Led headlights
 

Has anyone here put led bulbs in the stock housing? I'm thinking about swapping in some LEDs so I can see more clearly while night driving. I want to look stock but be brighter... not sure if using the OEM housings will throw light differently, causing me to seem like "that guy" with the low beams in everyone's eyes..

I tried it, waste of money. They require projector type housings, but if your going to do that use HIDs instead.

My 2c:

The geometry of the stock housings is not bad for incandescent- 9004- if you put the light somewhere else, and point it into some direction ... you will be the (insert expletive of choice) that will get the feedback from the oncoming traffic.

On the dodge the problem is not the bulbs- its the abysmal voltage reaching them through the stock wiring.
A simple set of relays and some wire (all for less than 20 $) can make a world of difference in light output and save your light switch and the wiring.
If you want to invest in still better lighting get a pair or two of additional lights with a decent pattern and give them a decent power supply. Aim them correctly and you will see without blinding the others.
It does not matter whether you collided with the semi because you did not see it or because you blinded the driver of the semi...

A HID will not work with the geometry of the lights installed. A LED will not work with the geometry of the lights installed.

Get proper voltage to a stock bulb and you will have about 50-100% more light on the road and about 10% more in the eyes of the oncoming traffic.
Choose the wrong geometry and increase light on the road by 30-50% and get 200% more light in the eyes of the fuel truck coming towards you...

From the details on your profile, it appears you have a '94. I would consider doing the sport-headlight mod - this uses the 2-bulb headlight assemblies from the '99-'02 Sport option. You can search the forum for threads on it. I did that on my '96, and it made a great improvement - one of the benefits is that you will have to go to a relay system like AlpineRam mentioned, which supplies near-battery voltage to the bulbs. If you go this route, look for housing manufacturers that support and participate in CAPA (capacertified.org) - I don't think anyone makes certified parts for our trucks due to age/demand, but I look at manufacturer participation as a good thing. Geno's has a harness that will run the Sport lights mod, and I believe LMC Truck does as well (and probably others).

This is on my to do list... But because of limited time, I may just order the harness from Daniel Stern.

Well, I did the sports headlight conversion on some trucks, it's easy if you already changed the front fenders, else you need to enlarge the hole where the cable passes through to be able to install the sports headlights.

If you either stay stock or already have the sport headlights, the relay stuff can be done in under one hour.

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.die...02fa58458c.jpg
For a single bulb (non-sport) headlight you need 2 relays, one fuse and about 10-15ft of cable, some shoes.

For the low beam relay you put the coil of the relay between ground and the low beam wire.
For high beam you use ground and high.

You supply the 2 relays contact side from the battery through a fuse- and connect the switched pole of each relay to the appropriate wire to the bulb.

I prefer to get new headlight connectors with heavier wiring already installed, like these

9 US$

5 relays
13 US$
some connectors and a crimping tool ??

(So if you have no time you will get up to 30 US$ to get this done)
With those I just cut off the wires, pre-wire the relays in there as described and mount the relays to the battery holder on each side. ( OK, this adds one fuse and fuse holder to the shopping list.)
If you don't like it you can unplug it and put the stock plug back onto the bulb in seconds.
For the relay- holder I use relays with a screw tab and a stripe of sheetmetal about 2-3" long and 2" wide, mount the relays with self tapping screws to the sheetmetal and clip the contraption to the front of the battery holder.

I really like to give those lights good grounds too, with the connectors mentioned I just make a longer wire to ground the bulb to battery negative on each side.

More light and less load on the light switch and multifunction switch on the steering column, easily reversible if you see a need to do so.

My quickest time from hood up to good light was less than 10 minutes.

But, with a little bit of creativity you can make a harness for the sports headlights that gives you the following options:
A: low beam (standard)
B: high beam only outer bulb on high
C: High beam inner and outer on high (stock sport headlight mode)
D: Outer low and inner high - excellent for night driving since you see from close by into the distance.

I did the sport light with relays a long time ago. Wired with both low beams or both high beams on. Didn't see much of an improvement at first. Tried high wattage bulbs, still not much. That's why I tried the LED's. That was far worse so I went back to regular bulbs. I was in a hurry so I grabbed what Napa had on the rack and wound up with a mismatched set. The 9004's were one type and the 9007's were a different type. Actually worked amazingly well. I guess the different spectrum augmented each other. After that I added factory fog lights and the factory switch. Those I put LED's in and they worked great. Odd thing was it changed how my lights worked. If I have the fog light on, I can't turn the bright lights off without having to turning the fog lights off. So, with the fog lights on I go from low + fog to high - fog to low + high + fog. Real bright!

So you werent impressed with the relay? I've heard people say its night and day (no pun) difference...

Also, I want to know what LED bulbs you put in your fogs. And...I'm completely confused by what you said about fog lights on with the headlights. You said no fogs with the high beams but then said you can have all three on???

I also installed Sport lamps and built a relay harness on my 96. I found it to be a decent improvement, and was happy with it. Just for fun, however, I decided to get some LEDs and replace the high beams only with them. Not real impressive. They do generate a great deal of light, unfortunately there's no focused beam at all. I shone them at my garage door in an attempt to aim them, and they just indiscriminately lit up the whole door. So, I haven't removed them yet, but as soon as I find a decent 9004, I will be scrapping the LEDs.

Your so easily confused. If I keep the fog lights turned off, then the sequence is normal. Low beam, click, high beam, click, back to low beam. With the fog lights on its low beams + fogs, click, high beams - fogs, click, low beam + high beams + fogs. I have to turn off the fog lights in order to get back to low beams. Otherwise its back and forth between high beams - fog or everything on. Correct, the relays made no visible difference I could see. The LED's I used in the fog lights are .

I guess I'm dense because I'm still not following your explanation. :huh:

But thats OK... I appreciate the effort and the link to the LED bulbs.

We can blame it on California. It was a couple decades of therapy after leaving that I learned I can think.
You know what a "brite box" is? Kinda like that except I can have ALL my lights on at the same time.

I bought a set of 80/100 W 9004 and another 80/100W 9007 (Flosser calls them 9104 and 9107) for about 15 US$ for a 10 pack each from China- works great with relays, burns stock systems light switches without relays to the ground without throwing light on the road..

The LED has a completely different characteristic than an incandescent filament- so either you design a new reflector or you try to mimic said characteristic with a plethora of LEDs ( about 50 seems to work for a decent cutoff in 9004 reflectors) -

cougar seems to have installed a "self holding" circuit for his relays.. not what you would really want..

What do you guys think of these?

They look interesting. It still bothers me that they call it a perfect substitute for each halogen bulb, but they still require that you adjust the clocking of it until you get a reasonable beam.

Agreed... But I have to admit that the video review was fairly objective and pointed out the negative along with the positive. :conf:

Very true. Part of me wants to give them a try.[redface]

Headlight Upgrade
 

Ok, now I'm getting confused. I need new headlight assemblies. I have a 98' Ram 24valve, I have relay's in my Power Distribution Box that are labeled Headlights. When I look for New Assemblies the 98' and 99' look the same but the 99' do not fit the 98's ?. The 98' have one bulb and the 99' labeled "Sports Model" have two bulbs. Will either light assembly fit into the 98' fender, and work as they should using the iJMDTOY Wire Harness adapter offered by Amazon.?

I dont have the definitive answer so you may want to do as much research as possible before spending money... But I have heard that the Sport headlight assembly's dont fit in the non-Sport trucks because there's not a hole in the fender for the second bulb. Check out this website. https://www.danielsternlighting.com/home.html

Alpine, What year Dodge Ram 2500 are you commenting on?

Kerley, the year of the truck does not really matter over here since the road salt has already eaten the fenders, and new ones were installed. (Anyways , did it on a 95, a 97, a 98.5 - but all with new fenders)
The new ones came with the bigger opening of the "sports headlights" package.
If you go for the sports headlights, and you still have fenders with the smaller holes you can cut out the material and mount the sports headlights.

The cutout can be made like this:

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.die...7e88f27c86.jpg
(Not mine)

Cheers!

Thank you, Alpine my 98' Dodge Ram 2500 has one of each year fenders, I guess the previous owner had a wreck and replaced the finder with a 99'. I will have to modify one Headlight cavity like in your picture, Thank you, Tom Kerley

Please take care of the wiring behind the sheetmetal before starting the sawzall.. DAMHIK!

It would also be a good time to check the ground post close to the driver side headlight- I saw a lot of them corroded and causing a lot of electrical gremlins..

Headlight Upgrade
 

Alpine, One more question, when I install the Sports Headlight Assy. there will be two bulbs for each side Right, Left. My question is; Which bulbs are needed for the low beam and which bulbs are needed for the high beam, or do I install the same bulbs in each side?

With the normal sports headlights you will get a 9004 "outside" for the low and high beam and a 9007 "inside" for the additional high beam.

A set of relays to power the headlights and some cheap 100W versions of said bulbs light up the road mighty fine. (I got 100W per filament 9004s and 9007s from china for 20US$ per 10 pcs).

Take care for the different pinout on the plugs of 9004 and 9007.

Alpine how are those 100 watt bulbs working for you? Do you have history with them, meaning is there any negative about using the higher wattage bulb? I already have the relay harness so that the bulbs get full voltage instead of using the factory wiring to the headlights. I just was looking for even more brighter is possible...

They seem to be a little shorter lived than the stockers, but usually last about 30 k miles.
I use them in an aftermarket clear glass headlight, modeled to look like the sports headlight (got that from LMC) - no problem with discoloration and heat.
The alternator has enough output to keep charging the battery with all of them on.
We tested the stock wiring on a 97 with one such bulb, and had enough resistance to pull down the voltage at the bulb to 8.8V (looking hard you can tell the bulb is on at that voltage)- but the switch got warm really quick..
With the relays and a good ground connection (a lot of the kits do not address the ground issues these trucks have) I see nothing negative with those lights, except getting into a stock truck at night is much more frightening than before.
A quick test with a meter showed about 85-90% more output than the Sylvania 9004 bulb at the same voltage (14.4V) .
So, except from these bulbs showing you any deficiency in your wiring, and the need to have your headlight aimed properly (airbags on the rear axle do help)I see no real downside.

Good info...thank you. So basically the upgraded relay harness with new grounds are required if you want to run higher wattage bulbs.

That said, I recently acquired the relay harness from Daniel Stern Lighting which seams to be a high quality kits that integrates three relays and three fuses and ties into the battery power and ground. I tested the connection at the bulb and I am getting the voltage generated by the alternator instead of simply headlight switch voltage.

So if I choose to get those 100w bulbs you mentioned, I should be fine.

Also, the TYC headlights I also installed not to long ago in order to replace my stock yellowed Sport headlights are not as good as I'd hoped. They're difficult to aim and the housing molds dont seem to be aligned correctly. Bummer because I'm not wanting to spend the money experimenting having to keep ordering different aftermarket configurations.

Hmm, I never had a Daniel Stern harness in hands, but the specs he gives on his website look good for 100W bulbs.

The 9007s I got:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/10pc...27424c4d5enlk2

9004s
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/2pcs...8-d5b938db8e2e

Price seems to have risen to 30US$ per 10 pcs..

As Mr Stern states- no tinted glass on bulbs. Tint absorbs light.

If you still have the stockers, you can easily get them clear again- wet sandpaper - Grits:240-600-1200 -2000, then a polishing compound and automotive clearcoat with a primer for polycarbonate. I think "rustoleum" has that in spray cans in the US.
(Just did the lights on my wife's Yaris Verso that way- they look like new)

Thanks again...

Yes, I've polished the stock Sport headlights many times. They'd last about a year or so then start to get that yellow tinge on the top edge and have a funky appearance if you caught them at the right angle. I just got tired of messing with them and heard good things about the TYC headlight assembly.
Here's a picture of what they look like compared to the stock ones.


https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.die...a1755c1f92.jpg
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.die...e4f5ba2c95.jpg

Did you paint them after polishing?
The polycarbonate needs some UV protection to keep it from yellowing. I've had mediocre success with carnauba wax, it would keep them OK for about 10 months until the yellow came back, much longer if the wax was renewed every 3 months..
The clear coat with UV protection usually works for 3-5 years for me, main problem is the stones chip away the paint.. also on the bumper, the grill, the hood etc..

I never clear coated them but I did wax them, repeatedly. And my truck sits in the garage 90% of its life too. Strangely the side turning light lens is as clear as the day it rolled off the assembly line. Too bad Mopar didnt have their supplier simply make the headlights out of the same plastic as the turn lights...

Mine is in the open air and sun all year long..
But the side marker being OK when the headlight is not- just a question of temperature.
Maybe your less than good results with wax are due to the wrong wax for the job?

Possibly...
I still have the factory assemblies sitting in a box. If I find myself with nothing to do some day I might take the time to polish, clear coat, and wax them again.