After a week of owning my truck I love it, but the headlight assembly is just plain stupid.

The lights on my truck are very poor, can hardly see a thing at night time. I polished up the headlight a few times using some PlastX and they look a lot clearer, but still can't see a thing at night time. Not at the stage where a wet sand is required but it did help.

I'm looking at picking up a new brighter pair of headlight bulbs, but prior to actually getting them I wanted to figure out how to remove the assembly and it was just dumb. Referring to the manual and stuff blah blah blah... I got stuck on the very first screw. The lowest torx driver I had was a T15. I tried both metric and SAE Allen keys and still none fit. I gave up after 20 mins of freezing my bumcheeks off.

What size of screwdriver does the turn signal housing require?

Well.. That "rant" was relieving.

Cheers guys!

 

I have large hands and I was able to reach behind and replace the bulbs without having to remove the entire assembly.

 

I think anyone who has owned one of these trucks would tell you that the new bulb is not really going to help with your complaint. trust me Hate this as well. you might be able to finde some after market set up if you look hard enough!!!!

 

The screw on the turn signal housing is a Torx T-10. You also need a 10mm socket and about a 16 inch long extension for your ratchet to remove the 3 bolts that hold the headlight assembly in place. It also helps to have a wide u-shaped panel removal tool to be able to pop the round ball type push in fastener loose on the top outside corners of each headlight assembly.

Jimmy

 

Yeah our Daks have lots of strangely sized nuts/bolts/torx head bolts. For the shackles, the upper bolt was a normal size bolt, then the bottom was like a T45 torx bolt, maybe bigger. It could have been the other way around. And yeah the stock headlights kinda suck. I put 4 fogs across the front and that helps me tremendously at night lol.

edit: Oh yeah, don't buy torx bits from harbor freight... I got a set with some larger sizes, took em home, and tried to get the bolt loose on the shackle and the bit cracked right in half. The second set has been fine, but I have learned to not take my chances with most things from harbor freight.

 

Maybe I'm just so displeased with the assembly because my Grand Prix uses 1 plastic clip that you simply lift and you can take out the entire head light assembly in 10 seconds. You simply just slide the plastic clip back down and it locks it in place.

@Dakoter

I'm hoping I don't have to drop the money on an aftermark set, the bulbs are really dim though so I'm sure a pair of halogens would help.

@Jimmy

Thanks for the write up!

I was doing a bit of research too and 1A Auto has a perfect description + video on how to do it. All that was really stopping me is that I didn't have a T10 in the garage.

Cheers!

 

The Sylvania Xtra Vision 9007's are the best bulb I have tried that are available for a decent price, less than 20 bucks a pair at Walmart. GE Silverstar Ultra's are better if you can afford the extra cost. Ultra's are said to last longer than plain Silverstars. Don't waste any money on the blue tinted bulbs. They are no brighter or stronger than a regular bulb.

Jimmy

 

I bitched about the first sets lifespan, but my PIAA bulbs are quite good. Brighter than any halogen out there imho. I still want HIDs but am trying to decide how to execute that route.

 

I hate the dull yellow lights too , cant see that far ahead at night when the headlights are on , especially when it`s dark out .

 

yeah i replaced my halogens with some cheap ones they cost $40 and they are brighter than the headlamps