I need some help with GOOD quality replacement headlight lenses

Number21 · January 6, 2021

I recently bought a 2000 Silverado and have been making some updates to this 21 year old truck. I replaced every single bulb with an LED, makes for an amazing difference! I bought new headlight lenses to replace my old dirty cracked ones from Amazon. Even though they were $100, the light pattern was appalling and after just 2 weeks there is already water in my lenses.

I'm going to be sending these lenses back, but now I'm confused what to buy. I don't necessarily want OEM - I like the white/crystal look with colored LEDs for signals.

My biggest issue is that I know the OEM light adjustment brackets make it difficult to install certain LED bulbs because of the way they stick out farther than a normal bulb. The only nice thing about my replacement lenses is the bracket is different and allows for more space behind the bulb to install larger LEDs. This is what I need to be able to use the LEDs I already purchased.

So, with that in mind, can anybody recommend some good simple OEM like or totally clear lenses? When I look on Amazon for these there are just SO MANY choices, it's hard to tell what is garbage and what isn't. Maybe a particular brand that is really good?

CamGTP · January 6, 2021

I've bought many different headlights from the TYC brand from rockauto without issue.

Not sure that is what you want but for aftermarket stock replacements they have always worked for me.

nfisherman · January 7, 2021

I second the Rock Auto/TYC recommendation. I have three teenage drivers. I have replaced lights. I've had good results from TYC and fair pricing from Rock Auto.

chem_man · January 7, 2021

I agree on the getting the TYC from rockauto.com. The only thing I'll add is that I purchased the CAPA certified TYC headlight assemblies.

Ian Mills · January 7, 2021

Another easy thing to do is to run a bead of clear silicone around the edge where the lens is sealed to the housing before you install them for the first time. Take your time and do it cleanly and it works awesome. I've even made cheap Ebay lights work with that trick

Patrick Ossenkop · January 15, 2021

Dorman's lamps for this application are pretty sketchy; better get this and this for the headlamps. Dorman's fine for the signal lights. Use appropriate bulbs in low beams and these in highs (modified like this.) It is very important to aim the headlamps correctly.

"LED bulbs" -- any and all of them -- are unsafe, illegal, and not legitimate. There's a good, recent, detailed explainer here, and more general principles here.

Headlight bulbs are not like household light bulbs. In the house (office, garage, etc) it's pretty much a matter of putting in whatever bulbs put out the amount and type of light you consider adequate and agreeable. Headlamps are life-safety equipment, so they have to work right (just lighting up is nowhere near good enough), and they are precision optical instruments so they can only work right when equipped with the intended type of light source. For your car that means you really need to stick with halogen bulbs. There are better halogen bulbs than the originals, so you can improve the lamps' performance without making safety problems, and if that doesn't improve them as much as you want you can swap in the HID headlamp assemblies that were offered as an option on that car, but "LED bulbs" (and "HID kits") are a big, solid NO.

lryfer · June 5

On 1/7/2021 at 12:01 PM, Ian Mills said:

Another easy thing to do is to run a bead of clear silicone around the edge where the lens is sealed to the housing before you install them for the first time. Take your time and do it cleanly and it works awesome. I've even made cheap Ebay lights work with that trick

bead is for what please explain?