2005 headlights

[Paddy McMahon]

Has a reliable replacement or substitute for the OEM headlamps come to the table yet? I have followed the former threads and posts on this and have yet to see anything available. I am more than unhappy with the OEM lights even when I use low beams and the fogzilla fog lamps I can't seem to see out on the horizon where I need to. At this time I have driven with my high beams on for the past three weeks and not one person had "brighted" me. It seems embarrassing that the OEM high beams are not even as bright as the low beams on the passenger vehicles on the roadway. Other than adding off road lights I would love to get a decent fix for this situation. Any suggestions?

 

[seafish]

Paddy, while one can buy oem replacement headlights made by anzo from genos, those lights are just that-- oem replacements. Also, while some people are using cheap, or slightly better than cheap, hid upgrades from ebay or other suppliers, those upgrades are also just that-- inexpensive optics which while they MAY help you see better, they ALSO will likely will blind oncoming drivers with their bright but SCATTERED light. Still, some people are happy with them. ALSO, Some of us are trying to determine if Ram trucks sold in Europe have a better functioning, ECE rated headlight, but we have no definitive answers yet. I have pmed Bob Wagner twice now to see if he would be willing to call Marco (honored inventor of the Smarty line of programmers) who drives a Ram in Italy, but Bob has unfortunately not answered any of my emails. If you, Or anybody for that matter, personally know of anyone who drives a Ram in Europe, I DEFINITELY encourage you to pester them for pics, descriptions, and/or ratings and part#'s on their headlights, so that we might be able to learn if Eoro Rams use better oem headlights then the State counterparts. But like I said, for now it is an open question.



Personally, I recently managed to acquire a pair of LS 430 HID projectors and am going to retrofit them into my oem housings like JKloppe did here--https://www.turbodieselregister.com/forums/3rd-generation-ram-forum-no-engine-transmission-discussions/191334-how-hid.html. His upgrade is, I feel, the best (looking AND functioning) solution for low beam

upgrades for our trucks, but it IS an expensive upgrade AND one still might want to have High Beam add-ons. I will also be using a pair of KC 6" Daylighters mounted on the Ute bumper for my high beams after I get the HID retrofit done, as well as a pair of Warn Dual beam fog/driving lights in the fog location of the UTE. All of this will likely cost AT LEAST $1500, whch, like you say, IS not only embarrasing, but also extremely detrimental to the health of my marriage. :-laf



In any case, the search for REAL, affordable and better lighting goes on. I will post pics and descriptions of my lighting solutions as I make progress on it, hopefully in February.



Oh yeah, almost forgot, some people like to use a Defiant (or other) low profile light bar and then mount other auxiliary (CIBIE is very good,, as is Lightforce) on them.



Good luck. Let us know what you find out about!!