Head lights + Jack

[ealemany]

Greetings

I would like to change the cover of my 98 suburban plastic head lights, the plastic cover is all faded. I looked around the head light but i do not see any screws, hooks or anything that would allow me to change the cover.
Now, i wonder if it is a cover or is it part of the optical head light itself if that is the case how do i go about to remove the head light.

Also, no where in the owner manual book it talks about how to jack the truck up to change a flat tire. Any idea where to put the jack ?

Thank you everyone!.

Eric

[JohnC]

I think the lens and reflector is all one piece. Sometimes you can polish them up.

Jack under the rear axle near the spring saddle and on the frame just behind the front wheels.

[z28cp]

Here's an idea what it looks like..... Headlamp Assembly http://www.partsamerica.com/ProductDetail.aspx?MfrCode=MLG&MfrPartNumber=3321117LAS&PartType=325&PTSet=A

[ealemany]

thank you very much for the info.

Do you know if i have to remove the batteries to get to the screws/nuts and bolts or can i remove the headlight from the front ?

Thanks

Eric

[JFerg65]

On my 96 you do not have to remove batteries. The bolts on mine are accessed from above the lamp unit. Mine were worn and faded. I bought a 13.00 polisher kit from the hardware. All you did was put it in your drill add a few drops of water and have at it. You got enough discs to do the headlamps and taillamps with one or two left over. It worked like a charm

[TurboDiverArt]

Just read your owners manual. You need to remove the assembly to change the light bulb. Real easy, just screws from above and the while assembly comes out. I polished mine up and they were marginally better. I got rid of the fuzziness of the lens but mine still had small cracks in the lens from baking for years in the Oklahoma and Texas sun.

If you are going to replace it with a stock type assembly get GM ones, they aren't that bad through GMPartsDirect.com. The knock-off's are cheap reproductions and the lens isn't all that great. The knock-off ones don't focus the beam all that well and it tends to scatter the light all over the place. Our headlights are marginal at best when they are perfect, put a cheap lens on and all bets are off.

I have a set of Diamond headlights on mine. Clear lens but the reflector isn't too great. It's better than the fuzzy stock ones I had but I'm not sure if they are better than a set of new GM ones. I have HID's on my truck which helps a lot. I'm dying to find someone that has HID's with new stock GM lenses to know how good they are. The light is white and bright with the 4300 HID lights but my lenses don't focus all that well. What little it focuses is really nice.

Art.

[DA BIG ONE]

I have faded headlamp lenses, went out and bought aftermarket glass headlight assemblies w/projector beam option which proved to be a mistake because low beams would burn out pre-maturely and high/low beam could not be aimed properly. I got rid of theaftermarket crap and installed an additional harness to feed power to headlights directly from batteries, then use high end Philipps Silver star bulbs. Interesting is that even w/the faded lenses this setup is brighter than new stock replacement headlight assemblies.

[ealemany]

Gentlemen

Thank you so much for all the information. This is a great posting !!!
I did not expect to have so many replies and so many tricks and tips, especially when it comes to replace parts (OEM or aftermarket) it is always a concern.

Thank you again for all your input.

Eric

[TurboDiverArt]

I have faded headlamp lenses, went out and bought aftermarket glass headlight assemblies w/projector beam option which proved to be a mistake because low beams would burn out pre-maturely and high/low beam could not be aimed properly. I got rid of theaftermarket crap and installed an additional harness to feed power to headlights directly from batteries, then use high end Philipps Silver star bulbs. Interesting is that even w/the faded lenses this setup is brighter than new stock replacement headlight assemblies.

I too first polished up my faded stock lenses, got a little better. I then installed a hot wired set of Phillips bulbs (the ones they say are 25% brighter), got a little better still (bought it from John Kennedy). I pulled the daytime running lights fuse so the lows would not stay on all the time. The harness I put on also keeps the lows on when the highs are on. Then I swapped out to an aftermarket clear lens, still a little better. Then I switched to the 1989 headlight assemblies and it was about the same but you could focus high and low beams individually, which is definitely a benefit. I even tried putting high bulbs in the low pockets, bright but a lot of scatter and lots of people flashed their high beams, especially when towing. The high beam bulbs as low eventually burned out. When I went to HID's (I've had them for a year) it definitely got better. With all projector lights I think you need to pull the DTRL fuse and also make sure that your lows stay on when the highs are on. HID's will burn for a long time but they do tend to burn out with repeated on/off cycles. I got my HID’s from China for $100 shipped so they are not expensive. I just needed to put the plug on backwards because the cut out seems to be backwards where you plug your stock harness into the ballast.

Art.

[JeffsTowTruck]

Mine were faded. Could not see, lights were dim looking.
Water sanded the plastic lens with 1500 or 2000 grit wet or dry sand paper.
Then used a machine buffer with course compound to buff out the sand marks.
They are nice and clear now. This is a temporary fix that will last a year or two.
I heard 3m has a kit out to do the same but have not seen it.
If you don't have the tools to do it, try a body shop.

Just found it. looks to be involved for the avg. joe. here the link. Basic sand and buff as I did.
http://solutions.3m.com/wps/portal/3M/en_US/3MAutomotive/Aftermarket/Products/Featured_Products/Headlight/

[JFerg65]

I'll keep my eyes out the next time I get back to that hardware store for the name of the product I used. I was finished with the front and rear lenses in less than 20 minutes.

I do know the Eastwood Company has similar kits, if I'm not mistaken two or three different types.

Back to my original post on the topic.... for 13.00 you can't go wrong.