Does anyone know of a long lasting H11 headlight bulb (2007 - 2014 Sierra / Silverado)

[Bruce]

I have been using high end (expensive) Sylvania head light bulbs. They fail at least once a year and have a rated life of 125 to 150 hours. I am wondering if anyone knows of an alternative with similar output but a longer life span?

Thanks

 

[2nazt]

The zXe burn whiter than the SilverStars and said longer burn life on other forums. I may try them as my factory bulbs in my Ram Eco suck!

 

[Wayloncle]

One of mine on my '09 Silverado went out about a month ago (original bulbs) I got the mid-level replacements and changed both sides. Hopefully they last more than a year, I didn't realize bulbs were so pricey! I haven't bought a headlight bulb in a long long time.

 

[RightStuff]

Did you look into the HID conversion kits that are out there?
Looks like a bunch of people have done this over at gm-trucks.com. Looks like kit like these are rated at ~2500 hours: https://www.theretrofitsource.com/hid-systems.html

 

[Bruce]

Thanks @RightStuff!

Has anyone switched to LED headlights? I think that may be where I am headed.

 

[2nazt]

I heard a lot of people say the LED bulbs are bright as heck when you look at them but they washout pretty quick and easy to out drive them at nighttime highway speed. Most I have read recommend them from fog lights and either halogen or HID upgrade. HID is ok they need to warm up and not useful as a high beam set up. Unless you go full custom built projectors with HID but that will be a lot of money.

 

[2nazt]

If I went full custom I would use Jeremy at RetroShop. Email him from website and sure he could build customize to your wildest dreams. He doesn't have a listing but he does custom work.

http://shop.retroshop.us/

 

[Bruce]

I am considering this LED option. I like the fact that it does not require a fan and it uses high output Philips chips.

https://www.amazon.com/TUNNKIT-Headlight-Conversion-Kit-Philips-Headlights/dp/B01EJ9FSCM

It's sister products have great reviews and lower prices. I prefer the more expensive model as it puts out a similar amount of light with lesser consumption

https://www.amazon.com/TUNNKIT-Headlight-Conversion-Arc-Focused-Polaris/dp/B01E6HDXHO/
https://www.amazon.com/TUNNKIT-Headlight-Conversion-Kit-COB-Headlights/dp/B01E6HE0NU/

 

[Murf'n'surf]

Why do so many GM products burn light bulbs so quickly? My guess is over voltage (usually on the drivers side). Purely a guess until @Bruce pulls the multimeter out!

 

[Bruce]

Why do so many GM products burn light bulbs so quickly? My guess is over voltage (usually on the drivers side). Purely a guess until @Bruce pulls the multimeter out!

My brothers Tacoma is even worse about burning out bulbs. I think a big part of the problem is that I have been buying high end bulbs that have rated lifespans of 125 to 150 hours and my low beams are always on as driving lights. Not sure it was the best idea to use the low beam bulb as a driving light.

 

[Bruce]

I installed the LED bulbs and gave them a quick test last night. So far I really like them. The brightness and dispersion are good. The white light makes signs easier to read. I bet that I upgrade the brights as well.

 

[2nazt]

They are just simple plug and play?

 

[Bruce]

They are just simple plug and play?

Yes, they took less than 10 minutes to install. The only difference from installing a normal bulb is spreading the heatsink. The mesh heatsinks could be a problem in some capped installations but worked very well for me.

 

[2nazt]

@Bruce have you had much more night driving since installing these, are they still doing well for you?

 

[Bruce]

@Bruce have you had much more night driving since installing these, are they still doing well for you?

Yes, I have had several 10+ mile night drives since installing them and am very happy with their performance.

 

[2nazt]

Yes, I have had several 10+ mile night drives since installing them and am very happy with their performance.

Thanks Bruce! I may look into these, or maybe call since they said about not being used on Dodge, maybe for some kind of flicker, or maybe on the truck with the projector lights not the quad?

 

[txav8r]

@Bruce , do you feel the down the road illumination is as good as OEM bulbs? My '09 Silverado has stock bulbs. When I read your post, that you were buying high end replacements and not happy with the lifespan, I didn't follow the thread. I just stumbled back over it. I am amazed at brightness of LED's, however I am not amazed at their ability to illuminate the far distance field. We get two new B-737-800's per month and the birds have had all LED for the last year now, maybe longer. I hate the taxi lights as they just don't illuminate well, however, the landing lights do appear to provide at least almost equal illumination of the runway. I might add that a contributing reason the taxi light isn't as good, is that in the newer birds, they moved it to the wing root vs on the nose gear. So your already battling an added distance it has to project. Comparing LED's to other lighting products is like trying to compare top speed on a boat, however, conditions are never the same twice, so saying they are equal in similar conditions could be a bad comparison. My Silverado OEM bulbs are still burning bright and have never been replaced at 7 years old. My previous Silverado, a 2000 Z-71, OEM bulbs lasted the 9 years I owned it. All of my original LED bulbs in my house have had to be replaced as they just had issues or died, and I am on second and third generation LED's. The expense of supporting new technology at the onset is not a profitable one, but I too like the technology. Were I would really like to use LED's are on the coach, but those are early 90's vintage Jeep Cherokee headlight housings and bulbs, so I don't even know if I could change those bulbs.

 

[Bruce]

@txav8r, the down the road illumination is different. The 6000k light emitted from the bulbs makes it easier to read signs and see reflectors farther away than I could before. The much more yellow light of the old bulbs changes the color of objects giving you a clear indication that they are illuminated. Rana's VW CC has very white, likely LED, illumination in every light. She said it took a few days to adjust to it. She is impressed with the LED bulbs in my truck.

I wish I had an old bulb to compare against. Unfortunately the only comparison that I have is the bright lights which have always been impressively bright compared to the lows.

 

[txav8r]

Have you changed your brights over too now @Bruce ?

 

[Bruce]

Have you changed your brights over too now @Bruce ?

I have not swapped them yet. I believe I will but want to spend some time researching the best upgrade as it is a slightly different bulb and as I will not be using them in traffic I would like to find a higher output bulb than stock.

You mentioned longetivity on LED bulbs. In 2011 when we built our home I installed 55 plus LED bulbs and 105 CFLs in can lights. Fifty of the LEDs were expensive ($40 each) Sylvania LEDs that I purchased used from a closed down hotel for around $5 each. Twenty of those were installed outside in soffit lighting. The only LED failures I have had were two in outdoor lights, the remainder are still working great. Those soffit lights are on from dark to 11 every night. On the CFL side I have had at least 8 failures of indoor bulbs that see much less use than the outdoor LEDs.

I have had a huge number of failures of incandescent, CFL and LED bulbs in ceiling fans. Based on this I have decided that in the future I will not use fans for lighting!