Swapping headlight bulbs…HOW THE..?

[Chickensandwich]

Ok, so I decided to put in my LED headlights. I’m also putting in a CAI, so the passenger side was somewhat easy. Moving to the drivers side however…how do you get to the high beam and especially the blinker??

I took the battery out, still can’t get to the high beam to say nothing of reaching the blinker. The wiring inside the low beam is so short that I can’t even pull it out to swap. I tried taking the battery tray out but the fuse panel is in the way and making that incredibly difficult. The washer fluid reservoir is also causing a headache. I’m about to give and put the regular bulbs back in. Am I missing something or is it really this involved for simply replacing headlamp bulbs?

 

[Sparksalot]

I’m not sure on a K2, but on aGMT900, the first step is:

Remove the bumper…

 

[Doubeleive]

Ok, so I decided to put in my LED headlights. I’m also putting in a CAI, so the passenger side was somewhat easy. Moving to the drivers side however…how do you get to the high beam and especially the blinker??

I took the battery out, still can’t get to the high beam to say nothing of reaching the blinker. The wiring inside the low beam is so short that I can’t even pull it out to swap. I tried taking the battery tray out but the fuse panel is in the way and making that incredibly difficult. The washer fluid reservoir is also causing a headache. I’m about to give and put the regular bulbs back in. Am I missing something or is it really this involved for simply replacing headlamp bulbs?

depends on the light housing on my 18 silverado the whole housing is modular
1 harness and then everything splits internally (no wires)
blinker bulbs are twist lock on a little adapter with metal contacts
main bulb is HID and also locks in with a clip
outside has a rubber dust cap
there rather complicated
probably why they are $1200 a pop (each) used.

 

[Chickensandwich]

If I could take the entire housing out, that would be great, but I have the Fab Four number which is 180 pounds. I’m not take that thing off. You’re supposed to be able to get to these from under the hood and not have to remove the housing. How do these come out?

 

[Fless]

You don't say what you're driving, but this might be something.

 

[Chickensandwich]

2018 Tahoe PPV. It’s more if pain due to the second battery and battery tray blocking access to anything below the top low beam. If I could remove the entire assembly easier, I do that!

The video is nice but my high beam on drivers side is not accessible. The battery tray is in the way. Even if I remove it, I doubt I could get my hands down there, much less down to the blinker

 

[CrashTestDummy]

Like Sparks says: 'Remove the front bumper cover' is step 1. That's like a 30+/- bolt/clip proposition. You might be able to get by by just removing the inner fender liner, but I doubt that. Since you have an aftermarket bumper, who knows what that process is?

 

[Chickensandwich]

I’m honestly thinking of either just leaving the bulbs in or taking it to a mechanic to finish the drivers side since I need an alignment check anyway. It’s ridiculous how they didn’t bother to think this through. Since when is removing your front bumper acceptable for this? Access to these bulbs would be difficult for a small Asian girl with tiny hands, much less someone like me

 

[RedInCo]

A few weeks ago I walked past a neighbor's house where he had the front bumper removed from a Honda Accord. Yup, changing a bulb.

 

[Chickensandwich]

I installed the passenger LED BLINKER…it popped out and is now inside the housing. Appointment made…it beat me. The CAI and throttle body spacer is in though

 

[CMoore711]

@Chickensandwich So your passenger side is difficult because the PPV runs a dual battery set up and it’s located right behind the drivers side headlight? Right?

Wouldn’t unhooking the battery and removing it be easier than taking off the whole front bumper?

 

[Chickensandwich]

No, the passenger side was fine, it’s the drivers side. The battery was removed and there is still no way to reach the high beam or blinker.

 

[Chickensandwich]

Aftermarket bumper removal, two blinkers and one high beam headlight replaced, $480 please. I made sure they topped off the blinker fluid and LED oil while they were in there…it’s the least they could do.

 

[marcello1395]

It is a pain, but it is doable without removing the bumper. Small hands also help a lot with this job. I was able to swap both of mine out in maybe an hour or two when I did it.

 

[Chickensandwich]

The passenger side was fine, the drivers side, no way to reach the blinker. The bumper had to be removed because one of the blinker bulbs popped out in to the housing. The only way to get it was to remove the housing, thus removing the 190 pound after market bumper, thus, $480 please

 

[CrashTestDummy]

Yeah, the manufacturers are doing their best to make you come to THEM for the simplest things now, like replacing a headlight bulb. We're holding off on the LED upgrades on our '18 until after my shoulder joint is replaced. It's just to painful to pull all those bolts at this point in time. Sure my bride is great at this sort of work, but there's just a lot of disincentive to do that at this time.

 

[Chickensandwich]

Yeah, the manufacturers are doing their best to make you come to THEM for the simplest things now, like replacing a headlight bulb. We're holding off on the LED upgrades on our '18 until after my shoulder joint is replaced. It's just to painful to pull all those bolts at this point in time. Sure my bride is great at this sort of work, but there's just a lot of disincentive to do that at this time.

The lights are nice and bright. The OEM lights were yellowish compared to these. In the future, I’d do just the low beam. I rarely use high beam, so lesson learned

 

[Joseph Garcia]

With my '07, I remove the entire headlight cluster, and then I change the lights. There are a couple of connector screws on top, and there is 1 connector screw that is located in the wheel well, behind the shroud.

 

[CrashTestDummy]

The lights are nice and bright. The OEM lights were yellowish compared to these. In the future, I’d do just the low beam. I rarely use high beam, so lesson learned

We put LED on our 2010, and our 2012 9C1, so I know how nice they are. the caprice required just a little hand gymnastics to get into and out of the headlight module. The 2010 required removal of the headlight module to get to the high beam, and then, required a certain type of bulb (one without the fan on the back) to fit.

I'll be putting LEDs on the 2018, but need to wait until I get some quality time in the shop to pull the front end off the truck to get to the light modules.

 

[Chickensandwich]

We put LED on our 2010, and our 2012 9C1, so I know how nice they are. the caprice required just a little hand gymnastics to get into and out of the headlight module. The 2010 required removal of the headlight module to get to the high beam, and then, required a certain type of bulb (one without the fan on the back) to fit.

I'll be putting LEDs on the 2018, but need to wait until I get some quality time in the shop to pull the front end off the truck to get to the light modules.

Exactly…you can’t get to the blinker on the drivers side at all unless you pull the housing out. I have all LEDs in there now so hopefully I’ll never have to go through thst again. If a light burns out, I’m selling the truck