PVS-1959

I've pretty much spent the last couple weeks just looking at my new C6 in the garage due to our wonderful sub freezing temperatures here in the Chicago area.

There's not much I can see that I want to change. I don't like to do a lot of mods to my vehicles... and the ones I do I like to keep the stock look as much as possible. I did add the rear spoiler because I felt that was something that it really lacked from the factory. I most likely will even keep the stock basic head unit for the foreseeable future since the sound is excellent and I can plug in my phone to the AUX input for Pandora, Spotify etc.
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That being said, the only thing I can really think of changing is the exterior bulbs to LED's to bring it up to date.

​​​​​​ I like the look of the smoked LED side marker lights on the silver Vettes, and would also like to change the lo/hi beam headlights and driving lights to 6,000k HID and LED's. Lastly I'd like to change the license plate bulb and backup bulbs to LEDs also. I don't see much gain in adding LEDs to the tail lights or the front turn signals, but that's still an option also.. I might change the interior map light to LED's at some point. I've watched a ton of YouTube videos on the procedures for most of these replacements and think I have a pretty good grasp on the installations.

I do have a few questions before I tackle these projects....

1.. Does anyone know the stock whiteness level of the low beam HID? Is it already 6000k?
2.. Do I really need to remove the front wheels to get at the high and low beam bulbs?
3. Are there any pitfalls I need to watch out for when replacing all these bulbs.
4. Has anyone seen any improvement by going with LEDs for the front turn signals or stock tail lights?

Thanks very much in advance for any assistance!

crusher1

Vette lights has everything you need...Great service. I have everything you mentioned on mine from vette lights.

Pretty easy to replace all. You can just turn the wheels to access for the low beams and jack up the the side you working on with a hydraulic jack., thats what I did. But removing the tire would make it easier but not necessary.


Swap out the head unit makes a big difference also. I put a Kenwwod with front and rear cameras in mine with apple car play....

https://www.vette-lights.com/collect...13-c6-corvette

sramzzz

I have replaced all my bulbs inside and out with leds, except for the low and big beams. I used Vette lights for low build and did the hid conversion for high. I also used Vette lights for the fog replacement.

I used bulbs with built in resistors for tail and DRLs.

For all others I used a brand called Auxito and have had no issues.

airblaine

my experience with taillights is when swapping out to LED, it interfered with the radio reception. i used the resisters and no difference. went back to stock light bulbs

wjnjr

1) The OEM low beam HIDs were about 3700-4000k. That's when they were new. As you know, HIDs change color over time. Also, a previous owner could have changed bulbs.

2) While you don't have to, it really makes things easier.

3) Be careful not to drop the tiny screws that hold the low beam HIDs to their housing!

4) Yes. You can get LED replacement 3157 bulbs that are brighter than incandescent bulbs.

Budarooski

I changed all lights (headlights, fog lights, side markers, and backup lights to LED...everything came from Vette Lights. I left the tail lights alone because they're just fine in stock form.

Huge difference with night time driving and when backing up. I went with switch lights in the DLR so they're white if the fog lights and on and yellow when the fog lights are not on (and yellow when the turn signal is used). Side markers are smoked lens - the LEDs in those light up the entire side marker vs. the stock lighing up just a small circle of the side marker.

wjnjr

Here's a couple of videos showing the difference between LEDs and incandescent bulbs in the front DRL/turn signals and rear turn signal/brake lights. These are replacement LED bulbs in stock housings, and in both videos the LEDs are on the driver's side. Both videos shot at sunset.

wjnjr

LED vs incandescent bulbs in the backup lights:




And if you want to take things to the next level, here's what you can do with LEDs in your hi beams, lo beams, and fog lights. These are custom LED projectors in the head lights, and LED replacement bulbs in the stock fog light housings and DRLs. LED side markers too.



All these lights came from forum vendor Sharp Light Innovations. No interference with any of the car's electronics, just lots of light

https://sharplightinnovations.com/

PVS-1959

Thanks all, very helpful info!

After seeing the videos, I will likely change the tail and turn signal bulbs also. I put switchback front turn signals, LED tailights/license plate/dome on my Jeep Wrangler and really like the difference. It already came with factory LED headlights.

I will likely get some lights at Vette Lights and Sharp Lights, but I do have a giftcard at Amazon and will purchase some there also... I do check for bulbs with lots of reviews and minimum of 4.5 star ratings there. I have already been considering the Auxito H9 high beam bulb as well as some 6000k D1S low-beam HID's.

PVS-1959

Made some progress.

"THE FRUGAL CORVETTE GUY" (Probably a name used by others I imagine)

I replaced the side markers with smoke LEDs ($35) Backup LEDs ($16) Fog/Driving LEDs ($14) map/courtesy/license plate LEDs ($8) Total of $72 so far including tax. All had free shipping.

I decided to just go with 4 Philips Crystal Vision tail-light bulbs for $10, since good tail-light/turn signal bulbs with resistors -- and that have a decent contrast between normal and braking mode seem to be around $100, and I don't think it's quite as big a deal with the red lenses. All the bulbs I bought have at least a 4.4 star rating with many (several hundred to thousands) reviews on Amazon. Side marker LEDs had 100% positive feedback with 30 total reviews specific to that product on ebay. I kinda get the feeling that all the smoked side marker LEDs on the web are made in the same factory in China.

Had a tail-light speed nut fall into the inside of the car which was frustrating. Fortunately it fell all the way to the bottom valance and I just had to loosen that to get it out.

Still will be doing the hi/lo beams and front turn signals after I get a low-profile floor jack and pucks. Also going to replace the 562 trunk bulbs with LEDs

Thanks for the input! I can post pics if anyone is interested.

raydulce

This might be old news to some, but I've been searching for a long time and FINALLY found it. I wanted extended dust covers for the high beams so that I could put in a nice LED lamp... I searched for a long time and suddenly stubled on them at Vette Lights!!! It's now time to get this done!!!

javaman

Cole’s customer service and support can’t be beat!! Plus, you get this nifty bottle opener! Perfect for my 5:00 Heineken!