2005 GMC Yukon XL Denali

[RonnieMc]

Does anyone have a cure for the poor low beam headlights on 2005 GMC Yukon XL Denali? I'm getting up in the years and when I have to drive at night, I just about have to run the high beams to see the road safely. I ordered a replacement set of headlight assemblies that did away with the projector headlights but the quality was so poor I didn't even bother to install them. I don't see how the transportation safety board let them get away with these lights on cars. I really like the truck but I need to do something. Is there something that happens to the louvers that you see that could be blocking the light from them. The outer lenses are clear and not fogged.

 

[SirReal63]

I will be 55 this year, my Denali has awesome lights, much better than many vehicles. Perhaps yours have an issue with the ballasts?

 

[1992rs]

As much as I hate to admit because I love the looks of them, Ive never been too fond of my denali headlights performance. I could never get distance out of them. Ive tried silverstars (the "brightest" OEM wattage available,) new housings, and a morimoto mh1 7.0 retrofit. The only thing that made a big difference was lowering the rear to get rid of the rake, but even then they are still adjusted way higher than DOT/ECE standards. I slightly regret using morimoto mh1's but at the time of the the retrofit I didn't realize they dont do well with distance and the bulb selection blows. A better projector for distance would probably keep me happy though.
Throwing out a couple ideas that could help that I never tried:
- Try HIR bulbs. Fancy bulbs that uses special coatings and shape to become brighter yet share the same wattage and base as OEM headlights. All plug-n-play, no additional things necessary.
- Add a new headlight harness with thicker wiring that uses relays wired directly to the battery to combat voltage drop. *Would highly recommend this upgrade no matter the bulb type you are using. The relay harness for my HID's have been rock solid stable. No dimming, flickering, etc.*
- Try some "off-road" over wattage bulbs. If you go that route, the harness above will be mandatory or you risk melting wires and also getting too high of wattage could melt the housing. 80w would be my max recommendation. OE is 55w. The more wattage the lesser the life span though, but bulbs are pretty cheap.
- A retrofit with a better projector such as the RX350, FXR, D2S, etc.

I cannot advise the use of LED bulbs because they just aren't supposed to perform well as headlights on paper, but plenty of users here have used them and claim they work. Same with HID's without a retrofit.

 

[RonnieMc]

I will be 55 this year, my Denali has awesome lights, much better than many vehicles. Perhaps yours have an issue with the ballasts?

Does my 2005 model have a ballast? I tried replacing all headlights with "silver stars" and didn't see any difference. I'm about to try a HID replacement headlight assembly from Pro Tuning Lab. They do away with the projection used on low beams. Has anyone tried these?

 

[RonnieMc]

As much as I hate to admit because I love the looks of them, Ive never been too fond of my denali headlights performance. I could never get distance out of them. Ive tried silverstars (the "brightest" OEM wattage available,) new housings, and a morimoto mh1 7.0 retrofit. The only thing that made a big difference was lowering the rear to get rid of the rake, but even then they are still adjusted way higher than DOT/ECE standards. I slightly regret using morimoto mh1's but at the time of the the retrofit I didn't realize they dont do well with distance and the bulb selection blows. A better projector for distance would probably keep me happy though.
Throwing out a couple ideas that could help that I never tried:
- Try HIR bulbs. Fancy bulbs that uses special coatings and shape to become brighter yet share the same wattage and base as OEM headlights. All plug-n-play, no additional things necessary.
- Add a new headlight harness with thicker wiring that uses relays wired directly to the battery to combat voltage drop. *Would highly recommend this upgrade no matter the bulb type you are using. The relay harness for my HID's have been rock solid stable. No dimming, flickering, etc.*
- Try some "off-road" over wattage bulbs. If you go that route, the harness above will be mandatory or you risk melting wires and also getting too high of wattage could melt the housing. 80w would be my max recommendation. OE is 55w. The more wattage the lesser the life span though, but bulbs are pretty cheap.
- A retrofit with a better projector such as the RX350, FXR, D2S, etc.

I cannot advise the use of LED bulbs because they just aren't supposed to perform well as headlights on paper, but plenty of users here have used them and claim they work. Same with HID's without a retrofit.

Thanks for your input! I'm probably going the HID route with the replacement headlight & bumper light assemblies from Pro Tuning Lab.

 

[SirReal63]

Does my 2005 model have a ballast? I tried replacing all headlights with "silver stars" and didn't see any difference. I'm about to try a HID replacement headlight assembly from Pro Tuning Lab. They do away with the projection used on low beams. Has anyone tried these?

I thought they did, now I am not sure they do. Forgive me, I thought they were Xenon HID's in the Denali.

I think your eyes may be worse than mine, these headlights have been great, but I live way out in the country with almost no light pollution and that may make a difference.

 

[1992rs]

Thanks for your input! I'm probably going the HID route with the replacement headlight & bumper light assemblies from Pro Tuning Lab.

Let us know how you like them!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[mgbgene]

As much as I hate to admit because I love the looks of them, Ive never been too fond of my denali headlights performance. I could never get distance out of them. Ive tried silverstars (the "brightest" OEM wattage available,) new housings, and a morimoto mh1 7.0 retrofit. The only thing that made a big difference was lowering the rear to get rid of the rake, but even then they are still adjusted way higher than DOT/ECE standards. I slightly regret using morimoto mh1's but at the time of the the retrofit I didn't realize they dont do well with distance and the bulb selection blows. A better projector for distance would probably keep me happy though.
Throwing out a couple ideas that could help that I never tried:
- Try HIR bulbs. Fancy bulbs that uses special coatings and shape to become brighter yet share the same wattage and base as OEM headlights. All plug-n-play, no additional things necessary.
- Add a new headlight harness with thicker wiring that uses relays wired directly to the battery to combat voltage drop. *Would highly recommend this upgrade no matter the bulb type you are using. The relay harness for my HID's have been rock solid stable. No dimming, flickering, etc.*
- Try some "off-road" over wattage bulbs. If you go that route, the harness above will be mandatory or you risk melting wires and also getting too high of wattage could melt the housing. 80w would be my max recommendation. OE is 55w. The more wattage the lesser the life span though, but bulbs are pretty cheap.
- A retrofit with a better projector such as the RX350, FXR, D2S, etc.

I cannot advise the use of LED bulbs because they just aren't supposed to perform well as headlights on paper, but plenty of users here have used them and claim they work. Same with HID's without a retrofit.

 

[mgbgene]

I have a 05 slt, orig headlights are awesome, I'm 75 and have no problem seeing the road

 

[Bombsquad85]

I have an 05 denali and I am not happy with the factory projectors as well I put a set of DDM Tuning HIDs in that are 35w 5000k I'm not too fond of them the cutoff is nice so I don't blind oncoming drivers but the output is poor. I'm going to try to convince the wife to let me do a retrofit on the headlights this summer is go with morimoto ds2 4.0s I believe