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All you guys with second gens must have different lights than i do , mine are stock as far as i know, and they are awsome , the lights on dad's 97 however , well , lets not go there...
It's most likely a difference in voltage at the bulbs between the two trucks. Your dad's truck most likely has poor wiring, while yours is most likely working more efficiently.
Here's an actual pic of the job I found a while ago at DodgeTruckWorld...I'm a fan myself, but it'll have to wait a while, since it does involve refabbing the front fenders somewhat---
my 96 non sport lights sucked a biggen and my 01 sports are awsome either brite or lows go figure but the earlyer 2ndgens with the awsomly faded yellow lenses dont help
My 3rd gen headlights are much better than my old 94's headlights. But I had the Cummins in that and the fog lights were a no-no. So now that i have my new truck with the Fogs it is great. People even flash at me to turn them down like I have my high beams on. Maybe the other owners of the 3rd gen have scratched up lenses.
Here's an actual pic of the job I found a while ago at DodgeTruckWorld...I'm a fan myself, but it'll have to wait a while, since it does involve refabbing the front fenders somewhat---
Wow, that looks very cool....I bet that was a fair bit of body work to get them to look like that.
I just had for a couple of weeks a 2001 regular 1500 and a 2001 Sport 2500, Believe me, there is a woprld of difference between the 4 - bulb Sport and the 2 - bulb standard setup at night. NO comparison. I live on a country road that is thick with deer, and the Sport's powerful lights are a real safety feature. And I had just put the Sylvania super bulbs into the regular one, too. They helped a little. But the Sport on low beam was just a little dimmer than the regular on hi beam...
-Zooka
I may be going out on a limb, but is this headlight conversion a case of using the later fenders as well? How close would they be to bolting on without really trying very hard.
The older Chevy's could do this (73-87) with a variety of body parts but all of these trucks looked different in their own year. Just a thought.....
I'd assume it was most likely the case of taking the small portion of the fender around the headlight from a 3rd gen and 'grafting' into the 2nd gen fender...nothing too crazy, but still a decent amount of bodywork.
Alright well I have done the swap it wasn't as hard as it seamed. But I have a steel bumper that gave me the clearance for the larger headlights. If I can figure out how to post these pics I will load em all up an give a play by play install. My truck is a 98' 1500. I was able to retain factory mounts wish the thread I looked at said you had to cut out. Nope I saved mine so I can go back to stock if I decide to but I love this new look an I get compliments all the time on it. Headlights you bought are not cheap on got mine on discount they are - oracle halo headlights. They run around $450 but you can find em for $149 if you really try. I did. I wish I go the amber ones thought cause then I could link in my markers to he halo's their blue an illegal to run unless I'm stopped. I also went with the GTR Gen3 LED headlight bulb swap. Makes a world of difference in my lighting. Stock 9004 bulbs sucked, an the 9007 led produce way better light output it was like night am day difference. So to start had to cut with a grinder cutting wheel the back of the fender/well out. Not much if you pull your light out there is a fold where it makes a connection I just cut to that part. An left my stock light mount it an folded that down so I could use that to mount the new light.
So I cut along the fold with cutting disk, then used the grinding wheel to smooth it out. A couple of test fittings. Found the back inside needed to be cut out too. Be super careful of electrical an your ac coolant line runs along the inside. But everything has room to move out of way I just ziptied it out of the way. First side took me about a hour an two. Just because I wasn't super positive on how they fit. Second side only took me half hour. Again I saved my original lighting mounts you can the hole are still there. Just ground an cut around them. I was able to do this with the bumper still on.also check on the radiator core support there are holes they will be the new mounting points for your new headlights.
The headlight part. I'll mention lights a larger by an 1in. Height, stick out wider an will come out just a hair on the front from the fender you don't notice it till you really look at it up close. I went with the 05 headlights. They are Oracle halos I found my for cheap but these are not a cheap set. If you want halos buy the halo ring kit an buy yourself a set of used oem lights from a parts truck or junk yard. To fit the lights in. You need to have a heat gun. An a socket to use as you heat up the plastic on the lower inside of the light use the socket to shape the corner into the light a little so it can fit over the old light mount an the inside corner of the engine compartment. Don't heat the light too long! Just enough to make the plastic move. Also will need to do the inside mount to make it fit to the radiator/center core support.do that when the light is in place to truck so you can alight the top mounting hole up. The second mount might not light up. There will be a hole you can sink yours mounting screw to. Be very careful you don't melt the water right seal on the light.
I went from 2nd gen projectors to the 05 rounded made a world of difference in the lighting. Then upped from the 9004 halogen bulb to the 9007 LED even better I can actually see at night. I'm super excited to actually see at nite first time I drove with it all in I was like a lil kid laughing because it made that much of a difference. Ok let's talk about wiring you need to change the ground, an high/low wires for the 9007 bulb. I made a harness from the parts store just bought the connectors an used some heat shrink butt connectors. Was like $15. I first went with a eBay harness got it home an it was super crappy just make your own for being weather proof. Also just need to check your alignment on the lights. I had to aim them down just a hair. But I have high an low beams Unlike some of those that are just super bright all the time I can say I'm not one of those guys.
01-09-2007, 10:09 PM
