Chevy and GMC Duramax Diesel Forum banner

How-To: Install '07.5+ Cab Lights on '01-'07 Silverado

141K views 202 replies 71 participants last post by  hstechfl 
#1 · (Edited)
I couldn't find a good how-to to install cab lights on my '01 so I decided to write a in-depth one for anyone else who is looking. I had to use multiple threads, pictures, and dimensions to get them right. Hopefully this helps someone in the future.

This will work on all '01+ Silverado trucks. The dimensions used here are specific for the '01-'07 trucks. I'd assume the '07.5+ trucks will be a little different on the dimensions, but the theory is still the same.


Difficulty: 7 out of 10.

I give it a 7 out of 10 because of the drilling of a perfectly good cab roof is a little nerve racking.


Install Time: 3 hours

I did the install by myself, including all the measuring. The only help I got was a second person to measure to make sure the templates I made were taped in the correct location.


Tools Needed:
- #2 Phillips Screw Driver
- 1/4" Drive Ratchet
- 1/4" Drive Extension, 6"
- 1/4" Drive T15 Socket
- 1/4" Drive T20 Socket
- Drill (corded or cordless with a low speed setting)
- 7/64" Drill Bit (for metal)
- 5/8" Drill Bit (for metal)
- Touch-up Paint (to match truck color)
- Black Automotive Silicone
- 2" Painters Tape


Parts Needed:
- '07.5+ Driver Side Cab Light (GM Part #: 20966091)
- '07.5+ Passenger Side Cab Light (GM Part #: 20966092)
- '07.5+ Center Cab Light (GM Part #: 20966093)
- '02-'07 Cab Light Wiring Harness (GM Part #: 15846970)
- '08-'12 Cab Light Wiring Harness (GM Part #: 22823370) <-- This is for those wanting to do this to their '08-'12 trucks and make it plug and play



Prior to Install:

Prior to starting the install there is a couple things you can do to get ready.

First thing is fairly simple. The cab light wiring harness needs the wires swapped. The LED cab lights for the '07.5+ trucks are polarity sensitive. That means the positive and negative must be on the correct pins for them to work. The '03-'07 cab light wiring harness has them backwards to work with the '02-'07 lights. To do this, remove the blue keeper with a small flat screw driver. Once it is removed, you can pry the clip up that is holding the wire pin in and pull the pin out; do this for both pins. Once both pins are out, swap their locations with each other.

Next, you will want to cut the ring off from around the plug on the outer lights. This ring serves no purpose and will just cause you to have to drill a larger hole on the outer lights. I used a hack saw to cut the rings off with.

Next what you want to do is to make a set of templates for the cab lights. Since the cab lights do not come with a removable gasket to use as a marking point, making your own template is the only way to go.

Cut a 11/16" square hole in a section of card board. Now center the wiring portion of a light in that hole. Once it is centered, press the light down and trace the outline of the light on the cardboard. Use a sharp box cutter or a good pair of scissors to cut the outline out. Once it is cut out. Place the cutout under the light and screw the OEM screws into the card board. They should suck the cardboard up tight against the light.

Repeat the above for each light until you have 3 templates; one for each light.










Prepping the Interior for Cab Light Installation:

Now you can get the interior of the truck read for the cab light install. To do this you will need to take the sun visors, overhead console, and A-pillar trim pieces off.

To remove the sun visors (this will be the same for both visors), pop them out of the hold and pivot them towards the door. Use the T20 socket to remove the screw holding the clip to the cab. Now use the T15 socket to remove the 3x screws holding the actual sun visor to the cab. Repeat this for the opposite side.


Now, take the #2 Phillips Screwdriver and remove the single screw in the overhead console. This screw is located towards the windshield. Once that screw is removed, pop the console clips from the cab. Unplug the wiring going to the console and set the console out of the way.




Grab the top of each A-pillar trim and gently pull out. Once it is pulled out, you will be able to slide the A-pillar trim up out of the dash and lay it out of the way.




Remove the passenger side portion of the dash (same spot as the fuse box, only on the passenger side) to revel the distribution block the wiring harness will plug into.

Feed the dash end of the wiring down from the top of the dash by the A-pillar. You can follow the wires once it is down from the dash and wrap it into the distribution block. You can plug the wiring harness into the only open slot.





Feed the other portion of the wiring up the passenger A-pillar and across the roof to the driver side light area.



Cab Light Layout:

Now let's prep for the cab light install on the cab.

Take your 2" Painters Tape and cover the cab area. You will want to cover an area from the windshield up to about 10". This will give you plenty of room for the template layout and to keep from scratching the cab. The painters tape is there to help keep the paint from chipping around the area you are drilling and to make it easier to layout the templates.






Now you can start laying out your templates in their area. We will layout the outside lights first as the center light will be measured off each of the outer lights.

The driver side template goes 3.5" from the first ridge near the door to the outside portion of the light. The front of the driver side light goes 5" from the top of the black windshield trim. Make sure you measure the front of the light on both sides as the light needs to be curved to flow with the window. Use some of the painters tape to secure the template in its location once you have the measurements correct.

The passenger side template goes 3.5" from the first ridge near the door to the outside portion of the light. The front of the passenger side light goes 5" from the top of the black windshield trim. Make sure you measure the front of the light on both sides as the light needs to be curved to flow with the window. Use some of the painters tape to secure the template in its location once you have the measurements correct.

The center light goes 11" from the inside edge of each outer light to the outer edge of the center light. The center light also goes 5" from the top of the black windshield trim. Make sure to measure the center light to windshield trim in 2 places to make sure it is square with the windshield. Use some of the painters tape to secure the template in its location once you have the measurements correct.


In the picture below, you will see the ridge the outer lights are measured too.




In the picture below, you will see the dimensions as they pertain to the templates/lights.




Now is the spot where you start double, triple, and quadruple checking your measurements. It is a good idea to have someone else check the measurements. Tell them where to measure to and have them tell you what they measured. If they get the same as you, then your ready to start drilling.








Drilling the Cab:

Now you are ready to drill the cab.

I started by drilling the largest hole for each light. Start with a smaller, pilot bit and work your way up to the 5/8" bit. When drilling the cab, make sure your drill is on the lowest speed. Doing the step up and the low speed drill will ensure that your drill bit doesn't catch and distort the cab. Center the smaller drill bit in the square you cut out of the template. It is best to step your way up 5-6 times.

Once your are done with the larger hole, use the 7/64" drill bit to drill the mounting screw holes. With your template in place, you should be able to go through where the screws went through the cardboard. Again, make sure your drill is on its slowest speed.

Once your are done drilling all the holes (there should be 10 holes), remove the painters tape from the roof. Once the tape is removed, double check to make sure your plugs on the lights will fit in the large holes; make any adjustments to the hole as needed to make the light fit.

Once you know the plug fits, use your touch up paint to cover the bare metal. This will help prevent the bare metal from rusting.




Allow the touch up paint to dry for about 30 minutes.



Installing the Cab Lights:

Now you are ready to install the cab lights.

Start by taking the black automotive silicone and running a 1/8" bead around the large hole and putting a good dab on the screw holes.


 
See less See more
20
#76 ·
Is there any way to do this without using the harness. Not really conserned with the wiring aspect, i just cant figure out a good way to connect to the pin on the oem lights. Can u just use really small female connectors or does anyone have an idea of some where to buy a plug thats not the gm one for 15$ a piece. Also the 02 harness that connector was plug and play all u had to do was swap the polarity. If anyone has ideas on how to make a good connection i would be greatful, already have the light, and i am sorry to dig up an old thread. Thanks
 
#77 ·
Do yourself a favor (and whoever might buy your truck in the future) and spend the $28 or so to get the harness from GM Parts Direct.

I HATE when people splice wires when there is a cheap option to the problem.
 
#78 ·
U obviously used the harness, but i dont really understand how that one works because arnt the 02 cab lights bulbs? And im not trying to do the easy way out, more i dont feel like waiting to have it shipped. So i was trying to look at my option i will probably buy the harness though.
 
#87 ·
Get the harness I did it on my 01. Even with the 01-07 lights having bulbs they just have one plug per light cluster
 
#79 ·
I used the harness for the '02-'07 trucks. The only difference in the '07.5+ cab light harness is the wires are switch changing the polarity in the wiring. This is an EASY fix if you are using the NBS wiring with the NNBS lights.

The '02-'07 trucks are bulb lights, however they do only have 1 connection per light. There is 3 lights. The center light has only 1 connection just like the outer lights.
 
#82 ·
Great job OP. thumbup
 
#84 ·
Cab lights are the same. The wiring harness is probably different as it is the wiring harness for the GMT800 ('99-'07) trucks.
 
#86 ·
I did this install last week. Worst part was taking out the interior pieces. Measuring was hard with one person but being able to mark on the tape is definitely a plus. I used the measurements but eyeballed the outside ones for alignment, also used a hole saw after I drilled a pilot hole for the plug holes. All in all it took about 2 hours to do, would definitely do it again if I got another truck. I used permatex silicone and put it on the roof as well as a circle around the plug on the lights. Really light the look and they're bright as hell. This writeup helped me a lot. Be sure to get the factory harnes just for plug and play of it. Recon lights are trash and if your looking for oem lights go to gmpartsdirect.com with the part #s and you can get all of them for under $200.
 
#90 ·
Yes, you can install the cab lights on a truck with a sunroof.
 
#92 ·
If your truck has the cab lights installed from the factory, no, the '07.5+ cab lights will not work. The reason is the mounting holes will not line up and cover the GMT-800 style lights.

The harness is plug and play though.
 
#94 ·
From what I've read, all the aftermarket lights leak water into the lenses.
 
#96 ·
I know your post is old but I just installed the lights on my truck today and used your instructions here. My lights look fantastic. Thank you for the write up!
 
#97 ·
anybody who did this think its possible to do this without pulling the driver side pillar back? My gauge pod is on there and my wiring is run real tight so Id rather not mess with it.

Could I drill the driver side hole, stick a clothes hanger in there and fish the harness so i dont have to remove the pillar?

Thanks
 
#98 ·
Yes, I think it is very possible. You will have to remove the overhead console and will be able to reach through there to plug in the lights. One thing I will add when not pulling down the headliner completely is be careful drilling your 1/2" or 5/8" holes. It is very easy to poke a hole through your headliner with the drill bit. It happened to me. But I do not see any reason you cannot do the whole process leaving the left pillar in place.
 
#100 ·
Looks good.

I will be updating this later this week to include the '08-'14 trucks as well.
 
#102 ·
I was looking through this thread, and there is a lot of good information on here, but I have a question I did not see answered. I have a 2000 Yukon 2500. Will the '01-'07 harness work on my Yukon? Its a NSB truck, but not sure if the wiring changed in '01.
 
#103 ·
It should. Open the passenger side of your dash and make sure you have the green plug. You can always test the pins in the plug to make sure they power on/off with your parking/headlights. If you do, it should/will work.
 
#106 ·
Has anyone used the harness mentioned above (15846970) in a truck with GPS? GPS equipped harness is listed by GM but its about 50 bucks more than the non-GPS. Anyone know the difference?
 
#107 ·
It doesn't matter if your truck has GPS, OnStar, or XM. This harness will work. The harness in the how-to is strictly the cab light wiring harness. It is the same harness combined with the other wiring for a 1 upper cab wire harness from the factory. Unless you want to spend the extra money, the 1 harness with everything isn't needed.
 
#109 ·
I put my new lights on today and I noticed the two outside ones were flush with the roof, but the center one is flush on one side and there is a small gap on the other. I put silicone around the holes and on the lights before I installed them. I also run water after I let the silicone set up and no leaks, but I was wondering if any else had the same problem.


Sent from AutoGuide.com Free App
 
#110 ·
Did you tighten down one side tighter than the other?

The lights don't have to be super tight. They have a gasket on the bottom of them.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top