Clearance Lights (Dealer or Joe Blow?)
03-26-2004, 01:42 PM
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Clearance Lights (Dealer or Joe Blow?)
I want to get clearance lights added to my '03 Ram. Anyone have any suggestions, should I take it back to the dealer or someone else?
03-26-2004, 03:05 PM
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Either do it yourself (its very easy) or have someone handy help you. You can get the light kit from the dealer or even JC Whitney for that matter. The dealer will kill you on labor. JMO.
03-26-2004, 03:37 PM
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Go get a couple quotes (dealer, body shops) and then compare those prices to trying it yourself.
According to the dodge service manual, the wiring goes up the driver's side pillar. There is a splice about halfway up the pillar. Whether or not that is the location where the wiring stops on trucks without factory clearance lights.....I dunno. But if you want to tackle the job yourself, that would be the side to start looking for the wiring. Who knows, the wiring might even go all the way up under the headliner (but I doubt it).
If I was going to do it myself, I'd go find a truck with the factory lights and make a couple measurements of the factory locations. Probably go to a used car dealer when they aren't open and unscrew a lens to see what's under there and how they are mounted.
Then I'd buy the lights from the dealer to see what all comes with them (wires, grommets, screws, etc.) and what doesn't. Get the headliner and pillar cover down/off to find the wiring.
Drill the holes. You'll need 3 holes per light. 2 for the screws and 1 for the wire(s). Be careful because drilling thin metal can be tricky as the drill bit will want to grab right at the end. You'll want to firmly hold the drill, high speed, and VERY light pressure to keep from grabbing. To avoid having the drill bit walk across your paint, I would first use a very small drill bit, maybe 1/16", and spin it by hand to score a dimple in the paint. Then use the same drill bit in a drill to drill a hole. Move up in size until you get the diameter hole you want. Putting some masking tape down first would probably help minimize paint chipping.
I think the factory lights have a special metal "nut" pressed into the sheet metal for the screws to screw into. So if you can't get those installed yourself then use very little torque when putting the screws in and let the silicone do the holding. One trick to consider would be gluing with construction adhesive some hardwood or plastic blocks to the under side of the roof where the lights will be to give the screws something to bite into. The wood/plastic will also make it much easier to screw through the sheet metal as the drill bit won't be as likely to grab.
Paint the bare metal, and then apply pure silicone caulk before screwing them down.
Finally, connect the wires and reinstall the headliner and pillar cover.
According to the dodge service manual, the wiring goes up the driver's side pillar. There is a splice about halfway up the pillar. Whether or not that is the location where the wiring stops on trucks without factory clearance lights.....I dunno. But if you want to tackle the job yourself, that would be the side to start looking for the wiring. Who knows, the wiring might even go all the way up under the headliner (but I doubt it).
If I was going to do it myself, I'd go find a truck with the factory lights and make a couple measurements of the factory locations. Probably go to a used car dealer when they aren't open and unscrew a lens to see what's under there and how they are mounted.
Then I'd buy the lights from the dealer to see what all comes with them (wires, grommets, screws, etc.) and what doesn't. Get the headliner and pillar cover down/off to find the wiring.
Drill the holes. You'll need 3 holes per light. 2 for the screws and 1 for the wire(s). Be careful because drilling thin metal can be tricky as the drill bit will want to grab right at the end. You'll want to firmly hold the drill, high speed, and VERY light pressure to keep from grabbing. To avoid having the drill bit walk across your paint, I would first use a very small drill bit, maybe 1/16", and spin it by hand to score a dimple in the paint. Then use the same drill bit in a drill to drill a hole. Move up in size until you get the diameter hole you want. Putting some masking tape down first would probably help minimize paint chipping.
I think the factory lights have a special metal "nut" pressed into the sheet metal for the screws to screw into. So if you can't get those installed yourself then use very little torque when putting the screws in and let the silicone do the holding. One trick to consider would be gluing with construction adhesive some hardwood or plastic blocks to the under side of the roof where the lights will be to give the screws something to bite into. The wood/plastic will also make it much easier to screw through the sheet metal as the drill bit won't be as likely to grab.
Paint the bare metal, and then apply pure silicone caulk before screwing them down.
Finally, connect the wires and reinstall the headliner and pillar cover.
03-26-2004, 03:54 PM
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I've done this before. JC Whitney sells the stock light kit same as dealer. The light pattern is already a part of the roof panel so there is no guessing involved. Using the stock roof template drill the proper holes and screw on the lights. Very simple process. The hardest part is taking the headliner down and even a blind person could do it. Again, if the dealer does it they will charge you dealer prices. If you don't feel comfortable doing it yourself then either a dealer or any semi experianced person could do it with factory results.
03-26-2004, 07:17 PM
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Go ahead and let the Dealer do, that way if it leaks it's covered under WARRANTY and they can replace the headliner and the trip computer and anything else that gets screwed up
03-27-2004, 06:09 AM
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I had mine added by the dealer with the mopar part. The truck is three months old. It is covered under warranty now and if it leaks I have a back up. I was charged two hours labor. The lights look awesome. It may be a simple task to do but do you feel like risking it? If you drill wrong there is no turning back. 
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03-27-2004, 08:39 AM
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We charge $89.00 for the complete mopar light kit, and we charge 1.5 hours labor to install, which is $90.00 at our shop. I order all of my stock heavy duty rams with cab lights, but I get a lot of trucks in from other dealers that don't have them so we have been installing quite a few of them lately.
03-27-2004, 02:01 PM
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My suggestion would be not to install any cab-marker lights. I have had three replaced due to leaking and just noticed some moisture in another one. I agree they look cool but I am getting tired of the leaks. I do run my truck through the touchless car wash but they still should not leak. Only one has had any signs of cracking. I can't figure out where the water is coming in at. Even if it blows by the seal I don't see how it can get past the light bulb socket. I did put a little silicone on the seal and screws on the last one I replaced. Hopefully that helps. 
03-28-2004, 06:42 AM
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Originally posted by Teddroe
A trucks not a truck without CAB LIGHTS...............
A trucks not a truck without CAB LIGHTS...............
One reason I didn't get a 3500 SRW. I hate the toads on the roof.
03-29-2004, 08:45 PM
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I like the toads, they look good when I'm pullin loads, but its the darn leaks that make me shreak. Had a dealer replace all five the last time I was in. He said he didn't want to mess around and swapped em all.
03-30-2004, 01:43 AM
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I had cab lights added to mine this christmas. Bought the lights from dodge for $75 (included lights, wiring harness, instructions, template, everything). Had the holes drilled by a body shop for $75 (dad didn't want me doing it and messing it up). Took about 30 minutes. Dealer wanted to charge me 3 hours of labor @ $60/hr!!!!
