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Halogen & LED Headlight Bulb Upgrades

Ezekiel2517

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Mike1220 Senior Enthusiast

Mike1220

Posted
Posted

New here but been following for a little. Got an All Terrain about a month ago and like every one think the headlights suck. I came from multiple Acuras that had HID. Before going that route on a brand new truck I am going to try the Putco nitro blue route. I just ordered headlights and fog lights. So well see how they look and will try and post some pictures when I put them in!

Best replacement for the fogs to have useful light that won't blind others is to get the Rigid DOT approved lights or get the VLED LMZs 3000 lumen bulbs and put the offset of the LEDs at the same offset as the stock halogen filament. That will keep the fog beam pattern just like stock but MUCH brighter [emoji106]

As for the headlights, if you want improvement, then put in some brighter halogens. If you want to be able to actually see where you are going, I'd suggest investing in some HIDs or go the best route and do a projector retrofit. I just did one on mine and after having 55W HIDs, 45W VLED LMZs, and the stock halogens, the best route is by far the retrofit. Couldn't be happier

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kkmitchell5 Enthusiast

kkmitchell5

Posted
Posted

TJAY: That is good to know. They will be here tomorrow so i will just put them in and see how they work. I can always send them back. Sorry this is probably a bad question but what is a BCM update? and just newer bulbs they are putting in them now? Thanks

Mike: So basically the only way to get any thing out of the fogs is to go LED? does that require install of extra wiring, harnesses, etc? or are those 2 you mentioned more of just a swap? Also does anyone know the K temp of the DRL's? I would love to match that color if possible. Since the DRL is and LED obviously they would be closest to match I presume? Thanks!

Nickmo New Member

Nickmo

Posted
Posted

Just did an LED swap on my 2015 Silverado 2500 LTZ. I wanted something that was plug and play and didn't need any modification to the housing or caps.

 

Tried Putco XM-L2 kits for the H11 and 9005, but they did not fit in the caps. Ended up going with Putco Nite-Lux instead which just fit. I spaced the heat sink ribbons out as best I could, but it's pretty tight clearance. I guess time will tell if the cool properly. Everything was 100% plug and play, and there was enough room inside the housings to mount the small ballasts that are part of the Nite-Lux kit. The fogs were Putco Optic 360 and fit perfect.

 

So far pretty happy with everything. Color temp was 6000K on all bulbs so it's a bit on the blue side, but matched well between the Nite-Lux and Optic 360 bulbs.. I'd have preferred more white, but overall light output seems better, so can't complain. Putco advertises 2500 lumens for the Nite-Lux kits

Mike1220 Senior Enthusiast

Mike1220

Posted
Posted

TJAY: That is good to know. They will be here tomorrow so i will just put them in and see how they work. I can always send them back. Sorry this is probably a bad question but what is a BCM update? and just newer bulbs they are putting in them now? Thanks

Mike: So basically the only way to get any thing out of the fogs is to go LED? does that require install of extra wiring, harnesses, etc? or are those 2 you mentioned more of just a swap? Also does anyone know the K temp of the DRL's? I would love to match that color if possible. Since the DRL is and LED obviously they would be closest to match I presume? Thanks!

 

 

yes if you want anything really helpful out of the fogs, you will want to change to the DOT Rigids or the VLED LMZ 3000 lumens,

 

the LMZs will require far less, if any, real modification. the only thing really changing in that situation s the light itself, where as with the rigid lights you would have to do some cutting and drilling. Plenty more work than Option A (LMZs)

with the LMZs youll just need to ziptie the ballast up somewhere which isn't hard to do.

If I still had my stock fogs and hadnt cut them out, I'd love to run the LMZs

OEM LED DRLs on the Sierras is 5000K LED white

if you try to match HIDs then you'd need to do a 55W 5000K or a 35W 4500K

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chrises08 Enthusiast

chrises08

Posted
Posted

Anyone with projectors have any experience with these led lights from GTR?

 

http://www.gtrlighting.com/gtr-lighting-gen-2-all-in-one-9006-led-headlight-bulbs-3-600-lumen-bulbs/

 

According to the sims/spec sheet the heat sink is shorter than the vleds and the wire comes out the bottom instead of the back.

 

You can also change the color of the bulb really easily.

I'm thinking about ordering a set this week.

canucknnv Enthusiast

canucknnv

Posted
Posted

First time posted but have been lurking for the last few weeks and my eyes are sore trying to find an answer as I've scoured this site, google and youtube.

 

Anyways, I installed the Putco Nite Lux led's (with wire mesh heatsink) for high and low beams on my 2015 Silverado Z71 that's leveled. The lights are very bright a tad blueish for my liking but 1000% better than stock. Problem is they are aimed high now. I have no issue adjusting the low beam as the set screw is very easy to get to. I cannot find for the life of me any adjustment screws for the high beam or the fog lights. I was at the dealer getting my first oil change and the service guy said only the low beams can be adjusted, Is this true or was he just talking out his arse?

 

The high and low are 2500lm each and fogs are 3200lm and I'm afraid if I don't get them lowered I'm going not going to see the 4 legged creatures i encounter on California mountain roads until well you know. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Ryan698 Enthusiast

Ryan698

Posted
Posted

 

 

Im also very interested

I also emailed vled to compare what they have but these lights seem like they might be not to bad...

 

Sent from my SM-G900W8 using Tapatalk

Asells Enthusiast

Asells

Posted
Posted

Anyone with projectors have any experience with these led lights from GTR?

http://www.gtrlighting.com/gtr-lighting-gen-2-all-in-one-9006-led-headlight-bulbs-3-600-lumen-bulbs/

According to the sims/spec sheet the heat sink is shorter than the vleds and the wire comes out the bottom instead of the back.

You can also change the color of the bulb really easily.

I'm thinking about ordering a set this week.

I was going to get these but when I emailed them, they dont have code eliminators so they wont work with our trucks.
chrises08 Enthusiast

chrises08

Posted
Posted

I was going to get these but when I emailed them, they dont have code eliminators so they wont work with our trucks.

 

That's why you get the canbus which eliminates that problem..

kkmitchell5 Enthusiast

kkmitchell5

Posted
Posted

 

I also emailed vled to compare what they have but these lights seem like they might be not to bad...

Sent from my SM-G900W8 using Tapatalk

 

From the specs and installation and reviews, almost all the reviews on xenon depot were from 2015 Sierras and they are all good. One of us needs to bite the bullet and try them out.... :cheers:

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