Hey there everyone. I have a 1997 Bravada and the lens/headlight assembly is so poorly designed that using my low beam headlights barely makes a difference on seeing the road at night. Has anyone redesigned, or is there an aftermarket redesign that improves on the stock headlight assembly?

Thanks!

 

I've never heard of this personally, but I'm not a fan of the '95-'97 front clip.

Is the assembly oxidized? If so, I'd recommend the 3M cleaner w/ the different grit of sandpaper.

Maybe check the positioning of your headlights, as well.
Here's a juicy post about it;
https://blazerforum.com/forum/audio-...ase-help-4999/

And lastly, maybe its time to upgrade your headlights themselves...?

Let us know what you find out.

 

Thanks for the reply.

No, the plastic is not oxidized, nor is the positioning out of alignment. The headlight reflector is just small and poorly designed that it doesn't throw the light into a good pattern.

I noticed today that the plastic lens (which are the original factory ones) has some goofy vertical grooved pattern in them. I'm guessing this is to reduce the intensity or glare.

Does anyone know if any aftermarket headlight lenses are just plain, and without any kind of diffusion pattern in them?

Yes, replacing the light bulbs is an option. Was looking into some of the 55W HID conversion packages on ebay, but haven't decided on any yet. Perhaps this one: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Xentec-35W-...19.m1438.l2649

 

Don't do it. HID "conversions" seem bright because they throw light all over the place, but the glare is terrible and they'll blind everybody else on the road. They just aren't meant to be retrofitted to reflector housings.

 

I've heard both good and bad about the retrofits. While I agree there may be more glare, at least I'll be able to see where I'm going, albeit while blinding everyone else (maybe).

I'm sure the glare from the HID retrofits is also dependent on the car's reflector design. Since the Bravada's is poor at best, perhaps it won't be too bad for the other drivers.

Since you don't recommend the HID retrofit, what do you suggest instead?

 

Maybe add some driving lights?

 

The Bravada has driving lights as a stock option. Those lights are providing about 80% of the total usable light when the low beams are on. When I put on the high beams and those driving lights turn off, I can see even less. This is truly a **** poor GM headlight design.

 

I see there are some aftermarket headlight assemblies for 95-97 blazers... I would assume they would work for your Olds.
You could upgrade your bulbs once you have a better assembly... Leds, hids, etc.

I like this set... ;

Chevy S10 1994-1997 Full LED Seal Beam Headlight Conversion | A1288G7D199 - TopGearAutosport

Probably have to retrofit a bit..

 

That would require a LOT of retrofitting as its for a sealed beam conversion.

This is what I have. The Bravada uses 2 separate bulbs for low/high, so you can see how small the surface area is for each bulb. The sealed beam assembly was probably superior to this.

 

Maybe its time to update to the 98+ Bravada/Jimmy/Blazer style?

https://blazerforum.com/forum/paint-...ion-kit-10352/