03-06 GMC Sierra Housing & Bulb Upgrades

Hello, I'm (clearly) new to this world and forum, but hoping I might learn a thing or two by being here.

In the little information I've been able to dig up about my specific truck application, it appears GM's design (or their vendor) was below par, so I'm off to a bad start.

I have a 2004 GMC Sierra, and I'd like improved performance for remote two lane roads, particularly improving my chances of detecting animals that may be ready to jump into my path.

I think this is what I've gathered the recipe is from my searching here:

*Replace the standard Sierra housings I have with GM Denali housings, which I believe are projector housings.
*Then I believe changing to 9012 & 9011 bulbs would be appropriate?

Am I on the right track, or is there better options for housings? Regarding housings, are there any better aftermarket options than factory GM? I'm assuming I can find them through GM Parts Direct or similar, but if not I may be stuck with aftermarket.

If 9012 & 9011's aren't legal or aren't the best selection for this use case, can anyone please suggest what is?

Does ceramic coating negatively impact housing performance?

TYIA!

fl0w3n said:

*Replace the standard Sierra housings I have with GM Denali housings, which I believe are projector housings.
*Then I believe changing to 9012 & 9011 bulbs would be appropriate?

Click to expand...

Close. The Denali housings take a 9005 in both the high and low beams so that means you can use the 9011 in both!

The Toshibas are the best bulb available and you can buy them from Daniel Stern for about half the cost of the Toyota branded bulbs.

For a total plug-n-play upgrade I would suggest getting one pair of Toshibas from Daniel Stern and one pair of Philips as the Toshibas are a smidge larger diameter and don't fit in one of the holes (I don't remember if it was low or high.) I used sand paper around my finger to clearance the hole, but it made it extremely dusty inside the lamp. I spent a lot of time cleaning them out. There is a small chance of ruining your new lamps and I don't think it's worth it for the difference in output.

The bases DO NOT need to be modified to fit them in the Denali lamps like most other 9005 sockets.

I was also advised to relay the headlights to reduce voltage drop and keep the low beams on with the high beams. I plan to get a custom harness from Daniel Stern, but I did install this several years ago to keep both lamps on high. The one I bought also tapped the fog lamps, but I have since disabled them to come on with the high beams as having too much foreground light is unwise while driving over 30mph.

Mr. Merk said:

I used sand paper around my finger to clearance the hole, but it made it extremely dusty inside the lamp.

Click to expand...

That's because you forgot to wet the sandpaper before wrapping it around your finger and knocking down the plastic ridge that was blocking insertion of the bulbs...!

There is a small chance of ruining your new lamps

Click to expand...

There is really no such chance.

Well that's good to hear!

I actually already have Phillips 9012's and 9011's in in my regular 04 Sierra housings, so I can reuse the Phillips 9011 and buy another set of 9011's from Daniel Stern.

Any comment on aftermarket housings or ceramic coating? I'd like to use Cerakote's ceramic for the housing to keep them fresh and not get sun faded.

Also, for purely aesthetic purpose I might be interested in a slightly darker tinted housing - I imagine that would be frowned upon here because it's going to negatively impact performance? I don't want any of that gimicky LED or Halo things, I just want the Denali housings but with less of a "chrome" shiny look

fl0w3n said:

Also, for purely aesthetic purpose I might be interested in a slightly darker tinted housing - I imagine that would be frowned upon here because it's going to negatively impact performance?

Click to expand...

There are some examples of factory lamps where the non-functional aluminized surfaces in the lamps have been tinted at the factory, but no, you don't want to tint your headlamp lenses to any degree. And to try to tint those non-functional aluminized surfaces in the lamps means taking the lamps apart and trying to get them back together again, ruining them.

You've just committed to spending a bunch of money to improve your vehicle's lamps and now you want to tint them so they work less? (Reference to an FB group "I tint my headlights so they work less" in which they drag the owners of cars who tint their headlamps (so they work less!) in absentia. (Although sometimes the vehicle owners think the group is to praise them.)

fl0w3n said:

Any comment on aftermarket housings

Click to expand...

In general they're best avoided, because they are significantly inferior to the genuine parts. However, those lamps were originally made by Guide Lamp, which for many years was a division of GM. GM spun Guide off in the late '90s...and Guide sank like a cannonball. Their technology was so outdated and their production was so inefficient that even GM stopped buying from them, let alone other makers (I can't think of a single project that was sourced through Guide after the GM spinoff). Guide failed quickly, so GM was left in a lurch for replacement lamps. They wound up cutting a deal with Depo (pretty crappy stuff, but maybe not quite as crappy as most of the rest of the aftermarket lamps). There's supposed to be some additional GM-specific quality control for the GM-branded parts sold via the GM parts system, as compared to the ones sold by Depo themselves -- and that fits neatly in with the business model followed by just about all the aftermarket parts suppliers: their best stuff goes to OEMs, second-best claims to get multiple aftermarket quality certifications, third-best claims to get one quality certification, fourth-best makes no claim to have any of them, and so on down the line, in decreasing-price order until you get to unbranded "both sides for $39" territory.

So your best bet is still to get the GM units left and right.

or ceramic coating?

Click to expand...

Miracle non-wax car-shine secret guaranteed formulas, and the tall-tale promotional claims used to sell them, have existed almost as long as cars have existed. The specifics of what's claimed (glass, ceramic, urethane, etc) come and go like kids' toy fads.

I'd like to use Cerakote's ceramic for the housing to keep them fresh and not get sun faded.

Click to expand...

The first thing here doesn't lead to the second thing. On the other hand, it probably won't hurt anything, so if it will make you feel good to apply whatever clear coat-safe car polish to your lamps every now and then, go for it.

Also, for purely aesthetic purpose I might be interested in a slightly darker tinted housing

Click to expand...

I'm sure you can find such a thing...but only in the nastiest pretend-headlights level of "quality".

Alaric Darconville said:

There are some examples of factory lamps where the non-functional aluminized surfaces in the lamps have been tinted at the factory, but no, you don't want to tint your headlamp lenses to any degree. And to try to tint those non-functional aluminized surfaces in the lamps means taking the lamps apart and trying to get them back together again, ruining them.

Click to expand...

Can you elaborate on "ruining them"? I assume you mean achieving the same type of seal to the lens and housing as the factory does, or is there more to it?

Alaric Darconville said:

You've just committed to spending a bunch of money to improve your vehicle's lamps and now you want to tint them so they work less? (Reference to an FB group "I tint my headlights so they work less" in which they drag the owners of cars who tint their headlamps (so they work less!) in absentia. (Although sometimes the vehicle owners think the group is to praise them.)

Click to expand...

Yes. It's a consideration.

Net result is still an improvement, is it not?

-Virgil- said:

The first thing here doesn't lead to the second thing. On the other hand, it probably won't hurt anything, so if it will make you feel good to apply whatever clear coat-safe car polish to your lamps every now and then, go for it.

Click to expand...

Can you elaborate as to why not?

Also, thank you for the breakdown on the manufactures and the links, that is helpful.

fl0w3n said:

Can you elaborate on "ruining them"? I assume you mean achieving the same type of seal to the lens and housing as the factory does, or is there more to it?

Click to expand...

Proper alignment of the external lens to the rest of the lamp, and preserving not only the original seal, but the original venting, is extremely critical. This is something that frequently fails.

fl0w3n said:

Net result is still an improvement, is it not?

Click to expand...

No, it's not. It'll be worse than ever before. Even very light tinting that you can tell is present on the unlit lamp results in a major loss of seeing distance at night when you are using them. It's basic optics-- tinting reduces output.

fl0w3n said:

Can you elaborate on "ruining them"?

Click to expand...

There's more info here, but it's not hard to understand: no matter what kind of glue, goop or putty you might use, the odds are sharply against achieving an adequate or durable seal once a headlamp designed and built not to be taken apart, has been taken apart.

Net result is still an improvement, is it not?

Click to expand...

I'll give you the benefit of the doubt, but it's hard to assume you are asking this question in good faith. Headlamps are life-safety equipment, they are not fashion toys; nobody cares what the lights look like on your truck, and deliberately reducing their performance can only be described as a blockhead move. Playing contrived little games along the lines of "Well, the new headlights are 40% better than the originals, then I took them apart and tinted them bcuz kewl lol and now I guess they're only 15% better than the originals lol but that's still better than the originals so I win lol" is childish. Please be an adult.