Headlight Options (Housing, HID, LED)

[magnethead494]

Like most trucks of this age, our truck's headlights have become almost completely ineffective. The housings are a dark yellow, and the halogen bulbs from yesteryear just don't cut it.

Are there any non-hideous housings for this body style that can receive an HID or LED retrofit properly? Or are we stuck with a halogen replacement and OSRAM bulbs?

What brand housing is preferred for best durability and fitment? DEPO? I see their #3321182PXAS and I have the crystal heads on my Dodge with mostly decent fitment.

I see Low Beam is 9006 and High Beam is 9005, with 880 Fog Lamp.

I'm debating adding a set of Baja Design S2 Sport Spots and wiring those to the fog circuit in leu of the factory fog lamps.

 

[PureHybrid]

I ended up buying new stock replacement housings from Amazon and stealing the lenses, after dealing with aftermarket housings not fitting for crap. Still running Halogen, but did the tang modifications to 9011/9012 bulbs to fit.

 

[magnethead494]

I ended up buying new stock replacement housings from Amazon and stealing the lenses, after dealing with aftermarket housings not fitting for crap. Still running Halogen, but did the tang modifications to 9011/9012 bulbs to fit.

Which brand aftermarket housings did you try?

Is there a preferred brand between Phillips, Sylvania, and OSRAM for the HIR1/HIR2 bulbs?

 

[Pure Diesel]

My factory housing were still good, due to parking in the garage all the time. The fog lights, I had to get new housings. The lenses were cracked from a lot of rocks.

Low beam LED- I installed ALLA Lighting TS-CR HB4 6K XENON white 10000 Lumen for both bulbs.

High beam LED- I installed ALLA Lighting TS-CR HB3 6K XENON white 10000 Lumen for both bulbs.

Fog lights LED- I installed Mdatt/HB3/H10 100 watt 12000 Lumen DOT approved.

These lights are incredibly bright and light the road up. I have had them installed for 7-months now and maybe 15K miles and have not had one person flash their high beams at me. Night time driving is good again.
All off of Amazon.

 

[magnethead494]

My factory housing were still good, due to parking in the garage all the time. The fog lights, I had to get new housings. The lenses were cracked from a lot of rocks.

Low beam LED- I installed ALLA Lighting TS-CR HB4 6K XENON white 10000 Lumen for both bulbs.

High beam LED- I installed ALLA Lighting TS-CR HB3 6K XENON white 10000 Lumen for both bulbs.

Fog lights LED- I installed Mdatt/HB3/H10 100 watt 12000 Lumen DOT approved.

These lights are incredibly bright and light the road up. I have had them installed for 7-months now and maybe 15K miles and have not had one person flash their high beams at me. Night time driving is good again.
All off of Amazon.

How did you fit a 9005 lamp into the 880 Fog Lamp socket? Did you change housings?

 

[magnethead494]

If I understand correctly, the top outer is low beam, top inner is high beam, bottom outer is turn signal, bottom inner is DRL? Then separate fogs at the bottom.

Both lowers have water in them, and all 4 are cloudier than a hurricane.

DEPO 3321182PXAS - $134.51, mains only

Spyder HD-JH-CSIL99-SET-AM-C - $96.04 top and bottom

Lumen 87-1001162 - $80.63 top and bottom

https://photos.app.goo.gl/YAet77TrSXv5ygm86

https://photos.app.goo.gl/Ah7RpUWLafT67f4V6

 

[Pure Diesel]

Just realized you have a Chevy front end. I've got a GMC.

 

[slowlml]

I have ALLA bulbs in my fogs they have done well and are super bright. Been thinking about getting some for highs and lows

 

[magnethead494]

So now that bulbs are handled, what's the options on housings?

Both lowers have water in them, and all 4 are cloudier than a hurricane.

DEPO 3321182PXAS - $134.51, mains only

Spyder HD-JH-CSIL99-SET-AM-C - $96.04 top and bottom

Lumen 87-1001162 - $80.63 top and bottom

 

[OregonDMAX]

Wetsand, buff, remove wax and clear coat factory lenses. With what I think I remember being an H11 bulb

 

[magnethead494]

Wetsand, buff, remove wax and clear coat factory lenses. With what I think I remember being an H11 bulb

what about the turn signal/DRL? Is there a known good way of draining and sealing them up?

 

[04chase]

i had the sylvania xenarc lenses when i had a tahoe that were great and DOT approved hid lights. I thought they looked pretty good compared to most other aftermarket lenses. google them and i thought i saw some that are still the same lense but a cheaper non hid version. Id pair those with a set of morimoto mini projectors . ive used them for a few retrofits. They are very easy with oem denali lights . If you were to find a decent set of projector headlamps , swapping out the projector for a quality Bi-Xenon is still going to beat any LED retrofit .

 

[PureHybrid]

Which brand aftermarket housings did you try?

Is there a preferred brand between Phillips, Sylvania, and OSRAM for the HIR1/HIR2 bulbs?

Lumen was one, the brackets aren't sturdy at all. Different design than OEM. Another set from Amazon was the factory style but still wouldn't align correctly with the adjustments.

 

[OregonDMAX]

what about the turn signal/DRL? Is there a known good way of draining and sealing them up?

For my turn/drl housings I bought the cheap eBay aftermarket ones with the Amber lense deleted. I took the breather caps off and melted the holes closed, I put epoxy all the way around the outside edge where the two halves meet. I've lived in snow, rain and now heat and they held up great for the past 6 years.

 

[magnethead494]

For my turn/drl housings I bought the cheap eBay aftermarket ones with the Amber lense deleted. I took the breather caps off and melted the holes closed, I put epoxy all the way around the outside edge where the two halves meet. I've lived in snow, rain and now heat and they held up great for the past 6 years.

Did the aftermarket housing fit decently? I know poor fitment is common for headlights, thought maybe the lowers would be more straight forward?

 

[magnethead494]

Wetsand, buff, remove wax and clear coat factory lenses. With what I think I remember being an H11 bulb

A friend told me to wetsend with 800, then 1500, then 2000, then buff with a heavy cutting compound, and apply Meg's headlight coating. Does that sound about right?

Since we just broke a crankshaft, we're trying to save nickels where we can, or at least delay the inevitable replacement.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FczMVxAA3I4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZFrOhjL5_w

 

[OregonDMAX]

A friend told me to wetsend with 800, then 1500, then 2000, then buff with a heavy cutting compound, and apply Meg's headlight coating. Does that sound about right?

That's what I did, but I used regular clear coat instead of any of the headlight sealers. I also used a wax and grease remover to remove all of the junk from the buffer.