HID Headlight Bulbs / HID Projector Retrofit

amfr · January 27, 2016

There needs to be a topic on led headlights. I would much rather put leds in my truck

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Spurshot · January 27, 2016

I hear ya. I know it's awful, just looking for brighter light as well as more defined white-less yellow. I've ran HID's in numerous trucks w/o projectors and I aim them slightly lower which helps with oncoming traffic a little. Still not proper however.

Put some of the LED bulbs in. Add a pair of driving lights for the lonely stretches of highway. Having a low beam that is well controlled, bright enough without being obnoxious, and lastly color matched should make you a happy trucker. Especially if you get some type of driving lights for when you need lots of light.

There needs to be a topic on led headlights. I would much rather put leds in my truck

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There is.

amfr · January 27, 2016

Put some of the LED bulbs in. Add a pair of driving lights for the lonely stretches of highway. Having a low beam that is well controlled, bright enough without being obnoxious, and lastly color matched should make you a happy trucker. Especially if you get some type of driving lights for when you need lots of light.

There is.

Link

Criscone · January 27, 2016

Put some of the LED bulbs in. Add a pair of driving lights for the lonely stretches of highway. Having a low beam that is well controlled, bright enough without being obnoxious, and lastly color matched should make you a happy trucker. Especially if you get some type of driving lights for when you need lots of light.

I've researched a little on the LED option. Everyone I see puts them in the projector housings it seems. I'll start picking their brains in that thread. Thanks!

A.J. Curtis · January 27, 2016

There needs to be a topic on led headlights. I would much rather put leds in my truck

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

arcasey · January 28, 2016

I know there were quite a few members having trouble with the fog light housings on the newer 2014+ GMC trucks getting burnt from HID's but has anyone had any trouble with the main headlight housings getting burnt?

Also, XenonHID.com has a 25W HID kit for the fog lights (I asked what the actual output on this kit was and was told that it is 25W). Has anyone tried or heard anything about this kit? Curious because I ordered the 55W headlight kit and the 25W fog light kit in 5000k for a 2015 Sierra Denali. Didn't know about the burnt housing issues until they were already ordered so I'm beginning to get a little concerned due to the expensive replacement cost of the headlight housings with LED DRL's in them.

Any info/advice is greatly appreciated.

In regards to my previous post, I just wanted to share with the community that XenonHID.com is not a reputable company. They have had my money for over a week now and my kits have still not shipped. I have tried to contact them over the phone and keep receiving the same message, that they are experiencing high call volumes and to please use the online chat on their website. I have used the chat and noticed that it is only a Bot. The person's name is always the same, no matter when you log onto it and it has very limited responses. Also, its grammar is astounding in that every I is dotted and T is crossed and perfect punctuation, something most humans never master. I have a friend who had also ordered from them and he experienced the same issues.

Just wanted to share this info in case anyone else was thinking of ordering from these guys.

Spurshot · January 29, 2016

Arcasey

Just my experience, I put a hid kit in the fogs on my last truck. I found that they effectively became "flood" type beams, instead of the flat beam shape of a fog light. They also became extremely bright and could not be used around other traffic. So, I thought I'd just use them for driving lights on my long road trips. But their usefulness was limited by the hid characteristics of slow warm up to brightness.

I'd really recommend you spend the extra bucks for either The Retrofit Source direct replacement LED fogs or the LED Rigid Industies D2 driving lights (very powerful), or LED D2 DOT/SAE compliant fog light (street legal). They come on instantly.

Kerrslight · February 1, 2016

So to many here, this might come as no surprise, but I switched out my DDM HID kit for Morimoto this weekend and man, that is what a quality kit looks like! I went with the 6500k bulbs and 50w ballasts. I originally had 5000k 55w DDM kit, but I wanted the output to be a little whiter with a hint of blue to try to match up the the Rigid DOT fogs a little better. The fogs are still more blue than the headlights are. I will say though, many people on here have stated the 6500k will not match up to the LED running lights. In my opinion, it is as good of a match as the 5000k kit was. It might have a slight shade of blue to it, but I think it matches up great. I think the only thing I will say that I liked better about my DDM kit is the beam pattern. The DDM kit had a pretty smooth beam pattern on the ground. This morimoto kit has more of a "scattered" look on the ground. Overall I am very pleased with this kit. Should've gone this route in the first place, but you live and you learn.

Huetatos · February 1, 2016

So to many here, this might come as no surprise, but I switched out my DDM HID kit for Morimoto this weekend and man, that is what a quality kit looks like! I went with the 6500k bulbs and 50w ballasts. I originally had 5000k 55w DDM kit, but I wanted the output to be a little whiter with a hint of blue to try to match up the the Rigid DOT fogs a little better. The fogs are still more blue than the headlights are. I will say though, many people on here have stated the 6500k will not match up to the LED running lights. In my opinion, it is as good of a match as the 5000k kit was. It might have a slight shade of blue to it, but I think it matches up great. I think the only thing I will say that I liked better about my DDM kit is the beam pattern. The DDM kit had a pretty smooth beam pattern on the ground. This morimoto kit has more of a "scattered" look on the ground. Overall I am very pleased with this kit. Should've gone this route in the first place, but you live and you learn.

I'm pretty sure the reason it matches is because of your 55w kit. Its pulling enough power to bring down the color a bit. If you have a 35w kit it won't match I bet.

80vette383 · February 2, 2016

I have been following this thread for a little while, and am now at the point where I want to make a move with my stock headlights. I've got a few questions. I have a 2014 LTZ that I was planning on upgrading to HIDs. However, after following this thread I'm now leaning towards possibly doing a projector retrofit as well.

Basically what I want to know is how the fitment is with the FXR retros installed. Will the dust covers definitely not fit. I saw someone post a link to extended covers, but at $82 per cover on top of the cost of the retrofit kit, that makes it too expensive to make it worthwhile. I've been looking at the different vendors like xenondepot, xenonhid, and theretrofitsource, but just recently found fastheadlight from this thread. I see they make a bracket for the FXR projector install, but they don't have any install info for the Silverado. Has anyone gotten this kit? Does it make the installation of the FXRs that much easier?

Lastly, I'm up in the air about what bulb temp I want. I know I want pure white, but the actually temp seems to vary a lot between manufacturers. One I was looking at was the xenondepot kit with the Philips 4300k or the Xenondepot 5000k. The Philips is a pretty big add-on, is the bulb really that much better? Also, would the 4300k have any yellow? I know most brands at a temp that low probably would, but the Philips are advertised as pure white at the 4300k and even say they will color change closer to 5000k after about 100hrs. Anyone use the Philips?

Thanks for any input. I'm sure a lot of this has been covered, but it's hard to go through 160pgs and most of the stuff I've found in here is for Sierras. I'm hoping to buy my kit today, I can't tolerate the LTZs crappy halogens anymore!

Kerrslight · February 2, 2016

I have been following this thread for a little while, and am now at the point where I want to make a move with my stock headlights. I've got a few questions. I have a 2014 LTZ that I was planning on upgrading to HIDs. However, after following this thread I'm now leaning towards possibly doing a projector retrofit as well.

Basically what I want to know is how the fitment is with the FXR retros installed. Will the dust covers definitely not fit. I saw someone post a link to extended covers, but at $82 per cover on top of the cost of the retrofit kit, that makes it too expensive to make it worthwhile. I've been looking at the different vendors like xenondepot, xenonhid, and theretrofitsource, but just recently found fastheadlight from this thread. I see they make a bracket for the FXR projector install, but they don't have any install info for the Silverado. Has anyone gotten this kit? Does it make the installation of the FXRs that much easier?

Lastly, I'm up in the air about what bulb temp I want. I know I want pure white, but the actually temp seems to vary a lot between manufacturers. One I was looking at was the xenondepot kit with the Philips 4300k or the Xenondepot 5000k. The Philips is a pretty big add-on, is the bulb really that much better? Also, would the 4300k have any yellow? I know most brands at a temp that low probably would, but the Philips are advertised as pure white at the 4300k and even say they will color change closer to 5000k after about 100hrs. Anyone use the Philips?

Thanks for any input. I'm sure a lot of this has been covered, but it's hard to go through 160pgs and most of the stuff I've found in here is for Sierras. I'm hoping to buy my kit today, I can't tolerate the LTZs crappy halogens anymore!

Can't comment on the FXR, but I think 5000k would be your best bet. I went 5000k w/ 55w ballast and it was pretty pure white. I now have 6500k and it has a hint of blue to it

wade_660 · February 2, 2016

I personally like my 6500. About the fxr kit from fast headlights.... It makes the install super easy. He has a video on his site about the install. And no the caps will not fit. I cut mine horizontally and bridged them with aluminum tape. Not what is ideal, but not a huge deal. The fxr performance is out of this world and definitely something I'd recommend.

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80vette383 · February 2, 2016

Can't comment on the FXR, but I think 5000k would be your best bet. I went 5000k w/ 55w ballast and it was pretty pure white. I now have 6500k and it has a hint of blue to it

Does it make a difference that I'm planning on a 35w kit not 55w? Also, what brand bulbs did you get?

I personally like my 6500. About the fxr kit from fast headlights.... It makes the install super easy. He has a video on his site about the install. And no the caps will not fit. I cut mine horizontally and bridged them with aluminum tape. Not what is ideal, but not a huge deal. The fxr performance is out of this world and definitely something I'd recommend.

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Do you have a Silverado or Sierra? I looked on their site and the only video was for Sierras? The FXRs definitely look great, but are the stock projectors so bad that it wouldn't be worth doing just HIDs? What brand bulbs did you get? Your 6500k really don't look that blue at all, they look good.

Edited February 2, 2016 by 80vette383

Kerrslight · February 2, 2016

Does it make a difference that I'm planning on a 35w kit not 55w?

Do you have a Silverado or Sierra? I looked on their site and the only video was for Sierras? The FXRs definitely look great, but are the stock projectors so bad that it wouldn't be worth doing just HIDs?

5000k with 35w might give you the slightest hint of blue, but will be pure white. 55w 5000k there will be no blue, plus they will be brighter. I would personally recommend 5000k 55w. I loved mine. I just wanted to switch to something with a little blue to it so I went to 6500 and its exactly what I was looking for.

If I were you, I would go with a good set of HID's first before you try to tackle a retrofit. Order yourself the Silverado Spec Morimoto Kit from theretrofitsource.com and go from there. It will be lightyears better than stock and if you still want more, then go for a retrofit.

80vette383 · February 2, 2016

5000k with 35w might give you the slightest hint of blue, but will be pure white. 55w 5000k there will be no blue, plus they will be brighter. I would personally recommend 5000k 55w. I loved mine. I just wanted to switch to something with a little blue to it so I went to 6500 and its exactly what I was looking for.

If I were you, I would go with a good set of HID's first before you try to tackle a retrofit. Order yourself the Silverado Spec Morimoto Kit from theretrofitsource.com and go from there. It will be lightyears better than stock and if you still want more, then go for a retrofit.

Thanks, yeah I was thinking the same thing, start with the HIDs and I can add the projectors later if I want... Although knowing myself I'm sure I will, because seeing how much better they look vs the stockers it'll bug me knowing that now lol. I'm not worried about tackling the install, I know I can handle that, just don't feel like hacking up my stock stuff and risk exposing the headlights to the elements.

The 55w doesn't get too hot? That's what I had been reading, that and shorter life and color change.

Anybody with a Silverado try these? A lot cheaper than the extended plastic ones going for $82 each!

https://www.theretrofitsource.com/accessories/rubber-housing-caps.html#.VrDSm8Q8KrU