2019 Headlights... many versions. OEM LED Projectors?

Disclaimer: Links on this page pointing to Amazon, eBay and other sites may include affiliate code. If you click them and make a purchase, we may earn a small commission.

OnSale

5th Gen Crew
Joined
Nov 12, 2016
Posts
3,218
Reaction score
1,723
Location
Philadelphia, Pa
Ram Year
2020
Engine
Hemi 5.7L
So it seems on the new 5th gens there will be 3 main types of headlights with 5 different versions total.

[emoji830]Base - Chrome Bezel
[emoji830]Base - Black Bezel
[emoji830]Mid-Level LED with Signature - Chrome Bezel
[emoji830]Mid-Level LED with Signature - Black Bezel
[emoji830]Full LED with Signature

So, I have so many questions. Does the "Base" come with Projectors, but halogen bulbs? What is this "Mid Level LED" and what is the "Signature" part? And if Mid Level LED is LED projectors then what is the "Full LED"?

Seems like there is going to be many variations to oem headlights. Can't wait to see what Retroshop, Diode Dynamics and Morimoto can come up with for these lights. Should be awesome looking.

*** Info was taken straight from FCA full-feature .pdf released the other day. ***

So... anyone have any idea what these mid level and full led is? Or this signature part? It would be awesome if they came with LED projectors like Morimoto released recently and many car manufacturers are putting in vehicles lately. 850b8b7598aa6304dee35348176855ac.jpg

• 2012 Ram 1500 RCSB Hemi • 22" SRT-10 Wheels • Smoked Taillights • Custom 13+ Projectors w/ Switchbacks & Custom Paint • Custom Hood & Bed Black Vinyl • Morimoto 6500k XB35 HID's • Opt-7 FluxBeam-X 6000k LED Fogs • K&N 63 Series CAI • Mufflex DODM80 Muffler Delete • Line-X Bed • OEM Black Badges All Around • 20% Tint All Around • RES -> RBZ Swap • Opt-7 LED Tailgate Light Bar •
 

jasonw

Senior Member
Supporting Member
Joined
Feb 25, 2011
Posts
1,047
Reaction score
559
Location
South Dakota
Ram Year
2020
Engine
5.7L Hemi V8
Mid level LED is the second biggest question mark for me. Judging by the looks of the Rebel, which clearly has different headlights than the higher trim levels, my guess...

"Signature" is the white LEDs at the top and bottom of the headlight.

"Full LED" is the quad LED system, one for low beams, one for high beams (per side). Although I guess they could technically both do "double duty", with a motor or shutter adjusting them between low and high positions.

Mid-level LED will either be no LED headlight (just the "signature" white top/bottom LEDs), but halogen; or it will be a single LED for low beams, with halogen high beams; or a single LED headlight that does both low and high beams, and a motor or shutter adjusts them to low/high position. As I said, the mid-level ones are the second biggest question mark for me regarding the headlights.

My biggest question is this: I hope the LED headlights are up to *****. While they look awesome, the recent LED headlight designs from GM and some other makers don't work very well at putting much light onto the road. I believe the only well regarded pickup LED headlight design so far tested is the one in the top-end trimmed Honda Ridgeline. We'll see how well these work when they start hitting the streets.
 
Last edited:
OP
OP
OnSale

OnSale

5th Gen Crew
Joined
Nov 12, 2016
Posts
3,218
Reaction score
1,723
Location
Philadelphia, Pa
Ram Year
2020
Engine
Hemi 5.7L
Mid level LED is the second biggest question mark for me. Judging by the looks of the Rebel, which clearly has different headlights than the higher trim levels, my guess...

"Signature" is the white LEDs at the top and bottom of the headlight.

"Full LED" is the quad LED system, one for low beams, one for high beams (per side). Although I guess they could technically both do "double duty", with a motor or shutter adjusting them between low and high positions.

Mid-level LED will either be no LED headlight (just the "signature" white top/bottom LEDs), but halogen; or it will be a single LED for low beams, with halogen high beams; or a single LED headlight that does both low and high beams, and a motor or shutter adjusts them to low/high position. As I said, the mid-level ones are the second biggest question mark for me regarding the headlights.

My biggest question is this: I hope the LED headlights are up to *****. While they look awesome, the recent LED headlight designs from GM and some other makers don't work very well at putting much light onto the road. I believe the only well regarded pickup LED headlight design so far tested is the one in the top-end trimmed Honda Ridgeline. We'll see how well these work when they start hitting the streets.
Cool that is for explaining this. I don't know about oem led projectors but I've heard amazing things about the Morimoto MLED projectors.

• 2012 Ram 1500 RCSB Hemi • 22" SRT-10 Wheels • Smoked Taillights • Custom 13+ Projectors w/ Switchbacks & Custom Paint • Custom Hood & Bed Black Vinyl • Morimoto 6500k XB35 HID's • Opt-7 FluxBeam-X 6000k LED Fogs • K&N 63 Series CAI • Mufflex DODM80 Muffler Delete • Line-X Bed • OEM Black Badges All Around • 20% Tint All Around • RES -> RBZ Swap • Opt-7 LED Tailgate Light Bar •
 

Arth

Senior Member
Military
Joined
Jan 15, 2013
Posts
958
Reaction score
735
Ram Year
2022 Ram 3500 Crew Cab Limited 4x4
Engine
6.7 HO Cummins Turbo Diesel
I hope these new headlights are impressive.

I will say I had a 2015 GMC Sierra that I retrofitted 2016 Sierra full LED headlights with and the output was very good. I think you are referring to the tests done by highway safety. While compared to honda they might not be as great because of glare etc... I felt they were fantastic.

Here is what I had along with my XB LED fogs for that truck. My experience with their new LEDs was great and that is one of the few things I miss about that truck. I hope to see this or much better output from the OEM LED Ram headlights.


View media item 25152View media item 25153View media item 25154View media item 25155



Mid level LED is the second biggest question mark for me. Judging by the looks of the Rebel, which clearly has different headlights than the higher trim levels, my guess...

"Signature" is the white LEDs at the top and bottom of the headlight.

"Full LED" is the quad LED system, one for low beams, one for high beams (per side). Although I guess they could technically both do "double duty", with a motor or shutter adjusting them between low and high positions.

Mid-level LED will either be no LED headlight (just the "signature" white top/bottom LEDs), but halogen; or it will be a single LED for low beams, with halogen high beams; or a single LED headlight that does both low and high beams, and a motor or shutter adjusts them to low/high position. As I said, the mid-level ones are the second biggest question mark for me regarding the headlights.

My biggest question is this: I hope the LED headlights are up to *****. While they look awesome, the recent LED headlight designs from GM and some other makers don't work very well at putting much light onto the road. I believe the only well regarded pickup LED headlight design so far tested is the one in the top-end trimmed Honda Ridgeline. We'll see how well these work when they start hitting the streets.
 

zstampe

Senior Member
Joined
Jul 16, 2015
Posts
516
Reaction score
399
Ram Year
2015
Engine
Hemi 5.7
LED has come a long way but HID is still king output wise.

Let’s hope these leds are better than the offerings from ford and gm.

My hid retro:

cea91b6545ff2227b0b040226146ae9c.jpg


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

adrianp89

Senior Member
Joined
Sep 3, 2015
Posts
3,175
Reaction score
1,273
Location
Tampa Bay, FL
Ram Year
2019
Engine
Hemi 5.7
Full Signature are the dynamic lights (turn with steeringwheel) Longhorn and Limited only.
Other LED are your static lights. Standard are just halogen no projector.

I assume signature just means they have writing on them. If look at the Laramie/REbel lights and the Limited/Longhorn lights, they have writing on the lights (like how our projectors say RAM)
 

Raconnol

Junior Member
Joined
Jan 30, 2018
Posts
4
Reaction score
2
Location
Victoria
Ram Year
2018
Engine
Hemi 5.7
I was recently in New Zealand, spending time with my wife's family and I got a opportunity to drive the Father-in-law's 2017 BMW X5 sport with Adaptive LED headlights late at night and along very dark country roads. I was very impressed with their performance. The low beam cut off was sharp and clear. And the LED high-beams had both wide and deep coverage. I found previous LED headlights simply could not penetrate as far down the road as previous generation Xenon projector headlights.

I am in the market for a new Ram 1500. Our local dealerships and the factory are offering great deals on the current 2018s. But I do like several key features of the 2019s. Birds eye view, also on the X5 which really helps my wife feel comfortable parking the truck and I am keenly interested in the performance of the 19 LED headlights. We leave in the very wet and dark west (wet) coast and visibility is always a important consideration.

Rick

ve-beam-an-anti-dazzle-high-beam-function-t-2253px.jpg
 

blackbetty14

Senior Member
Joined
Oct 23, 2014
Posts
2,701
Reaction score
1,425
Location
CT
Ram Year
2024
Engine
Hemi 5.7 VVT/Etorque
Probably a lot like the ford F series trucks regarding LED headlight output... poor.

Rams headlight systems have always been lacking. The premium 4th gen projector housings are junk till you put in a HID kit or do a full retrofit. A big problem i see is that the new 19 ram LED headlights would be upgradable as easily not to mention the cost of an LED or headlight when it burns out. Of course I have no idea how they are designed or setup so I’m just assuming it’s like the 4th gen led turn signal array or rear taillights which you have to replace the whole part.

However the new LED headlights on Acura’s, BMW and Mercedes are pretty nice. But Acura has always been at the forefront in headlights.
 

soSincerious

Senior Member
Joined
Jun 4, 2016
Posts
126
Reaction score
43
Ram Year
'16 1500 QC express
Engine
5.7 4x4 3.92 LSD
the design of the base model headlights make me cringe
 

Jmhm17

Senior Member
Joined
Feb 17, 2014
Posts
1,402
Reaction score
495
Location
Massachusetts
Ram Year
2014
Engine
5.7L HEMI
you can go to ramtrucks.com and build each truck with each option and it will show you what they look like. Not lit up and its an animated picture but will give you an idea of what to expect.
 

DwnDak

Senior Member
Joined
Apr 5, 2014
Posts
170
Reaction score
80
Location
Ontario, Canada
Ram Year
2007
Engine
Hemi 5.7
Brutal. A Toyota Corrolla base is standard with LED headlights... But a $50k++ truck they're an option!!

My gf's 2016 Accord Sport has full LED factory lighting and its amazing. Blows away the now old fashioned HIDS and last 10x longer.
 

ocwill1

Senior Member
Joined
Feb 23, 2016
Posts
295
Reaction score
129
Location
Severn, MD
Ram Year
2023
Engine
5.7 eTorque
Brutal. A Toyota Corrolla base is standard with LED headlights... But a $50k++ truck they're an option!!

My gf's 2016 Accord Sport has full LED factory lighting and its amazing. Blows away the now old fashioned HIDS and last 10x longer.

Agreed, my daughters 2016 Civic Touring sedan has the full LED's and they are amazing. Wifes Audi SQ5 does too, hoping to trade in my 2500 end of year and get the 19 1500...
 

Eightd21

Senior Member
Joined
Feb 11, 2018
Posts
104
Reaction score
82
Location
MI
Ram Year
NA
Engine
NA
The only thing I find odd is that the mid-trim lights are LEDs in reflector housings, with no option to upgrade to projectors.
It seems like it'd be beneficial to make the LED projectors an option on at least the Laramie and maybe the Big Horn, as I'm sure it'd be a popular option that most people would opt for.
Maybe in 2020+.

At least it's not as bad as Ford, locking anything other than halogen reflectors behind a mid-high trim with a $7000 package.
 

DwnDak

Senior Member
Joined
Apr 5, 2014
Posts
170
Reaction score
80
Location
Ontario, Canada
Ram Year
2007
Engine
Hemi 5.7
The only thing I find odd is that the mid-trim lights are LEDs in reflector housings, with no option to upgrade to projectors.
It seems like it'd be beneficial to make the LED projectors an option on at least the Laramie and maybe the Big Horn, as I'm sure it'd be a popular option that most people would opt for.
Maybe in 2020+.

At least it's not as bad as Ford, locking anything other than halogen reflectors behind a mid-high trim with a $7000 package.


That does seem odd, but remember OE style lighting is designed to work. While putting LED's/HIDS into current or older reflector housing just looks scattered and slightly improved brightness but not distance with poorly contained pattern.. thats aftermarket, and not meant to work together. If it comes from the factory with any housing fitted with an LED of any kind, its going to be a HUGE improvement from the 09-18 reflective halogen or projector halogen junk we have now.
 

pgr1990

Senior Member
Joined
Jun 24, 2016
Posts
490
Reaction score
352
Ram Year
2015
Engine
3.0 EcoDiesel
I checked out a 19 Laramie the other day and the headlights and high beams are just narrow reflectors with an LED below them. The headlights are still good looking but they definitely cheaped out not adding projectors to the mid level trucks. When illuminated it also just doesn’t look as good off a reflector.

I know the limited has the projector full led headlights and high beams but the headlight housing appears to be sleeker.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

DAVECS1

Senior Member
Joined
Mar 27, 2015
Posts
152
Reaction score
68
Location
Peoria IL
Ram Year
2019
Engine
Hemi 5.7L
I have a limited and I used to have a 15 sport with retroshop HIDs. The Limited edges those out. I drove 6 hours in the dark one night and I was amazed at the lack of eye strain I had. Also the vectoring headlights are pretty decent!
 

Mandride

Member
Joined
Jul 24, 2018
Posts
82
Reaction score
25
Location
North Carolina
Ram Year
2019
Engine
5.7
I have the Limited 2019 and tell you the LED's are awesome. Auto High beam gets tricked sometimes because they are so bright. The lights sometimes light the street signs so bright that it thinks it is a car coming toward you or it is taillights of another car. I had upgraded my 2014 GMC to HID and these work as good as them. The Dodge Limited OEM LED's are really good.
 

SilverBullet85

Senior Member
Joined
Jun 12, 2018
Posts
145
Reaction score
84
Location
West Virginia
Ram Year
2019
Engine
5.7 Hemi
That does seem odd, but remember OE style lighting is designed to work.
Well said. Something I've noticed that kind of hammers that point home is the 'cut-off' line of the headlights. When HID's and projector housings were becoming prevalent I always thought the cut-off line was so clean looking compared to the headlights of yore. Fast forward to a housing with no reflectors and it still has that sharp-ish cut off line. Consumer Reports has always preferred a less sharp cut-off line for the light beam and I think we are starting to see the happy medium.
 

mxsnow

Member
Joined
Oct 9, 2012
Posts
31
Reaction score
12
Location
Grand Blanc,Michigan
Ram Year
1995 BR V10,2005 DR Hemi,2015 DS Outdoorsman Hemi,2019 Bighorn Hemi.
Engine
hemi 5.7
My 19 Ram Bighorn with the midlevel LED lamps works awesome,also has the halo around the for running lamps.
 

Mandride

Member
Joined
Jul 24, 2018
Posts
82
Reaction score
25
Location
North Carolina
Ram Year
2019
Engine
5.7
Do you have a photo of the halo lights? Wonder how it looks with a led line bars

Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk
 
Top