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Headlights

grevels

grevels

1972 K5 CST
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Aug 6, 2016
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Location
Gainesville, FL
What is everyone running for some upgraded headlights? I love the brightness of the HID's I am running on my Avalanche. I do not like the looks of any of the aftermarket replacement lights. Is there anything that looks stock in appearance?

Thanks,

Greg
 
Halogens and big wires for me too. Would be nice to switch to LED so my alternator isn't so taxed when I'm driving at night with all the electronics on.
 
Occasionally those nighthawk bulbs come up for special with a 100 dollar discount FWIW
 
I have the Nighthawk LED's, love them. They don't look exactly stock, but at least they're the proper round style. Here's my '74 (different body, duh, but same headlights), sans grille, with one halogen (passenger side) and one LED (driver):

IMG_1995.JPG


In the dark, lows and highs on

IMG_2008.JPG


The halogen was whiter than the stock type bulbs but it's still yellow in comparison to the LED. The LED also has much more controlled dispersion, doesn't light up the sky, just the road ahead -- akin to the HID's and projectors on modern vehicles.

IMG_2009.JPG


And that's the installed look. You can see the separator between the low and high beams and their reflectors. I've had a coupla savvy guys stop and ask me about the lights, but most folks don't seem to notice.

-- A
 
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I've considered going with the old school front end just in order to include the round nighthawks. I found out the other the hood on my 85 Jimmy has a big crack right under the hood badge so its making it a lot easier to make that decision, lol.. If I could get away with doing it and not changing the fenders as well I'd be more tempted but even though they are a little dented they are in good enough shape. I might change my mind though as the time gets closer to start putting the front sheet metal back on, after all I can run around without a hood a lot longer than I can run around without fenders, and then I could save up and get me one of those fiberglass cowl hoods!!!
 
grevels said:
Are most of these lights direct replacement as far as wiring also?
Click to expand...

Yes, some of them will have power pack type module that plugs into the OEM connector and some have it built into the bulb but they are all made to be a direct fit replacement, more or less. The GE ones are just a bulb with large heat sink surface on the back to dissipate the heat from the module.
 
grevels said:
Are most of these lights direct replacement as far as wiring also?
Click to expand...

It might be worth to note, all of them are direct replacement to some degree, you might find it best to get one of the relay kits that allow the headlights to draw power direct from the battery. It's isn't hard to make your own and its hardly worth spending a lot of time upgrading the headlights if you are not going to give them juice straight from the battery. I think LMC and a few other sources sell some that are typically overpriced. You may be able to check JC Whitney and Ebay but the problem you will probably run in to is they don't do a really great job of seperating the kits across the different style headlight setups GM used through the 80's.

I'm sure what they all sell could be made and customized for about 40 bucks in parts (on the high end). 2 dollar relay and about 10 dollars worth of 8 Gauge black and red wire combined with another 15 to 20 dollars of OEM connectors (depending on how many headlights you have). I'm nowhere near pinning the front of my truck back together right now but when I do I'll be making my own relay and I am considering swapping my front setup to 2 square headlights, plus adding in some LED light bar's behind the tube grill I picked up. I would go with round headlights but I'd have to change far too many other things (hood, etc etc).
 
I have those Hella vision plus pieces in 2 of my old trucks. They are a big step up from the office the shelf sealed beam bulbs. They installed with no issues.
I have done the relay harness on one, but not on the other. I noticed that the headlight switch cooled off after the relays were installed. But for some reason, I didn't notice a big change in the light output. I suspect my perception and all of the connections were cleaned in a blast cabinet before I reinstalled the harness years ago.
 
rpcraft said:
Says part #

002395301

is SAE/DOT approved. The catch is probably going to be figuring out a way to secure them. It's been 16 years since I looked at the headlight setup for the old round headlights so I'm no longer qualified to say how they sit in the bezel.
Click to expand...

Mine were a direct replacement.
They are held in place with the factory trim rings. They even have the little tabs on the back that match the clocking in the headlight cup.
I run relays with these lights as well.
 
Easiest way to get LED without having your lens stick way out and maintaining a stock look IMO is running a conversion housing (EX. Hella H4) and some aftermarket LED bulbs. I ran them in my old jeep and it worked excellent. Only cost about 100$ too
 
My 99 Harley came with an H4 bulb....they've been out there forever...
 
I'm running led conversion housings. They look like sealed beams but there are led's and fans mounted in them. They're super bright and they still look original for the most part
 
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