WHICH AFTERMARKET HEADLIGHT ASSEMBLY

[TGVET]

It's finally is time after 18 years to get rid of the lousy OEM headlights. I have researched the vast options for a long time and have yet to make a good decision that I won't regret. So the question for any and all that have made the switch, which one have you chosen without any issues or returns?
AlphaRex looks better than most but certainly is far above in cost that all others found on Ebay and Amazon.

 

[Ozymandias]

On Amazon is the cheap stuff only, decent headlight come 700$+ a pair - is it this what are you looking for?

 

[Darkbloodmon]

It's finally is time after 18 years to get rid of the lousy OEM headlights. I have researched the vast options for a long time and have yet to make a good decision that I won't regret. So the question for any and all that have made the switch, which one have you chosen without any issues or returns?
AlphaRex looks better than most but certainly is far above in cost that all others found on Ebay and Amazon.

Get a TYC unit from Rock Auto, I like alot of TYC products good quality control. I've used their NEW starters, alternators, headlight housings, etc.

 

[Tuesdak]

Lots of aftermarket garbage out there including a set I tried that had lines in the beam from the bulb being out of place in relation to the reflector. I read the 2006 headlights, OEM, were the best for this era. I wound up getting OEM Dealer replacements for my 2003 as the lenses were fogged up. Used wholesale pricing to be frugal about it.

 

[TGVET]

02-05 Dodge Ram LUXX-Series LED Projector Headlights Black $730.00 on the AlphaRexx site More than I'd like to spend but choices for 05 are limited that have a good beam pattern and long range. I had though about changing the fenders to 06 and later but not sure if there are issues doing so.

 

[TGVET]

Get a TYC unit from Rock Auto, I like alot of TYC products good quality control. I've used their NEW starters, alternators, headlight housings, etc.

Dark,
Did you actually purchase the headlight assemblies for your 3rd Gen ? I am reading not-so good reviews what there are. I.e.. rapid turn signal blinking and lamp out indicator when headlight turned on. OK when headlights are off.

 

[Topzide]

I had a set of TYC headlights in a '02 Caravan. Never had any issues with blinker or lens clouding over the 7 years they were in it. On some assemblies, you need to use the factory sockets to avoid the gremlins. Gone are the days of the glass lenses that never fogged up, just had the reflector coating peel away! You would have thought that the plastic that is used would be a much better quality!

 

[STEVEBROOKS]

Tracking this thread too... I've got the bright box (with fogzilla) on my truck, so can anybody speak to what issues, if any, would be encountered by installing the lights referenced above?

 

[Ozymandias]

I run the TYC on my truck.
The rapid Blinker is well known, avoid it by reusing the socket from your factory headlight.
Problem solved.

UV protection seems good, I had TYC before and they looked good after 7 years of use.

 

[Darkbloodmon]

Dark,
Did you actually purchase the headlight assemblies for your 3rd Gen ? I am reading not-so good reviews what there are. I.e.. rapid turn signal blinking and lamp out indicator when headlight turned on. OK when headlights are off.

Glad you mentioned that, prior to buying the housing I read up on that issue as well and ordered some factory Mopar bulb sockets(ebay) instead of using the provided ones in the TYC housing. No issues otherwise. I mentioned this in a similar thread somewhere on the topic of lighting. Others had done the same knowing of the turn signal issue.

 

[Blakers]

I bought the DEPO lights that Geno's sells for my 03. They were half the price on Amazon for the same lights. I'm very happy with them.

 

[Regcabguy]

It's finally is time after 18 years to get rid of the lousy OEM headlights. I have researched the vast options for a long time and have yet to make a good decision that I won't regret. So the question for any and all that have made the switch, which one have you chosen without any issues or returns?
AlphaRex looks better than most but certainly is far above in cost that all others found on Ebay and Amazon.

UTube has a really comprehensive site called Just Diesels. Good guy. He seems to love them.

 

[CVR222NV]

Afte viewing the Just Diesels You Tube videos I decided to go all in on the Alpha Rex Nova lights so I'll provide an initial review.

First I will say that I had recently replaced the OEM housing units with TYC housings using Lifetime LED H13 70 watt bulbs. For the second time one of the Lifetime LED bulbs has recently gone out so needed a bulb replacement in any event. What I experienced with these bulbs was light being thrown up to the point it would light up the tree canopy even on low beam. Needless to say I would get flashed on the highway especially from truckers. When I saw the Alpha Rex videos I really liked the straight line of the light pattern. It was the same light pattern I had experienced on my BMW (sold).

As indicated by Just Diesels the installation was plug and play for my 2006 truck although I did have to remove the grill bar on my Buckstop bumper to be able to remove and install the headlights (4 bolts). The new lights came with a kit to hook up the driving lights to the post 2007 trucks but again not required for my 2006 truck (see instructions on the Alpha Rex website). All features worked perfectly including the sequence lights on start up as well as the directional turn signals. However, I am still getting the hyper flash on the turn signals but note that I don't get hyper flash on the emergency lights. The only issue I can see is that the outside LED bulb of the Nova lights with the four LED bulbs will be partially covered by my Buckstop grill/brush guard. I have not reinstalled the grill/brush guard until I sure we have the lights properly adjusted so will have to wait until then to determine any obstruction but it appears that I will have two of the three low beam lights and the high beam light.

Last night I found a dark street to test out the light pattern and note that the factory adjustment has the driver's side light lower that the passenger side light. The center of the LED bulbs is 42" from ground level on my truck and the top of the light pattern at 25' in front of the truck is 42-44". I will do some more testing this week and I will be going on a road trip this weekend and will see how they perform. I would appreciate any thoughts on proper adjustment as well as any fix for the hyper flash. I will say that these lights put out an intense white light that is blinding when your eyes are looking into the light pattern so for safety reasons I need to get this right.

The Alpha Rex Nova light housings appear very robust and completely sealed unlike the TYC's. Like the OEM housings, the TYC's have all bulbs screwing into the housing. I'm not sure what the issue is with the Lifetime LED H13 bulbs but suspect that because I do a lot of driving on County dirt roads of varying condition (ruts, silt beds, wash board, wash outs, etc.) it might be that they just don't hold up to the abuse like my Rigid off road lights do. I guess only time will tell if the Alpha Rex Nova's will hold up to the abuse.

 

[llotton]

AlphaRex told me they adjust the headlights to factory specs. for stock height trucks. For what it's worth. However this is the first Ive heard of the Hyper turn signal light flash.

 

[CVR222NV]

AlphaRex told me they adjust the headlights to factory specs. for stock height trucks. For what it's worth. However this is the first Ive heard of the Hyper turn signal light flash.

There have been discussions on the Forum on this issue so maybe someone will chime in but I believe that the switch from incandescent bulbs to LED bulbs that draw less watts cause the ECM to read a deficient circuit and throw a code. I'm not sure how that is related to the flasher. What I found interesting was that the emergency flashers do not hyper flash. I'll reach out to Alpha Rex to inquire about the hyper flashing turn signals as you would have thought they would have added the necessary resistors to their LED bulbs to remedy that issue.

 

[User113]

There have been discussions on the Forum on this issue so maybe someone will chime in but I believe that the switch from incandescent bulbs to LED bulbs that draw less watts cause the ECM to read a deficient circuit and throw a code. I'm not sure how that is related to the flasher. What I found interesting was that the emergency flashers do not hyper flash. I'll reach out to Alpha Rex to inquire about the hyper flashing turn signals as you would have thought they would have added the necessary resistors to their LED bulbs to remedy that issue.

The hyper-flash for turn signals only is not a bug, it's a feature. These "modern" vehicles don't use a conventional thermal flasher like more ancient cars did, but they are designed to respond in a similar manner.

Your truck's turn signals are activated by sending a very specific voltage from the multi-function switch to the instrument cluster, controlled by a specific resistor value. The instrument cluster then sends a J1850 message to the Front Control Module (FCM) and the FCM sends the trigger signal to the appropriate turn signal relay in the Power Distribution Center. The rate at which it flashes is controlled by the FCM to mimic the way a thermal flasher would hyper flash if there was lower than expected current heating up the thermal element (less heat = faster flashing). As it states in the owner's manual:

The arrow on either side of the instrument cluster flashes to indicate the direction of the turn, and proper operation of the front and rear turn signal lights. If a defective bulb or wiring circuit is detected for the turn signal system, the arrow indicators will flash at a faster rate. (Emphasis added.)
​

The designers tried really hard to make this "modern" truck act like the older vehicles that people were used to. Another related example (from the '04 FSM):

Each time the cluster detects a turn signal-on input from the turn signal switch circuitry of the multi-function switch on the turn/hazard switch mux circuit, the requested turn signal lamps and turn signal indicator will be flashed on and off, and an electromechanical relay soldered onto the cluster electronic circuit board will produce a clicking sound to emulate a conventional turn signal flasher. (Emphasis added.)​

The FCM also controls the hazard warning lamps upon receiving a different J1850 bus message from the instrument cluster. Since the flashing rate of your hazard warning lights is normal, that suggests that the FCM does not take into account any detected "Lamp out" condition for that flashing function. It's all by design, rather than any "issue."

Out of curiosity, does your vehicle have the "Lamp Out" indicator lit?

 

[CVR222NV]

The hyper-flash for turn signals only is not a bug, it's a feature. These "modern" vehicles don't use a conventional thermal flasher like more ancient cars did, but they are designed to respond in a similar manner.

Your truck's turn signals are activated by sending a very specific voltage from the multi-function switch to the instrument cluster, controlled by a specific resistor value. The instrument cluster then sends a J1850 message to the Front Control Module (FCM) and the FCM sends the trigger signal to the appropriate turn signal relay in the Power Distribution Center. The rate at which it flashes is controlled by the FCM to mimic the way a thermal flasher would hyper flash if there was lower than expected current heating up the thermal element (less heat = faster flashing). As it states in the owner's manual:

The arrow on either side of the instrument cluster flashes to indicate the direction of the turn, and proper operation of the front and rear turn signal lights. If a defective bulb or wiring circuit is detected for the turn signal system, the arrow indicators will flash at a faster rate. (Emphasis added.)
​

The designers tried really hard to make this "modern" truck act like the older vehicles that people were used to. Another related example (from the '04 FSM):

Each time the cluster detects a turn signal-on input from the turn signal switch circuitry of the multi-function switch on the turn/hazard switch mux circuit, the requested turn signal lamps and turn signal indicator will be flashed on and off, and an electromechanical relay soldered onto the cluster electronic circuit board will produce a clicking sound to emulate a conventional turn signal flasher. (Emphasis added.)​

The FCM also controls the hazard warning lamps upon receiving a different J1850 bus message from the instrument cluster. Since the flashing rate of your hazard warning lights is normal, that suggests that the FCM does not take into account any detected "Lamp out" condition for that flashing function. It's all by design, rather than any "issue."

Out of curiosity, does your vehicle have the "Lamp Out" indicator lit?

Thank you! I'm not getting any lamp out indicator on the cluster.

This is what my Auto Engenuity scanner shows:

After clearing the above codes these are the codes that remain:

I just want to point out a possible difference in terminology between your truck and my 2006 truck. I don't think I have an FCM. I have an ECM and a TIPM and these codes seem to be related to the TIPM. However, all of this is totally beyond my understanding. What I'm now really struggling with is that I get the hyper flash on the turn signals but not on the emergency lights yet they are the exact same lights!

 

[Ozymandias]

Like he said, turn signal is monitored for bulb out and elevated flash rate in case of failure.
Hazard it isn't monitored or the engineer thinks it I safer to have a normal flash rate in hazard mode and therefore no elevated rate.

It's all electronic, don't think electric narrowing this problem.

 

[CVR222NV]

Like he said, turn signal is monitored for bulb out and elevated flash rate in case of failure.
Hazard it isn't monitored or the engineer thinks it I safer to have a normal flash rate in hazard mode and therefore no elevated rate.

It's all electronic, don't think electric narrowing this problem.

So no way for Auto Engenuity to change the monitored rate for the turn signals? If not is there any other solution? Or am I stuck?

 

[Ozymandias]

Sadly not, needs a resistor.
But, it can also be the connector that isn't doing right.
I remember that with the TYC lights even with a normal incandescent bulb the hyper flash occurred.
Changing the connector back to the factory one solved the problem there.

That lamp out feature is really really picky on our trucks.

Gen4 are great, there you can switch in the FCM any bulb to LED, disable the feature completely.