LED headlights in stock housings - My Install and feedback

Disclaimer: Links on this page pointing to Amazon, eBay and other sites may include affiliate code. If you click them and make a purchase, we may earn a small commission.

OP
OP
RichardCranium

RichardCranium

Full Access Member
Joined
Dec 13, 2016
Posts
915
Reaction score
1,803
Location
Mebane, North Carolina
Obviously not as good as HID but better output than halogen right?
Absolutely. I won't be going back halogen in these headlights......
Thanks for your input, I was thinking more along the lines of getting a jeep led headlight And trying to make it work in our housing, but then again if I'm doing all that then why not hid instead...sigh... decisions decisions. Your write ups are great btw!!
Just passing along my personal experience, I don't mind sharing a bit. Especially if it'll save someone some money and keep the headaches away that I went through. :cheers:
 

MonkeyFresh

TYF Newbie
Joined
Sep 1, 2018
Posts
16
Reaction score
16
Location
Atlanta, GA
Just curious as to why you chose the CREEs and not the Philips, also from HIKARI?


Don't get me wrong, what you've got going on there looks wicked for sure!
 

Ryan Buck

Full Access Member
Joined
Mar 2, 2018
Posts
320
Reaction score
174
Location
Mesa Arizona
Well I guess I'm a retarded because i still dont get it. Why is putting a projector housing inside the stock Tahoe headlight housing considered retro? And you are right I was definitely disappointed when I switched out my LED bulbs for the Hella 100w light bulbs. I thought the 100w was going to be really bright and it was pathetic. What I ended up doing for now was I took the headlight that I had in the running lights and installed it into the high beam part of the headlight. I just had to grind a little bit on the hole where the light goes through into the housing. They are really bright now!
 

iamdub

Full Access Member
Joined
Apr 23, 2016
Posts
20,821
Reaction score
44,945
Location
Li'l Weezyana
Well I guess I'm a retarded because i still dont get it. Why is putting a projector housing inside the stock Tahoe headlight housing considered retro? And you are right I was definitely disappointed when I switched out my LED bulbs for the Hella 100w light bulbs. I thought the 100w was going to be really bright and it was pathetic. What I ended up doing for now was I took the headlight that I had in the running lights and installed it into the high beam part of the headlight. I just had to grind a little bit on the hole where the light goes through into the housing. They are really bright now!

"Retro" in this sense doesn't mean "styled from the past". It's short for "retrofitting" because you are retrofitting the (new) projectors into stock (older) housings.

It's good that you didn't keep those 100W bulbs in the housing cuz it could have melted things. The factory wiring isn't suited to support 100W bulbs, anyway. It's barely adequate, if even adequate at all, to support the stock headlights.
 

Eod1

If you see me running, I would try to keep up.
Joined
Aug 28, 2018
Posts
342
Reaction score
200
Location
Phoenix Arizona
Osorry for this. I have been reading this and from bouncing around from light to light. What did u finally go with and where do I find it. Thanks
 

90PROFX

Member
Joined
Apr 4, 2016
Posts
35
Reaction score
14
Just my 2 cents worth on this LED headlight conversion. I purchased a set of LED's for my low beams, bought the ones with "NO" cooling fan (heatsink, just my preference, GENSSI Elite LED Bulb Headlight Lamp Upgrade Low Kit For Chevy Tahoe 2007-2017) and were totally adjustable in rotation (another plus) once locked into the headlight housing which proved to be very important after all was said and done. Best beam pattern I've found was when the 2 sided LED's face horizontal, not vertical as that will get you flashed by oncoming drivers. Happy as hell with mine and wouldn't go back to anything else.
 

Ryan Buck

Full Access Member
Joined
Mar 2, 2018
Posts
320
Reaction score
174
Location
Mesa Arizona
"Retro" in this sense doesn't mean "styled from the past". It's short for "retrofitting" because you are retrofitting the (new) projectors into stock (older) housings.

It's good that you didn't keep those 100W bulbs in the housing cuz it could have melted things. The factory wiring isn't suited to support 100W bulbs, anyway. It's barely adequate, if even adequate at all, to support the stock headlights.
Oh yes they definitely got hot! As far as the Harness goes I had purchased The ceramic ones especially for those bulbs. I still cannot believe how door they were man. I had it backed up in my driveway facing my neighbors house and when I turned them on you could barely see the tingy Yellow marks on his garage door from them
 

W8TVI

Full Access Member
Joined
Nov 6, 2016
Posts
696
Reaction score
692
Location
Traverse City, MI
I'm using these in my high beams on my '00 XL: http://a.co/d/9PCwhZl
81LTN4Z3VcL._SL1500_.jpg
They claim to be 8000 lumen, but I'm guessing they are closer to 3000 lumen a bulb. They are brighter than the HIR 9011 halogens, but not as bright as the 35w HIDs that I have in my low beam projectors (I feel sorry for anyone driving around with 15-20 year old stock Denali projectors with stock bulbs).

I bought them because of the lack of space behind the lights to fit a big fan, I have had then since June of '17 and they still work great in my high beams, and seem to have the same light pattern.

I would also recommend a relay kit for the headlights on anyone's vehicle. My dad and I upgraded both our trucks, and the headlights on both appeared noticeably brighter (relay on one side, stock wiring on the other). He has a '98 Sierra, and I have a '00 Yukon XL.

Your Mileage May Vary.
 

kbuskill

***CAUTION*** I do my own stunts!
Joined
Mar 11, 2017
Posts
5,310
Reaction score
8,320
Location
NE. FL.
I'm using these in my high beams on my '00 XL: http://a.co/d/9PCwhZl
View attachment 207075
They claim to be 8000 lumen, but I'm guessing they are closer to 3000 lumen a bulb. They are brighter than the HIR 9011 halogens, but not as bright as the 35w HIDs that I have in my low beam projectors (I feel sorry for anyone driving around with 15-20 year old stock Denali projectors with stock bulbs).

I bought them because of the lack of space behind the lights to fit a big fan, I have had then since June of '17 and they still work great in my high beams, and seem to have the same light pattern.

I would also recommend a relay kit for the headlights on anyone's vehicle. My dad and I upgraded both our trucks, and the headlights on both appeared noticeably brighter (relay on one side, stock wiring on the other). He has a '98 Sierra, and I have a '00 Yukon XL.

Your Mileage May Vary.

Those look exactly like my Supernova V3's in my Burb.
 

Forum statistics

Threads
132,400
Posts
1,867,412
Members
97,054
Latest member
inCorrectPosture

Latest posts

Top