# 2017 Cruze LED bulb upgrades



## Chad20101 (Jul 23, 2019)

Checkout diode dynamics SL1 , it’s worth the upgrade


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## aaronmk4 (8 mo ago)

So to address your issue with finding a 9005 with dual filament (low and high beams), you won't find it. The way the Cruze projector works is it uses a single bulb and inside the projector, there is a shutter that goes down, creating a low beam pattern and when high beams are applied/turned on, the shutter flips out of the way and creates a high beam pattern, utilizing a single bulb for both uses. I'm not 100% knowledgeable on all Cruze headlight variants, but that is how my 2017 TD headlight is. If there is an issue where your high beams are not working and your headlight is the same design, chances are there's an electrical issue or mechanical issue with your headlights. 

Function aside, I bounced around a few LED kits and what tickled my fancy was the GTR Lighting Ultra 2's, which have been in my car for 1.5 years now, 0 issues and VERY bright. Never going with another brand again personally. Using GTR Lighting in my 2017 GMC Sierra 2500 currently as well and to say the least, these lights WORK. Brightest lights I've used personally and has the best beam pattern/hot spot out of the rest of the brands I've used. 

While they are the best I've used, they do come at a heavier price than other kits out there, I paid almost $220 for them for my Cruze. If you don't want to break the bank and get something cheaper and better quality, I'd recommend looking at Hikari (you can find them on Amazon) and they have several versions from cheap to expensive (in price, quality is nice throughout that I've seen).

That's my .02 cents on the topic


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## Barry Allen (Apr 18, 2018)

aaronmk4 said:


> So to address your issue with finding a 9005 with dual filament (low and high beams), you won't find it. The way the Cruze projector works is it uses a single bulb and inside the projector, there is a shutter that goes down, creating a low beam pattern and when high beams are applied/turned on, the shutter flips out of the way and creates a high beam pattern, utilizing a single bulb for both uses.


So, basically any 9005 bulb can be installed and the low/high will work off the same bulbs?


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## aaronmk4 (8 mo ago)

Barry Allen said:


> So, basically any 9005 bulb can be installed and the low/high will work off the same bulbs?


Essentially, yes. But oddly enough looking at my purchase order, looks like they actually sent me size 9006 bulbs. Never noticed because they fit perfect and never gave me an issue, now my mind is in shambles  lol!


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## jblackburn (Apr 14, 2012)

> I'm not 100% knowledgeable on all Cruze headlight variants, but that is how my 2017 TD headlight is.


Yeah, all LT, Diesel, and Premier models use this style light.

The L/LS model has dual bulb reflector headlights.

I second the SL1 recommendation - love mine.


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## Barry Allen (Apr 18, 2018)

How about these: https://a.co/d/4NFVlKm

I'm a huge fan of selective yellow for headlights.


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## aaronmk4 (8 mo ago)

Barry Allen said:


> How about these: https://a.co/d/4NFVlKm
> 
> I'm a huge fan of selective yellow for headlights.


Couldn't tell you how well those would work for visibility, but as long as they're the correct bulb size, they'll work. Normally you want anything in the range of 4300K - 6000K for best visibility. Anything out of that spectrum is typically wasted light and more for looks/appearance. Yellow is typically used in foggy conditions where it helps you see better and helps other drivers spot you more clearly as well.


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## Barry Allen (Apr 18, 2018)

aaronmk4 said:


> Couldn't tell you how well those would work for visibility, but as long as they're the correct bulb size, they'll work. Normally you want anything in the range of 4300K - 6000K for best visibility. Anything out of that spectrum is typically wasted light and more for looks/appearance. Yellow is typically used in foggy conditions where it helps you see better and helps other drivers spot you more clearly as well.


I might give them a try. They appear to be the bulbs with an active cooling fan, but I question how the heat that comes out the tail end of the bulb is dissipated out of the headlight housing. Are there vents that the air will flow out of, or is it just the whole housing distributes heat and then airflow over the headlights carries it out of there?


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## Barry Allen (Apr 18, 2018)

aaronmk4 said:


> Normally you want anything in the range of 4300K - 6000K for best visibility. Anything out of that spectrum is typically wasted light


Higher temperature white light just looks like glare to me. For winter driving I can definitely see how low temperature "yellow" light helps. On my Hyundai I had yellow bulbs that weren't LED and they were great for night and winter driving. They gave so much better vision.


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## aaronmk4 (8 mo ago)

Barry Allen said:


> I might give them a try. They appear to be the bulbs with an active cooling fan, but I question how the heat that comes out the tail end of the bulb is dissipated out of the headlight housing. Are there vents that the air will flow out of, or is it just the whole housing distributes heat and then airflow over the headlights carries it out of there?


A lot of LED kits aren't compatible with the OEM dust cover so most people don't run them unless you find a specific brand/bulb that fits to your liking, but typically you don't find higher wattage bulbs that fit will the cover *and* provide a brighter light/pattern than OEM. I'm sure there are kits out there though. Personally, I've never ran the dust covers on any of my vehicles and never had an issue. As for heat, higher wattage will mean more heat typically so I'm sure if you cocoon all the heat in the headlight with a high heat bulb, it may affect performance of the bulb and such.


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## aaronmk4 (8 mo ago)

Barry Allen said:


> Higher temperature white light just looks like glare to me. For winter driving I can definitely see how low temperature "yellow" light helps. On my Hyundai I had yellow bulbs that weren't LED and they were great for night and winter driving. They gave so much better vision.


Personally I like the pure white look and California weather is never bad enough to challenge the color of the light. I could definitely see how snowy/foggy/heavy rain conditions would though and that's why a majority of OEM HID bulbs are around 4000-4500k, the warm light helps a lot in those situations.


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## Barry Allen (Apr 18, 2018)

aaronmk4 said:


> A lot of LED kits aren't compatible with the OEM dust cover so most people don't run them unless you find a specific brand/bulb that fits to your liking, but typically you don't find higher wattage bulbs that fit will the cover *and* provide a brighter light/pattern than OEM. I'm sure there are kits out there though. Personally, I've never ran the dust covers on any of my vehicles and never had an issue. As for heat, higher wattage will mean more heat typically so I'm sure if you cocoon all the heat in the headlight with a high heat bulb, it may affect performance of the bulb and such.


I kinda figured the o-ring of the bulb seals the actual projector part and maybe that big screw on cover in the back wasn’t strictly necessary.


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## jblackburn (Apr 14, 2012)

Barry Allen said:


> I kinda figured the o-ring of the bulb seals the actual projector part and maybe that big screw on cover in the back wasn’t strictly necessary.


Lets a lot of moisture into the headlights that way.

The Cruze's are vented anyway, so they do that on a cool, humid morning...but losing one of those on a dirt road is how I had basically a permanently foggy light on another car.


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## ncorisis (Apr 15, 2019)

I second the GTR LED bulbs. I haven’t upgraded my Cruze yet, but I’ve been running the GTR LEDs in my Ram for two years without any issues. I purchased my bulbs from Headlight Revolution on Black Friday and saved 20%.


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## Mattwithcats (5 mo ago)

I would use 9011 bulbs in place of the 9005

Simple modification…





__





HIR 9011 and 9012 bulbs are exactly identical in all dimensions to 9005 and 9006 bulbs, except for two areas, the second of wh






shnu.us





1700 lumens to 2300 lumens…


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## aaronmk4 (8 mo ago)

Mattwithcats said:


> I would use 9011 bulbs in place of the 9005
> 
> Simple modification…
> 
> ...


While this is true on halogen, GTR Lighting uses the same wattage on mostly all their LED kits, 41.5W


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## Barry Allen (Apr 18, 2018)

jblackburn said:


> Lets a lot of moisture into the headlights that way.
> 
> The Cruze's are vented anyway, so they do that on a cool, humid morning...but losing one of those on a dirt road is how I had basically a permanently foggy light on another car.


I removed the big screw cap to check the bulb and I'm pretty confident that these new LED bulbs are not going to fit inside there with the cap screwed back on. If they do, it's going to be a very slim fit and makes me wonder about that fan providing cooling ventilation for the bulbs.

It's a definite maybe. I'll get them by Saturday and if we don't have an obnoxiously huge snow storm I will see how they fit in the car.


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## Barry Allen (Apr 18, 2018)

I put those LED bulbs in and the large dust/moisture caps screw back on just fine. I hope it doesn't interfere with the cooling airflow because these LED bulbs have small fans inside the metal body to keep the LED junction temperature from going to high and burning the LEDs out.

I will have to wait until I'm driving home tomorrow to see how the light spread works.


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## Barry Allen (Apr 18, 2018)




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## Barry Allen (Apr 18, 2018)

Does anyone have pointers for adjusting headlight aim?


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## aaronmk4 (8 mo ago)

Barry Allen said:


> Does anyone have pointers for adjusting headlight aim?


GM has a very complex procedure on headlight adjustment that I can send, but personally I just go out to a dark, lonely road with a screwdriver and make my adjustments from there to my liking.


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## Barry Allen (Apr 18, 2018)

aaronmk4 said:


> GM has a very complex procedure on headlight adjustment that I can send, but personally I just go out to a dark, lonely road with a screwdriver and make my adjustments from there to my liking.


Yeah, I just wondered if there was some screws to turn. If so, I can probably get it done my self.

With these new bulbs I notice the brightest light pattern is aimed very left for some reason. It's as if the driver side bulb illuminates the center of the road (to the left of the driver) and the passenger side bulb illuminates straight in front of the car (centered) and there appears to be very little light to the right side of the lane. I want it more even and illuminating what is ahead of the car.


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## aaronmk4 (8 mo ago)

Barry Allen said:


> Yeah, I just wondered if there was some screws to turn. If so, I can probably get it done my self.
> 
> With these new bulbs I notice the brightest light pattern is aimed very left for some reason. It's as if the driver side bulb illuminates the center of the road (to the left of the driver) and the passenger side bulb illuminates straight in front of the car (centered) and there appears to be very little light to the right side of the lane. I want it more even and illuminating what is ahead of the car.


I'd have to look at my car, but I do believe you should have 2 adjustment screws, horizontal and vertical adjustment. At least, that's how my truck is. I'll double check and get back to you as soon as I'm able.


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## Barry Allen (Apr 18, 2018)

aaronmk4 said:


> I'd have to look at my car, but I do believe you should have 2 adjustment screws, horizontal and vertical adjustment. At least, that's how my truck is. I'll double check and get back to you as soon as I'm able.


I could be wrong but I just looked and I don't think these headlights have a horizontal adjustment screw.


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