atc250r

I adjusted the lights that I mentioned/pictured in my previous post and they are much improved. The driver's side was aimed way too high and off to the left. I also swindled a set of new Silverstar bulbs out of WalMart. The light output is better than it was but still not the greatest. If I was going to keep incandescent bulbs I'd go with one of the ones that are recommended on www.danielsternlighting.com but since I was able to get a free set of Silverstars I went with them until my HID's show up (hopefully middle of next week). I'll make a post with my results here.

John

DodgenIt

Hey guys.
This is a little of an older thread but Im bringing it back up.
I currently have Halo's I got off ebay, I love the Style light and the light output is killer. BUT, for em to point in the right spot, it makes the housing angled and Im sick of it!
I have a few pics here Second to last post... https://www.dieseltruckresource.com/...mmins%21%21%21

You can see it best in the middle pic I think.
But anyway Im lookin to do the Sport conversion.

I read this hole thread and from what I can tell, I should get the Sport housing,http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1999-...Q5fAccessories with a 1-2 bulb per side Harness from http://www.suvlights.com/index.php?cPath=24_73 And talk to Danial at http://www.danielsternlighting.com/p.../products.html to decide on some bulbs.

Am I missing anything here???

Or my other option is something like This http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/94-95...Q5fAccessories Also with a quality bulb.

Which have you all liked better??

nickg

I just switched to the sports(had clear assy's w/9004 bulbs ) the light output from the sports is 100% improved, I also have Daniels Park light DRL, because you cant do the wiring upgrade with a working Factory DRL, BTW it works awesome, and for 40$ was worth every dollar. I found used sport assys from a salvage yard for 100$ and also found that a ford windstar had heavier wiring on the light connectors(plugs) they were like 2$ each from Pick and pull. If you dont want to chop up your factory harness Daniel sells the parts that allow you to plug into your factory harness or you could make one from an old light bulb like I did (use caution to break bulb off then solder wires to the terminals like so



here is a copy of my e-mail from Daniel Stern (he gave me permission to post it)

Consult Daniel Stern Lighting wrote:
Greetings, Nick.

The 1-bulb headlamps (9004 only) are hopeless. So are all the aftermarket lamps for these trucks -- they're all junk.

>Put in a set of the '99-'01 Dodge Ram 1500 Sport headlamps, which are
*much* better than the lamps all non-Sport '94-'02 style Rams got. The
Sport lamps use two bulbs per side (a 9007 high/low and a 9004 high-only)
and produce much more effective, longer and wider, better focused beam
patterns. They physically fit right in, but require some wiring
adaptation, which is just as well since the factory wiring tends to starve
the bulbs.

You need:

-a set (left and right) of the '99-'01 Dodge Ram 1500 Sport headlamps. Get
the real ones from the dealer or www.chryslerpartsdirect.com , not the
Taiwanese knockoffs from eBay or elsewhere on the internet. Factory part
numbers are as follows:
Headlamp, left: 55077 025AC
Headlamp, right: 55077 024AC
Park/turn lamp, left: 55077 033AC
Park/turn lamp, right: 55077 032AC

(The original park/turn lamps can be used with the new headlamps; I've
listed the Sport type park/turn units because their clear-lens design
matches that of the Sport headlamps. Also note that the above numbers may
from time to time be updated or superseded as noted when you do a part
>>>> number search on chryslerpartsdirect.com - go ahead and buy whatever the
latest part number is).

-A Dodge Ram conversion wiring and relay installation package RIK-RAM, $79
here.
The installation package includes all necessary plugs, sockets, terminals,
fused fuseholders, relays, relay brackets, terminal blocks, etc. --
everything except actual wire -- to install the new headlamps _and_
eliminate the voltage drop present in the factory-type wiring, without
cutting the truck's original wires. For general information about relay
installation, see
http://www.danielsternlighting.com/t...ys/relays.html Note that
RIK-RAM is not a harness, it is a parts kit. You start with the truck's
unmodified original headlamp circuit, none of which will need to be cut or
otherwise brutalized, supply your own wire and time, and the end result is
a heavy-duty headlamp harness that operates the Sport lamps *correctly*
and without voltage drop, in a non-Sport Ram truck.

-A set (two 9007 and two 9004) of ultra high efficacy bulbs.

Far and away the best 9007 bulbs presently on the market are the Philips Xtreme Power items:
http://store.candlepower.com/bfcopo90hbpo1.html

The best 9004s are the GE Night Hawk 9004NH items, which you can get from www.amazon.com .

Do not buy blue or "extra white" bulbs (Silver Star, Crystal Vision, TruView, Hoen, PIAA, etc.); despite the heavy advertising push and claims of "brighter and whiter" light, they actually produce _less_ light due to the blue glass they use.

Regarding the Sport lamps themselves: There is only one proper operational
setup for these lamps, and that is as follows-
Low beam mode: Low beam filament of outboard 9007 bulb on, all other
filaments off.

High beam mode: High beam filament of outboard 9007 and high beam filament
of inboard 9004 on, all other filaments off.

The low beam filament of the inboard 9004 is not used -- these lamps do
not have optics to focus the light from it.

In NO case are the low beam and high beam filaments on together!
Two-filament headlight bulbs are pressurized to about 10 atmospheres COLD.
They are not designed to handle the heat (or the current on the common
filament support lead) of running both filaments at the same time for more
than very brief periods during beam changeover or headlight flashing.
Doing so carries the very real risk of the bulb grenading inside the
headlamp, destroying it. Some people who think they're clever wire it up
this way anyhow, and the "Brite Box" people have made a business out of
this "clever" (not) modification.
If yours is a Canadian-spec truck (either by original manufacture or by private importation), or you're not in Canada but have had the Daytime Running Light function enabled, you will need to rework the daytime running lamps. The stock DRL configuration runs the high beam circuit at reduced duty cycle. This is not compatible with any kind of relay installation. http://www.lightsout.org/disable.html#Dodge has info. Once you have installed the new headlamps, you need to re-enable the DRLs.

Re-enabling (or adding) DRLs:

If you are interested in having (or keeping, after you install headlamp relays) a daytime running light function on your vehicle, the best implementation is the full-time operation of the front directional signals (except, of course, when they are operating as signals). Directional signals produce a light distribution with a wide conspicuity angle, are generally well located for DRL service at the outboard edges of the front of the vehicle, consume considerably less
power than any headlamp-based DRL implementation, use light sources of generally much longer life than any headlamp bulb, do not encourage improper nighttime use of lights, and do not require additional lighting devices to be added. Most recent Cadillacs, Chevrolet/GMC large vans and minivans, some Chrysler, Toyota, and Lexus models, certain new Lincolns and assorted other vehicles use this implementation. Note we are talking about the full-time operation of the bright amber turn signals, not the dim parking lamps. Turn signal DRLs comply with US and Canadian Motor Vehicle Safety Standards #108 and are approved in all states, provinces, and territories. You can easily enable this functionality in your vehicle using a DRL-1 module ($42 here, see http://dastern.torque.net/Mods/DRL/DRL1.html )

JoeCanuck

I just finished the Sport Conversion on my truck after wasting my cash with ebay 'Crystal' one piece units. They were garbage, quality wise and light output wise.

I bought Repo brand Sport headlights on ebay. The build quality is much better than the 'crystal' lights and about the same as stock single headlight units. I haven't seen 'stock' Sport lights so I have no comparison as to the light quality but these do focus better than stock 'non sport' lights and way better than the crystal ones.

I wired mine myself and it ended up looking exactly like this;

https://www.dieseltruckresource.com/...2&d=1187998693

The one issue is with the fog lights. I thought I had screwed something up but because they would stay on if I hit hi beam with the ignition on...even after switching the lights off. The headlights wouldn't shut off until I killed the ignition.

The issue is with the fog lights...probably the switch which is part of the headlight switch. The fog lights have their own relay under the hood...pull that and the headlights will work properly...in fact just pull the fog light relay before you start your project.

To get your fog lights working, you will have to wire them separately...which is probably not such a bad thing considering the very small wires used by the stock application. I have HID's in my stock fog light housings and they do seem to be starved of voltage with the stock wiring. Hopefully, they will work better when I rewire them.

nickg

Joe,
does your truck have a DRL? if so from the wiring diagrams I've looked at it appears as the fogs also run thru the DRL, I could not get my headlights to work properly until I jumpered pins 3 and 6 on the drl (DRL removed of course)
I have diagrams I can post if needed

JoeCanuck

I don't have DRL...I imported a US truck. I had originally wired my fog lamps as DRL to pass Canadian inspection. Now, I'll just wire them a bit differently to achieve the same goal. I'm going to put in a separate switch and avoid using the headlight switch for the fog lamps.

nickg

I'll take a pic of my "park light DRL" and post it up..

JoeCanuck

Just for the heck of it, I set up my park lights as DRL's, instead of my fog lights.

What I did was cut the black wire with the green stripe on both of the park lights. Then, using a relay, switched power to the wire when the ignition is on. I only used one relay and ran a wire from one side to the other.

It turned out to be pretty easy.

nickg

Here is a couple pics of the park light drl compared to just park lights,

this is just park light


this is park light DRL


this is with Hi-beams, 2X50W fogs, 2X100W fogs and 2X100W spots

Robert Rausch

From Daniel Stern's email:

In NO case are the low beam and high beam filaments on together!
Two-filament headlight bulbs are pressurized to about 10 atmospheres COLD.
They are not designed to handle the heat (or the current on the common
filament support lead) of running both filaments at the same time for more
than very brief periods during beam changeover or headlight flashing.
Doing so carries the very real risk of the bulb grenading inside the
headlamp, destroying it. Some people who think they're clever wire it up
this way anyhow...

That clever person would be me. I wired Hi and Lo on 2 separate relays, and if I can't see very well, I'll pull back on the Multifunction switch and blast light into the night. I've held all 8 elements on for over a minute before--so far no grenading. Maybe I'll be a leeetle more careful in the future.

nickg

Like most persons, we do things that are not "proper" and push things past their safe limits, mostly because we dont know that we are pushing something past its designed limits.....
Bulbs may never blow, I had mine wired for both elements (oldheadight assys) and never had a bulb blow.

Just from what I've see, the headlight relay mod in normal mode(one element) gets me more light out put than the single bulb with both elements on !