How about this for more light-

[Matt400]

On my 03 I did the bright box with fog lamp control and moded the fogs to use the 9005's like many have done and while I will agree it is an improvement over stock I was thinking of a different approach for my 05.



Since I vary rarely if ever see fog conditions but regularly drive a night I am thinking of pulling out the fogs and replacing them with a pair of hella120mm modules.

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in a high beam configuration and use a 100W Xenon bulb



The lamp lens is very close in size to the factory fog and you probably wouldn't notice they were changed till you turned them on. They are a very deep lamp but there is plenty of room for them. Since they come with that metal frame it should be pretty easy to mount it to the factory fog mounts using metal straps bent to fit.

They come complete with adjusting screws for aiming.



For control I was thinking to wire them like VStahl did his with their own circuit and trip the relay with the OEM high beam feed wire.



Price wise looks like I would spend about 50. 00 more vs a Bright Box/Fog mod, but at today's prices that's only ½ tank of fuel and I bet the light output would be better at least for distance.



Any thoughts on this idea or other ideas??

 

[JCrockett]

Go for it and let us know how it works. I am always interested on how to get more light

Yoy will definatly have to run them through a relay

 

[Matt400]

Yoy will definatly have to run them through a relay

True, I am thinking the pair would draw 22 amps with the 130w bulbs so it should toss out some good light if the glare isn't too bad.

 

[Blakers]

I'm not sure how the lenses and housing are mounted in the bumper, but the smaller sealed beam GE aircraft landing lights may fit just perfectly. These are 100W and really put out a long bright beam. Last I checked, they were only $12 or $14 each.



The problem with running the bright lights so far down is that if you are in hilly country you will see further than your lights will when going over the top of a hill. If you're in flatland, it probably won't matter.



Blake

 

[Matt400]

the smaller sealed beam GE aircraft landing lights may fit just perfectly. These are 100W and really put out a long bright beam. Last I checked, they were only $12 or $14 each.

Thats an idea, pretty cheap too, just have to figure a way to aim them. Got a link to that kind of lamp?

 

[Matt400]

Well... since nobody was willing to test my idea out for me , I ordered a pair of these 120mm Hella's along with 100w Xenon bulbs to replace the 55w halogens they come with plus a 40a relay kit . Should be here by the end of the week.



Since my son bought my 03 I will be able to compare side by side who can see better!

 

[Van Blom]

I think hella makes a DRIVING light that is the same configuration as the fogs.

I'm not sure, but it might be worth checking out. No mods needed

 

[ohnoitsyu]

As much as many of you would hate to hear this, you could get more light by going with the 2006 headlight setup. After driving my 06 for a while now, I recently drove my 98 (which I still need to sell), and I kept checking to see if the headlights were on! I never had a problem with the old lights before (and I always had the driving lights on, too), but after seeing how well the 06 lights perform, I'm really happy with them (but I'll probably still get a light bar and off-road lights).

 

[Matt400]

I hope you guys are considering other drivers when bombing your lights.

No doubt for sure, my beams will always be off for any on coming traffic.

 

[2Gen3Gen]

Make sure you don't melt the plastic on the front bumper with those guys! They could give off some heat

 

[Van Blom]

As much as many of you would hate to hear this, you could get more light by going with the 2006 headlight setup. After driving my 06 for a while now, I recently drove my 98 (which I still need to sell), and I kept checking to see if the headlights were on! I never had a problem with the old lights before (and I always had the driving lights on, too), but after seeing how well the 06 lights perform, I'm really happy with them (but I'll probably still get a light bar and off-road lights).

Do you think it's the bulb or the reflector thats improved the lights in your 06?

 

[Matt400]

The 120mm's are installed

The 120mm High Beam Modules are a pretty close fit to fill in the hole where the fogs were. The fogs are ob-round where the 120mm’s are round so there is a slight mismatch with the plastic bumper trim piece but you have to look real hard.

Here is a comparison-

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They are magnesium housings and glass cover, it will not melt by upgrading to any higher wattage bulb so I changed the 55w Halogen to a 100W Xenon.



They come with the square ring around them that has adjusters for aiming so the square ring becomes the mounting point and the lamp rotates within that.

At the hardware store I found a 3” and 1” wide simson tie strap that worked great to make the mounts. I just matched up the same fog mountings so the new lamp bolts into the same mounts on the truck.



This pic shows the mounting tabs I added along with the added depth of the new lamp.

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This pic is with it mounted and is the left front-

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And finally an installed front pic-

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Now your probably wondering how well they work. . well me too! I ran out of time to wire them up so that will be another post, soon I hope because when the time changes at the end of the month I will be coming home in the dark if these babies aren’t online.



I will be doing a side by side comparison with another 3rd gen that has a bright box with fog control and also the fogzilla mod.

 

[WoodChuck]

Thanks for the pics. Looks like a great setup.

 

[EErmert]

Hey ! Really look's grate!! Has anyone found out about the ge aircraft lite's??? Also, plz show pic's of your "new" fog lite's ON!! Nice job...



Eric '03 3500SLT QC SWB SRW HO 6SP LIMITED 4X4 WHITE STILL A NICE RIDE!!!

 

[nickleinonen]

will the stock wiring handle the extra load, or will you run a relay/transistor to power the lamps??? [i will be doing something like this too eventually]

 

[ilovetrains]

I'm curious, how did it turn out?



BTW - I used to have an 01 Durango. Lighting was an issue with it. Many people used to replace the factory fog light bulb with an aftermarket one from some place called blue moose if I remember. They melted the lenses. I tried replacing them with a stronger OEM bulb, cannot remember the number and melted the lens.

 

[Matt400]

Nick- I made my own. I used 12ga wire from battery to relay, 14ga from relay to lamps and then trip the relay with the trucks high beam wire. I also added an inline 25A fuse.



ilovetrains- I turned them on for the first time last night in my driveway. I still need to aim them but based on what I saw they looked brighter than the high beams on the truck. I hope it wasn't overkill but I don't plan on ever having them on in traffic.



For those that see allot of traffic another option would be to use the 120mm Hella low beam lamp. It has a plastic housing so a 55w bulb would be better and when aimed proper you could leave them on in traffic as a low beam driving lamp.

 

[FlyBoy007]

Hey ! Really look's grate!! Has anyone found out about the ge aircraft lite's??? Also, plz show pic's of your "new" fog lite's ON!! Nice job...



Eric '03 3500SLT QC SWB SRW HO 6SP LIMITED 4X4 WHITE STILL A NICE RIDE!!!

As an aircraft owner I can offer some advise on using any landing light for an aux. light. The GE 4905 and Q4509(halogen) have a life expectancy of 25 and 100 hours respectively. My landing lights mount in the wing and are somewhat protected from vibration airplanes with them mounted in the engine cowling have less life. Remember in an aircraft they are not on very long. The cost of the q4509 bulbs at 33 bucks not really cheap based on no more then 100 hours life and most likely much less.



http://www.topbulb.com



search q4509

 

[EErmert]

Hey Matt... What with my fogzill right 9005 brakeing the lens, can you tell how your "new" halogen are working? Also the wireing(sp)... Thanks in advance



Eric '03 HO 3500 SRW SWB SLT 6SPD (NV5600) LIMITED 3:73 WHITE TRAILER TOW MIRRORS WITH TURN INDICATORS MANY MOPAR

 

[Matt400]

They are working real nice and it was a good mod IMO. Wiring was pretty simple and instructions came with the kit.