Help identify mods on my Ram 1500 (2nd owner)

[CFRam1500]

hey everyone - i bought my 2011 ram 1500 sport about a month ago with 70k miles on it and joined here right away. ive been reading up on things and love all the good tips ive found. my favorite is definitely the tailgate assist!!!!

so anyway - my headlights are horrible at night (misaligned too) and i came on to do some research about replacing them and realized there are some mods that i know about but maybe others that i dont even realize yet... like are my headlights stock? i have seen that some years offer projector and reflector variations but were the projectors available in 2011? its a true "Sport" from the VIN but was not blacked out version.

Things/mods im aware that the Original owner did (by observation only):
~painted all emblems to match truck color
~painted grille insert (is chipping - nto sure if i will redo or replace)
~aftermarket wheels and tires
~painted brake calipers (going to redo)
~painted exhaust tips black (have removed most of it)
~LED license plate lights

Mods i've done:
~added tow mirrors to replace mismatched and banged up mirrors
~tailgate assist (love!)
~powdercoated matte black/orange wheels to glossy black

possible mods -
~different headlights?
~different foglights? (look stock but illuminate half way into the trees when on and have a little gold inline resistor behind the bumper with black electrical tape so theyve been modified somehow)
~LED taillights?

anything else that you can confirm or suggest i check out?

thanks for your help. Since i plan on keeping this truck for a long while and want to do something to correct the headlights, identifying whats already been done will help.

 

[MarshRam]

For starters, you have projector headlights. I wonder if the prior owner put Leds in there. Leds in projectors may be the cause of your lighting issues.

 

[CFRam1500]

thats what i had been seeing from the research as well... so i went on to buy "replacement" bulbs for my truck and saw that in the later years there are the options of projector vs reflector but not my year. anyone know for sure if projector were available in 2011 sports?

should i replace with HID or go back to factory style halogen if there are in fact LED in the housing (i believe there is).

 

[mohemipar]

2013 was the first year for those projector style lamps and LED tail lamps. They came standard on Sport and Laramie (and up). Any trim in 2011 would not have had them.

 

[gilleydog]

5" Carven tips deep tone look bad ass polished or black

 

[quietpeen]

Your truck came stock with quad headlights. Previous owner put the projectors in. with those projectors and a drop in hid kit you can get very decent light output. There is adjustment for up and down alignment for the headlights so that can be fixed without replacing the whole headlight

 

[MarshRam]

So there you have it. See what's behind those projectors first. Adjustment is located at the top of the housing and usually takes a hex in the few I have seen, you'll see it.

I don't know much about installing hids. I know if I were to go that route, due to the complaints I have seen with them I would want to assure it is done right and everyone here seems pleased with Jeremy at retroshop. That's where I would be taking my business for hids.

 

[CFRam1500]

awesome -that helps a lot. im a big fan of HID that are obviously done correctly so i will check out retroshop as well. thanks for the info all and love being back in the mopar family after a 7 year hiatus.

 

[quietpeen]

For starters, you have projector headlights. I wonder if the prior owner put Leds in there. Leds in projectors may be the cause of your lighting issues.

i hope the previous owner didn't put led's in. Chances are he would have hacked up the dust cap doing so and they just are not designed for projectors yet.

However Diode Dynamics is supposedly coming out with a LED designed for projector headlights in the very near future if that route is less intimidating than HID.

 

[CFRam1500]

Definitely less intimidating. I’ll keep looking out for them and in the meantime try to get them adjusted better and hope that helps. I did verify they are oem Mopar projectors so that’s nice but I can’t tell yet if they are hacked up. I hope not.


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[mohemipar]

i hope the previous owner didn't put led's in. Chances are he would have hacked up the dust cap doing so and they just are not designed for projectors yet.

However Diode Dynamics is supposedly coming out with a LED designed for projector headlights in the very near future if that route is less intimidating than HID.

I was thinking about the Diode Dynamics route. But holding money for suspension parts is the priority right now.

 

[CFRam1500]

is this the one you are referring to? im assuming i should look for bulbs for the 2013-2015 projector rams since thats what my housings are.

https://www.diodedynamics.com/low-beam-led-headlight-for-2013-2015-dodge-ram-projector.html

 

[MarshRam]

i hope the previous owner didn't put led's in. Chances are he would have hacked up the dust cap doing so and they just are not designed for projectors yet.

However Diode Dynamics is supposedly coming out with a LED designed for projector headlights in the very near future if that route is less intimidating than HID.

Yeah, if they put leds in them, expect a hole in the dust cap, maybe like this. I had to get creative to plug the hole and clean these projectors up and get them back in good working order. The guy who owned them before made a mess and I had to rewire everything. Good luck, hopefully you don't have a sloppy mess.

 

[Ram Man]

Small world. My GF's uncle is the owner of that lot you bought it from!

Disclaimer: never met the dude so if he screwed you over, dont take it out on me!

That truck looks great, you can look into getting painted mirrors too. I think they would blend in much better

 

[CFRam1500]

Small world. My GF's uncle is the owner of that lot you bought it from!

Disclaimer: never met the dude so if he screwed you over, dont take it out on me!

That truck looks great, you can look into getting painted mirrors too. I think they would blend in much better

Haha super small world! Great experience buying it. Agreed on the price before I made the hike from Jax and then everything was breezy . And thanks. Really liking the truck!!!


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[quietpeen]

is this the one you are referring to? im assuming i should look for bulbs for the 2013-2015 projector rams since thats what my housings are.

https://www.diodedynamics.com/low-beam-led-headlight-for-2013-2015-dodge-ram-projector.html

Yes that is them. I did notice that it says 2 to 4 week backorder so there is still some wait time for them