2013 Dodge Ram 1500 Passenger Headlight

[CG1973]

I am not sure if I am posting this in the correct spot or not. But my driver side headlight went out. I saw a video a guy was replacing it and he said the grill on front had to be removed to replace. Another video showed a spot by the wheel a opening you just open it and loosen some screws and the light pops out.
I am confused which one is correct? Where is the cheapest place to get a light? Anyone have the item number for the exact factory light not some off brand it needs to match the passenger side.
Thanks

 

[CG1973]

Does anyone know?

 

[JoeCo]

I am not sure if I am posting this in the correct spot or not.

This is probably why you haven't gotten a response yet, you've posted in the 5th gen section (2019+). You may want to do some looking/asking over in the 4th gen section for more answers.

I saw a video a guy was replacing it and he said the grill on front had to be removed to replace. Another video showed a spot by the wheel a opening you just open it and loosen some screws and the light pops out.
I am confused which one is correct?

Either one will work, just a matter of if you want to see what you're doing or not, verse feel around for the light. It's been 2-3 years since I've been into headlights on a 4th gen, but we almost always took the grill out.

Where is the cheapest place to get a light? Anyone have the item number for the exact factory light not some off brand it needs to match the passenger side.
Thanks

Depends on what kind of headlights you have, there were a couple different styles in the 4th gen. Once you identify which style you have, you can search the forums here or google search for what model bulb you have.

 

[GTyankee]

Youtube is your friend
One of the best video makers is
Motorcity Mechanic

Watch where he inserts the tool to remove the dust cover, ( sight shield )

2011-2015 Ram truck headlight bulb problems and repair

Please use the following link when ever using Amazon.com. Any purchases you make on Amazon will help support this channel.http://amzn.to/2mALgqSFeel the need...

www.youtube.com

I'm sure someone will give you good advice on where to buy headlights
I just took my 2009 Ram to a small garage that my family had been going to for years, they also had their own small auto parts store

If you do install it yourself, don't handle the back side of the housing too much, there are plastic caps that cover vents. If those vents are moved to any position other than the way they came, the headlights May fog up or get moisture into them





I trust Rockauto as a online parts supplier

 

[CG1973]

This is probably why you haven't gotten a response yet, you've posted in the 5th gen section (2019+). You may want to do some looking/asking over in the 4th gen section for more answers.



Either one will work, just a matter of if you want to see what you're doing or not, verse feel around for the light. It's been 2-3 years since I've been into headlights on a 4th gen, but we almost always took the grill out.



Depends on what kind of headlights you have, there were a couple different styles in the 4th gen. Once you identify which style you have, you can search the forums here or google search for what model bulb you have.

I guess I will just have to take it to Dodge Dealership sit there all day for a 30 minute job and pay $200.00 to $300.00. I do not know why Dodge made it so hard. I love my Dodge truck. I have always been a Chevy person but I love my Dodge. Guess next time I may buy a Chevy since Dodge makes it so hard. Thanks for the help.

 

[DiabeticSith]

It's best to pop the grille out and slide the housings out. It's easier, in my opinion, than trying to swap the bulb out by reaching in the bay. It takes less than an hour to complete the job. And, as GTYankee stated, if you have to replace the entire housing, Rockauto is a good place to get parts.

 

[JoeCo]

I guess I will just have to take it to Dodge Dealership sit there all day for a 30 minute job and pay $200.00 to $300.00. I do not know why Dodge made it so hard. I love my Dodge truck. I have always been a Chevy person but I love my Dodge. Guess next time I may buy a Chevy since Dodge makes it so hard. Thanks for the help.

Why do that? It's not very hard to take the grill out, a little more difficult the first time you do it but it's not really that difficult. I don't know how easy Chevy headlights are to get to, but I haven't seen any modern vehicles with headlights that are easy to get to like they were in older vehicles. If something like that is going to make you switch vehicles, be prepared to switch vehicles a lot.

Also, Ram isn't made by dodge anymore technically, I believe the last year they were sold officially as a dodge ram was 2010. I'm sure someone else here would mention it, but you may notice your 2013 doesn't have a dodge badge anywhere, unless it was added aftermarket.

And for the record, I would NEVER take my truck into the dealership and pay them for something like this. If you really don't want to do it yourself, at least take it a to a trusted local mechanic hopefully you have. No point in overpaying for something you can have done elsewhere for less and more reliably (speaking of my lack of faith in my own local service departments vs my trusted local garage). I would only ever consider bringing my truck into a dealership for costly or complicated warranty work, and even then I'd weigh my options.

Good luck with it, hope you find a reasonable solution.

 

[JC4041]

You pop off the cover, remove 4 bolts and the grille pops out by hand and then 3 bolts and the back tab for the lights...... Pulling the grille is seriously the easiest thing to do on these trucks besides putting gas in it and checking the oil. The cheapest place to get a light is google......

Could always be worse, when you have to change housings/bulbs in Chargers you seriously have to take the front end off....

 

[Graygoose]

Taking grill off is EASY.....I swapped headlights in no times, once you do it, you'll laugh how easy it was.

 

[hunterdan]

You pop off the cover, remove 4 bolts and the grille pops out by hand and then 3 bolts and the back tab for the lights...... Pulling the grille is seriously the easiest thing to do on these trucks besides putting gas in it and checking the oil. The cheapest place to get a light is google......

Could always be worse, when you have to change housings/bulbs in Chargers you seriously have to take the front end off....


View attachment 473811

2 bolts and the tab in the back.

That said, watch some videos on YouTube. The first time you take it apart, it'll probably take your 30 minutes. After that, it's stupid easy and takes about 2 minutes to get the grille off and another minute to pop the headlights out. I use an impact driver with a swivel on a short extension for the bolts (10mm socket) and it literally takes no time at all. As for the bulb, go on rockauto, plug your info in and see what bulbs it calls for. Or.. go to the parts store and they'll tell you what you need. Quads use h11 low and 9005 highs. Projector uses 9012/9005 bulbs (basically interchangeable) and the duals use an h13 bulb.

 

[CG1973]

Why do that? It's not very hard to take the grill out, a little more difficult the first time you do it but it's not really that difficult. I don't know how easy Chevy headlights are to get to, but I haven't seen any modern vehicles with headlights that are easy to get to like they were in older vehicles. If something like that is going to make you switch vehicles, be prepared to switch vehicles a lot.

Also, Ram isn't made by dodge anymore technically, I believe the last year they were sold officially as a dodge ram was 2010. I'm sure someone else here would mention it, but you may notice your 2013 doesn't have a dodge badge anywhere, unless it was added aftermarket.

And for the record, I would NEVER take my truck into the dealership and pay them for something like this. If you really don't want to do it yourself, at least take it a to a trusted local mechanic hopefully you have. No point in overpaying for something you can have done elsewhere for less and more reliably (speaking of my lack of faith in my own local service departments vs my trusted local garage). I would only ever consider bringing my truck into a dealership for costly or complicated warranty work, and even then I'd weigh my options.

Good luck with it, hope you find a reasonable solution.

I was just a little frustrated and I am still a little frustrated. I will be a little nicer. I called a local shop and I told them I thought both the low beam and high beam was out. They said usually they both don't go out. They said it could be a loose wire and they said they could run a diagnostic for $72.00. I just started using that shop this year was the first time. I may try to take the grill off myself and see if I can fix it. Like I said there is also a little compartment that is above the tire. But I think someone said it was hard. And since you all are commenting that it is easy to take the grill off I may just try that myself. I just have huge hands and also arthritis in my hands and I am also double jointed also and some things are harder for me to do. Thanks for all the replies I may just try and see if I can do this. As far as Dodge and Ram being separate I never knew that.

 

[CG1973]

Also I just remembered I was in a wreck in 2019 front grill was replaced. Maybe a wire did come loose I will check.

 

[hunterdan]

I was just a little frustrated and I am still a little frustrated. I will be a little nicer. I called a local shop and I told them I thought both the low beam and high beam was out. They said usually they both don't go out. They said it could be a loose wire and they said they could run a diagnostic for $72.00. I just started using that shop this year was the first time. I may try to take the grill off myself and see if I can fix it. Like I said there is also a little compartment that is above the tire. But I think someone said it was hard. And since you all are commenting that it is easy to take the grill off I may just try that myself. I just have huge hands and also arthritis in my hands and I am also double jointed also and some things are harder for me to do. Thanks for all the replies I may just try and see if I can do this. As far as Dodge and Ram being separate I never knew that.

The door in the fender is used to unlock the headlight. The only bulb you can access is the turn signal. I have large hands myself and removing the grille is not difficult for us with large digits.