The headlights on my 96 suck. They have always been this way even when new. I have adjusted them and tried (80/100) high wattage bulbs. I am not experiencing any kind of voltage drop either.

Over time the plastic lenses have faded but this (low output) problem has been there since new.

Is anyone else experiencing this and if so, have you found a solution?

I want people to flash me when I'm driving with my high beams on. Oh yeah, I also want to see in the dark.

Thanks.

 

Yes, they sure do suck.

Two thing that definitely suck on these trucks are the headlights and the brakes. The headlights have two issues, 1. the lens turns yellow and/or fades with the sun. You can fix this by buying new headlight assemblies, this will give you nice, clear, crisp lenses; 2. the other problem the headlights have is poor light output. There are several things you can do to make your lights brighter:

- Install higher wattage bulbs, 80/100, instead of the 45/65 that your stock 9004 bulb puts out.

- Replace the 9004 bulbs with the 9007 bulbs which are a 55/65 watts. You need to make some modifications to the wiring, and to the bulb to make them fit, but the 9007 bulbs seem to be noticeably brighter than the 9004 bulbs.

- Add a relay kit so that you get full battery voltage to the bulbs. This is probably the most significant change you can make. There is probably at least a 2 volt loss from the factory wiring harness, which is undersized.

- Add a switch, or hardwire, your low beams so that they stay on when your hight beams are on. This is controversial because some people think the bulk will explode if both filaments are on simultaneously. So far, I've never heard of this happening.

- Replace your single bulb headlights with the Sport lights which use two bulbs per side. This is the best option, but the most expensive.

On my trucks, I'm doing the following:

* Sport Headlight conversion
* Sylverstar Bulbs
* Relay Kit
* Low beam on high, switch

So far I've only installed the relay kit, and it sure made a difference. Good luck.

 

hi
look up BRITE BOX on the net . with this you can safely run low high and fog lights all together .

 

Dont bother with that...if you do a search you can save yourself $100 from not buying the "bright box"...

 

Yup, the sport lights are the way to go. Huge difference. I found a pair for $50 each at the local recycling shop (plus $25 for the corner lights). Installed relays and GE Nighthawks which I find far brighter than the Silverstars. I went through the same steps you have.

 

As far as the yellowing and clouding of the lenses, run to your local NAPA and pick up the headlight lens buffing kit. It comes with an arbor for the drill, and 6 foam pads that are impregnated w/ a buffing compound. You just spritz the pad w/ a little water and start buffin... they look new in no time flat.
They also make similar buffing kits for windshields and chrome.

 

Thanks. You mention sport headlights? Is this the sport package Dodge offers and why are they different? I will be adding relays to run low and high beams as well as low/high in tandem.

 

Yup the sport headlights came with the Sport package, and they have two bulbs per side, one 9004 bulb for high beam, and one 9007 for high and low beam. The non-sport headlights only have one 9004 bulb per side, for both beams. The sport headlights became available on 98 or 99 model years, but they will fit your 96, you just need to trim a few inches of sheet metal (I've heard its really easy to do) from inside the fender where the headlight assemblies fit. If you plan to add these, you'll also need a relay kit to power both bulbs. Here's a link that shows the sport headlights vs. the regular headlights, the regular headlights cost $74 per side, and the sport lights cost $109 per side (they may be cheaper elsewhere):

http://www.1001headlights.com/produc...RUCK&Year=2001


and here is a link for the relay kit that you'll need for the sport light conversion:

http://www.suvlights.com/product_inf...roducts_id=116

This relay kit is the best I've seen (and is identical to the one I built for my trucks), but you can get cheaper ones, or make your own, like I did.

 

You can also do the relay wiring yourself as I did. Just be careful of the wiring diagrams you see and read the fine print. The headlights are ground switched and not hot switched. Cost me under $20 to do the wiring with relays.

 

Yes good point.
To add to the confusion not all trucks are the same. The older 12-valved trucks (up until 1998 or 99), used the positive (hot) switching for the low and high beams. But for some strange reason (probably to save money) Dodge decided to do ground switched headlights on the second generation 24-valved trucks.