Volvo VNL Bulb Size Guide: Headlights, Signals & Replacement Housings

Choose the headlamp fitted to your Volvo VNL

Older bulb-style headlights, optional factory LED headlights and aftermarket replacements can use different lamps on the same truck model. Start with the housing fitted to your truck: the H11 / 9005 chart below applies to that bulb-style arrangement, while identified replacement housings have their own specifications.

H11 / 9005 bulb-style headlights · Factory LED headlights · Replacement housings

H11 low / 9005 high bulb-style headlights

Use this chart for an older VNL housing fitted with an H11 projector low beam and a separate 9005 reflector high beam. The truck’s year or a projector lens alone does not identify the bulb.

H11 low beam bulb options

Compare Alpha Series, GTR Lighting, Diode Dynamics and Morimoto options for the H11 low-beam socket. Product names may list an H8/H9/H11 replacement family; the bulb designation in this headlamp chart remains H11. Match the bulb body, rear cover clearance and installation instructions to your housing.

LED headlight conversion bulbs may not comply with FMVSS/CMVSS requirements for on-road use. Check applicable state and provincial laws before use.

Follow the selected bulb’s installation instructions and stated intended use.

9005 high beam bulb options

These are 9005-family options for the separate high-beam socket in the bulb-style arrangement above.

Replaceable 3157 front turn / parking bulbs

For a housing with a replaceable 3157 front turn/parking bulb, compare the amber options below. A headlight with LED low and high beams can still have a separate replaceable signal bulb, but the housing must establish its size. The identified United Pacific 31094–31097 assemblies below are one documented example with a 3157 turn bulb.

Signal bulb selection: Do not use the Alpha bulb where the high-power signal circuit stays on continuously as a daytime running light. The Morimoto listing excludes PWM-driven DRL circuits. Choose by the actual circuit operation; a continuously lit lamp does not by itself establish that the circuit uses PWM.

Factory LED headlights are a separate branch

Volvo announced optional Truck-Lite LED headlights for the VNL and VNX in February 2014. That announcement identifies the headlamp option; it does not specify a replacement turn-signal bulb for every equipped truck.

The redesigned VNL in Volvo’s 2017-edition brochure has LED low beams, high beams, turn signals, marker lights and parking lamps. Its premium headlamp adds a signature LED daytime running light. Do not apply the older 3157 signal-bulb row to this headlamp without its own service specification. The brochure’s edition date is not a model-year changeover date.

Replacement housings: use the assembly’s bulb chart

The following are United Pacific replacement-assembly specifications. Their catalog year ranges describe those products, not the original bulbs fitted to every Volvo in that range.

The 31445–31448 instructions retain the original wiring harness where required. The 35753–35756 family is specifically for factory-LED-equipped trucks; it is not a general halogen-to-LED conversion. Match the exact assembly number and selected side before ordering.

Modules and complete LED conversions

The Alpha Series PWM module is an optional accessory for suitable flicker or bulb-out applications. It is rated for 9–16V DC. Select the connector matching the installed bulb and use a module only when the lighting circuit and product instructions call for it.

Complete headlight conversions can have different requirements. Volvo bulletin K63404356 gives LCM hardware and software conditions for its specified OEM LED conversion. Follow the instructions for the exact replacement assembly; that bulletin does not establish a programming requirement for every LED bulb swap.

For fog, reverse, licence-plate and rear bulbs, use the installed lamp’s marking or its service specification. The headlight chart does not identify those separate lamps.

Reference sources

• Volvo: optional Truck-Lite LED headlamp announcement, February 2014.
• Volvo VNL brochure, 2017 edition, lighting on printed pages 50–51.
• United Pacific headlight catalog, printed pages 33–34, for the exact replacement assemblies listed above.
• Volvo service bulletin K63404356, OEM LED conversion conditions.