cab clearance lights

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Has anyone out there installed their own clearance lights on the cab? How tough is it? What do you got to do? Just don't want to turn my truck into swiss cheese #ad


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Jim Bartsch

97,2500,CC,long box,4x4,5-speed,3. 54,64000 miles,265's,ISSPRO gauges(pyro-boost)pillar mount,15. 3btdc, Lund X-steps coming,tonneau cover coming,cam plate next, where does it end?

Winter fun 99 Polaris 700 RMK heavily modified, Wifes sled 00 Pol 550 Trail
Summer fun 94 ZX-6 Ninja, 93 Suzuki RM 125

 

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Jim, I bought my truck off the lot and it did not have clearance lights,I let the dealer put them on and it cost 58. 00 for the kit and 165. 00 for labor, I wished I would have done it myself,there is a template for the roof that you lay down to get everything right,then you simply let the front of your headlinner down to do the wiring,not bad,Im kicking myself now. run a search on cab clearance lights its in there Kevin 2001 2500eth dee

 

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I put in the cab clearance lights on my 97 last year. It was pretty easy to do. The instructions include the template and instructs you to center punch 15 spots ,2 each for the screws and one each for the wires. Thats the hardest part. After seeing all those dents, drilling was easy. On my 97, the electrical harness is not the same as the 2000 so I had to imprvise. I just ran the wire down to a side marker light for power.
I also installed a relay across the contacts in the light switch to help save my light switch. I checked the service manual and only the trailer lights are carried by the trailer tow relay. Any additional lights on the truck are carried directly through the switch. That's a bad design. 3500 trucks with all their clearance lights seem to fail all the time and the result is you have to buy a new switch. There is a tsb for it but not on the 2500 because so few have the extra lights and no 2500s have the rear clearance lights.
-Paul R. Haller-

 

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J. C. Whitney has a knock-off kit for $30 Takes about an hour and a half to install. Looks just like the factory lites.

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2001 2500 QC, ETH/DEE,4:10s, LSD, EZ with elbow(25PSI) Boost/Pyro Guages, 4" Turbo back, BD Brake,Mag-Hytec Cover, Kleen Wheels, Energy Release, 70 gal. fuel, 20K Reese. 22,000 miles on 12/19/00 (RV Dealer)

 

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I don't have them but sure wish I did. Had a 98 (special order), that had them. loved em. the 2001 I found on the lot. I am too big a chicken to put them on. I worry about leaks and the sound of the drills. If I left and went home and didn't have to watch I could probably handle it. I am going to check into it. Just looks awesome at night pulling a trailer. You'll like em I'm sure.

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2001 quadcab slt 2500 HO 6spd. LWB,2wd,dk garnett red, trailer tow package,camper special, anti spin 3. 54 axle, speed liner,oversized stainless steel chicken slide,66 gallon in bed aux. tank,K&N air filter,Reese 20k hitch, Terry 2000 EX 30ft. double slide 5er, 2000 20ft gooseneck for haulin jeep, firewood and huntin stuff. 5X12 tagalong for haulin the 4 wheeler. Okie Newton

 

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Ordered 5 from Napa today and will be in tomorrow. I don't think that they come with a template. where can I get one? My Dodge dealership is 60 miles away which makes it a hassle to get oem stuff.

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Jim Bartsch

97,2500,CC,long box,4x4,5-speed,3. 54,64000 miles,265's,ISSPRO gauges(pyro-boost)pillar mount,15. 3btdc, modified exhaust, Lund X-steps coming,tonneau cover coming,cam plate next, where does it end?

Winter fun 99 Polaris 700 RMK heavily modified, Wifes sled 00 Pol 550 Trail
Summer fun 94 ZX-6 Ninja, 93 Suzuki RM 125

 

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If you drop the front of your headliner, you should see five 1" holes already punched through a beef up spar running across the top. Thats where the lights will go. Someone else had said that they did the center punch thing at each hole then drilled through to run the wires. I don't know how much of a problem it is to get them perfectly straight without the template. Been thinking of doing it myself, but haven't found a set of clearance lights that I want to put on yet.

 

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What do you gotta do to drop the head liner?

 

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I WOULD NOT DO THEM WITHOUT THE TEMPLATE!!!Tah template makes it very easy to do . you also do not ahve to drop the headline just lower it in the front a little. When I installed mine, I lowered it a little. The diagram has marks on it so you can line it up on each side. Very easy

 

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Does anybody that did it themselves/or dealer have any leaks. I too don't feel very comfortable drilling 15 holes in my roof. May go with the Lund Visor that has the lights in them. Only holes you have to drill with them is inside the door pillers.
Anybody do that?

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1999 FLAME RED 2500 SLT, QC, 4X4 AT, 3. 54 AGATE LEATHER

 

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I put my clearance lights in last year and no leaks here. I did, however, apply clear silicone over all holes and on the screws. The kit includes little plastic inserts to go into the screw holes that are a hard fit and they stand a little proud of the sheet metal and they probably help with water infiltration. It's the big wire holes that bother me so I blobed on the silicone. The lights also have a foam gasket under them that helps too.
-Paul R. Haller-

 

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Banshe is right, the holes are visable through the roof support when the headliner comes down. To lower the liner, pull out the lights and computer on the roof and you can lower it enough to see the holes. I also remember removing the flip down visors to gain access. I think if I were to buy aftermarket lights I would just use these holes as a guide and drill up through the roof to get the wire holes then you could use the gasket under the lights to locate and drill the screw holes.
-Paul R. Haller-

 

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I ordered factory ones thru dealer for $52. Drilling holes and installing lights was easy. I used silicone on the plastic inserts and a real thin coat on the gaskets. Hardest part was getting clearance light hot lead into the fuse block. Took me about two hours to get it in the hole.

Shore do like 'em though! #ad


Wiredawg

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2000 4X4 SLT QC 8' bed; 6 spd, 3. 54 ; BD exhaust brake and 4" exhaust syst; TST PM2; Airlift Super Duty rear air bags; RS 9000 shocks; pyro/boost gauges in 2 gauge a-pillar mount; back preasure gauge mounted under dash; KN air filter; Brown's Welding brush/grill guard, rear bumper & headache rack; nerf bars and aluminum roll top rear cover, Warn front receiver and Hadley air horns, 20K Reese hitch.

 

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M1A2-I was going to buy the Lund visor with the lights, but I heard that in some trucks, over time, the screws securing the visor have pulled out or cracked the sheet metal-so-I haven't done anything!

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2001,2500,QC,SLT,4x4,
Cummins HO,6 spd. ,3. 54 gears,SBox,Dark Garnet/Pearl, all options but leather/snowplow/Sport, the elusive front license plate bracket,"Cup Smoothie" Autometer gauges on A pilar, LineX bed liner, Cobra CB,Westin nerfs, Power tailgate lock,auto on/off headlights, backup alarm, real backup lights. More To Come! Big Dog on the Mountain! Engineer Pass,Co.

 

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Thanks everyone- Just put in my lights. Took me about 4 hours. I ended up taking the whole headliner down so I could drill up through the pre punched holes up through the roof. I used a hole saw that was a little smaller than the prepunched hole as a centering guide for the 1/4 inch bit in the center of the hole saw as I drilled through the roof. Then I layed the rubber light seals on top and lined up the wire hole with the holes I drilled in the top of the cab. Sighted them up from the front- made sure they were straight then marked the screw holes, drilled, siliconed screw holes and wire hole, and installed caps. Wow they look great #ad

I just ran a wire down under the dash and hooked into the Black/yellow wire per wiring diagram from Dodge manual for vehicles with cab lights.
The interior on the Dodge is very easy to take apart. Everything just comes unscrewed. On my previous Chevy pick-up you could hardly take anything apart unless you wanted to break something(had all those blind tab thingys)

 

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SNOS FUN

I hate working on interiors - but maybe you can help. Where do you start to take the liner out to install the lights? Can you get it back in so it doesn't look like Jeb Clampett did it?

 

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It is really not as hard as you think. Unscrew the visiors and holder clips, center roof console(two screws toward front then pull back on console about 1/2 inch and then it drops down. I don't have computer just lights and cubby hole), center interior light, grabe handles on right side(one handle requires star bit) both pillar covers(open the door and pull them toward the outside and they pop off), jump in back seat and take screws out of side moulding(two up top and one middle one by door jam is all I needed to take out), pull out the two push in tabs above your head (may have to get new ones if you ruin them- mine came out ok), pull down and out on the side moulding at middle of the side window(there is one push clip there) and pull the front side away from the door seal and then it will open up at the top. (TIP-Clean your hands or else you'll get your liner dirty- had to wash my hands several times) Drop the front down past the rear view mirror, then slide the liner over to one side more and carefully get the liner past the side moulding on the other side and it's out. If you have a quad cab it might be different and better because you could probably take the whole liner out with both doors open. In my case I put the front seats all the way back and tilted the front of the liner down and got it to go past and below the steering wheel and gear shifter. Then there was plenty of room to get the drill in there and to do the wiring. Install the same way it came out. When you get it back in place I put the visiors up first so I could match up the smash marks in the liner easy. Everything went together very well. I was surprised #ad
I hope you understand what I wrote - its kinda hard to explain.

 

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SNOS FUN

Thanks for the info. Instructions were great. Will tackle this spring. By the way - do you know if the shop manual handles this stuff? I've always purchased shop manuals before but often found that they are intended for the true professional mechanic in that they are written to assume a trememdous amount of knowledge along with all the special tools that none of us usually have.