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Looking for some lighting upgrades

triaker

Full Member
Joined
Mar 10, 2014
Messages
50
I have very limited mechanical abilities when it comes to upgrading my 02 Z71.  When I drive my wife's 2011 Outback, I am super impressed with the output of her projector headlights.  My 02 has pretty wimpy headlight output in comparison.  I drive lots of backcountry roads and watching and avoiding deer is a daily occurrence.  I've searched for easy conversions with upgraded projector beams (would love to just swap housings and be done with it), but keep running into the dreaded "Without Cladding"  or "No Z71".  Anyone had any luck with finding easy ways to upgrade their headlights to LED or projectors AND have cladding on their Avy????  HELP!
 
Yep, what he said. They are a few threads where members opened up the housings and retrofitted projectors.  Check out Dluvr22 Autobot Prime build thread in the custom Avy section.  I think he outlinesin there how he did it.
 
I have thought about doing the whole heat the housings and install projector route, but was hoping for something more plug n' play.  Don't understand why you can get a whole host of housings ready to go for the 02s without cladding, but nothing for the ones with cladding......
 
Honestly the projectors they put into the plug and play housings are crap. You will be happier with the results if you do it yourself and use decent projectors.
 
Instead of converting hard to replace cladded headlight housings why not just add a set of fog or driving lights? Seems like an obvious choice for original poster since he is attempting this lighting improvement to avoid deer he may also want to put these added lights on an off-road front bumper/brush-guard setup.
triaker not sure you read right when you said you could find housings for a 2002 without cladding since that wasn't available then. The WBH didn't start until 2003 or 2004 and the reason they can be found is that they have parts in common with 2003 -2006 Silverado and Suburbans, cladded AVs are a unique configuration in general and 2002 was a unique year for some electrical things.
 
Depends on how much you want to spend. I'm currently using the mini h1 7.0 from the retrofit source.com. The projectors are $140 I believe, then you need bulbs and ballasts. That's another $160 ish. I bought an extra set of after market headlights to retrofit so I could keep the Oem lights for trade in time. Plus after market lights tend to be easier to open. They have budget projectors as well.
 
I bought my replacement headlights for about $130 for the pair on amazon. They are very easy to open but be careful not to scratch the lenses like I did.

As for the projector it all depends on what you want to spend. Checkout some builds on the site for some simple setups.
Most have used Bi-xeon headlights and replaced their low beams then either left their high beams in place or add a different type of light for it.

A Bi-xeon low beam with high beam will be very bright...

I added LED bulbs to my Fogs..

 
Thanks for all the suggestions.  I think for my modest skills and budget, upgrading my original headlamp casings from the more fogged ones to newer and clearer ones is step one.  Maybe put some nicer headlamps in.  I am looking at amazon.com which has a set of headlamps, turn signals and fog lights for a good price.  I have LED DRLs, and would at least upgrade fogs and turn signals and parking lights to LED.

Anyone had good luck with particular brands of LED bulbs?  What about interior LED bulbs and puddle lamps?  There are a zillion bulbs available, but would prefer to have LEDs that actually fit without modification.

Thanks one and all for all your patient suggestions!

John
 
I have an 2002 as well and went through the same frustrations. Here is what I did... $40 including shipping from Ebay. I mounted an LED light bar behind my grill. It was pretty easy... bought some L-brackets from Ace Hardware to mount it. I wish I'd taken install pics now. It only took me about an hour to install and that was figuring up how I wanted to do it. This thing is super bright! It lights a country road up like daytime and I can see road signs and rogue animals a mile down the road.



20160501_170753_zps2q0uqgkh.jpg


20160501_170827_zpsoyj6lp39.jpg
 
Hey that's a great idea!!  Does it have it's own switch and if so, where did you mount it?
 
HeavyD, is your bar straight ir curved?  I need to install a bar on my 07 that has white lights in the middle with amber warning on the outsides.Strobes N More Tru-Dual EFlood7200 Warning Flood Bar http://www.strobesnmore.com/Strobes-N-More-TruDual-EFlood7200-Warning-Flood-Bar.html (Share from CM Browser)
 
I measured my grill area a couple days ago and there is room for a 32 inch bar in there.

I would go with their 32" bar instead of the 24" bar you list.

 
mrcllusb said:
HeavyD, is your bar straight ir curved?  I need to install a bar on my 07 that has white lights in the middle with amber warning on the outsides.Strobes N More Tru-Dual EFlood7200 Warning Flood Bar http://www.strobesnmore.com/Strobes-N-More-TruDual-EFlood7200-Warning-Flood-Bar.html (Share from CM Browser)

Mine is straight, not curved... sorry for the late reply... I just now saw this!
 
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