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How do you change headlight bulbs on 09?

8900 Views 8 Replies 6 Participants Last post by  02CoalRoller
What happened to the days of twisting and pulling two little rods to release the entire assembly like the OBS trucks? My 17 year old and I went to install the Silver Star lights today and were stumped. The owner's manual says I have to remove the air cleaner housing on the passenger side but how? It says nothing about the battery or washer fluid tank on the driver side. After looking at it for a while, we thought we could remove the two bolts on top of the housings but then found at least one more bolt burried behind the grill. OK, that looks easy enough to get out. 4 bolts and a bunch of clips but wait! What is this big plastic bumper piece connected to the bottom of the grill?

As he worked the grill, I fished my hand down in front of the air cleaner and got both bulbs swapped out. With daylight running out, we decided to put it all back together with only half the lights installed. Besides it would be a great opportunity to see them side by side.

Well, they are whiter and brighter by about 15-20%, not the 30% they claim. The packaging also has some outrageous claims about wider beam pattern but that is just not true. The pattern is no wider than it was before. Not bad for $50 or so I thought. As my son is reading the packaging, he finds out that bulb life is only 25% of what the factory bulbs are! Holy crap! I am going to have to tear the truck apart more often?

I avoided HID because using them for DRL has its drawbacks and high beams are not very easy on them either. With all the back road driving I do, I'm kind of bummed about the results.
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poor reasons for not using hid. you would like them alot more. I wouldn't own a vehicle without them. u can get a nice hid kit for the same price as the silverstars.
Don't you think the run time of the DRL and the constant on/off of the high beams will shorten their life considerably? Also, is DRL on these trucks at a lower voltage than headlights. It was on some older vehicles.

I will probably try them when the Silver Stars burn out.
take off the grill and than it well be self explained to you than take off the screws on top of head light than the one behind it not a screw it a weage the grill and it will fall out
Don't you think the run time of the DRL and the constant on/off of the high beams will shorten their life considerably? Also, is DRL on these trucks at a lower voltage than headlights. It was on some older vehicles.

I will probably try them when the Silver Stars burn out.
not really a problem with the on off all the time. but if u have a voltage proble you can buy or make a relay kit that is cheap to fix that problem.
take off the grill and than it well be self explained to you than take off the screws on top of head light than the one behind it not a screw it a weage the grill and it will fall out
The plastic upper bumper surround is attached to the bottom of the grill. It looks like it comes out as one unit, right? If so, is it just the two screws in each fender holding it on?

If the grill comes out alone, how d you do it and separate it from the bumper surround?

Thanks guys!
take out the battery and the airbox if you can't get your hands in there. it's not really that hard.
You will get about a year out of the Silverstars and they will go out within 2 weeks of each other. That is why I went with HIDs - much brighter and a more even output of light.
Dont run DRLs. Get in, and drive with parking lights on. Looks cooler, and it saves bulb life
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