Yukon and Denali

[Bxscig]

I am wondering if the 2002 Yukon and Denali headlights are direct swappable.

[Eggert]

Yes they are, I just did it today.
There is one modification you must make:
Both Denali Hi and Low beams are 9005. The old low beams are 9006. This is not a big deal, but you must make the groove on the light bulb connector wide enough to accept the two ridges from the bulb.
I used a drill and a kitchen knife. Be careful, the plastic is quite soft.
An alternative would be to cut off the 9006 connectors and get two 9005 connectors from a car parts store.

There is a thread you might want to read:
http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbul...d.php?t=208142
Take care, Eggert

[Bxscig]

Thanks EggBert. I am not too familiar with the differences of the Yukon, Yukon XL and Yukon Denali. So the headlights are interchangable for the 3 for 2002 models right? I see that you have the XL... not sure if it is.

Another thing I haven't been able to figure out is how do you remove the headlights? Any pointers or instructions?

Thanks for your help and links. I was thinking about going with the denail headlights and getting a 9005 retrofitted HID kit.

[tonytone]

Eggert--I must be missing something; why can't you just use a 9005 bulb for the Denali low beam instead of modifying the socket opening so that you can use a 9006 bulb instead...unless for some reason the Denali projectors you have didn't come with the connectors which will allow you to plug in a 9005 bulb. IIRC the OEM Denali projectors come with the correct 9005 connector harnesses...so your set is either somehow missing them, or they're not OEM.

[Eggert]

Hi tonytone,
the light bulbs come with the headlamps, the connectors are part of the chassis wiring harness. So I have to fit a 9006 socket to take a 9005 bulb. This just means widening a notch in the connector.

Hi Bxscig, please let me clarify.
GMC Yukon is the short CHASSIS version, Yukon XL is the long version.
With Chevy, Tahoe is the short CHASSIS version, Suburban is the long version.
Denali is the top TRIM LEVEL for GMC pickup trucks and SUV's.
Only the Denalis get the projector headlamps.
They also get the 6 liter engine from the 3/4 ton 2500 models, although they are 1/2 ton 1500 models.
Regular headlamps use 9006 bulbs for the low beam and 9005 bulbs for the high beam.
Denali projector headlamps use 9005 bulbs for both the high beam and the low beam.

The lamp sockets are part of the wiring harness that comes with the chassis.
You will have a small problem if you put a regular headlamp on a Denali, or if you put a Denali headlamp on a regular Yukon.
The sockets for 9005 and 9006 are notched differently to avoid putting the wrong bulb into them.
On my regular, non Denali Yukon the wiring is for 9005 highbeams and 9006 lowbeams.
In order to put 9005 bulbs in the low beam socket keyed for 9006, the socket has to be modified as mentioned 2 posts up.
To repeat, the Denalis use a non standard configuration of having 9005 for the low beams, which normally is a high beam bulb.
Hope this helps. Take care, Eggert

[Eggert]

How to remove the headlights:
Open the hood. For each headlamp you will find two black pins stuck downward in the corners on the back part of the headlams.
The pins are like allen wrenches. You will find that the horizontal part is about an inch log.
Rotate it out from under a horizontal tab.
The owner's manual has info on that, too.
Hope this helps, Eggert

[Eggert]

One more thing: DON'T get the HID bulb kit.
I was going to do that, too.
The Projector headlamps give a far superior light pattern.
You won't need the HID.
If you need more fill, use the fog lights.
You can save the 500 bucks, it will not make much of a difference.
It also is illegal, in case you care about that.
Take care, Eggert.

[denalio34ceo]

Hey Eggert,

Interesting insight on the HID kit vs. stock projectors. So you think the projectors are still better than an HID? I wonder if anyone has ever done a comparison.

Take care,
Ceo

[Bxscig]

Thanks a lot Eggert. SO basically the only problem is the 9005 to 9006 wiring harness difference.... coool.

Actually this whole project is for a neighbor... he likes the "blue" look lol I've told him that it is $500 for a good kit plus that it is illegal but I guess he wants his "blue" haha

Any suggestions on a place to get them...cheapest of course? He wants the Denali projector style headlights that is cleared... the ones that dont have the amber.

Thanks again for all your help.

[Eggert]

Well, if he must... there are a bunch of places.
Go to Google.com and search for "HID 9005".
There really are two subjects here:
1) the "cool" blue light look.
This means the color temperature is 8000 degree Kelvin.
The "normal" white color temperature is around 4000K to 4300K.
2) The lamp technology:
Normal lamps have a filament and are filled with a halogen gas.
HID lamps do not have a filament and are filled with xenon gas.

Please notice that a high color temperature will give LESS light.
Both color temperatures are available with HID or halogen bulbs.
The blue ones will be stopped by cops and your friend will have to deal with that.
So, if you must have HID, get the 4100K, not the blue ones.
By the way, the cheap HID stuff will not last, so get German ballasts by
Osram/Sylvania. Or get Phillips.
Take care, Eggert

[tonytone]

Eggert--interesting; I assumed that you wouldn't need to notch the Denali headlight housing so that you can use a 9006 bulb due to the fact that with the standard Denali setup, the wiring harness connector for the low beam coming from the vehicle does not plug/connect directly to the bulb itself (unlike the connectors for the Denali high beam and Yukon low/high beams). On the Denali, the low beam connector from the vehicle plugs into a mating receptacle located on the headlight housing itself; then, there is a separate connector on the housing which you then connect to the low beam bulb.

So are you saying that if you were to install the Denali headlight housing on a regular Yukon, it is not possible to connect the low beam harness to the mating connector on the Denali headlight housing? I dunno if I'm explaining myself clearly enough, but if you take a look at an OEM Denali headlight housing, you'll see that it comes (or should come) with its own wiring harness for the low beam...unlike the OEM Yukon housing, which has no such connector (or any other wiring on it, for that matter). Now, if the Denali housing is missing the secondary connector/wiring harness to which you would connect the low beam bulb to--then I can see where you would probably need to renotch the housing to fit a 9006 bulb.

[Eggert]

Hi tonytone, it looks like there is a short wiring harness to adapt the 9006 style plug to the 9005 style bulb of the Denali headlights.
This short converter extension really is a feature of the Denali chassis wiring harness.
Out of curiosity, does the converter stay with the headlight if you take it out by removing the 2 pins on the top?
This is not part of the OEM Denali projector style headlights that I got.
I will ask the dealer about the cost of this harness.
It really is not a big deal to make the single groove of the 9006 connector wide enough to fit a 9005 bulb with the double groove.
So it is too late for me now...
Thanks for the info, Eggert

[tonytone]

Eggert--the "adapter" (or converter, as you put it), is part of (built into?) the bottom of the OEM Denali headlight housing--so to visualize this thingy, you connect the low beam connector coming from the vehicle directly into this plug/adapter/converter socket/receptacle; then there is a secondary wire harness coming from this adapter--this secondary harness is where you connect the 9005 bulb to.

Or looking at this issue from another angle--w/ the regular Yukon headlight housings, all that is really needed in order to completely separate the housing from the rest of the vehicle (other than removing the two pins) is to unsocket the two bulbs from the housing. With the OEM Denali projector housing, you will find that doing so will still leave the housing dangling from the vehicle--you have to disconnect the main harness from the adapter/converter plug found on the housing itself.

Sorry if I'm being long-winded but hope this clears things up a bit more. Yours is the first I've heard of anyone needing to do what you described in order to connect a 9005 bulb; everywhere else I've read says it's practically plug and play. Either the secondary harness is missing as you suspected...or those OEM projectors aren't truly OEM, but OEM-lookalikes?

[Eggert]

Thanks, tonytone.
For $260 for the pair, including 4 new bulbs,they are original enough for me...
They work great, too.
May be they are replacement ones and you are suposed to re-use the mini-harness.
Either way, it is not a big deal to enlarge the groove on the plugs.
Then they plug right in.
Take care, Eggert

[Bxscig]

THanks agian for all your help.

So the headlights are all interchangable for the 2002 models (Yukon, Yukon XL and Yukon Denali). Now how about the corner lights? From some pictures they look different but I cant be sure if the pics are crappy. They dont look the same to me. Can anyone confirm?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...479286232&rd=1

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...479590699&rd=1