New Headlights and Tail lights

[ARigutto]

I recently moved to Arizona and this is the first time I have really driven my 2003 Dodge Ram 2500 in the dark. I have known that the headlights on these trucks are suboptimal to say the least. I have one headlight that is very badly sun faded so I figured it is time to replace the whole housings and just start fresh. Does anyone know of any headlights that work well so I can see when I am driving or any any upgrades that can be done?

My tail lights are cracked between the housing and lenses and since they are more than likely from factory might as well change them out as well. Any brands or companies you can recommend will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

 

[Darkbloodmon]

TYC has been my go to on housings, you can find them on Rock Auto. There are a few threads on headlight blub options that members have tried.

 

[ARigutto]

TYC has been my go to on housings, you can find them on Rock Auto. There are a few threads on headlight blub options that members have tried.

Thank you. I will look deeper and see what I can find.

 

[Ozymandias]

Yes TYC seems the best you can get for standard lights. If you are willing to spend 700$ you can get Moromoto Bi-Xenons fitted into the housing.
That's what I use.

 

[SSage]

I like the cast metal in the back better than the cheap all plastic ones. I ordered one on Amazon and got some cheap knock off DEPO, kinda like the eagle eyes or whatever they call them, all plastic, philips adjustment screws. Genos has the OEM quality version without the MOPAR price, the one I got from Genos a few months ago was very good quality. I think it was DEPO brand.

 

[AEdelheit]

I have AlphaRex LED projector headlights and the light output is far better then the stock housings but they are not cheap, Great light output with a very clean cutoff that does not blind oncoming drivers.

 

[ARigutto]

Yes TYC seems the best you can get for standard lights. If you are willing to spend 700$ you can get Moromoto Bi-Xenons fitted into the housing.
That's what I use.

So you just order from them and you get new housings or you need to provide them with houses? Also do you have any pictures of how they work in the dark?

 

[ARigutto]

I have AlphaRex LED projector headlights and the light output is far better then the stock housings but they are not cheap, Great light output with a very clean cutoff that does not blind oncoming drivers.

Thank you for the suggestion, but unfortunately it doesn't look like AlphaRex makes headlights for the year I need. Do you have any pictures of the headlights in use? Just in case I ever get a newer truck that has the same headlight issues?

 

[ARigutto]

I like the cast metal in the back better than the cheap all plastic ones. I ordered one on Amazon and got some cheap knock off DEPO, kinda like the eagle eyes or whatever they call them, all plastic, philips adjustment screws. Genos has the OEM quality version without the MOPAR price, the one I got from Genos a few months ago was very good quality. I think it was DEPO brand.

I'll definitely check out Genos.

 

[avvblanc01]

If you like light output, I HIGHLY recommend getting a nice set of HID projectors done up. I went with custom retroshop HID projectors for my 2006 and it's been some of the best money I ever spent on the truck! Incredible light output and quality optics so the light is exactly where you need it but doesn't blind traffic.

I also have CJC brackets with Baja Designs Squadron Pro fog lights and a 30" curved Baja Designs bar with CJC Off Road tow hook brackets. It's something in the ball park of 50,000 lumens of forward lighting so needless to say the dark is afraid of me now haha.

 

[ARigutto]

If you like light output, I HIGHLY recommend getting a nice set of HID projectors done up. I went with custom retroshop HID projectors for my 2006 and it's been some of the best money I ever spent on the truck! Incredible light output and quality optics so the light is exactly where you need it but doesn't blind traffic.

I also have CJC brackets with Baja Designs Squadron Pro fog lights and a 30" curved Baja Designs bar with CJC Off Road tow hook brackets. It's something in the ball park of 50,000 lumens of forward lighting so needless to say the dark is afraid of me now haha.

Thank you very much. I am definitely going to get a light bar on the truck before I head back home but it is pretty hard to use them on the freeway here. I am going to do the projector retrofit and plan to swap all the lights to LEDs. Any recommendations on light colors? The HID retrofit I have been looking at is 6000k and the fog light replacements are 5500K. I always thought that you wanted a cooler color like 3000k for fog lights and inclement weather, but that could just be something I picked up that isn't right.

 

[avvblanc01]

I think 5k is perfect. It’s a nice pure white light and that’s exactly what I went with on my truck! 6k is a little too blue for my liking. I have clear and amber lenses for my fog lights, so I just switch depending on the weather and season. If I know I’m going to be driving in dust or snow, I’ll throw the amber lenses on there to have a little less glare than the white!

 

[Ozymandias]

Around 5000 is what most OEM Xenon's have been.
I prefer 6000K much better, for my eyes it gives a better visibility of the road.

3000 is plain orange.

 

[Blakers]

Checked Geno's and found the DEPOs. Then checked Amazon for the heck of it and the same lights were almost half the price with free shipping. I like supporting Geno's, but hey, almost double the price?? Anyway, I am very happy with the new DEPO lights. For bulbs, I went with the Phillips X-Tremevision. I'm happy with them.

 

[PLohr]

TYC has been my go to on housings, you can find them on Rock Auto. There are a few threads on headlight blub options that members have tried.

Do the TYC headlights have both adjusters? Are they adjustable from the front? Any issues with light pattern projection?

Thanks for any help.

 

[RogerM]

Thank you for the suggestion, but unfortunately it doesn't look like AlphaRex makes headlights for the year I need. Do you have any pictures of the headlights in use? Just in case I ever get a newer truck that has the same headlight issues?

Alpharex just released your year model.

 

[Darkbloodmon]

Do the TYC headlights have both adjusters? Are they adjustable from the front? Any issues with light pattern projection?

Thanks for any help.

Aye its an OEM fit and function headlight housing with beam pattern adjusters in the front matching OEM. The light pattern projection is about as good as it was back in 2003, I'd like to get retrofit projectors but I have bigger priorities. My 60.00 led fog lights do more than my properly adjusted headlights do with the brightest halogen bulbs offered.

 

[SSage]

If they are half the price there is a reason, the good DEPOT ones have cast metal buckets with torx screws just like the OEM. I've gotten the eagle eyes brand "By DEPO"more than once when Geno's was out of stock for my last three Dodge trucks, they are cheaply made and don't last. Got one now thats supposedly DEPO brand from Amazon and its fogged up again. The cheap ones leak too much. Geno's supplied another drivers side headlamp recently for my 2003 and you can see the difference at night, better quality reflector than the cheaper Amazon DEPO.

Same with the fog lamps, the Geno's DEPOT version was much better. I've gone through too many TYC and knock off MOPAR fog lamps, they leak! I upgraded my fog bulbs, the Fogzilla adapters come with thicker o-rings and they work much better. So far no water in the last two years and I run rough dirt roads and see lots muddy rutted out water holes. I've got the OEM style fog lights in my Ranch Hand bumper with the fogzilla bulb adapters. They are almost too bright, highly recommended.

I gave up on HID bulbs in the trucks. Mine were too bright, just replacement bulbs suck badly. I've got 35 watt 4600K bulbs in my motorcycle and they are nice and clean, pure white. But they really reflect off road signs bad, I should try the 6K bulbs.

 

[bighammer]

There was something (common product) that people put on and it removes the clouded ugliness. I can't remember for sure, but maybe it was Off! bug repellent?? Save you some bucks and time if you just want to see better.

 

[Topzide]

The Deep Woods Off will give you about 6 months of clarity before needing to reapply. Or look at this thread for a longer fix; https://www.turbodieselregister.com...ight-restoration-using-a-cerakote-kit.269840/
Regular cleaning and polish with wax helps keep them clean. Just put in some LED headlight bulbs in a friends wife's car from; https://www.superbrightleds.com/. They were much brighter than standard bulbs and the white light helps!