9005 Bulb Mod

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9005 Bulb Mod

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9005 Bulb Mod - 12/26/2006 12:55:59 AM

swartlkk

Posts: 14499
Joined: 5/1/2005
From: Waterloo, NY
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So I just completed this tonight. I actually remembered to take the camera out to the garage to snap some pictures throughout the process. Here goes...

This mod will allow you to use the bulb from the high beam (9005) in the low beam (9006) position.

^^^Tools Required^^^

^^^Bulb Modification^^^ - Cut down the two ridges in the plug socket to allow the 9006 plug to properly engage. I just used the sheetrock knife to slice them down. Seemed to work better than my dremel with the small sanding drum. Just test fit on the plug to see if you've done enough.

^^^Prep for headlamp modification^^^ - Remove the four 7/32" screws and the one 10mm nut holding on the rear framework of the headlamp.

^^^Headlamp Modification^^^ - Remove the three T10 screws holding on the metal retention ring. Then use the rotary tool to grind down the protrusion circled in green.

^^^Headlamp Modification Done^^^ - Shot of the protrusion all ground down. Reinstall the retention ring and test fit the 9005 bulb. If the bulb fits fine, reinstall the rear framework and reinstall in the vehicle.

Now you may want to verify your headlamp aiming once you have done this because the low beams will be brighter.

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Kyle-

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Post #: 1

RE: 9005 Bulb Mod - 12/26/2006 1:43:28 AM

Chevy Lover

General Tech Moderator
Posts: 3411
Joined: 6/11/2006
From: Vancouver. B.C. Canada
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Pretty slick Kyle.
If you can get everyone to brighten up their headlights on their trucks, I could open a shop for tinting windows on all those low to the ground sports cars...lol

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Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day, teach a man to fish, and he will sit on a boat drinking beer for a life time

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RE: 9005 Bulb Mod - 12/26/2006 9:55:22 AM

Jigg

Posts: 494
Joined: 12/1/2006
Status: offline

Nice writeup!

I did the same mod, I just trimmed the inside of the bulb (like kyle), and then trimmed off a bit of the tabs on the outside of the bulb with some tin snips so it fit in the 9006 slot. Took a total of 3 minutes.

(in reply to Chevy Lover)

Post #: 3

RE: 9005 Bulb Mod - 12/26/2006 11:05:44 AM

Dabber

Posts: 375
Joined: 7/11/2006
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Me Too^^^^^^

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Post #: 4

RE: 9005 Bulb Mod - 12/26/2006 1:46:52 PM

swartlkk

Posts: 14499
Joined: 5/1/2005
From: Waterloo, NY
Status: offline

I'm going to do another installment on this sometime in the next few days. I'm going to modify my 9006 connectors to allow for either 9005 or 9006 bulbs. This way when I have a bulb blow, I don't have to modify anything.

I know you could just trim down the tab, but I'm more for the initial work rather than fuss with things later on.

Besides, I was on some kind of caffiene high last night so I figured I'd do as much as I could. I didn't end up getting to sleep until 4:30am! Son woke me up at 7am and I've been on the move since.

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Post #: 5

RE: 9005 Bulb Mod - 3/9/2007 6:05:00 PM

swartlkk

Posts: 14499
Joined: 5/1/2005
From: Waterloo, NY
Status: offline

Well, after having one bulb burn out, I looked more closely into this whole mod.

One rather large issue that I missed in the whole process is that the 9006 bulb a larger diameter at the o-ring seal shoulder than the 9005 high beam bulb. So the bulb is not sealed in the housing. So although the bulb can now fit, it does not seal.

Comparing last nights driving around with 9005 bulbs in the lows to tonights driving around with the stock 9006 bulb lows, I can say that there is little difference. With the Quad Beam mod, there is even less of a difference with the highs on.

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Post #: 6

RE: 9005 Bulb Mod - 3/19/2007 8:46:52 PM

88blackzcand95blazer

Posts: 41
Joined: 1/22/2007
Status: offline

what is the point

seems to me upgrading bulbs or the quad beam relay would do more to help you see and lees to get you pulled over,

am i missing something?

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Post #: 7

RE: 9005 Bulb Mod - 3/19/2007 10:17:19 PM

swartlkk

Posts: 14499
Joined: 5/1/2005
From: Waterloo, NY
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The 9005 & 9006 bulbs (seal ring diameter aside) are practically identical. I measured the distance from the mounting face to the filament and both are the same. The main difference between the 9005 & the 9006 is that the 9005 does not have the black tip.

There was a light output improvement with the 9005 bulbs in the low beam port with the lows on, but with highs on, there is very little difference. The bulbs do not dictate the pattern, the lamp housings do that. So if the housings are aimed properly, you won't have a problem with being pulled over with either setup.

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Please Do Not PM for Tech Help

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RE: 9005 Bulb Mod - 3/20/2007 12:32:34 PM

fernandoh

Posts: 51
Joined: 12/29/2006
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The 9005 has more watts. And light supply depends in watts (every other aspect being constant, which is not the case as more wattage mean more resistance, etc.). I did the high in low mod and I think is quite good for normal driving in highways when you usually can`t use high beams. I put some HIR 9005 bulbs in the high beams and .....not such a big change.
For one reason or the other USA cars are poor in lights (DOT regulations can compete 100 w european bulbs). The use of relays can improve that (at least in my 95 Blazer it did).

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Post #: 9

RE: 9005 Bulb Mod - 3/29/2007 2:44:16 PM

swartlkk

Posts: 14499
Joined: 5/1/2005
From: Waterloo, NY
Status: offline

Well, I went back to this mod looking for a way around the issues present. I found a solution to the larger size bore of the 9006 mounting location. Someone on another board suggested using the o-ring from the 9006 bulb on the shoulder of the 9005. Here is a picture illustrating this:

This should seal up the bulb to the housing and solve this problem all together. I'll let you know how it goes later when I actually get a chance to try it. Right now my intake manifold is sitting on my work bench all clean and ready to go back on with new lower intake gaskets. That is on the schedule for finishing it up tonight.

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Please Do Not PM for Tech Help

(in reply to fernandoh)

Post #: 10