07-14 Yukon Headlights

[gooffeyguy]

I'm here for the one year update. How they doing? My finger is on the trigger to get a set.

EDIT: If I wanna upgrade to LED, I need one each of H1, H7, 4157 and 194 per side. Correct?

If you're asking me, the headlights are holding up great. Still look new.

As for putting LEDs in, not sure how well LEDs do in projector housings.

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[Geoffsfas10]

As for putting LEDs in, not sure how well LEDs do in projector housings.

LEDs dont usually do the best in a projector. Because of how they are designed you will get a shadow in the bottom on the light pattern. Its just kind of the deal with them.

 

[the_tool_man]

LEDs dont usually do the best in a projector. Because of how they are designed you will get a shadow in the bottom on the light pattern. Its just kind of the deal with them.

Okay. I wanted to improve bulb longevity. But I don't want to sacrifice light output or distribution.

 

[Geoffsfas10]

Okay. I wanted to improve bulb longevity. But I don't want to sacrifice light output or distribution.

if i can find the pictures, i will show them here, but its not TOO bad of a shadow, all the other areas will be nice and bright, but a shadow is possible.

 

[the_tool_man]

Popping back in to update. I bought a set of these 2-1/2 years ago. At first, I loved them. I told myself I just needed to get used to the different beam pattern, the sharp cutoff, and the hot spots. I certainly loved the look, and that I seemed to be the only one with them. A year into ownership, the clearcoat began to peel. Then a few weeks ago, one started to flicker. Eventually, both high and low beams would come on simultaneously, but dimly. This weekend I traced it to a bad ground inside the internal harness in the DS headlight housing. The only way to fix it is to bake it open and repair the wiring. I swapped back to my OEM headlights just to get back on the road while I consider my options. That's when I realized that as bad as the OEM headlights are, they're a lot better than these aftermarket ones when it comes to nighttime visibility on the road. And now I see these aftermarket headlights on lots of Yukons, so they're nothing special anymore.

 

[NOPROBROBB]

I just barely installed a set of Morimoto XB Hybrids for mine. Im hoping these are more durable I was going to sell my OEM headlight housing but after seeing this im wondering if i should hold on to them for a while if i am going to end up experiencing something similar to you.

 

[adventurenali92]

Popping back in to update. I bought a set of these 2-1/2 years ago. At first, I loved them. I told myself I just needed to get used to the different beam pattern, the sharp cutoff, and the hot spots. I certainly loved the look, and that I seemed to be the only one with them. A year into ownership, the clearcoat began to peel. Then a few weeks ago, one started to flicker. Eventually, both high and low beams would come on simultaneously, but dimly. This weekend I traced it to a bad ground inside the internal harness in the DS headlight housing. The only way to fix it is to bake it open and repair the wiring. I swapped back to my OEM headlights just to get back on the road while I consider my options. That's when I realized that as bad as the OEM headlights are, they're a lot better than these aftermarket ones. And now I see these aftermarket headlights on lots of Yukons, so they're nothing special anymore.

I don’t have these headlights but as a detailer I have some advice as I do headlight restorations all the time. I have changed headlight housings on my nbs denali 4 times now as I’ve tried several different looks with LED strips for DRL options. The ONLY set that didn’t have clear coat issues were the DEPO brand Denali reproduction units that i should have kept. Anyways all the other brands that are made in china without question will peel within at least a year and a half or two. I’m currently running anzo U bar housings that were crazy expensive. At that price point I’d hoped that the issue wouldn’t present itself for at least a little longer. They’ve been on the truck about two years now and this past summer I had peel around the edges.

With that being said clearcoat peel, at least on these type of housings is totally fixable. And pretty easy for the DIYers. Most of the parts stores carry a 3M kit for restoring headlights. I found them at my local Carquest over the summer.Now I don’t use the polish that comes with the set, but I like the little itty bitty 3 inch diameter pad and backing plates that come in the kit because if you’re handy with an electric impact drill you can do the job yourself. The 3 inch pad and backing plate should fit into the chuck of any impact drill. What you’ll wanna do is wet sand down the housings first. Make sure you’re using clean distilled water for the wet sand. Start by doing a couple rounds of wet sand with 1500 grits sand paper. Then move to a couple rounds with 2500 grit. If you feel so inclined you can do a third round with 3500 grit. You can also obtain these sheets of sand paper options at the parts store. I have a NAPA, a Carquest, and an autozone in our little tiny big bear town and all three carry them. After you sand, hit them with any polish of your choice on the 3 inch pad hooked to your drill. Spread the polish on your drill’s one setting one the handle. Then kick it into 2 for a little more power and speed and it will clear right up. A set of housings can be done in an hour or so. I don’t use the polish that comes in the 3M kit with the pad and backing plate or the sand paper discs that come in the kit simply because I have products in my bin that I like to use however I’m sure those will work. The sanding discs that come in the 3M kit are Velcro so they’ll stick to the backing plate and you could in theory use them on the drill. My personal preference is to just do the sanding steps by hand.
Once you’ve sanded and polished the clearcoat peel off, seal with your choice of wax or sealant product. I ALWAYS seal headlights backup with a good coat of my ceramic coat product because it’s much more durable than wax. Plus I always have it on hand. I use a two year coating and it tends to last a bit longer than that on headlight housings.

 

[gooffeyguy]

I just picked up a can of Meguiar's Keep Clear Headlight Coating. It's supposed to be re-applied every year to new headlights or to headlights that have been wet sanded and restored. It's a UV clear coating of some sort, but does need to be re-applied every year or so.

I installed my aftermarket lights back in March of 2020 and the very thin coat of clear started to peel near the top edges on both earlier this year. They still aren't that bad and can only be noticed if you look real close and hard. I think I'm going to try this Meguiar's stuff on them without sanding the lenses, as they're still clear

Meguiar's https://a.co/d/5nzJwMC

 

[adventurenali92]

I just picked up a can of Meguiar's Keep Clear Headlight Coating. It's supposed to be re-applied every year to new headlights or to headlights that have been wet sanded and restored. It's a UV clear coating of some sort, but does need to be re-applied every year or so.

I installed my aftermarket lights back in March of 2020 and the very thin coat of clear started to peel near the top edges on both earlier this year. They still aren't that bad and can only be noticed if you look real close and hard. I think I'm going to try this Meguiar's stuff on them without sanding the lenses, as they're still clear

Meguiar's https://a.co/d/5nzJwMC

Once the my start peeling they don’t stop no matter what you put on them. I would suggest wet sanding them first before applying that coating from meguiars

 

[the_tool_man]

I've polished and cleared a few sets of headlights. adventurenali92 covered the process very well. I've found that a quality clearcoat lasts several years, certainly longer than whatever crap the chiwanese lights come with. If the clearcoat was the only issue, I wouldn't have even mentioned it. But the other issues are unforgivable at a $300 price point.