headlight reflector question...

I have a 2003 Suburban and am wanting up replace the headlight assembly due to age / being worn out (Florida heat / Sun). I am wondering if I buy the assembly with dark reflectors if I will still receive adequate lighting. I plan on upgrading


the bulbs as well to the highest quality possible. If I lose light output then how much is expected? Thanks!

The answer's a great big NO. These things you're interested in are not headlamps, they are headlamp-shaped trinkets. They are not effective, not safe, and not legal. Don't buy them. It's not a question of losing this or that percentage of light, it's a matter of the wrong amounts of light being sent to the wrong places. Too much glare, not enough seeing, and the signal lights don't work safely, either.

Even the aftermarket lights that look just like the originals are junk. By a large mile, the best lights you can get for that vehicle are the genuine GM items, that is this one and this one. If you also need the lower light units (turn signal/daytime running light/side marker), the same applies; that's this one and this one.

Bulbs: use these for the low beams, these (with their plastic base tab modified as per this diagram) in the high beams. If you want to spruce up the vehicle a bit, you can put these in the daytime running lights. These would be the choice for the front turn signals, and these for the side marker lights -- nice and bright.

Very, very important: after installing the new lamps, have them aimed correctly with an optical headlight aiming machine, as described on this page.

Hi Virgil, Thanks for your concern of safety... This vehicle is not going to be on the road, so, the safety of other driver's vision will not be needed in this case. So I suppose I didn't give enough insight. I want as much light as possible to see when driving down trails without external lighting. I have an LED light bar but that does not shine a great distance. I have LED fogs that shine decent distance but its a concentrated light beam. I was looking for an OEM quality reflector that displays greater depth and floods.

onvol said:

This vehicle is not going to be on the road, so, the safety of other driver's vision will not be needed in this case. So I suppose I didn't give enough insight. I want as much light as possible to see when driving down trails without external lighting.

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And you think that tinted headlamps will do this? Fascinating.

I have LED fogs that shine decent distance but its a concentrated light beam.

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Those aren't fog lamps if they have a "concentrated light beam".

I was looking for an OEM quality reflector that displays greater depth and floods.

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The only OEM quality lamps are OEM quality. This means they will operate the way an OEM headlamp operates, with no greater depth and flood than the original OEM design (which is designed to conform to the appropriate standards for headlamps).

onvol said:

Hi Virgil, Thanks for your concern of safety... This vehicle is not going to be on the road

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That doesn't make a reason to put non-headlamps on it. The best-performing headlamps are still the genuine GM ones, no matter where you're driving this vehicle. The answer doesn't change.

I want as much light as possible

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Get the GM headlamps, and that's what you'll have.

I have LED fogs that shine decent distance but its a concentrated light beam.

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Then they aren't fog lamps, no matter what the ad said.

I was looking for an OEM quality reflector

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The only OEM-quality headlamps are...OEM headlamps.

that displays greater depth and floods.

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New ones with the linked bulbs will give greater seeing distance and width than your sun-baked old ones with old bulbs.