dwrestle said:
I'm interested in this thread. I don't know why I can't just find a relay kit for the bulbs it has now. I've done that on 2 of my older trucks with excellent results.
Assuming you have a truck discussed in thread 94-99 using 9004 or 9007 bulb
Putco is a company that's been making headlight harnesses for a long time. I have been using them for over 18 years in all types of cars trucks,foreign and domestic. There are better harnesses made with the pricetag that goes with them.
Putcos harnesses are cost effective and i have used them for years with 130/90-100/80 bulbs and they are still in service.
They address the tiny wiring going to headlights in modern cars and trucks,Dodge trucks fit this discussion perfectly. You cannot do anything about the shit*y headlights this generation comes with,they suck. So did the Fords and GMs . I mean the actual lamp/lens/reflector.
Best you can do with actual housings is to polish the lens best possible or replace them.
The wire gauge in headlight harness is too small,the switches too cheap and the lighting circuit is too long-with too many connections in harness. Each of these adds more resistance in a circuit that can ill afford it. Add age to increase resistance further and you have poor(er) yet light output.
A quick test to see how poor YOUR vehicle headlight wiring is...Start vehicle and let it idle,check battery voltage with a multimeter,leave ground test lead on battery and backprobe low beam and high beam connectors with lights on. The voltage will be 2-3 volts less than battery/charging system voltage.
A 9004/9007 bulb operating in a system voltage of 12.54 volts at the headlamp is only producing 83% of the bulbs rated output.
Same bulb at 11.88 volts produces 67% of rated output.
Systems with 11.22 volts at the bulb,more than a few,output only 53% rated output.
Installing a harness as suggested above with bulbs being fed right from the battery @14.5 volts,all bulbs will produce twice the lumens at 14.5 volts as they do at 12.8 volts. This is a difference in brightness you can actually see.
The headlight/dimmer switches have essentially no load on them and will never wear out electrically.
This harness is a legal modification on any vehicle that makes a definable difference in light output. Your stock headlights will be brighter than when vehicle was new.Period!
There are bulbs that can be installed in headlight housings that can further improve light output legally.
THe Sylvania/Phillips extreme or ultravision bulbs you find at your parts stores are not being referenced here,i'm not saying what they claim is a gimmick but it is not accurate. What they want for them tells me they're very proud of them. Look into Vosla plus 130 bulbs,read about them,how they're tested
and expected light span-no BS. Some other names to look into,Narva,Norma,Osram.
Compare the prices for what you get. Some of those other manufacturers are asking $60+ for a pair of their bulbs
These are relatively inexpensive and legal upgrades you can do to your vehicles that can return 30% and better light output. Though you can find hi wattage replacement bulbs to fit your headlamps,the harness can support the amp load easily but not recommended as they will melt plastic headlamps in these trucks...and they're illegal.
Harness is an easy install and most can be done in 1/2 hour.
Putco harness for both 9004/9007 2 lamp system is #239007 HW and fits these trucks perfectly ,have installed many of them.
Putco #230004HW will work on 81-93 Dodge trucks and there are harnesses they make that can be used on older Quad headlight Dodge trucks.
Consider changing Headlamp assembly style to the type used on Later Dodge sport trucks as they use separate lo/hi beam bulbs for each side,total of four,twice as much light and lens/housing quality and light beam are a step up from the earlier trucks in that generation.
If looking for foul weather lighting consider a set of quality fog lamps-not the crap that comes on most every car/truck these days. Hella makes good quality fog lamps in round and rectangular style that actually work and don't ding the wallet so replacing one or both from an accident or deer hit is not a big deal money wise. Once you've driven a vehicle with a good set of fog lamps in really shit*ty weather you will "see" driving in inclement weather is less stressfull.
You will notice the word legal used several times in this post. I do a lot of headlight upgrades for customers-all legal. All cars/trucks can have their lighting systems improved meaning what you can see without being a nuisance to oncoming traffic.
I Do Vehicle inspections in three state and familiar with lighting codes.
Pretty much all cars/trucks made in this country and many imports have headlight systems and headlight performance as an afterthought to the style and design of the vehicle and they suck. High end European cars tend to have the best lighting system as form after function design is is used.
The technology has made its way into other manufacturers vehicles but quality of parts and corners have been cut and we now have the current generation of the curse of the glaring blue light car/truck because manufacturers think that's what the customer wants though it has been proven the blue spectrum of light(referred to as daylight)is not the most effective to help the human eye see detail after dark.
Just realize i wrote a book here,i can tell by how much is missing from Jim Beam bottle.
Hope it's been more helpful than not. Not going to proofread for grammar,been one eyeing it for awhile,lol.
. Go from piss poor headlights to purely average and its such an improvement.The stock ram headlights were only exceptional in how utterly horrible they were.. go figure.
