9th Gen Impala Spec-D Projector Headlight Housings - Which Lamps Are The Best: LED or HID?

From the day I posted the video of the installation of Spec-D projector headlights on my 9G Impala, I felt like I made a huge mistake putting LED lamps inside the housings. The LEDs I initially purchased were rated at 900 Lumens and didn't light up the road very well. In this video I set out to fix that mistake.
First up, I swap out the old Auxitos for a set of Auxito H1 LEDs rated at 2000 lumens. Were they brighter? Did I end up keeping them? Watch and find out.
Secondly, I purchased a Morimoto 55w HID kit from TheRetrofitSource.com.
Were they superior to the LEDs? Watch and find out.
Original installation video:
• 2006-2016 Impala/Limit...
Links to the products in the video (not sponsored.)
Spec-D Tuning Projector Headlamp Housings:
www.amazon.com/dp/B0751WRRW8
Auxito H1 LED lamps rated at 2000 Lumens:
www.amazon.com/dp/B0CBWHMC2P
Morimoto H1 Elite HID Kit:
50w Ballasts - 6000k Lamps - H1 Canbus Harness - Dielectric Grease
www.theretrofitsource.com/h1-...
And finally, a HUGE shout-out to ‪@Dlri‬ for his help in guiding me towards the correct HID setup for the Spec-D housings.
Thanks for watching! Any questions or comments, please post below. If you found this informative or helpful in any way, give a the video a thumbs up! Be sure to check out my other videos, hit the subscribe button, and ring the bell to be notified of new videos! If you're feeling generous, hit the "Thanks" button below to show your gratitude!
#Impala #SpecDHeadlights #MorimotoHID

[@chipjumper]

Gotta use shims with trial and error. Make your own wire harness so you can test without mounting the headlight.

[@CertifiedShadetree]

Curious what exactly needs to be shimmed in this instance? Or are you talking about using shims as a mounting bracket for the ballasts?? I'm confused!! 🤔

[@chipjumper]

​@CertifiedShadetree I'm referring to shimming the actual bulb base before its inserted into the assembly. Special shims are sold to do this or make your own. It adjusts the depth of the bulb thus controls the hot spot

[@CertifiedShadetree]

@@chipjumper No shit? I'm surprised the place I bought my HID kit from didn't offer them, or even mention them.

[@chipjumper]

Take headlight assembly off car. Rig up some sort of wiring harness to power the led bulb and carefully move it backwards to see how the Hotspot changes. You might be very surprised. Drop-in LED bulbs into projector beams don't always work well as it's difficult to match the sweet spot unlike a HID bulb that emits insane light in all directions. People do successfully use LED bulbs but use certain ones and also spend the time with trial-and-error testing out shims and rotation to fine tune.

[@CertifiedShadetree]

@@chipjumperGotcha! Thanks for the tip!!

[@Dlri]

I don’t think the camera was doing the HIDs justice on how bright they are 🤣 and you may or may not have convinced me to upgrade my set to the ones you have whenever mine go out 😅 but I’m glad it turned out well for you and it wasn’t a waste of all that money 😂 whenever I was making the same conspiracies on LEDs in projectors, I asked my good friend who’s a mechanic why they don’t look nearly as good as you’d expect them to, he said “LEDs were mainly designed as an upgrade for old school reflector style headlights, not so much for projectors, he also added “once the projector style headlight was engineered in the 80s for the more “‘luxury” style cars, most of them came with HID bulbs from the factory due to the increased light output at night over halogen, even still to this day.” I also did a similar experiment to our 2017 Cruze that my madre drives, it has the upgraded factory projectors and I tried both LEDs and HIDs to see which is better. The LEDs were an improvement over the stock halogen bulbs the car came with, but the beam was definitely not as focused as it was when I put an HID kit in there instead. Also if you go back to when you had those LED bulbs in those spec d headlights, you might have noticed the “wing effect” that LED bulbs have when they’re inside a projector headlight since the light is coming from the 2 diodes on each side, and since HIDs give off light in a 360° direction, it distributes the light better and more focused than around 90% of any LED bulb you try.

[@CertifiedShadetree]

I guess I always made that assumption in the back of my mind about the 2-sided LEDs being like that. It's likely my viewing of several YT channels that test LED lamps in both reflector and projector housings that got my hopes up on LEDs working in the Spec-D's.🤷‍♂️ Oh and FWIW, The Retrofit Source is having a massive sale right now. When I was posting up links to my setup, the price was down to $202! I paid $275 altogether with tax and shipping.😡 🤣🤣

[@CertifiedShadetree]

You're 1000% right about the camera not doing the HIDs justice!! Especially the high beams! I think it conveyed the improvement in light spread over the LEDs.

[@mobes329]

That was another awesome video that you put out I liked it.🎉

[@CertifiedShadetree]

Appreciate it, thanks! 🍻

[@LamelKendrick]

Thanks!

[@CertifiedShadetree]

🙏Much appreciated!!

[@LamelKendrick]

look at Jay Smart's latest video if you want to hear /read some really bad 9th gen impala 3.6 info and everyone in the comments just jumping on board even if they never owned one. I bet Not one person in the comments can clearly name a budget american sedan that's better made (because there hasn't been one), yet they will just comment like the gm 3.6 is the one of the worst engines ever made. It's bananas. @@CertifiedShadetree

[@CertifiedShadetree]

Opinions are like assholes - everyone has one, and they all stink to high heaven!! 🤣 I'll get the occasional troll comment that I should "buy a real car" or "Toyotas are the best" that sort of nonsense. Might've been true 30 years ago when Toyotas sold here were actually built in Japan, but surely not today when most of 'em are built in right-to-work states using chinese parts..

[@gphilipc2031]

Is Spec D among the best aftermarket headlamps? Do they make LEDs for the fog lights? How frequently do you need to service the K&N filter?

[@CertifiedShadetree]

Assuming you meant bulbs, as you asked if Spec-D made LEDs for the fog lights. Spec-D is the brand of headlight housing, they don't make lamps. The Auxito LEDs I purchased would be better served in a reflector housing. They make lamps for the Impala's fog light housings. K&N filters should be washed and re-oiled every 50k miles..

[@TheShornak]

I would suggest on the passanger side those 2 parts you double sided taped to run a wire tie around them. I have just seen too many double sided tape failures in my time.

[@CertifiedShadetree]

Thanks for that suggestion!

[@ranger69xpope45]

Hi, yes I had a question and I was wondering if you could help me?

[@CertifiedShadetree]

I received your email..

[@LamelKendrick]

Hello Certified, currently watching your 4 part LFX 3.6 cleaning video - I noticed you say cylinder 5 was the most carboned up. I just bought a 2012 impala and have a random misfire, it's not bad enough to illuminate the CEL but it does feel a little sluggish. I changed the plugs and all of them looked fairly clean, except cylinder 5 was coated in oil, fortunately the oil was clean and not sludgy. Do you think there's something going on with cylinder 5 in these? What do you think my issue might be if 1, 3 ...2, 4, 6 all look clean and spark plug well 5 is a mess?

[@CertifiedShadetree]

My educated guess is cylinder 5 is the closest to the restrictive PCV valve. Drilling out the holes of the PCV valve is the best thing you can do on these engines. Drill the top hole with a 7/64 bit and the 2 on the bottom with a 5/64.

[@LamelKendrick]

appreciate that. IS there a video title i should search for that shows how to do that? I'm definitely holding out to spend money to fix things until i can pinpoint the issue, I have heard too many people spend a couple hundred dollars and spend hours replacing things that weren't the issue...so long as no CEL, i'm gonna keep studying. The car also has these sort of deep groaning sounds when driving, sounds similar to a power steering problem but not quite the same sound, not sure what triggers it yet, doesn't seem to affect acceleration of shifting or turning. Possibly Stabilitrack related@@CertifiedShadetree

[@CertifiedShadetree]

@@LamelKendrick Check out Camaro Mods Channel - he did a video on it. Also, if you go way back to one of my first videos on how to install a catch can, I have a video linked in the description showing how to drill out the holes..

[@LamelKendrick]

do you need an oil catch can if you do that mod?@@CertifiedShadetree

[@CertifiedShadetree]

@@LamelKendrick No, but I would highly recommend installing one along with a clean side separator if you never want to clean your intake valves again..

[@chrisharper9175]

Not worried about it melting the projector? I have the same headlights. On the fence about which type to get?

[@CertifiedShadetree]

Worried about the HID lamps melting the projector? Absolutely not! They run a lot cooler than halogens!!

[@chrisharper9175]

Thanks for the reply. Saving money to get the hid kit. I’ve bought the second set you got exactly. Just didn’t wanna void my warranty. Thanks for the great video my friend.

[@CertifiedShadetree]

@@chrisharper9175 No problem! 🍻 That Morimoto kit is worth every penny!!

[@chrisharper9175]

@@CertifiedShadetreehey buddy one more question, does it matter for the resistors which side hooks to black and which side hooks to yellow? Just wanted to make sure before I hook these up.

[@CertifiedShadetree]

@@chrisharper9175 No sir, it doesn't matter how you connect it. Current will flow in either direction through a resistor.

[@playeroneunknown4897]

Hey, so for leds you got the bad brand you need to choose high wattage leds, as i have the spyder projectors with 65 watts each side for the low beams, 22000 lumens is not a real thing as it wouldnt be legal, and the bulbs have to be adjustable on the lip side with a huge fan

[@CertifiedShadetree]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/rZ2wqJZnmJV7iLMsi=9v2hqvTG2LAF2TEN How's the beam pattern? Any hot spots?