2018 OEM LED Tail Light Swap

IncisionInd · October 2, 2018

This last weekend I went ahead with putting in the OEM LED tail lights from the LTZ model on my new 2018 Silverado LT. Overall the installation was successfull and fairly easy to do. The tail lights that I have had the stock GM harnesses still attached and I ordered a tail light harness (with resistors for hyperflash) from PGamboa. BTW if you are planning on doing this mod I would HIGHLY suggest the kit from @pgamboa. The kit was shipped quickly, was made with quality and I have never met a person that was willing to answer so many stupid questions from me .

I would say that the most difficult parts of the entire process was picking a good place to mount the resistors, and doing the actual routing of the stock wire harness. The cables from the tails are actually threaded down behind the lights and down to almost the middle of the truck near the spare tire to an electrical hook up. If I could give anyone advice on this it would be to drop the spare and move it out ahead of time, makes clipping the cables in way easier. So onto the picks:

Before the project:

Where I decided to mount the resistors. This is on the drivers side and it is close to where the other cables run down. The cables were eventually routed in that opening to the left and continued through the stock channels:

Close up off the resistor location:

Afterwards, lit up at night:

and with the reverse lights on:

I know that some people say that they are too expensive, however I just think that they look better than most of the aftermarket tail lights that are out there. Also yes I am planning on adding White LED Reverse lights and LED License plate bulbs. If you have any questions about the process I would be happy to try and answer them.

IncisionInd · October 3, 2018

Better pics of the lights at night

J_Mas6.2 · October 5, 2018

Are the reverse lights in them not LED?

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DougFL · October 5, 2018

1 minute ago, J_Mas6.2 said:

Are the reverse lights in them not LED?

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No they are Incandescent bulbs! The 2019 has the same incandescent back-up bulbs!

Nasty · October 5, 2018

49 minutes ago, DougFL said:

No they are Incandescent bulbs! The 2019 has the same incandescent back-up bulbs!

I replaced mine with led, much better. No point in having led taillights and keeping the same crappy reverse bulb

DougFL · October 5, 2018

2 minutes ago, Nasty said:

I replaced mine with led, much better. No point in having led taillights and keeping the same crappy reverse bulb

I concur and also replaced mine.

Afgixxer · October 8, 2018

How much were the taillights? Looks very clean

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t76turbo · October 8, 2018

What year will these 18 led taillights fit back through? (if anyone knows off the top of the head)

They look very good. Did the same kind of swap on a truck I just sold. Like the LED tails very much.

SirenRed16 · October 8, 2018

What year will these 18 led taillights fit back through? (if anyone knows off the top of the head)

They look very good. Did the same kind of swap on a truck I just sold. Like the LED tails very much.

My guess would be 14-18 Silverado

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IncisionInd · October 15, 2018

On 10/5/2018 at 11:19 AM, J_Mas6.2 said:

Are the reverse lights in them not LED?

No they are incandescent, which I will be honest was a shock to me. I thought when I bought them the whole thing would be LED.

On 10/5/2018 at 12:50 PM, DougFL said:

No they are Incandescent bulbs! The 2019 has the same incandescent back-up bulbs!

Come on GM / Chevy! Spring a couple extra bucks for some LED Bulbs, its not like they don't make enough off the tail light upgrade...

On 10/5/2018 at 1:40 PM, Nasty said:

I replaced mine with led, much better. No point in having led taillights and keeping the same crappy reverse bulb

Completely Agree! If you don't mind me asking what company did you go with for the LED?

On 10/5/2018 at 1:42 PM, DougFL said:

I concur and also replaced mine.

If you don't mind me asking what company did you go with for the LED?

IncisionInd · October 15, 2018

On 10/8/2018 at 12:15 AM, Afgixxer said:

How much were the taillights? Looks very clean

I found this set on eBay for $550. Like I said I know that they are more expensive than some of the 3rd party options, however I would say that they just look clean and the fit and finish on them is awesome.

Seapacer2 · October 20, 2018

I like the look of your upgraded tail lamps, you are right, GM should have upgrades to LED's for the rear.

I was looking at just adding Reverse bulbs, they are really that bright when utilized while backing up. Will I need to use the PGamboa wiring harness for just the reverse lamps?

pgamboa · October 20, 2018

I like the look of your upgraded tail lamps, you are right, GM should have upgrades to LED's for the rear.

I was looking at just adding Reverse bulbs, they are really that bright when utilized while backing up. Will I need to use the PGamboa wiring harness for just the reverse lamps?

Reverse bulbs to LED do not require resistors. Only turn signals if you upgrade the bulbs to LEDs.

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Olby85 · November 29, 2018

I just bought a LTZ Midnight Edition and I want to get a set of black led tail lights. They are not compatible with the stock LEDs that come on the LTZs. Is there a way to convert the stock LED harness to the incandescent harness so I can get the tail lights I want? TIA!

14 Silvy · November 30, 2018

I just bought a LTZ Midnight Edition and I want to get a set of black led tail lights. They are not compatible with the stock LEDs that come on the LTZs. Is there a way to convert the stock LED harness to the incandescent harness so I can get the tail lights I want? TIA!

I would trade you tail lights and harnesses lol I have a 18 lt I just bought 3 weeks ago.

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