CALLING ALL 2003 - 2005 OWNERS who want better lighting...

[Diesel Thunder]

Just to bump the topic up.



Any news, projections, prototypes, etc... ?????????????



I am going to just try and do it myself.



I think I may try to retrofit HID into my stock housing, I recently moved from the city to the country and realized that my stock lights really do suck. Previously, I was in denial.



There is really good info on HIDplanet.com

Someone on clublexus.com/gallery (type in search: Dodge) did a really nice retrofit of HID projectors into an 03-05 lamp.



I am in the research stage now.



Good luck to all.

 

[JApol]

Any updates?

 

[EDankievitch]

Add me to your list of product testers I have an 05 with lights that you need a flash light to se where you are going. I'd even pay for the shipping to test them.

 

[RMarkey]

I finally got 4 KC's and the fogzilla kit so I could see where I was going. I do get flashed if I forget to turn them off though, of course. One of these days it'll be a cop and then I'll have to get new headlights.

I can't believe this thread is still going without any companies stepping up yet. I subscribed to this thread forever ago and had all but forgotten about it.

 

[jelag]

I've just got to put my 2 cents worth in the pot... .

I have manufactured for my company several products in 2 different countries and 4 different vendors(suppliers)... . we often see a lead time of months and the longest has been up to 14 months... . for a complicated part... We have casting and machining done...

I can't even fathom the issue with dealing with DOT standards for passenger cars and the other issues...

What is a surprise is while the SEMA show runs there is another show in vegas called AAPEX... . it's at AAPEX where most of the foreign manufactures hang out and there must be a 100 who supply lighting for the OEM's around the world... . but most of those don't speak English... and its very important to understand that most of them want OEM style business or replacement business in the aftermarket, where a parts run might be 200,000 units at a time... . not a run of say 1000...

I just finished talks with a vendor where I said from the start the first order would be 500 pieces with later orders in the 2000-3000 range based on cash flow... . he was in agreement with that and when we came to doing the deal he wouldn't take an order of under 3500 pieces... . on an unproved product... he's already spent 4 months of my time working with engineers and I'm sure he felt he had me over a barrel, but my cash flow won't support it so I walked away... If I call him back, he's got me..... so to speak... . so I'm starting over... .

I often have to pay 2x's what a part might be worth to get a short run of 2500 pieces instead of a 50,000 part run... .

So you need to give Mopar Bob a break here... . and I'm guessing he working with their money... . if lets say he'd put up $25K to develop a product he'd than have the ability to hold them to a contract and development time line.....

And BTW - if you get this to work, I've got 3 trucks to convert over.....

 

[MoparBob]

Well... I am finally going to give up on Morette. They are the ones I have been working with since Dec of 2007, as they were recommended to me by a leading voice in the lighting community. They stopped communicating with me on the project, which may be due to the rough time they have experienced this past year (legally and financially). It is unfortunate that after all of this time and effort, I have been unsuccesful.



There website is still functional so I encourage all to email them and inquire as to future availability of headlights for our trucks. Maybe that will get things back on track... maybe it will fall on deaf ears.



Thanks to all who offered assistance and a special thanks to Don (p-bar) for his assistance (PM will be sent your direction soon).

 

[MPetrone]

Count me in too on the new lights. I do a lot of night driving and I wear tinted prescription eye glasses. Bring on more light. Seeing is worth the price.

 

[Matt400]

Another thought..

If the Ram is sold in Europe or Asia where ECE lighting standards are used vs SAE here in North America, couldn't we get a hold of a pair of lamps that are ECE code?

They would need to be from a right hand drive country for correct beam and with ECE standards you get less stray light & more thats focused on the road, a better cutoff on top making room for higher wattage bulbs that don't glare traffic.



Here are a couple comparisons on an Audi-

#ad


ECE on the left and SAE/DOT on the right

 

[WoodChuck]

Good thinking Matt, you might be on to something. Though I think the sharp cutoff you mentioned is mainly a characteristoc of projector style light systems. What kind of lights do they use in Canada?

Now we just need someone to research and purchase some lights.

 

[AH64ID]

Good thinking Matt, you might be on to something. Though I think the sharp cutoff you mentioned is mainly a characteristoc of projector style light systems. What kind of lights do they use in Canada.

I had some Hella lens in my toyota rock truck. . they had the cutoff and were SUPER bright...

 

[Bob4x4]

In the USA Dodge dealers can no longer order export parts #@$%!



You will have to go aftermarket unless you have a friend in an other country



Bob

 

[seafish]

Matt, do you know for sure that European sold Rams have different headlamps then the ones sold in the US, or are you hoping/guessing that they have different optics?? I do have family and freinds in other countries and could probably get a pair shipped over, but I would want to know that they were an improved ECE design, preferably with HID modules, before troubling them and going through the expense of getting them shipped here. I wonder if Marco, with MADDS/Smarty in Italy, might be able to chime in??

 

[CRuth]

Interesting idea. The sharp cutoff is from the ece standard, not just a characteristic of projector lamps.

 

[JBallou]

Couldn't a dealer in europe be found online and purchase the parts?

Marco should be able to tell us or I know there is a couple of guys in sweden and other areas that could tell. I just don't know who and how to contact them without another thread. What do you say?

 

[seafish]

Couldn't a dealer in europe be found online and purchase the parts?



Marco should be able to tell us or I know there is a couple of guys in sweden and other areas that could tell. I just don't know who and how to contact them without another thread. What do you say?

I'd say that ANY info we can get from Europe regarding 3rd gen headlights and part #'s would be extremely useful. We could easily start a new thread called -- 2003 to2005 OEM/Euro headlights for Rams, or something like that, and maybe also PM Marco or Bob Wagner to see what they can find out. If this pans out, I think ALOT of us will be wanting to buy these lamps, but without accurate info, it's a pipe dream.

 

[Matt400]

Matt, do you know for sure that European sold Rams have different headlamps then the ones sold in the US?

No, its just a thought from what I have been reading about the different regulations.

ECE regs require a more sharp cutoff on top for less glare to the other drivers.

SAE/DOT regs require more upward stray light to illuminate road signs better.



Check out what this fella in Norway had to say about his friends US imported Eclipse with DOT headlights-

Toyota Forums :: Toyota Nation - View Single Post - How Annoying are HID driving lights?



I'm just thinking Rams sold over there may have a different (better) beam due to the different regulations.

 

[seafish]

Definitely a cool thought, Matt--I DO hope you are right. I'll PM Bob Wagner and see if he will contact Marco (pretty sure that he has a direct line and try to get a prompt answer. Marco drives a Ram over in Italy, and I'm sure he'd be willing to help. In fact, I'd even venture to guess that if enough people want em, Bob and Marco might make arrrangements to export them here and sell them (for off road use only??:-laf along with the Smarty lineup they do. I'll post an answer here when I get it, and THEN we can start a new thread. Happy Holidays.

 

[seafish]

OK... PM to Bob Wagner sent. Lets see what he and Marco have to say... . Oo. Oo. I kinda feel like a kid waitng to find out if he's gonna get his Christmas wish. :-laf



Actually, decent lighting for my otherwise awesome truck has been a Christmas wish for several years now!!

 

[Matt400]

I took a look at my lenses and see no indication as to the standard they are, someone with a Euro Ram may need to pull a lamp off and check the back side. If I get a chance I will pull one of mine and look for something there.

 

[seafish]

I took a look at my lenses and see no indication as to the standard they are, someone with a Euro Ram may need to pull a lamp off and check the back side. If I get a chance I will pull one of mine and look for something there.

Matt, I have an OEM headlight that I bought from eBay when I first started to play with this lighting problem... I can just check the back side of that for info and save you the trouble of pulling yours. I am also hoping that Marco will get a part# for his in Italy and then maybe we can compare the part #'s and see what comes up. I did ask Bob Wagner to ask him the bulb type and also to send a pic if possible...