2009 Yukon Needs New Headlights. What to Get?

[drseth]

Hi,

My headlight lenses are pretty bad, despite multiple attempts to polish out. I would like to try LED bulbs. I would like to keep something stock as far as housing, but are any brands any better than others? Any LED bulbs superior to others?

 

[Geotrash]

Hi,

My headlight lenses are pretty bad, despite multiple attempts to polish out. I would like to try LED bulbs. I would like to keep something stock as far as housing, but are any brands any better than others? Any LED bulbs superior to others?

This is like asking which oil is best. I went down this road a few years ago and it didn't go well. I bought a pricey set of LED bulbs from "Headlight Experts" for my 2007 XL Denali and despite trying every orientation in the housing, could never get rid of a V-shaped pattern of dark lines in the high beams, but the low beams were fine. They lasted all of 18 months and one of them went dim. The "lifetime replacement" warranty required me to send them back and wait a month while they repair them, or I could order their latest model at a discount. Um... no.

I put in the cheapest Sylvania halogen bulbs you can get, and they're still working great 20K miles later.

That said, do a search on here. There are lots of guys still experimenting and finding some success.

 

[89Suburban]

I put in the cheapest Sylvania halogen bulbs you can get, and they're still working great 20K miles later.

Here here.

 

[Doubeleive]

if you are just doing bulbs HID is the way to go, but do it right with relays and quality ballast.

 

[91RS]

Are you wanting new headlight assemblies or just recommendations for bulbs?

As far as assemblies go, the OEM will be the best. People will argue like they always do but they lasted this long, didn’t they? I bought the Eagle Eyes ones for my old Yukon, which everyone says are the best, because I wanted to do an HID projector retrofit, which I’ve never done before, and I didn’t want to risk OEM lights on the first try. They weren’t on the truck for a year before they started peeling at the top. Total garbage. I was going to get OEM ones and swap over the projectors but I sold the truck and got a Escalade Platinum and fixed that problem.

As far as LED bulbs go, nothing will really be that good. They’re all cheaply made China stuff that have no R&D to make sure the light source is in the exact same location as the halogen bulb so the light reflects properly from the reflector. In short, that means you’ll be blinding oncoming traffic and probably have poor output where you need it. I say either do a projector retrofit or just leave the halogens. Just get better halogens like Silverstars.

The wildcard would be the Morimoto LED headlight assemblies. All the experiences I’ve had with Morimoto stuff have been good so I’d hope the headlights are good quality but I think only a few people on here have them. Most people who own these trucks now can’t fathom spending $1000 for good light output that doesn’t blind oncoming traffic. I think they’re kinda ugly and don’t match the styling of the truck but beauty is in the eye of the beholder. It isn’t like the Yukon is the best looking of the triplets anyway.

 

[Joseph Garcia]

Using LEDs is a matter of choice and subject to many opinions. I successfully converted all of my lights, inside and out, to LEDs. I used GTR Ultra 2 LED headlights, and while they are pricy, they provide an excellent light pattern, when properly adjusted, and they have a lifetime warranty.

My recent response in a very similar thread is listed below:

https://www.tahoeyukonforum.com/threads/2005-yukon-denali-led-plug-and-play.139401/#post-1751612

 

[TollKeeper]

You dont list where in this world you live..

If you live in a climate with snow/ice.. Go with HID or stay with Halogen. LED dont produce heat, and can/will reduce your visibility in the cold weather events.

I went HID, and have not looked back. Great light output. Good heat to the lens for winter driving.

Why not try new headlight housings? They are reasonably priced, from 100 up to 300, and come in a lot of different combinations for DRL, look, strips, and other stuff..

2009 Yukon Headlights for sale | eBay

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OEM styled

Pardon Our Interruption...

Aftermarket

Fits 2007-2014 GMC Yukon XL Denali Sequential LED Signal Projector Headlights | eBay

Sequential LED Turn Signal Lights. (Fits Base / SLE / SLT / Hybrid / Denali Models Only). 2007-2014 GMC Yukon XL 1500 Models Only. 2007-2014 GMC Yukon XL 2500 Models Only. 2007-2014 GMC Yukon Models Only.

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[repairman54]

HID in my '11 low beams since '14. Just cheap 55w Chinese stuff. Had a couple ballasts go bad over 120k miles but I mounted them for under hood access. At $50 a set have spares is not an issue. I do a lot of winter driving as I snowmobile and ice melting heat in the headlights is critical. Plus HID's have a 360 deg. light output like halogen so no playing around to get a proper beam pattern.

 

[swathdiver]

Hi,

My headlight lenses are pretty bad, despite multiple attempts to polish out. I would like to try LED bulbs. I would like to keep something stock as far as housing, but are any brands any better than others? Any LED bulbs superior to others?

GM Original Equipment, the bulbs that come with them are plenty bright and the housings will go another 10+ years depending on where you live and where you park it.

 

[Onlyone]

Any cheap LED will be better than the halogen crap that was in it. Now, they may not last as long either. I’ll take the chance. I replaced my factory housings recently and the LED bulbs on chinazon were an amazing difference vs the factory crap. I even changed the fogs over which made a huge difference. Just have to make sure the bulbs are clocked correctly.

 

[Geotrash]

I used to think the newer design replacement housings with either the round halo or C-shaped halo were cool, until I started seeing them on beaters with a brown door and one steel wheel. At that point, my brain started associating them with shitboxes, owned by people pretending that they actually care for their cars. Now I see the factory-style assemblies with crystal clear lenses on a well cared for truck as the mark of a person who takes pride in their rig. I replaced the headlights in our 2012 with pricey factory replicas and it made a huge difference in how I perceive the condition of the truck.

 

[avalonandl]

I installed LED from Sealiights and once indexed correclty they work great.

 

[Fubar0715]

LEDs and new factory knock-offs for me also - huge improvement in night time driving for my old eyes! This is especially helpful in the snowy climates where road lines are a mere suggestion rather than a standard.

 

[swathdiver]

I had to have this:

 

[Grizzlygibbs]

Got these Amerilites from Amazon. Great quality, and a great price. No, I don’t have a brown door ******* that I don’t take care of as someone above mentioned…. These have a very defined cutoff and work well on the highway at night.

 

[Geotrash]

View attachment 391354Got these Amerilites from Amazon. Great quality, and a great price. No, I don’t have a brown door ******* that I don’t take care of as someone above mentioned…. These have a very defined cutoff and work well on the highway at night.

Those look great - I was thinking of the Yukons specifically.

 

[Brkdrvr]

Hi,

My headlight lenses are pretty bad, despite multiple attempts to polish out. I would like to try LED bulbs. I would like to keep something stock as far as housing, but are any brands any better than others? Any LED bulbs superior to others?

Good Question, I have a 2005 Suburban and was faced with the same issues last year. I am on my second set of actual replacement headlamp housings and running LED high and low beams. The 1st set of housings were expensive aftermarket units that I thought would reflect and emit more light through the clearer looking lenses. They proved to be poor quality plastic and the adjustors broke where after installation, i then opted for a more stock headlamp housing from Rock auto. The new housings are better but in retrospect I would go with new OEM if I could find the fit finish and quality was far superior. The LEDs I used were two different brands low beam vs high beam due to fitment issues. My low beams requires external resistors vs the high beams resistors were wired in. The biggest difference was the high beam units were "clock-able" ie the part holding the LEDs could be adjusted to oriented perpendicular to the ground shining the LEDs to reflect optimally in the headlight housing reflectors throwing the most light and best pattern. In 2020 hindsight for my purposes I would opt for GM/OEM housings with the whitest brightest clock-able LEDs with pre wired resistors (can bus ready). My vehicle has 200,000 miles and is excellent condition and plan to keep for another 200,000 while I am 55 and have some minimal visual issues and wanted to really see at night. BTW I also replace my 200,000 windshield and was amazed at the night visibility improvement from 15 years and 200k of crazing. The net result has been a huge improvement in nighttime visibility notices by my daughters (even the 17 year old) wife and even several friends who drive in or have borrowed the car including other "vintage" Yukon/Suburban drivers.
In short properly fitted LEDs that are can bus compatible (pre fitted with resistors) and are properly clocked for you housings or clock-able. should be far superior in lumens and beam shape. if you want more info message me and i will try and look up what the brands/manufactures were that i used. Good Luck, Mike

 

[calsdad]

These are probably going to be out of your price range - but I HIGHLY recommend the Morimoto XB LED replacement headlights for the 2007-2014 Yukons:

GMC Yukon (07-14): Plug-N-Play XB Hybrid LED Headlights LF557

Complete LED headlights for your 2007-2014 GMC Yukon without the premium price tag! Shop Morimoto lights today!

www.morimotohid.com

I replaced the stock yellowed and cracked OEM housings with these about a year and a half ago - and they're great. Awesome beam pattern with a great cutoff - LOTS of light - nice color on the light - etc. I had tried a number of different bulbs in the OEM housings and was investigating putting in new OEM housings with some sort of LED bulbs - when I saw that these came out. They've got a nice DRL in them too. I thought they were expensive when I got them - but after driving with them for a while I think they're worth the money. Probably the best headlights of any car I ever driven - and that includes some Lexus and Acura models with the reputation of having really good headlights.

 

[dkad260]

These are probably going to be out of your price range - but I HIGHLY recommend the Morimoto XB LED replacement headlights for the 2007-2014 Yukons:

GMC Yukon (07-14): Plug-N-Play XB Hybrid LED Headlights LF557

Complete LED headlights for your 2007-2014 GMC Yukon without the premium price tag! Shop Morimoto lights today!

www.morimotohid.com

I replaced the stock yellowed and cracked OEM housings with these about a year and a half ago - and they're great. Awesome beam pattern with a great cutoff - LOTS of light - nice color on the light - etc. I had tried a number of different bulbs in the OEM housings and was investigating putting in new OEM housings with some sort of LED bulbs - when I saw that these came out. They've got a nice DRL in them too. I thought they were expensive when I got them - but after driving with them for a while I think they're worth the money. Probably the best headlights of any car I ever driven - and that includes some Lexus and Acura models with the reputation of having really good headlights.

They definitely look nice. I wish they came in the OE chrome finish and didn't have the "LED" insignia.

I'm considering them, and I would already have them if they didn't only come in graphite. Not sure how they will look with the white diamond tri-coat.

 

[calsdad]

They definitely look nice. I wish they came in the OE chrome finish and didn't have the "LED" insignia.

I'm considering them, and I would already have them if they didn't only come in graphite. Not sure how they will look with the white diamond tri-coat.

They look pretty good on my 2010 Yukon XL in silver - I think there's some pics online of what they look like on a white Yukon