9145 to 9005/9011

Mr. Merk

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I'm assuming this is a no-go. I want to be sure, so I'm asking the experts.

I recently replaced my 2005 GMC headlamps with new OEM lamps, and now the rest of my 15 year old cloudy lamps are bothering me. I'm bored, stuck at home and surfing the world wide web. I found that LMC shows replacement fog lamps with and without a bulb shield. My original lamps are without shield, but the 9145 bulbs are capped. I started digging around to see if there were other bulbs spec'd for the trucks with bulb shields, and stumbled on an article showing how to adapt a 9005 in place of a 9145 bulb. The modification is similar to the 9011 base modification, so in theory a 9011 could also be installed in place of a 9145. I found an article where a guy had done this swap on a Toyota.

I used to be a fogs-on-all-the-time guy. Thanks to this forum I now rarely ever use them. This week it has been unusually foggy, and I used them while driving to work on three separate occasions.


Now then, tell me why an HIR1 shouldn't be used in a 9145 fog lamp with a bulb shield.
 
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-Virgil-

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I'm assuming this is a no-go.

Totally and completely a no-go.

I recently replaced my 2005 GMC headlamps with new OEM lamps, and now the rest of my 15 year old cloudy lamps are bothering me.

They have a way of doing that, don't they? Replace one of a pair of lamps that's not new but not too bad, and suddenly the other one looks a whole lot worse.

I'm bored, stuck at home and surfing the world wide web. I found that LMC shows replacement fog lamps with and without a bulb shield

It is almost never a good idea to buy lamps from LMC unless there is literally zero other option (which is almost never the case). They're virtually all lamp-shaped trinkets, seriously low-quality junk.

My original lamps are without shield, but the 9145 bulbs are capped. I started digging around to see if there were other bulbs spec'd for the trucks with bulb shields, and stumbled on an article showing how to adapt a 9005 in place of a 9145 bulb.

This falls smack-dab in the middle of "Just because something can be done, does not mean it should be done". I've seen those articles, too, sometimes accompanied by BS claims that this converts them into driving lamps, BS claims that you can blacktop a bulb with BBQ spray paint, etc. That last one's a real doozie -- the paint will flake off the bulb in short order, but before it does, it will outgas and permanently crud up the reflector, inside surface of the lens, and everything else inside the lamp with gunk that will not come off. Bulb blacktop is not paint!

Now then, tell me why an HIR1 shouldn't be used in a 9145 fog lamp with a bulb shield.

Because you'll be throwing around dangerous levels of glare, with or without a bulb shield in the lamp, and no matter how they're aimed. Also it'll be a race, kind of a demolition derby between the fog lamp circuit (burn/fry) and the lamps themselves (burn/melt). The 9145 or H10 bulb draws 3.8 amps at 13.2v; the 9005 or HB3 (or 9011 or HIR1) draws 5.5, that is a 45% overload.

It also won't turn this truck's purely cosmetic "fog lamps" into anything different or legitimately better.

And the smaller diameter of the HB3 or HIR1 bulb will allow water and dirt into the lamp as well as letting the bulb shake around with road vibration, which will not only shake the bulb to destruction but also preclude correct or consistent focal placement of the filament. The beam focus will be destroyed, and it'll dance/flicker around as you drive (you may not notice it, but it will be distracting to other drivers, and that's on top of the massively excessive glare).

So for the sake of traffic safety (including yours) and the health of your truck and your wallet...please don't do it. If you want to make the fog lamps more intense without running into the danger zone, trim-to-fit a pair of carefully chosen 9006 (HB4) bulbs -- still an overload, but a lesser one; they draw 4.7 amps, a much less worrisome 24%. And their output is enough higher than the H10 to be noticeable without going way out of bounds as you would with the HB3 or HIR1.

Since you mention the fog lamps are dead (bad lenses) and it's time for replacement, if you're trying to have as good fog lamps as possible on that truck while keeping to a direct-fit part, get the '03-'04 "pre-decontenting" lamps that have the bulb shield, Left / right.

Make sure they (and your headlamps) are aimed correctly. And speaking of the headlamps...you say you put in new genuine GM ones. Did you take the opportunity to upgrade to the Denali-spec units? Those can effectively and safely be upgraded from HB3 to HIR1 for both low and high beam.
 
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Mr. Merk

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get the '03-'04 "pre-decontenting" lamps that have the bulb shield, Left / right.

Did you take the opportunity to upgrade to the Denali-spec units? Those can effectively and safely be upgraded from HB3 to HIR1 for both low and high beam.

Eureka! I learned something new today! I didn't realize the 03-04 were different, let alone better!

I absolutely installed the Denali lamps with Toshiba 9011 lows and Philips 9011 highs relayed to keep lows on. I even used the optical machine to aim them.

One last question. Why use 9006, and not 9012?
 

-Virgil-

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You don't smell so good yourself, pal! (Sorry, this 24/7 stay home stuff is making me a little stir crazy)

One last question. Why use 9006, and not 9012?

No blacktop on HIR2, and even if you were to get blacktopped HIR2s from Stern, that would only solve the physical fit (water/dirt/shake) issue and reduce the thermal and electrical overload. It wouldn't address the excess glare matter.

Don't sweat it; with those Denali headlamps and their upgraded bulbs, there's plenty of foreground and width light, fog lamps or no fog lamps.
 

Mr. Merk

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Would the 03-04 shielded fogs still require a bulb cap? Might be SOL anyway. I've read reports from people that unsuccessfully attempted this swap because the 9006 base is 22mm vs the 9145 20mm.
 

-Virgil-

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Oh, did I mix up my bulb diameters? Looks like I did, oops, yeah, H10 has a PY20d cap and HB4 has a P22d. That said, I'm kind of wryly surprised these hack artists who think they're improving something by cramming HB3 or HIR1 bulbs into fog lamps haven't just enlarged the bulb hole in the fog lamp. If you're still really bound and determined to make the fog lamps brighter you could try a 9155 in place of the 9145...that is if you can find a name-brand 9155. They all seem to have disappeared off the market. Rallylights claims to have Philips, but if I were you I'd double-check with them to see if they're actually real Philips bulbs. What makes me suspicious is two things:

1. Go do a search for Philips 9155. Very few hits, except for a scattered few mostly on Australian eBay. Whereas if you do a search for a Philips bulb that's actually in production, you get lots of hits.

2. Rallylights' part number, CP9155. That "CP" stands for "CandlePower" (the vendor/distributor, not this site). CandlePower-brand bulbs I've seen are usually not major brand quality, and on their own page for the only 9155 they appear to offer, they make no mention of it being a Philips or other major-brand product. Whereas when they're selling a Philips bulb, they say so.

That doesn't necessarily mean it's not a Philips or other major-brand bulb. It's possible CandlePower bought up all the ones that aren't showing up anywhere else (LOL!) and they have a mix of Philips, Sylvania, and GE. But like I say, I'm suspicious.

Terminology:

"Cap" = what is informally called a 'base'.
"Blacktop" = what you are calling a 'cap'.

Given all the foregoing reasons for not cramming a high beam bulb into your fog lamps, whether or not a blacktopped bulb is still required even with a bulb shield is kind of moot...don't you think? ;-)
 
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Ofelas

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Which 9145 would you recommend, Virgil, from these two - Philips Standard (there're a couple German made pairs at my local Home Depot, and a whack of Chinese made Philips on the same shelf) or US made Osram?

Or any other brand, for that matter?
 

-Virgil-

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There are now good-to-excellent selective yellow 9145s if you know where to look (and from your other thread it sounds like you've already got lines of conversation open with him...i.e guess who...)
 

Ofelas

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Thanks Virgil. I picked up a pair of the Sylvania "yellow" 9145s a few months back, but as it's not particularly foggy yet, no way to tell if they're actually any good.

The poor man has been likely driven crazy with all my questions about lens durability/reflector/beam width regarding Cibie/Bobi/Carello/Bosch/Hella SAE headlamps; likely tearing his hair out when he sees a message from me.

I'd better see about bringing back & overnighting him some of those German pretzels/smoked sausage he mentioned to me a few days back.
 
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-Virgil-

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Thanks Virgil. I picked up a pair of the Sylvania "yellow" 9145s a few months back, but as it's not particularly foggy yet, no way to tell if they're actually any good.

Did you happen to note where they were made? I think the Osram/Sylvania yellow 9006s I looked at a couple years ago were from China.

I'd better see about bringing back & overnighting him some of those German pretzels/smoked sausage he mentioned to me a few days back.

German pretzels with smoked sausage? Or is that two different things? Either way, I'm thinkin' YES!
 

Ofelas

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They are (were) US made. I can pull a bulb & verify if needed.

It's some esoteric contraption dish that he mentioned to me on my last couple days over there. As it so happened, I barely had time to duck into an automotive place & pick up a couple pairs of Tungsram +120s, but I've marked my next trip there to grab some of them pretzels/cheese/sauage contraptions to bring back.

TUV spec foil wrapped, of course.
 
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