09 Tahoe Headlamps

mini1 · June 4, 2009

I've got a friend who just picked up an 09 Tahoe LTZ. He wants to put in HID's for just the low beams. What bulb does the low beam take and which kit should he get?

bmdupont · June 5, 2009

H11 I believe, a lot of people on here have the kit from a guy on ebay including me. Love the HID's and haven't had any problems with them They have been on since October. Search for Daddys post on it, he goes through a write up and has some pics, I got mine cause I saw his post.

Here is the Ebay guy, kits are really affordable and his kits don't have a lot of problems.

http://myworld.ebay.com/lighting623

punmax · June 5, 2009

http://vvme.com/product/detail-20023.html

And yes the bulb is H11.

georgecdisc · June 5, 2009

http://vvme.com/product/detail-20023.html

In the picture for that kit it appears it comes with a relay. Is this relay used to tap directly off the battery to power the HID lights? I would prefer to get this over lighting623 if it comes with the relay, then I wouldn't have DRL issues.

y2kz71 · June 5, 2009

http://vvme.com/product/detail-20023.html

In the picture for that kit it appears it comes with a relay. Is this relay used to tap directly off the battery to power the HID lights? I would prefer to get this over lighting623 if it comes with the relay, then I wouldn't have DRL issues.

what DRL issues do you have?

georgecdisc · June 5, 2009

http://vvme.com/product/detail-20023.html

In the picture for that kit it appears it comes with a relay. Is this relay used to tap directly off the battery to power the HID lights? I would prefer to get this over lighting623 if it comes with the relay, then I wouldn't have DRL issues.

what DRL issues do you have?

I don't have any because I have not yet purchased HIDs. Others report issues with the lower voltage of DRL, causing problems with flickering or lights not turning on. I would also assume running at a lower voltage is not good for the ballasts. Using the relay, pulling the ~12-14.4V from the battery to drive the ballasts is better, and the minimum trigger voltage is low enough that the DRL voltage will work. I'd rather do all of this instead of pulling fuse(s).

y2kz71 · June 5, 2009

http://vvme.com/product/detail-20023.html

In the picture for that kit it appears it comes with a relay. Is this relay used to tap directly off the battery to power the HID lights? I would prefer to get this over lighting623 if it comes with the relay, then I wouldn't have DRL issues.

what DRL issues do you have?

I don't have any because I have not yet purchased HIDs. Others report issues with the lower voltage of DRL, causing problems with flickering or lights not turning on. I would also assume running at a lower voltage is not good for the ballasts. Using the relay, pulling the ~12-14.4V from the battery to drive the ballasts is better, and the minimum trigger voltage is low enough that the DRL voltage will work. I'd rather do all of this instead of pulling fuse(s).

what about your auto headlights?

I have that disabled on mine with a 1k resistor and my fuses pulled for DRL

punmax · June 5, 2009

http://vvme.com/product/detail-20023.html

In the picture for that kit it appears it comes with a relay. Is this relay used to tap directly off the battery to power the HID lights? I would prefer to get this over lighting623 if it comes with the relay, then I wouldn't have DRL issues.

I had these on my Silverado with day time running lights. When I shifted out of park, the HIDs would come on, but after a month or two they stopped working and I would have to turn them on manually.

y2kz71 · June 5, 2009

mine work great with the DRL fuse pulled and auto headlights disabled...now Im in control of the lights...not GM

mini1 · June 6, 2009

Is it possible to make these kits work with the auto headlamps? Disabling the DRL's in not an issue.

SLESierra · June 6, 2009

Only thing I can say is he is going to have fun removing the headlight assemblies themselves. I am about to do so to put in ambers in my DRLs and you have to remove the the grille and remove bolts out of the inner fender to remove the headlight. I have the destructions from GM if you need them.

tobias · June 6, 2009

Only thing I can say is he is going to have fun removing the headlight assemblies themselves. I am about to do so to put in ambers in my DRLs and you have to remove the the grille and remove bolts out of the inner fender to remove the headlight. I have the destructions from GM if you need them.

Send those to me if you would. I have already done this to my old man's Tahoe and I'd like to see how close my steps were to the actual GM instructions. Please!!!

tobias · June 6, 2009

Is it possible to make these kits work with the auto headlamps? Disabling the DRL's in not an issue.

They will work just fine with the AHL's. When the AHL system turns on the lights, it's at full power so you won't have any issue. No need to worry about the DRL's on the Tahoe though as they are not the low beams. I would suggest swapping them to amber bulbs though or disabling them altogether by pulling the fuses.

mini1 · June 6, 2009

Is it possible to make these kits work with the auto headlamps? Disabling the DRL's in not an issue.

They will work just fine with the AHL's. When the AHL system turns on the lights, it's at full power so you won't have any issue. No need to worry about the DRL's on the Tahoe though as they are not the low beams. I would suggest swapping them to amber bulbs though or disabling them altogether by pulling the fuses.

There is a seperate bulb for the DRL's on the Tahoe? So he can leave them as-is.

SLESierra · June 7, 2009

Only thing I can say is he is going to have fun removing the headlight assemblies themselves. I am about to do so to put in ambers in my DRLs and you have to remove the the grille and remove bolts out of the inner fender to remove the headlight. I have the destructions from GM if you need them.

Send those to me if you would. I have already done this to my old man's Tahoe and I'd like to see how close my steps were to the actual GM instructions. Please!!!

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