9011 Hi-beam Bulb Upgrade

[brebin]

hello,

i'm a newbie to the group, and a newbie avalanche owner (1 week). i absolutely love this club. i am really impressed with the dedication of members to provide useful and accurate information. i'll do my best to add something of value with my first post...

my last truck was a 2000 toyota tacoma 4x4. i immediately swapped out the stock headlight bulbs for PIAA's. i was really impressed with the performance but not so much with the price.

so, for my new av, i have been looking to the posts in this forum in terms to find low/high beam bulb upgrades that will give me high quality at a lower price point...

- Headlight Bulb Replacements
- I need a quick light re-cap please
- etc...

i am considering the 9005ST sylvania silver stars to replace the stock 9011's.

- Sylvania Silver Star Specs

i have been impressed with member comments on the performance of these bulbs. BUT, reading through the posts, i've also learned that the 9005 is not an exact replacement for a 9011, although they will work without much fuss. the specs on 9005 and 9011 are a bit different...

- light source list

notably, the luminous flux rating (in lumens) for the 9005 is 1700 and the 9011 is 2300. a 600 lumen difference is significant chunk of light! ideally, i would therefore like to find upgraded 9011 bulbs. according to all of the posts in this forum to date, sylvania has not announced the development of a 9011ST.

so, i have been trying to find out if anyone else makes an upgraded 9011 bulb. my "parts guy" found one and i have not seen any reference to it in any of the threads in this forum hence my post. he is able to get me:

"9011 GE Super Brite White" Bulbs

that's all the information he has on them, other than that he believes that these are the same bulbs used in high-end Lincoln vehicles and have the higher color temperature closer to HID, just like the silver stars.

i would like to know more before i commit. i have been looking all over for more information on these bulbs. i have been looking for a spec sheet. so far, i have come up with nothing. nada. zilch.

i am wondering whether these GE "super brite" bulbs can match the quality of the silver stars... are they the real thing? or maybe my parts guy is full of s**t.

anyway, i figured i would post the thread and see what happens. i'm going to do more research and if/when i find something, i'll follow up. or... maybe some of you have already been down this path.

- brebin

 

[TXAV2003]

Welcome to the club. I have PIAA 9005's and 9006's in my AV. Made a significant improvement, especially on the high beams -- enough to where I had some initial doubts about installing my PIAA Pro XT's. Performing the single wire mod makes them even better (do a search for this and make sure you do the correct one for an '02 or '03).

No problems with fitting. Only thing I had to do on my '03 AV was loosen the screws a little bit to allow a few of the bulbs to fit in, then retightened them. Otherwise, it was a piece of cake.

Good luck!

 

[brebin]

More info...

I have attached a pdf spec sheet on the GE 9011-HIR blubs, direct from GE. Are these an upgrade from the 9011's already in my av, or are these actually the 9011 GE bulbs that comes stock with the truck?

 

[gpventures]

I emailed Sylvania to inquiry if they planned to introduce a 9011 SilverStar:

Do you plan on introducing a SilverStar equivalent for the 9011 bulb/capsule used in new GM vehicles? MANY of the 8000 members of the CHEVY AVALANCHE FAN CLUB www.cafcna.com would like to know. Thank you in advance for your consideration of this matter.

Their response:

Gary thank you for the inquiry,
We unfortunately do not manufacture the 9011, GE does.

Thank you,
Denise Beard
Customer Service
Phone: 800-729-3777 x7603
Fax: 800-347-3411
Denise.Beard@Sylvania.com

 

[brebin]

I guess I'll go for the 9005 Silver Stars for now. I think the 9011 spec is really new. Maybe over the next year someone else will develop higher-end 9011 bulbs.

 

[openminds]

Boy, I don't know about you guys but that picture of the 9011 HIR bulb in the pdf file sure looks a lot like an HID capsule.

9011-HIR.pdf

with 600 more lumens I would definitely go with the 9011-HIR but I can't seem to find any other info other than what was posted above. Looks like I need to research some more.

 

[colonelmotox]

Before replacing the 9011's you should review all the bulb threads, especially concerning the 9009/9006 comparisons since the 9011 was developed by GE to give the same performance as the SilverStars. You will find that it may not be the best buy now on replacing the 9011's. But, if you do, BE SURE TO GET THE $10.00 REBATE coupon good thru 30 Jun 03. These 9005/9006 series bulbs are now stocked at Wal-Mart for $47.97 a pair. If you get mail in rebate you are getting a deal.

 

[openminds]

Still can not find any more info on the 9011-HIR. This bulb looks like it will be a great product, if I could just find more than specs, like if it is for sale somewhere.

 

[Prince_FuFu]

Brebin,
I swapped out my stock bulbs with the Sylvania SilverStars
(9005 hi beams, and 9006 low beams).
They make a significant differance over the stock bulbs.
More of a blue/white light rather than a yellow.
Now my fog lights look dorky since they cast a yellow light.
So, I'm looking for a comparable replacement for those.

Sylvania also gave me a set of Amber DRL's to test/get feedback.
They are actually turn signal bulbs, but I put them into the DRL sockets.
I'll also get them to replace the signal bulbs as soon as they hit the market.
The actual bulb appears to be blue (with a yellow tint in the reflector dish), until you turn it on. Then it's amber.
I REALLY like them.
My contact at Sylvania said that they will hit the market in August.
I' ll let you guys know the number as soon as I get it.

Rob

 

[gpventures]

From the Sylvania website:

We plan to offer the H1, H3, H7, 880 and 893 SilverStar lamps starting summer/fall 2003. We also plan to offer SilverStar signal lights starting fall 2003.

 

[Prince_FuFu]

The SilverStar signal bulbs are what they gave me to test.
I love them as my DRL lamps, amd plan to get more to use as actual signal bulbs.
You guys should love them too.
A few guys saw them at the ECR and loved them.

Rob

 

[brebin]

Thanks for all of the good posts... I think one key question still remains:

The manual says that my Av is already equipped with 9011 high-beam bulbs.

Are these the same as the 9011-HIR bulbs from GE that I posted the spec sheet for or is the 9011-HIR bulb an upgrade from a "regular" 9011?

Also, good news about the 880 and 893 silver stars gpventures! And signal lights too!