Silverado Non Projector Headlight Upgrade

Sundance1991 · December 25, 2015

Hello all -

After doing quite a bit of reading through different threads on here, I have a few questions about headlights. I am currently running Sylvania Silverstar Ultra bulbs in my stock non projector housings on my '14 Silverado. For the most part, I'm pretty happy with them but I'm always looking to improve. Is this the best set up I can run on non projector housings? does anyone have experience runnings LEDs in non projector housings (VLEDs etc.)? Or is the only way to improve further to get projector housings and jump up to HID's?

Any feedback would be much appreciated.

Thanks and Merry Christmas!

Rhett Jones · December 25, 2015

Hello all -

After doing quite a bit of reading through different threads on here, I have a few questions about headlights. I am currently running Sylvania Silverstar Ultra bulbs in my stock non projector housings on my '14 Silverado. For the most part, I'm pretty happy with them but I'm always looking to improve. Is this the best set up I can run on non projector housings? does anyone have experience runnings LEDs in non projector housings (VLEDs etc.)? Or is the only way to improve further to get projector housings and jump up to HID's?

Any feedback would be much appreciated.

Thanks and Merry Christmas!

Not much input on your main question, but I did drive a '14 Double Cab LT 4X4 for a work truck up until July or so and I had put some Silverstar Ultras in them - I will never buy those bulbs again. I had two burn out on me within 5 months. Output was very good in the stock non-projector housings I thought though - better tan my new LTZ with projector housings. Good luck on finding some LEDs...I'm curious myself about the output vs. the Silverstar Ultras.

DPetry94 · January 7, 2016

Did you do anything with your headlights yet? I am in the same boat as you and was looking at some HIDs, but wanted more input first.

dbcooper748 · January 8, 2016

Did you do anything with your headlights yet? I am in the same boat as you and was looking at some HIDs, but wanted more input first.

I had the LT reflectors originally, but currently have the ltz replica projectors. When i had the reflectors i found the best upgrade was using h9 bulbs. U have to trim a small portion of the h9 bulb tabs, but they are 10watts brighter and have no shielding on the bulb itself, unlike stock h11s. They are essentially a high beam bulb. Best upgrade for the $ imo. I ran HIDs at first but they were too intense and blinding to other drivers as there was no cutoff in the reflector housings

DPetry94 · January 8, 2016

I had the LT reflectors originally, but currently have the ltz replica projectors. When i had the reflectors i found the best upgrade was using h9 bulbs. U have to trim a small portion of the h9 bulb tabs, but they are 10watts brighter and have no shielding on the bulb itself, unlike stock h11s. They are essentially a high beam bulb. Best upgrade for the $ imo. I ran HIDs at first but they were too intense and blinding to other drivers as there was no cutoff in the reflector housings

Do you happen to have any pictures of what you had to do to the h9 bulb and any pictures from when you had the HIDs installed? Also, where did you get the projectors from?

dbcooper748 · January 8, 2016

Do you happen to have any pictures of what you had to do to the h9 bulb and any pictures from when you had the HIDs installed? Also, where did you get the projectors from?

Unfortunately i dont have a pic of the h9 trimming but basically, from what i remember, both the h9 and stock h11 have 3 prongs that are used to mount the bulbs into the housings. The h9 had one that was a smidge winder and had to be shaved down. Also the inside of the conector (bulb side, not oem harness and not affecting truck itself) had a little divider that had to be trimmed as well. I did both with a razor knife. As far as the projectors go, i bought off of ebay but looks like that seller is currently out of stock so check with tony at 1A auto (vendor on this site) also sells them. Just make sure and stay away from replicas that use an H1. Those are cheaper but Thats essentially a fog light bulb and obviously will fall short in performance vs h9/h11 housings.

Mine are made by eagle eye. Fitment was suprisingly perfect on my application. And i ended up adding HIDs to the projectors with a much better result than the reflectors. Also, the eagle eyes are a good canidate to eventually do an FXR retrofit, which i plan to do soon.

Heres a few links and pics (btw, last pic shows hids in both housings. Left is HID in reflector and shows the glare issue, and right is HID in eagle eye)

Where i bought them for $375.00 at the time.http://www.ebay.com/itm/371193395252?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

My original thread with review: http://www.gm-trucks.com/forums/topic/179308-what-about-these-ltz-projector-headlight-replicas/

Heres a better idea about the h9 upgrade: http://www.gm-trucks.com/forums/topic/177609-upgraded-h11-to-hella-h9-way-brighterwhiter/?hl=h9

lsxrx7 · January 8, 2016

i think i am going to call these guys tmrw

the website didnt tell me if i am retrofitting to LTZ or base headlights

http://www.fastheadlights.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=fxr_chevy_retrofit-kit

dbcooper748 · January 8, 2016

i think i am going to call these guys tmrw

the website didnt tell me if i am retrofitting to LTZ or base headlights

http://www.fastheadlights.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=fxr_chevy_retrofit-kit

Thats the kit im looking at too. But you definitely will need ltz style projectors to use it. With this kit, u pull out the old oem projector housing and install these with the adapter bracket. The great thing, is you wont have to bake or cut open them. There is large enough access to do the whole retro from the back. There is still one issue i dont believed is addressed with this kit, and that is the fact that the rear dust caps have to be extended or replaced with ones with more depth. Otherwise they WILL fog up

ChevyRoofer · January 8, 2016

Unfortunately i dont have a pic of the h9 trimming but basically, from what i remember, both the h9 and stock h11 have 3 prongs that are used to mount the bulbs into the housings. The h9 had one that was a smidge winder and had to be shaved down. Also the inside of the conector (bulb side, not oem harness and not affecting truck itself) had a little divider that had to be trimmed as well. I did both with a razor knife. As far as the projectors go, i bought off of ebay but looks like that seller is currently out of stock so check with tony at 1A auto (vendor on this site) also sells them. Just make sure and stay away from replicas that use an H1. Those are cheaper but Thats essentially a fog light bulb and obviously will fall short in performance vs h9/h11 housings.

Mine are made by eagle eye. Fitment was suprisingly perfect on my application. And i ended up adding HIDs to the projectors with a much better result than the reflectors. Also, the eagle eyes are a good canidate to eventually do an FXR retrofit, which i plan to do soon.

Heres a few links and pics (btw, last pic shows hids in both housings. Left is HID in reflector and shows the glare issue, and right is HID in eagle eye)

Where i bought them for $375.00 at the time.http://www.ebay.com/itm/371193395252?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

My original thread with review: http://www.gm-trucks.com/forums/topic/179308-what-about-these-ltz-projector-headlight-replicas/

Heres a better idea about the h9 upgrade: http://www.gm-trucks.com/forums/topic/177609-upgraded-h11-to-hella-h9-way-brighterwhiter/?hl=h9

I can vouch for these Eagle Eyes above - I traded my reflector stock headlights + $160 cash for the Eagle Eyes LTZ replica projectors at a local headlight shop in Dallas.

Installed the XenonDepot H11 LED's and used a dremel/silicone/foil on the dust caps to prevent water intrusion. No fogging and it's easily 2x as bright. Can finally see on unlit roads.

Just make sure you adjust your headlights if you go the projector route (mine were aimed at the ground and couldn't see a thing!)

akkrezz · January 8, 2016

I have the projector headlights and switched my bulbs out for OPT7 LED headlights, for my lows, highs, and fog beams. I am very happy with them. They are a huge improvement over stock and are very bright. The nice thing about the projectors is that they will not blind other drivers, unless your truck is lifted, then you'll have to adjust the beam height.

Also if you do some digging on here you'll find quite a few forums on LED or HID bulbs for our trucks. Theres a whole forum about reviews of the OPT7 LED bulbs.

DPetry94 · January 8, 2016

I can vouch for these Eagle Eyes above - I traded my reflector stock headlights + $160 cash for the Eagle Eyes LTZ replica projectors at a local headlight shop in Dallas.

Installed the XenonDepot H11 LED's and used a dremel/silicone/foil on the dust caps to prevent water intrusion. No fogging and it's easily 2x as bright. Can finally see on unlit roads.

Just make sure you adjust your headlights if you go the projector route (mine were aimed at the ground and couldn't see a thing!)

Is the LED kit from xenon depot pretty good? I've been looking at that kit also.

ChevyRoofer · January 8, 2016

Yes sir, and these are the LED H11's without the annoying fan on the back. They fit great inside (you have to cut the dust cover to make fit), but overall they look fantastic and function even better. The "matching" fog lights aren't a true match, but they come pretty close for not being a true LED diode in the fogs...if you're interested in those too (plug n play).

Sean403 · January 9, 2016

Subbed. I've been looking at doing a projector retrofit.

OverPar · January 12, 2016

I'm waiting for the Eagle Eyes to come back into stock. The cutoff looks pretty good in the pics in another thread that Coop posted. Judging from the pics, you may not need a retro upgrade. The FX-R is still considered industry standard, but not sure there's that much of an upgrade. The cutoff may get slightly better, but the only thing I can think of is perhaps wider light distribution.

The Retrofit Source has an HID system specific to the Silverado. Everything is included and the setup has the capacitors built in to eliminate sensor in the truck for the dtrl (pulsing). TRS also has LED fog light kits specific (round and square) for Chevys.

I don't work for them. Just have had good experiences with them for my previous truck. Lots of options out there tho.

OverPar · January 12, 2016

On another note, you can retrofit any housing, specifically the OEM non-projector housings. The non-projector housings actually provide more options (usally more room in there to work with). Down side. There's usually trimming involved and more often than not, significantly more work involved.