As many of you know I set up the most recent group buy on HIR bulbs (that ends 11-30 btw) and ended up learning a lot about these bulbs. On one board in particular I learned something that I hadn't heard here before and decided to test it out.
Because the HIR bulbs are somewhat universal by design and meant to be trimmed to fit, you can actually trim an 9011 HIR High Beam Bulb to fit into the Low Beam housing. The obvious problem with running a brighter bulb in the low socket is that you run the risk of dazzling oncoming drivers with either misdirected light or glare from poorly constructed housings. But on the other hand a GMC Denali has four 9005 bulbs from the factory, so it all depends on the angle and housing design. I bought 2 sets of highs to test with and one set of lows just in case. Trimming the 9011s to fit the low socket wasn't much more than was required for the HIRs to fit in the first place.
1. First trim the top tab to match that of a standard 9006 Low Beam. With the plug socket pointing down, and looking at it from the back, the top tab roughly occupies the space from 11 o'clock to 1 o'clock. You need to remove the section from 11:00-12:00.
2. Second, by design the barrel of each bulb housing is also different. The LOW has a 22 mm barrel vs. a 20 mm barrel on a HIGH. To compinsate for the 2 mm difference, remove the O-ring from your old 9006 bulb and double it up with the one that comes with the 9011.
3. The final step when doing a hi-lo conversion is the fitting of the electrical plugs. There are guide ribs inside the bulb housings which assist in mating them to the proper electrical plug. Low beams have 1 rib, high beams have 2 ribs. To make a high bulb mate with a low-beam plug, you remove the 2 ribs entirely. The ribs can be removed with a Dremel tool, small side cutters, a small sharp wood chisel, knife, box cutter, etc.
I've had them in now for about a month and have driven it at night as much as possible. My lights are angled well, maybe even too much so since it sits slightly raked, and the housings are stock 93 to the best of my knowledge. I was only flashed twice the first night, and not once since. Anyway, the light output is amazing! I haven't ever tried the standard 9012 upgrade, so I can't compare the two. And I also have the Slee Harness installed. Some might also consider doing this as an Off-Road Only mod and carry them as spares if they're still flashed after all the angle adjustment you can do.
I just thought I'd post up the results of my testing and make you all aware of the possible modification to an already very valuable upgrade.
Thoughts?
Because the HIR bulbs are somewhat universal by design and meant to be trimmed to fit, you can actually trim an 9011 HIR High Beam Bulb to fit into the Low Beam housing. The obvious problem with running a brighter bulb in the low socket is that you run the risk of dazzling oncoming drivers with either misdirected light or glare from poorly constructed housings. But on the other hand a GMC Denali has four 9005 bulbs from the factory, so it all depends on the angle and housing design. I bought 2 sets of highs to test with and one set of lows just in case. Trimming the 9011s to fit the low socket wasn't much more than was required for the HIRs to fit in the first place.
1. First trim the top tab to match that of a standard 9006 Low Beam. With the plug socket pointing down, and looking at it from the back, the top tab roughly occupies the space from 11 o'clock to 1 o'clock. You need to remove the section from 11:00-12:00.
2. Second, by design the barrel of each bulb housing is also different. The LOW has a 22 mm barrel vs. a 20 mm barrel on a HIGH. To compinsate for the 2 mm difference, remove the O-ring from your old 9006 bulb and double it up with the one that comes with the 9011.
3. The final step when doing a hi-lo conversion is the fitting of the electrical plugs. There are guide ribs inside the bulb housings which assist in mating them to the proper electrical plug. Low beams have 1 rib, high beams have 2 ribs. To make a high bulb mate with a low-beam plug, you remove the 2 ribs entirely. The ribs can be removed with a Dremel tool, small side cutters, a small sharp wood chisel, knife, box cutter, etc.
I've had them in now for about a month and have driven it at night as much as possible. My lights are angled well, maybe even too much so since it sits slightly raked, and the housings are stock 93 to the best of my knowledge. I was only flashed twice the first night, and not once since. Anyway, the light output is amazing! I haven't ever tried the standard 9012 upgrade, so I can't compare the two. And I also have the Slee Harness installed. Some might also consider doing this as an Off-Road Only mod and carry them as spares if they're still flashed after all the angle adjustment you can do.
I just thought I'd post up the results of my testing and make you all aware of the possible modification to an already very valuable upgrade.
Thoughts?