2nd Gen Non-Engine/Transmission Replacement head lights?

[Texis]

My 97 head lights are junk. I run around on high beams and no one can tell the difference! Low beam is basically candle light. The lenses are UV'ed.



Last week I noticed an early gen 2 going down the road with some really nice looking replacement lights. It looks as if the entire unit was replaced? Mine is a 2 piece unit, but these appeared to be one piece replacements?



Does anyone know who mades those nice looking, one piece replacement head lights?... they look like they would actually work!

 

[ttbird]

Sport lights are the way to go. Search the forum and you'll find lots of info. I changed mine a few years ago and would never go back. There are two bulbs in each light and with the correct harness adapter both bulbs are lit on low and on high. Wire harness comes from suv.com and sport lights can be found at dealer or on line. Just make sure you buy the ones that have adjustment screws for aiming the lights. I'm not sure about a 97 but on my 95, I had to enlarge the hole behind the lights for the second bulb to fit. Newer models started having the hole already, just don't know what year it started.

 

[WDixon27]

i just got sport lights for mine and they are well worth the odd $200 for a set of depo brand replacements off ebay

 

[Mishkaya]

I am in favor of the sport headlight conversion as well. I only wish I had done it sooner! Oo.

 

[firefighter_2000]

Headlight modifications

I've posted this before, hope it helps again.



The mod:

Dodge Ram Sport Headlight Conversion



The harness:

suvlights.com Dodge Ram (Sport Headlights) Super Heavy Duty Conversion Harness w/4 relays 9004



AND The light housings:

1999 2000 2001 DODGE RAM EURO SPORT HEADLIGHTS PAIR NEW:eBay Motors (item 120498096045 end time Dec-05-09 14:10:31 PST)





Should be a grand total of around 300 for all the parts. I've done a lot of reading and plan to do this to my truck at some point in the near future. This seems like what MOST everyone suggests. I've got all three book marked on my laptop. Hope this will make it a little easier than searching and reading, and searching some more & reading some more.

Craig

 

[WDixon27]

i put a dab of paint on the offending part of the light and rubbed it in the socket of the truck, a combo of hole saw and tin snips removed the required hunk-o-tin, a little paint to seal the wounds and its good to go, wiring was easy as i had already run relays to the stock lights in effort to channel as much power as possible to them, the way i hooked them up ended up perfect for max output with the low beam elements on in the high beam positions and the highs on in the lows, it has a nice sharp cut off with the lows on with little light spillage above the cut off, and with the high beams on everything swaps and the outer lights run on low providing short range middle-side lighting, looks like this Xx=i=xX with the low beams and xX=i=Xx with the highs

 

[LandShark]

WDixon27: I guess I don't understand why you wired the lights the way you did. Shouldn't all the highs be on for high beam and all the lows on for low beam?

 

[WDixon27]

ill try to take a picture of it in action and the results will make it clear, but high or low beam projection is more the function of the reflector in the light housing then the output of the bulb, the 9004 bulb has a bright and a not as bright element, and i am using them to my best advantage without blinding other drivers

WDixon27: I guess I don't understand why you wired the lights the way you did. Shouldn't all the highs be on for high beam and all the lows on for low beam?

 

[SMorneau]

The sport light conversion with the relays is one of the most amazing improvements you can do. Well worth the money.

 

[The patriot]

I'm for the most part with my Depo's, but they do seem to "keep" moisture a little more than I'd like.

I find myself driving with the lights on all the time in attempt to dry them out.

 

[DieselDoghouse]

I would second quad or sport headlights - I wired mine directly from each battery for minimal voltage drop. Low beams definitely not candlelight!!!:-laf

 

[LandShark]

I have the sport lights on order but haven't quite figured out how I will wire them. I have the suvlights relay light harness installed for the old lights. I was going to just plug that into the 9004 lights and install 2 more relays for the 9007's and run all 4 lows at once and all 4 highs together (not run high and low together), but I waiting to hear more from WDixon27 on how he wired his lights.

 

[WDixon27]

pics of element swappage

low beam
#ad


high beam
#ad


and when you hold back the stalk it burns all 8 elements for max hey you effect, i actually didn't plan initially for it to work this way and was going to toy with the wiring to do something like this later but it turns out all i had to do was just hook em up to the relays and share a ground, i have my relays set up to switch power instead of ground like some systems where the power is constant, i ran a fresh ground so the stock system has nearly no load

 

[The patriot]

I would second quad or sport headlights - I wired mine directly from each battery for minimal voltage drop. Low beams definitely not candlelight!!!:-laf

Mine are wired direct too. I put solenoids in and theyre operated by the dash switch.

on low all 4 elements burn on low, and on high all elements are on.

The improvement is quite substantial however I wouldnt consider Depot the same quality as the Mopar ones. My rubber gaskets have fell apart in under a year with the Depot's, and like I said, I'm always "drying them out".

Nevertheless it's still a huge step up and well worth the bux if you prefer to see where youre going at night.

 

[firefighter_2000]

Drying?

How do you dry yours out? Any idea why they're so easy to get moisture in them? This is my next upgrade. Trying to consider all the options. The wire harness from suv lights is a no brainer... But which headlight housings to use is my delima.

Thanks

Craig

 

[budnate]

a had a Ford F-250 one time same deal headlights would get wet in the winter, pull them and run a hair dryer to dry them out and I run model glue all around the seams, done deal. yours just didnt get glued to well when new my Depots are fine.

 

[The patriot]

I dont drive too much at night anymore. They dont dry out.

 

[GreggNoble]

euro sport lights

guy, my 2001 2500 is the sport model so i have good lights but i wish i could get a sportier more modern set of sport lights ,like the Euro lights,but they aren`t available in the sport configuration ,not that i know off, any off you know where to get Model stylish sport lights,i like the one piece look. thanks

 

[WDixon27]

lotsa different style lights on ebay, some more tasteful then others but i think all of them are chinese and potentially crap, sorta comes with the territory on non oem style lighting though

 

[ERobinette]

I did the conversion. I use the low beam inside bulb for daylight running light. I ran all 4 bulbs high and low at once and the inside bulb over heated, exploded and melted the housing so I don't run the high and low beam on the inside bulb at the same time. The factory wiring doesn't use the inside low beam. I bought the light assy @ certifit. they have 4 stores in Texas. Very few stores ship so I hope you are close to 1. CertiFit Auto Body Parts - Home. You might look at Daniel Stern Lighting Consultancy and Supply tons of good information. Its worth the effort. Have fun