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Headlight Illumination Issues


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I had the headlight TSB done on my truck. Not at all better. Almost seems like they simply raised the focal point. They say they replaced bulbs and reprogrammed the DCM. But it still looks like a very sub-par illumination and spread.

 

With with all the HID and LED headlights on the road today throughout the country, all vehicles need higher lumens and better spread in their headlight systems to be safe.

 

I will happily not only join the class action but donate my time to help make it happen. (JamGear)

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Please see the on going headlight illumination topic here. This will be merged into the current topic

 

Headlight Illumination Issues

http://www.gm-trucks.com/forums/index.php?/topic/165447-Headlight-Illumination-Issues

 

 

Ryan

 

Ryan,

 

Looks like they shut you down on the class action link. Please be sure to let us know when it is back up (if they let you put it back up). Boy I hope this forum does not let us down in the 11th hour of our mutual fights (yours the dim headlights and mine the denting panels.)

 

Feel free to message me directly.

 

Cheers (Bill - JamGear)

Edited by JamGear
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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...

It's being way over thought! Look have any of you people ever worked in a mine? Seen how high the lights are on the Cat's? These full size trucks are getting so big the headlights are ridiculously high off the ground and getting the illumination out to a set distance is not A PROBLEM BECAUSE THEY ALL ARE CAPABLE. THE PROBLEM IS THEY DON"T HIT THE FREAKING GROUND SO WE DRIVERS CAN"T SEE WHERE IT"S NEEDED. LOWER THE F'N HEADLIGHTS YOU STUPID EDUCATED ENGINEER!

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Uhm, no. If you want to see the road directly in front of you close to the vehicle better that's what fog lights are for. Upgrade them. Lowering the headlights certainly won't fix the problem people in this thread are complaining about. It will make it worse.

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So I thought I would share my recent experience that I had with GMC in regards to my headlights......

 

Like I've mentioned before, I had the TSB performed in June of 2015 which yielded a noticeable, but still unacceptable increase in headlight visibility. Later that summer GMC had made a post on their facebook page about the 2015 Sierra and they tossed around that cheesy statement about the truck being "Proffesional Grade". So I left a comment about the headlights being sub-standard and dangerous, which prompted them to message me and request my information so they could look into the problem. The end result after they looked into it was them telling me that the TSB I had performed was the latest and only fix for the headlights....which I told them I already knew this.

 

After subscribing to this thread and reading someone's post about filing a complaint with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) I filed my own complaint in March of this year. Immediately after filing that complaint, I decided to write a letter to GMC and voice my concerns and displeasure with these headlights.....I put the letter in an envelope and dropped it in the mail box. A few weeks later I received a phone call from a representative from GMC regarding my letter. She wanted to know what my concerns were and I explained the whole issue from date of purchase, TSB, facebook complaint and NHTSA complaint. She listened to what I had to say and stated that she would get back to me later in the week after she consulted with someone about my problem.

 

I got call back the following week and they wanted me to bring my truck back to the dealership because in their minds they believed that based on my description of the problem, it sounds like the TSB wasn't applied correctly. I quickly corrected her and said that I believed the TSB had been applied correctly because I did notice a difference in brightness but felt it still wasn't good enough. They asked that I still bring it to the dealership anyways and call them after I had my appointment.....which I did.

 

When I called her back she asked what the dealership determined, which was that the TSB was done correctly. I then proceeded to express my frustrations rather passionately and explained how I had been a loyal GM customer and have owned nothing but GM vehicles since I started driving in 1994. I also mentioned that between my wife and I our household has owned a total of 9 different GM vehicles. I again mentioned the complaint I filed with NHTSA, the possibility of joining a class act lawsuit (if that ever happens) and the fact that this whole issue has left me considering not to buy another GM vehicle ever again.

 

The end result was them offering me a $1000.00 credit towards the purchase and installation of any GM Accessories. Now I know to some this isn't acceptable as it doesn't fix the problem, but I honestly feel that GMC will never publicly admit there is an issue and move forward on correcting these lights. I had already spent money to upgrade my headlights and fog lights to LED's which was an improvement over stock, so I decided to use the credit towards the purchase the GM Borla Exhaust which I was looking at buying anyways. I was certainly not expecting this when I wrote my letter, but I wasn't going to turn down this offer either.

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For cev103, that is an excellent outcome (as good as it is going to get, I think, unless GMC agrees to replace the headlights on the 2014 and 2015 Sierras!). It is a testimony to persistence, too.

 

I'd dump my Sierra, except I otherwise love the truck, and I got an excellent price for it in in the first place -- and I don't drive that many miles these days anyway! But I am not happy, even though I don't know what to do about it (I wrote a post about filing complaints with the NHTSA, and also wrote to GM -- got a call from them -- and the same sort of nonsense about the TSB) (everyone who has a problem with these headlights should file a complaint with the NHTSA, or the Canadian equivalent).

 

For the record, I think the TSB is a very modest improvement, but as noted earlier in the thread, the Vosla bulbs don't have much duration of life in them (e.g., they burn out pretty fast, probably because they are using some additional technology to make them brighter, and hotter, than other 55 watt bulbs).

 

My best solution is to go with Sylvania 65 watt 9011 bulbs, with the tabs trimmed to fit the 9012 55 watt installation in the 2014 Sierra -- once my Vosla's burn out.

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Corporate stated that the dealerships are independent and they couldn't force them to replace anything,they just sell the the Trucks it's up to the dealerships.

 

That is appalling. The dealership should do it because GM will reimburse them for it under the TSB!

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So what is the best way to deal with this issue? is there a class action lawsuit against GM yet or a petition to sign up for? I can not see a Damn thing at night and I am seriously sick of it! I thought I would do a LTZ projector swap but I got no time and see no reason why I would spend more money on this! If I could get good aftermarket lights for a reasonable price I would do it. Do I really have to spend $450 for after market headlights then spend another $100 to $150 on a good HID or LED kit to see at night in my 40k truck?

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So what is the best way to deal with this issue? is there a class action lawsuit against GM yet or a petition to sign up for? I can not see a Damn thing at night and I am seriously sick of it! I thought I would do a LTZ projector swap but I got no time and see no reason why I would spend more money on this! If I could get good aftermarket lights for a reasonable price I would do it. Do I really have to spend $450 for after market headlights then spend another $100 to $150 on a good HID or LED kit to see at night in my 40k truck?

There was talk of a class action lawsuit forming by a guy with the user name "GMC_Headlights" but the Moderators pull the link. I sent him a PM and he gave me an email address to so I could sign up for the email list. I signed up and got a confirmation email back but that's all I've heard since. His post can be seen on page 109 of this thread.

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There was talk of a class action lawsuit forming by a guy with the user name "GMC_Headlights" but the Moderators pull the link. I sent him a PM and he gave me an email address to so I could sign up for the email list. I signed up and got a confirmation email back but that's all I've heard since. His post can be seen on page 109 of this thread.

Thank you cev103! I just messaged him. I saw the post earlier but I am surprised the link is dead.

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So what is the best way to deal with this issue? is there a class action lawsuit against GM yet or a petition to sign up for? I can not see a Damn thing at night and I am seriously sick of it! I thought I would do a LTZ projector swap but I got no time and see no reason why I would spend more money on this! If I could get good aftermarket lights for a reasonable price I would do it. Do I really have to spend $450 for after market headlights then spend another $100 to $150 on a good HID or LED kit to see at night in my 40k truck?

The Morimoto HID kit shows $170. Why would you need to spend another 450?

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The Morimoto HID kit shows $170. Why would you need to spend another 450?

Good question! You can not use an hid kit in a reflector housing which is what is stock on my truck. If you use hids in a reflector housing you will blind everyone in front of you and it really does not work cuz the light spreads horribly. You can only use HID in a projector housing. So I would have to buy $450.00 projector headlights in order to use an hid kit.

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