Step By Step - HID Light Upgrade
As we all know, the stock lighting on our cars leaves much to be desired. There has been a lot of discussion on the forums on how to upgrade to a better system. However, there has not been much in the way of a Step-by-Step Pictorial on how to get it done. What follows here is how I upgraded my 2002 Firehawk’s system using parts from LMC Trucks and DDM Tuning.
Camaro owners, I am not sure about your headlights, but the fog light install will work for you as well.
Skill Level: 1 If I can do it, so can you!
This is a very easy mod to do, and once everything is laid out, it basically falls together. It takes about ½ hour per side for the Headlights and ½ hour per side for the Fog Lights.
Tools you will need:
10mm Socket
Torx 15 Driver
Phillips Head Driver
Double sided tape
(Optional) Electrical Connectors and Crimper
(Optional) Trim removal tools (to open up the plastic GM Rivets under the bumper)
First step is to replace the stock sealed beams with these following units that I got from LMCtruck.com.
In the search bar at the top of the website choose the following:
“Chevrolet” – “Pickup Truck” – “1988 thru 1998” – “36-0302”
Look at “Euro Style Lighting” and you will see the housings at the middle of the page. You will find the Bulb 2 pages further on in LMC’s “Catalog”.
Here is what you should order:
Qty: Part #: Description:
2x 36-0303 Inner Headlight Housing (High Beam) – comes with white H1 bulb and connector
2x 37-0303 Inner Blue H1 bulb (Optional, but I like them)
2x 36-0302 Outer Headlight Housing (Low Beam) – comes with white H1 Bulb and connector
• You do not need any other harness; these parts are “Plug and Play”. The connectors included have a power and a ground wire, which correspond to the factory harness on the car. On the Low Beam, this connector will be attached to the ballast of the HID System.
Here is the Housing with the supplied connector:
http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-..._5348072_n.jpg
These units are very nice, and in looks alone are huge improvements over the stock sealed beams.
http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-..._3359088_n.jpg
If you just want to stop here, I think you get a nice improvement with the 9006 bulbs. However, I like the look of the HID’s so I went ahead and installed them in the Low Beams. I will also be installing them in the Fogs as well.
Let’s note here, that HID’s do not like to be switched, so they are best suited for the Low Beams, and not the Highs. So when I install them into the Fogs, I will also have to make sure that the Fogs will not blink when setting the security system.
Here is where I ordered my HID Kit From:
www.ddmtuning.com
Go into HID Kits and choose the “Slim Ballasts”
For the Low Beams:
I chose the DDM HID Kit, 35W, 9006, 8000K (Kit / Package) - The exact description is below:
Bulb Type: 9006
Wattage: 35 Watt
Bulb Color: 8000K – or whatever color you desire
For the Fog Lights:
DDM HID Kit, 35W, 880, 8000K (Kit / Package)
Bulb Type: 880
Wattage: 35 Watt
Bulb Color: 8000K – or whatever color you desire.
You do not need anything else.
The kits you get each consist of a pair of ballasts, wire adaptors and bulbs.
http://www.ddmtuning.com/images/datapage/hidddm.jpg
Once again, this is almost plug and play for our cars. DDM has a very good installation guide you can download. Use that in conjunction, I will try and clear up some of the fuzzy issues.
So on to the installation:
Remove the 3 screws from the plastic cowling around the headlights. Carefully remove the cowling from the headlight fixture and carefully put aside.
http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-..._5274467_n.jpg
(This picture was obviously taken after the install for this guide )
To replace the Headlamp Housings, you will need a 15 Torx driver. There are 4 “silver” Torx screws. Do not confuse them with the 2 black “adjustment” screws. It will be readily apparent which is which. When you remove the stock units, hang on to the black metal frames, they will be used on the new housings.
A quick tip: When you are replacing the Headlamp Housings, leave the two lower securing screws loose, but backed out as far as possible. This will give you a good “platform” to rest the new housing on while you fiddle with starting the 2 upper Torx securing screws. See below:
http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-..._8168613_n.jpg
First off, here is what the LMC High Beam housing looks like installed:
http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-..._1399708_n.jpg
And compared to the stock Sealed Beam:
http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-..._1939685_n.jpg
A close up of the LMC Low Beam unit:
http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-..._3569482_n.jpg
Here is the wiring harness you are going to use:
http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-..._4418454_n.jpg
As you can see you are going to cut off the Blue and black wire combination, and remove it from the grommet.
http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-..._6762121_n.jpg
Once you have all the connectors and ballasts laid out next to each other, you will easily see how everything is going to go together, and how it will attach to the car’s connector. Remember the connector supplied with the Headlight Housings? This will be connected to the DDM Tuning Ballast and wired into the connector on the car; Black wires are the ground wires. Now take the existing 2 connectors on the ballast and connect them to the corresponding connectors for the HID Bulb. Make sure you do not touch the bulb with your hand. If you do, make sure to thoroughly clean the bulbs with alcohol.
Note: I have no idea where these 2 supplied O-rings go, I think they are superfluous. The bulbs have a red O-Ring installed already, and seem to make a nice watertight connection.
http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-...3_758870_n.jpg
Also note that the grommet on the harness will not seal up the rear of the headlamp unit (as far as I can tell – I could be wrong, let me know if I am!), but will not interfere with mounting.
Once everything is mounted up, test your lights:
http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-...2_225647_n.jpg
Here you can see the Driver’s side Low beam with the HID System, the Driver’s Side High Beam with the Blue H1 Bulb, and on the passenger side, the High Beam has the supplied white H1 Bulb and the Low Beam is the stock Sealed Beam.
Once everything is running, you have to securely mount the ballasts. They are super thin, but you have to take in to consideration that they need to clear the lights' movement. That said on the Driver’s side, I mounted the ballast here:
http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-..._5196340_n.jpg
I made sure to clean it well with adhesive cleaner so that the Double sided tape will bond well and keep the Ballast in place.
Here is the Ballast installed:
http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-..._8143003_n.jpg
As you can see, it sits underneath an overhang, and is safe from being hit by the lights. I left the wires with the small “box” on them loose. I think they will be OK, but I can always secure them if need be.
On the passenger side, I ran into the fact that in the corresponding location is the horn. I was not comfortable enough that I could get enough contact for a strong bond. There is a bit of frame work where the ballast tucks in nicely. Had I had not already mounted the Driver’s side, I would have also mounted it here on that side as well, but I am leaving well enough alone. Here is a picture of what I mean:
http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-..._7584165_n.jpg