I end up botching the retrofit?

 

Thanks in advance. 

[truckguy82]

1 hour ago, pjerzy said:

I have searched but reviews on long term reliability don't seem to pop up much. I want to upgrade my lights on my 2015 Silverado 1500 LT. I would like to go to projectors for a better pattern and better light penetration for overall night driving. I know there are a lot of DIY kits out that can be bought, but cutting open my own headlights make me a little nervous if for some reason it does not work I would be out a vehicle. Any one have any suggestions for a full swap assembly or locations for cheap stock headlights that I wouldn't be out too much if I end up botching the retrofit?

 

Thanks in advance. 

The only thing you can botch is cutting the housing and reglueing it back together.

 

Lets say after you cut the back of the housing off your dog comes around and takes those pieces and chews them up. Aka total destruction. Your bulb is in no way attached to those pieces. You could reinstall them on your truck with the entire back portion of the headlight missing.

 

My point is the only thing you can screw up on is a lack of properly sealing the fixture. In which case your headlights will still work until you can find a replacement.

 

If I had to do it over again, I’d buy a hot knife to cut the plastic housing. The dremel cutting left too rough of surface and it got plastic shavings in the housing. All you doing is cutting the back of the housing off and then glueing it back on. It’s pretty simple. It’s only purpose is to seal the headlight.

Edited May 10, 2019 by truckguy82

[cbrsilv15]

6 minutes ago, truckguy82 said:

The only thing you can botch is cutting the housing and reglueing it back together.

 

Lets say after you cut the back of the housing off your dog comes around and takes those pieces and chews them up. Aka total destruction. Your bulb is in no way attached to those pieces. You could reinstall them on your truck with the entire back portion of the headlight missing.

 

My point is the only thing you can screw up on is a lack of properly sealing the fixture. In which case your headlights will still work until you can find a replacement.

 

If I had to do it over again, I’d buy a hot knife to cut the plastic housing. The dremel cutting left too rough of surface and it got plastic shavings in the housing. All you doing is cutting the back of the housing off and then glueing it back on. It’s pretty simple. It’s only purpose is to seal the headlight.

No need for a hot knife for these k2 trucks. They’re permaseal, but not terrible. Can be baked in the oven and opened up. Just use butyl glue to reseal and you’re done. 

[truckguy82]

Just now, cbrsilv15 said:

No need for a hot knife for these k2 trucks. They’re permaseal, but not terrible. Can be baked in the oven and opened up. Just use butyl glue to reseal and you’re done. 

I did the cutting method, never tried it that way so can’t comment.

[BlackZ71SLT]

For the Sierra guys that have opened up your headlights did you leave the LED control module attached to the lights when you baked them? 

[Silveradosilver]

I made an account just to post this so if I didn't follow some rules sorry. I also didn't read through the 200+ pages on this post either since I can't find anything about this online.

 

I got some hids and ballasts from a friend for free and installed them last night. I ordered a relay harness with capacitors and installed that as well. He says everything was working correctly when he took it out of his vehicle. Although he didn't have to use a harness.

 

Heres a YouTube video of the issue

 

My issue is that anytime the truck is in park, running or off, it turns the headlights on like I just unlocked the truck or turned the headlight switch. It flashes twice then will sometimes go off sometimes won't. It does it at random times to sometimes its 5 seconds between when it flashes sometimes its a 3 minutes +. If I unplug the relays in the harness it still does it, if I unbolt the ground it still does it. I've checked ever connection and am gonna go double check in a minute.

 

Any ideas or suggestions would be greatly appreciated thanks.

[FastWS6TA]

For the Sierra guys that have opened up your headlights did you leave the LED control module attached to the lights when you baked them? 

Yes

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[Keith Rox]

i have a 2015 gmc sierra sle carbon 22 edition, ended up buying the 2015 GMC HD 2500 LED lights with the DRL in them. opened them up and swapped projectors for the rx350's with the sti-r clear lenses that were optically tuned and paired them with the xb35 morimoto ballasts and d2s 35w morimoto bulbs, diode dynamic switchback DRL. had nothing but problems with them, including the 7443 switchback bulbs from morimoto which i've replaced 3 times in less than a year. ended up re-opening and ditching all things morimoto for the 4th gen 45w hylux ballasts, the new osram 66240 cbb 7000K 35w bulbs, and the 7443 gtr lighting carbide switchback turn signals. shouldn't have let myself be convinced originally to go with the morimoto shit as it was against my better judgement but i listened to a seasoned retrofitter and wasted ton of money and time on subpar equipment. light output is far superior, i enjoy the color temp more its not really 7000k its more like 5500K as i know the higher watt ballasts step down the color temp some as well. much better performing component combination to compliment the rx350 and sti-r lens. 

[PirateDiesel]

On 5/3/2019 at 10:49 PM, mr4wdLTZ said:

Here are some night shots.

 

mini D2S 5.0 kit with 35 watt hylux ballasts. 5500K D2S bulbs.

 

The D2S exceeded my expectations once I was able to line them up and take a drive tonight. The 5.0 is on or with my FXRs in my old trucks. With a fraction of the modification necessary to make it work.

 

the splitter that allows the bi-xenon high beam function in conjunction with the factory halogen high beams really enhances the brights. I did add some syllabi’s silverstar ultra 9005s while I had it all apart. Better than stock but not the same color temperature. That’s ok. The output is outstanding. 

 

i highly recommend @FastWS6TA kits.

Hey man, I see you mention that you use D2S Bulbs with this setup.  Which D2S Bulbs are you using and with what connectors?  I'm running D2H bulbs as most use with this retrofit because I was worried D2S Bulbs with connectors would not fit under the stock headlight caps.

[truckguy82]

On 6/11/2019 at 9:24 PM, Keith Rox said:

i have a 2015 gmc sierra sle carbon 22 edition, ended up buying the 2015 GMC HD 2500 LED lights with the DRL in them. opened them up and swapped projectors for the rx350's with the sti-r clear lenses that were optically tuned and paired them with the xb35 morimoto ballasts and d2s 35w morimoto bulbs, diode dynamic switchback DRL. had nothing but problems with them, including the 7443 switchback bulbs from morimoto which i've replaced 3 times in less than a year. ended up re-opening and ditching all things morimoto for the 4th gen 45w hylux ballasts, the new osram 66240 cbb 7000K 35w bulbs, and the 7443 gtr lighting carbide switchback turn signals. shouldn't have let myself be convinced originally to go with the morimoto shit as it was against my better judgement but i listened to a seasoned retrofitter and wasted ton of money and time on subpar equipment. light output is far superior, i enjoy the color temp more its not really 7000k its more like 5500K as i know the higher watt ballasts step down the color temp some as well. much better performing component combination to compliment the rx350 and sti-r lens. 

Hylux ballast is the key. Morimoto bulbs are fine

[Keith Rox]

7 hours ago, truckguy82 said:

Hylux ballast is the key. Morimoto bulbs are fine

morimoto ballasts are garbage, and my experience with the led bulbs they make for all things other than headlights do not seem to last long and suffer heat degradation with a much higher failure rate than every other major brand i’ve used. i’ve outfitted no less than 10 of my family members cars with all LED bulbs for interior and accent lighting and i’ve had to replace morimoto on numerous occasions. i’ve not had a single failure from any of the other brands, not once in 5 years. their headlight bulbs might be a different story as my experience with them is limited to this one experience and i didn’t try them with the hylux bulbs but they definitely have a subpar lux output comparatively to the top osram and philips bulbs. they are a budget bulb though so i think that’s kind of the significant take away is you can afford to replace them 2-3x’s as often if cost is your primary concern.

[Ben Lawson]

On 4/24/2019 at 11:22 AM, FastWS6TA said:

gmforum_10%

Use that code at checkout.

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Is there a new code? Order page says this one is invalid

[Herd Thinner]

So I have the 35W system........issue that just stated a month ago is as follows:

 

drivers side would work sometimes ......then go out.......now its out completely:

I tested the bulb, wiring, adaptor and I am at a loss.......I am guessing it is the ignitor or the ballast.....

 

Thoughts .... 

 

[MegaCode360]

Probably ballast.  My passenger side did the same thing.  Was the ballast.  Replaced it and never had the issue again.

[Vulcan762]

Such a headache. How come factory headlights last a life time but aftermarket, no matter cost, crap out, the first year?? 

 

Edited August 28, 2019 by Vulcan762