Adding LED driving lights

[bbro44]

Hey y'all,

I recently upgraded the my headlights (Bulb link), but I'm not satisfied with the performance—neither the pattern nor the brightness. The high beams are especially disappointing, even worse/dimmer than the lows. Since I drive a lot at night in deer-heavy areas, I need better lighting. I'm considering adding extra lights to improve visibility, but I've heard there's quite a few complications with finding road legal options.

What are my options? Should I look into a different set of headlights with better low and high beams (suggestions welcome), or would adding additional lights be a better solution? Any recommendations would be appreciated!

 

[Dredger]

Your budget will dictate your options.
AlphaRex is a popular option.

 

[bbro44]

Phew, some of those are expensive. These aren't too bad though. What about something like these?

Your budget will dictate your options.
AlphaRex is a popular option.

 

[mrack]

Sounds like you have duals. It’s impossible to get acceptable output from those garbage housings short of retrofitting projectors in them. Find a used set of oem quads on Facebook marketplace, enable them with alfaobd and put fahren LEDs in them. Cheap way to get very good output.

 

[bbro44]

Can you talk to me a bit about alfaobd? Sounds like it's a software made by stellantis?

How can I confirm the headlights will fit my truck before going out to get them?

Could I use my current LED bulbs and just get more from the same brand for any others? What type exactly would I need to get? I'd imagine each headlight is going to have different led sizes/styles, counts, etc?

Sounds like you have duals. It’s impossible to get acceptable output from those garbage housings short of retrofitting projectors in them. Find a used set of oem quads on Facebook marketplace, enable them with alfaobd and put fahren LEDs in them. Cheap way to get very good output.

View attachment 549946

 

[bbro44]

FYI, these are the style of headlights I have.

 

[bbro44]

Could I just order something like this? They seem to be projectors and come with LEDs- no idea how good of quality they are, but they do come with them...

 

[mrack]

Sorry, didn’t realize this was in the 3rd gen section. Everything I said was assuming you had a 4th gen. Can’t help you there

 

[bbro44]

No worries. Thanks for the help anyways!

 

[jwdawson5]

My setup. Morimoto Hybrid LED from "Headlight Revolution". Very bright nice focus. Not inexpensive but they are on sale right now.

 

[crash68]

I need better lighting. I'm considering adding extra lights to improve visibility, but I've heard there's quite a few complications with finding road legal options.

DiodeDynamic makes a great fog light replacement kit even for the Gen3 trucks. I'll highly recommend the SS3 SAE Pro level fog lights. The pattern is curb to curb wide and highlights the deer's (or any animals) eyes like Christmas lights! I've had them in white out snow conditions along with dense fog and glad I had them.

SS3 LED Fog Light Kit for 2002-2008 Dodge Ram 1500/2500/3500

See Further, Go Faster with our SS3 LED Fog Light Kit for 2002-2008 Dodge Ram 1500/2500/3500!

www.diodedynamics.com

 

[bbro44]

Would you use this in combination with a light bar/pod lights, and new headlights, or just do these and the little light bar I got?

DiodeDynamic makes a great fog light replacement kit even for the Gen3 trucks. I'll highly recommend the SS3 SAE Pro level fog lights. The pattern is curb to curb wide and highlights the deer's (or any animals) eyes like Christmas lights! I've had them in white out snow conditions along with dense fog and glad I had them.

SS3 LED Fog Light Kit for 2002-2008 Dodge Ram 1500/2500/3500

See Further, Go Faster with our SS3 LED Fog Light Kit for 2002-2008 Dodge Ram 1500/2500/3500!

www.diodedynamics.com

 

[crash68]

Would you use this in combination with a light bar/pod lights, and new headlights, or just do these and the little light bar I got?

These fogs will give you a good wide base of lighting that will cover most driving conditions and keep you road legal along without blinding oncoming traffic. It's usually the lack of side lighting that makes it difficult to see animals running into the road
When there's no traffic around on back country roads, using the high beams with these fogs gives lots of light for driving.
I'd recommend them and see if you need/want to add more lighting.

 

[bbro44]

Sounds good. I've used and seen the headlights on a 2022 2500 power wagon many times and fell in love- been trying to chase those haha.

These fogs will give you a good wide base of lighting that will cover most driving conditions and keep you road legal along without blinding oncoming traffic. It's usually the lack of side lighting that makes it difficult to see animals running into the road
When there's no traffic around on back country roads, using the high beams with these fogs gives lots of light for driving.
I'd recommend them and see if you need/want to add more lighting.

 

[bbro44]

I think my plan is to get a set of Alpharex pro series halogen projectors. I'm hoping that the halogens are bright enough and have the right pattern. If not, I can always buy a set of LED bulbs. I know fahrens are decent, but I don't think they make anything less than 6500k... I prefer not to blind other drivers, so im looking for something closer to 4000k. Does anyone know where to get some good 4000k h7 bulbs that don't need any CAN adapters or resistors?

Thanks!

 

[crash68]

You might want to consider the Alpharex Luxx series, they are all LED headlights and have been reported by several members on this forum that the light output is better than the Pro series with LED bulbs.

 

[bbro44]

You might want to consider the Alpharex Luxx series, they are all LED headlights and have been reported by several members on this forum that the light output is better than the Pro series with LED bulbs.

I don't doubt that they're better... unfortunately, they're also $300-400 more. I'll keep it in mind though.

 

[crash68]

they're also $300-400 more

Most likely any decent set of LED bulbs are going to be $120-$200+ more considering you'll want them in both High and Lows.
You'll definitely want them in the highs if you drive on unlighted country roads. I have Hikari Ultras in my Pro series highs. Lows are still halogen as I didn't want any problems with my low beams. Unfortunately the Luxx series were not available when I bought the Pros.

 

[bbro44]

Most likely any decent set of LED bulbs are going to be $120-$200+ more considering you'll want them in both High and Lows.
You'll definitely want them in the highs if you drive on unlighted country roads. I have Hikari Ultras in my Pro series highs. Lows are still halogen as I didn't want any problems with my low beams. Unfortunately the Luxx series were not available when I bought the Pros.

Hmm. Honestly, I kinda like the idea of halogens on lows, LEDs on highs. Doesn't blind people when I'm doing city driving, but still have great lights for country roads. You don't happen to have pictures of the output, do you?

 

[crash68]

You don't happen to have pictures of the output, do you?

Unfortunately I don't have any pics, not sure if I'll be heading out any unlighted roads in the next week. I'll see what I can do. My low beam bulbs are Sylvania SilverStar ZXE
To really round out your lighting, use a set of DiodeDynamic SSE3 SAE Pro level fog lights. They illuminate curb to curb wide and stay below the bumper. These are well worth the money if you encounter heavy snow or fog, along with seeing peaky deer(and other animals) on the sides of the road.