2017 RAM 1500 + Carr Light Wing

[Eric Stewartson]

Greetings from Vancouver, Canada:

A few weeks ago, in preparation for a house move early next year, I purchased a gently-used 2017 RAM 1500 Limited. Nice truck all 'round, but the front lighting (Projector lenses) is awful for lo- and hi-beams. So I replaced the halogen lo-beam bulbs with LED units in the hope it would improve the illumination. Nope, very little change.

So I'm now evaluating adding after-market driving lights to the front using a CARR "Light Wing" as the mounting platform. Before I go any further though, I'd appreciate your answers/suggestions to the following questions. Please and thanks.

1. Has anyone mounted a CARR wing to their 4th generation 1500? If yes, was it a straightforward installation or did you have to use a special mounting kit and or drill other holes in the bumper?
2. Does the license plate - wings combo interfere with the operation of the front proximity sensors? (The "wings" appear to sit high enough that they wouldn't affect the sensors, but best to ask.)
3. What brand of on-road, street-legal driving light would you recommend or did you install?
4. Any considerations/"gotchas" to be aware of?

Thanks in advance for your replies and assistance.

Cheers,

Eric S.

 

[kurek]

I treat driving lights like aux. high beams; they need to hit the distance because they're most useful when I'm going too fast to react to something that's just 50 feet from me by the time I can first see it.

On the trucks I drive at work we use PIAA 520 SMR - they have a SAE lighting pattern and when aimed properly and mounted firmly (to not bounce) they work very well for road speeds without lighting up every snowflake in the sky or every piece of dust on my windshield. What they do not do is turn night into day but I consider that a good thing.

My ram has 2 sets of PIAA 410 , which is a bit less controlled than the 520 SMR but fits the available space on the bumper better. They use a DOT/SAE compliant pattern and conveniently they use 9005 bulbs which means a variety of reduced glare, high output, and other flavors of light are available if you don't like what comes with them. On the Ram I have these wired to come on with the high beams, but will put them on a separate switch (still only when the high beams are on) as soon as those switches arrive from the seller.

I was able to get the high-beams-only function by tapping into the harness right behind the driver side headlight, was able to reach it and do everything fairly easily from under the truck without removing the headlamp. I have a high clearance bumper but I think it would still have been just as easy with the OE one, there's a lot of room to work up there. There is a common ground and two switched positive leads, tapping into the switched positive for the high beam for the aux lamp relays works nicely and it means if you want to just treat them like full time aux high beams, you don't even need to put any extra switches in the cab.

I unfortunately don't have any input about the CARR wing mount. I tried a cheaper variation of that on a vehicle I used to own years ago but the lamps bounced like crazy on it.. I think that was more about the cheap stamped steel unit than the method of mounting.

 

[Eric Stewartson]

"Kurek":

Many thanks for your very informative response/suggestion to my question. I will certainly check out the PIAA 520 SMR and 410 models you talked about since they're both SAE observant.

As for the arms on the CARR Light Wing bouncing or fluttering a little once lights are mounted, I wondered about that. Not that the lights I put on would be heavy, but rather torsion could be introduced through airflow and general vibration. Not a good thing; lights shouldn't be wobbling around when you're driving in the dark. Accordingly, I am going to "change my tune" and have the tow hooks removed on my 2017 so as to create a suitable cavity/space for mounting the lights I eventually choose. Also, I like that you have 2 pairs of 410's on your truck as it suggests to me I could mount driving and spot lights up front. Doing so would cover all the bases.

Cheers and thanks again!

Eric S.