07 Nbs Sierra Fog Light Upgrade, Finally.

tobias · March 21, 2007

I started a thread a while back asking if anyone had had any luck finding replacement bulbs (PS24W) for the fog lights on the 07 NBS Sierra.

I had been to every parts store and website I could find and that number doesn't cross reference to any other bulb. Screw GM for making it so d@mn difficult to upgrade. Tonight, I took matters into my own hands.

First I went to the local parts store and picked up the following:

(2) 9005XS SilverStar headlight bulbs

(2) 9005 bulb wiring harnesses

(1) roll of electrical tape

I did buy the connectors but I decided to scrap the OEM harness altogether so I didn't use them in the install.

You'll also want a rotary tool handy for modifying the new bulbs to fit.

This is what the stock housing looks like out of the truck and next to it is the sh!tty little bulb that GM decided to use.

Next I began to shape the 9005 bulbs with my Dremel until reaching about the shape of the bulb on the right. I bought a really cheap bulb first to test my idea before dropping the larger coin on the SS's. You'll want to only remove enough material to allow the bulb to fit in VERY VERY snugly to the housing. Fortunately you only need to make it round, no special indentations or cuts to worry about. If you'll notice in the picture above, the o-ring on the new bulbs is exactly the same size as the o-ring on the original bulb so the seal will be the same when the install is complete.

Once the appropriate size was reached I placed the bulb into the housing and then secured it with a small piece of wire to ensure that it can't back out of the housing even if the snug fit was not enough to hold it in place. You'll definitely want to secure it with something. The wire works great but you could use electrical tape as well.

Once the bulb was in the housing it was time to mount the bad boys up and hook up the new harness. Simple two wire swap here. Cut the two wires going to the old harness and then join them with the new harness for the 9005 bulbs.

It's that simple.

Now for the results!

Here's a shot with the new on the passenger's side and the old on the driver's just for comparison. Notice the difference on the gravel in front of the truck.

Now for the rest.

It looks absolutely amazing, especially when compared to the old ones. My low beams are PIAA Extreme Whites so this should give you some idea as to how bright and clean this makes the fog lights now.

Enjoy. If you have any questions, let me know.

Daddy.

Jnk · March 21, 2007

Looks good man,I was wondering how the piaa's and ss's would look together. It seems like the color/intensity matches pretty good despite different brands.

tobias · March 21, 2007

Looks good man,I was wondering how the piaa's and ss's would look together. It seems like the color/intensity matches pretty good despite different brands.

Yes, they really do work well together. I have the SS Ultras for the high beams and they too look just fine against the PIAAs.

Daddy

HuntingEd · March 21, 2007

Looks great, I'll probably be upgrading my lights soon...

07Sierra07 · March 21, 2007

Looks great, I'll probably be upgrading my lights soon...

Excellent work!

I'd still like to find the bulbs though... I don't really want to hack apart the fog lamps.

tobias · March 21, 2007

Looks great, I'll probably be upgrading my lights soon...

Excellent work!

I'd still like to find the bulbs though... I don't really want to hack apart the fog lamps.

Thanks but I'm over trying to find the other bulbs. After seeing the amount of light produced from this mod (At least doubled, if not tripled) I'll never go back.

Daddy

Nali07 · March 25, 2007

Hey D nice work ... i have an 07 denali and they have the same lame light bulb as your truck . And i too have been looking for an aftermarket bulb .. now for one question ... how hot is that 9005 bulb compared to the stock one .. my concern is burning the foglight housing ... i dont see too much clearance between the bulb and the lens .. any info would be helpful... thanks

tobias · March 25, 2007

Hey D nice work ... i have an 07 denali and they have the same lame light bulb as your truck . And i too have been looking for an aftermarket bulb .. now for one question ... how hot is that 9005 bulb compared to the stock one .. my concern is burning the foglight housing ... i dont see too much clearance between the bulb and the lens .. any info would be helpful... thanks

I was worried about that too but so far, so good. I tested it out for a half hour on a regulated 12V power supply on the bench first and saw no ill effects. It is going to be hotter but I don't think it'll be an issue. The risk of having to buy new fog light housings was worth the reward to me. If I see any issues arise, I'll let you know but it's been 5 days now and I have seen nothing.

The bulb sits back plenty from the front of the lens, BTW. Here's a pic. It was tough to get a really clear pic with the reflection of the housing jacking everything up.

Daddy.

m_specs · March 26, 2007

interesting.. i have HIDs in both my foglights and headlights. fortunately, my Z71 has foglight bulbs that are readily available in HIDs (881's).

my foglights are holding up very well with the upgrade. there are no signs of damage at all. way to take some innitiative D.

tobias · March 27, 2007

interesting.. i have HIDs in both my foglights and headlights. fortunately, my Z71 has foglight bulbs that are readily available in HIDs (881's).

my foglights are holding up very well with the upgrade. there are no signs of damage at all. way to take some innitiative D.

I appreciate that. I just hate to sit around waiting.

Daddy.

MotoMedic · March 30, 2007

can you run the fogs with only the parking lights on?

if not, anyone know how to rewire the fogs to achieve this?

tobias · March 30, 2007

can you run the fogs with only the parking lights on?

if not, anyone know how to rewire the fogs to achieve this?

Yes you can and that's how I run them most often. You can run them with the lows on or with the parking lights on. They only turn off when you run the high beams, but even then, the NBSs run highs and lows when the highs are on so it's still a nice look.

fossil · March 31, 2007

the high beam bulbs are a direct fit into the fog lamp housing and wiring and you dont have to moidify anything.

tobias · March 31, 2007

the high beam bulbs are a direct fit into the fog lamp housing and wiring and you dont have to moidify anything.

Might I ask you to clear up that statement? On the 07 NBS Sierra the high beam absolutely does not fit into the fog light housing or harness. Could you be talking about another year truck?

Daddy.