The DRL lights are a separate bulb and draw very little power. I have been told from multiple companies including the ones I ordered my bulbs from http://www.kryptonbulbs.com that this is not an issue at all. I will be installing mine (yes i have said this a few times) as soon as I get home with is the 4th and will do a write up and let everyone know how it went.

 

I actually sent Josh at Krypton a note. Hopefully he will reply. I believe you, but would absolutely trust his judgment. Remember, your truck is unique in that your DRL's are separate. A lot of us have low beam DRL's.

 

Thats just odd to me.. I don't think I have seen any GMC or Chevy trucks like that up here.. since 02 all my vehicles have had separate bulbs.

 

AK, personally I had never seen your setup but if it is seperate bulbs it should be fine.

For the rest of you normal folk ... if you are running bulbs that act as DRL's you will need to run relay harnesses or a relay harness. This takes that lower voltage and runs a relay with that, the relay in turn pulls power directly from the battery to your ballasts. I do have these available but in limited quantity at the moment as I haven't been selling them. I will make sure to get some more now that you guys are discussing this.

I will try to post up a vid tomorrow showing the hookup of a relay harness as well as a link to the product(s) on my site.

What is your low beam bulb? 9006?

Also, EK thank you for the email and asking me to post on this issue, I know its usually "taboo" for a non advertiser to do this and I appreciate that you value and trust my knowledge base enough to ask me here to do this.

Thanks
Josh

 

Josh,
The new body style (NBS) trucks from 2007 to current use H11 low beams.
I had read some about the relays. Thanks for clarifying, and for any other info you can share.
Thanks for your help.

 

Well I hate to say it but am starting to doubt myself now. What's the easiest way to test this? Do I have to be in drive or can I just turn the key on in a lighted garage?

 

Josh,
The new body style (NBS) trucks from 2007 to current use H11 low beams.
I had read some about the relays. Thanks for clarifying, and for any other info you can share.
Thanks for your help.

Ok, the relays I push are actually 9006 and are useable on all my HID kits as they all use a 9006 connector to the ballast, this is the main reason I am going to post the vid up tomorrow. I do however have H11 harnesses as well I believe, but once all the others are gone I will only be using 9006 in the future.

AK.... get out the popcorn

 

And can somebody get me some damn moving pistons around here?

 

Post more..lol

So what's the easiest way to check the drl's. Are they on in park or have to be in drive. Was going to have the Gf check this but its dark outside

 

AK
You have to do it during the daylight (hopefully you have an hour or so of that up there right now?) Here is what I did:

While truck was sitting in my driveway with the garage door closed (so i could see the lights reflect off the door), I put the truck in Drive, and made sure the DRL's were on.
I then turned the light switch to on. I saw the lights get brighter.
I turned it back to auto, and they got dimmer.

They are definitely not amber, like my parking lights. I have an aftermarket halogen bulb in the low beams, so I can see it's the bluish color - just brighter or dimmer depending on the setting.

 

Would the lights from my garage work?

 

Maybe if you shined a shop light at the sensor. The sensor is in the center of the dash...the little bubble thingy.

 

Gf just went to garage and with all the lights on in the garage. Put in drive while running and switched from auto to on and she said the lights were on but there was no change. Will check this more when home

 

OK guys, I never got that vid taken but i do have an old one of a single bulb delay relay that I made up for the R6 guys having problems. Its basically the same idea but there is no delay on it.

Your bulb has a power harness that goes to a 9006 plug, the 9006 plug normally plugs into the ballast. Instead of plugging it into the ballast you plug it into the relay kit. The relay kit is powered by i of the stock wires the other is not used.

The relay kit plugs into the ballasts, hooks to the positive pole of the battery and hasa 2 ground wires you need to connect to good grounds. These can be to Body or frame or you could splice them into the stock bulb ground wires.

Here is the vid:

Here is the relay you would use, (note, you can use the H11 and you wouldnt use the haness on the bulb or the 9006 and you will) One I am out of the "others" i will only be offering 9006 as they work on all my kits.
http://www.kryptonbulbs.com/HID-kits/HID-accessories/HID-relay-harness/HID-single-beam-relay-kit

If you guys ever have any questions feel free to hit me up via email found on my site, I do not actively watch this forum however google does alert me when it sees my company name mentioned. I will only post in here about my products when asked to by a mod.

Thanks
Josh

 

This is the first I've heard of any problems with hids and drls. Strange considering other forums I'm on have hid threads popping up everywhere and not once is this mentioned. So if I understand correctly you're saying some trucks, I'm assuming nbs anyway, have separate bulbs for drls and some don't? And the ones that don't need relays?

 

Any bulb used as a drl that is changed to a HID should have a relay harness, that is the practice that I and other HID suppliers use, most if not all recommend it. I would think it would always cause a problem if not used but I'm sure there are some it doesn't. From my experiance HID's can be tempermental and then the ballast is not supplied with the proper voltage (9-16V) they tend to not work.

 

Well that makes sense. I've never heard of anyone changing their drls to hids before either. I thought they were separate bulbs.

 

9-16v is a pretty broad range. I wonder what the voltage is, when the DRL is on, vs. regular light?

 

Not really, you should have 11-12.5 with engine off and up around 14 engine on (at battery terminals)

I'm sure it just adds some resistance to the line, find out what that resistance is and I can tell you the voltage range it will put out.

 

Oddly, after all this conversation, I had an OEM bulb burn out last night. Seems strange, given the truck is a few months old. But, I took it as a sign. So, I talked on the phone again this morning with Josh, and I ordered my HID's and relays from http://www.kryptonbulbs.com.
I am going to connect using the relays, and hope to keep the DRL's functioning. I will let ya all know how it goes!

 

Keep us posted on how it goes. I'm especially curious to find out whether you REALLY need the relay or not. Maybe try hookin em up with and without and see what happens?

 

I wouldn't take the 'chance' to see what would happen "IF"! "IF" it goes bad, guess what????????????? A lot more money invested in fixing your electrical system. With a relay, you are insured! I'm not one to take chances on stuff like this. Good luck Eric!

 

You guys worry tooooo much! If the relays give you the warm and fuzzies then by all means go for it! Plenty of others out there spending their $ on other stuff. To each his own!

 

Josh (the light guy) called me this afternoon. He knew I was a little worried about this, so he hooked everything up in the bix for me. I may have to unplug a few things as I place it into the truck, but at least I can clearly see the fittment before I start.

I know...I could easily figure this out myself...but it was nice of him to "dumb it down" for me. (no comments on that from my fellow mods, please)

 

You guys worry tooooo much! If the relays give you the warm and fuzzies then by all means go for it! Plenty of others out there spending their $ on other stuff. To each his own!

Thanks to LBXDMAX for a great "How To" article, and he's our newest member of the "How To" group of Authors. Check out the How to choose HID headlights when chossing new headlights!