Alpharex NOVA headlights installed and review.

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squadco343

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They are not plug & play. From my experience they are not worth the cost they are asking. I switch my back to the oem headlights and went with GTR lighting led's.
 

GordDavey

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I can live with a one time display in the cluster.
Any hyperflash?

Can you provide a link to the lights on Amazon please.

RodeoGeorge

No I haven't had any hyperflash. The only thing I saw that was odd was initially the sequential signal was dim when I set the front signals to LED. Setting them to non LED and they were back to being properly bright. Yet I have since retried with the signals set to LED and they are still properly fully bright.

Getting lots of compliments on the lights, the headlights came in an alpharex box, and the tailights I got from vipmotoz which came in a spyder box.

Alpharex Headlights: https://www.ebay.com/itm/For-09-18-Ram-AlphaRex-PRO-Upgraded-Chrome-LED-Sequential-Projector-Headlights/274351582248?ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649

Spyder Tailights: https://www.ebay.com/itm/NEWEST-DESIGN-2009-2018-Dodge-RAM-1500-2500-3500-Black-LED-Tube-Tail-Light-SET/172730075143?ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649

Just ordered a 3rd brake light to go with the tails.

Sorry it was ebay not amazon I got them from.

I only set everything to LED because I read others had trouble without doing so, but perhaps I should turn all the LED off and see how it works, that would at least let me tell people whether they just work out of the box or not. I'll give it a try this weekend.

The only odd thing on the taillights was it came requiring a bulb for the reverse light, but since I had already put in a bright white led in my reverse lights I just swapped those into the tail lights reverse bulb.
 
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GordDavey

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My are are not sequential! Turn signals are very dim and I got several error messages. Also they do not turn with the headlight switch, only in "auto" mode. Very disappointing to say the least.
The bright DRL on without the headlights in auto, require the little harness the lights came with. power, ground and a wire to a fuse to run a relay, then a single wire out to the single red wire coming out of the lights, then the DRL's come on full intensity, and if you pick the correct fuse... they recommend F66 which is a sunroof fuse. My pdc had the fuse and power at F66 even though I don't have a sunroof. In fact the fusebox (PDC) comes with virtually everything ready to use whether the truck had it or not. You have to use the goofy little harness to get full bright Top/Bottom white DRL's.

My sequential turn signals were dim at first when I had the BCS set to LED front turn signals, but turning that off and they come up full bright.
 

GordDavey

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My are are not sequential! Turn signals are very dim and I got several error messages. Also they do not turn with the headlight switch, only in "auto" mode. Very disappointing to say the least.

What has Alpharex said to their owners regarding this issue?
Have they offered any assistance, other than install resistors?

RodeoGeorge
I've read on other threads here that Alpharex has offered resistors to those who had problems. From my reading it worked for some and not for others. I haven't tried talking to them about it myself. Other than the BCM code being set (no cluster service engine light though) and the message of Parking Lights Out only appeared once, so it doesn't bother me at all. I put the lights in with Hikari Ultra LED's and I think it looks pretty good. But this is my first time without ordinary halogens, so I make no claim on experience of any kind. I can hit the highbeams and light up reflective signs for about a mile or more in front of the truck though!
 

GordDavey

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Just checked my Alpharex G2's and turned off all the LED settings in the BCM so it thinks it's back to quad halogens, did a quick BCM reset (run to off, wait 10 seconds, back to run) did a full check of all lights, lows highs, etc with headlights on and off, and nothing faulted, no parking light out messages. I won't call it perfect until I take for a decent drive. But a quick check with all settings back to LED = No and all appears to function just fine with no error codes.
 

JB1

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Just checked my Alpharex G2's and turned off all the LED settings in the BCM so it thinks it's back to quad halogens, did a quick BCM reset (run to off, wait 10 seconds, back to run) did a full check of all lights, lows highs, etc with headlights on and off, and nothing faulted, no parking light out messages. I won't call it perfect until I take for a decent drive. But a quick check with all settings back to LED = No and all appears to function just fine with no error codes.

Sounds like you fixed it
 
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AE5548

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Just checked my Alpharex G2's and turned off all the LED settings in the BCM so it thinks it's back to quad halogens, did a quick BCM reset (run to off, wait 10 seconds, back to run) did a full check of all lights, lows highs, etc with headlights on and off, and nothing faulted, no parking light out messages. I won't call it perfect until I take for a decent drive. But a quick check with all settings back to LED = No and all appears to function just fine with no error codes.

I'm going to try this today.
 

MudderRam

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I'm about to order a pair of their dual projector version and would like to know which resistors and where do you install them in case I get error codes or hyper-flashing. Anyone on here that has installed resistors?
 

GordDavey

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I'm about to order a pair of their dual projector version and would like to know which resistors and where do you install them in case I get error codes or hyper-flashing. Anyone on here that has installed resistors?
The is a thread in the Exterior forum about Trying Morimotos. 1800+ posts where they talk about resistors and what type and how to install them. I’d suggest finding that thread and doing a search of just that thread for the word resistors. You’ll find your answers easily. If no one here has an answer for you.
 

MudderRam

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The is a thread in the Exterior forum about Trying Morimotos. 1800+ posts where they talk about resistors and what type and how to install them. I’d suggest finding that thread and doing a search of just that thread for the word resistors. You’ll find your answers easily. If no one here has an answer for you.

Thanks. I'll do that. I just ordered a set of their Pros v1. Wife didn't like the idea of me spending almost $500 on the G2s since I had to remove a set of aftermarket projectors from our Grand Cherokee which failed after a couple of year. $1000 wasted.
 

GordDavey

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Update for you all on my G2 Pros... Bad News. I was working on the truck today so the battery was disconnected all day, meaning the truck fully rebooted.

With the headlights on, doing either signal light the Parking Light Out message appears every single time you use a turn signal. So I set the the Front Stop Lamps to LED, cleared the BCM faults. Then I get one message for a left and for a right, and then no more messages. The codes are set in the BCM though, and as soon as you clear them, then you get one Parking Light Out again on the first usage of left and right turn signals, then no more displayed message again.

My truck is a 2015 and that year is known as being fussy with canbus lighting. I'll have to check with Alpharex and see if the have a fix. Guys on other threads mentioned canbus based resistors, although I know nothing about such things.
 
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GordDavey

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Update for you all on my G2 Pros... Bad News. I was working on the truck today so the battery was disconnected all day, meaning the truck fully rebooted.

With the headlights on, doing either signal light the Parking Light Out message appears every single time you use a turn signal. So I set the the Front Stop Lamps to LED, cleared the BCM faults. Then I get one message for a left and for a right, and then no more messages. The codes are set in the BCM though, and as soon as you clear them, then you get one Parking Light Out again on the first usage of left and right turn signals, then no more displayed message again.

My truck is a 2015 and that year is known as being fussy with canbus lighting. I'll have to check with Alpharex and see if the have a fix. Guys on other threads mentioned canbus based resistors, although I know nothing about such things.
 

bellaireroad

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I finally grew tired of the terrible visibility the factory headlights offered so it was time to upgrade. I looked into HID or LED bulbs in the stock housings (I had Quad headlights, not projectors). Using the cheap Ebay stuff was out of the question for reliability reasons. And using good quality stuff would cost $400-$500 and still potentially blind other motorists which i wasn't happy about. So then i looked into buying projector housings as well as HID's and LED's and now i was pushing $1,000 to do it with good quality stuff plus turn signal upgrades. So at that point i started looking at dedicated replacements. I went right to Morimoto since they are so highly regarded but the amount of complaints about their XB Ram replacements was immediately troubling. Lots of melted housings, broken alignment linkages, "they're not very bright" complaints and customer service complaints. Then i saw side by side comparisons of them next to the Alpharex Nova units including drone footage on one YouTube review and i was sold with these. It's not like "these are a little brighter" then the Morimotos. They are easily twice as bright. And they were cheaper too. I paid $1,085 shipped. I couldn't even find Morimotos for less than $1,300.

The install was simple. No wires to cut. The stock headlight plug connects to the wire harness on the new headlights. The turn signal bulb socket is installed into the new housing the same way as stock but you snap a wire connector into the socket. The fit into the socket was snug, so i chose to file down the turn signal bulb connector on the new lights to make it easier. Took about 5 minutes.

The only "wiring" you need to do is the DRL kit. But it's simple. It comes with a harness that plugs into each new headlight housing and then into a control box. You then have three wires to hook up. + on the battery, - on the battery (or chassis) and single wire you connect to a source that comes on with the ignition. I used fuse F66 with a fuse tap.

That's it. I got no error codes for the headlights. But i am getting a "Front parking lamp out" message at startup. Despite changing the Parking lights and Front turn signals to LED on the AlfaOBD app the message continues. Not sure why but ill deal with that soon.

The headlights are SUPER bright. So are the DRL's. In fact the DRL's light up my entire driveway. The DRL's are top and bottom and the bottom switches to yellow sequential turn signals. And when you start the truck, the sequential "dance" is pretty cool.

They fit great, looks great and were simple to install. My only complaints were the DRL connections should have been weatherpak style, not bullet connectors. And the install video on their website should go into detail on aiming them. You use a #2 Phillips but that's not obvious by looking at them.

Pics to follow. Definitely check out JW Montoya's drone footage of them.

Thanks for review, got a couple of questions.

1) Do you have to run separate lines to the battery to get the DRL’s to work if you are running the headlights in automode? That was not clear to me from the website

2) upper and lower DRL‘s work?

3) turn signals sequential?

I’m glad to see there is competition for the Morimotos, this appears to be a superior set up, and looks better too


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
 
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Way too many issues with the alpharex headlights that I am seeing all around the internet lol ...

The only issue that is holding me back from buying is the hyperflash with the switchbacks.
I've been waiting for an owner to describe in detail how/if this was resolved on the 2018/2019 Classic models.

RodeoGeorge
 
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The only issue that is holding me back from buying is the hyperflash with the switchbacks.
I've been waiting for an owner to describe in detail how/if this was resolved on the 2018/2019 Classic models.

RodeoGeorge

The hyperflash and messages about lamps out is what's holding me back ... I keep seeing people trying to fix it with ALFAOBD and I still see them saying that it's not helping at all ...
 
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The hyperflash and messages about lamps out is what's holding me back ... I keep seeing people trying to fix it with ALFAOBD and I still see them saying that it's not helping at all ...


IF, on our 2018 and 2019 Classic, the bulb out error is a one time thing and does not appear every time the directionals are use, I can live with that.
I'm basing this on @GordDavey comments in Post #36. Just don't know if that's also applicable to the 2018/2019 Classic.

I would also like to see come comments on the AlphaRex LUXX Series, and whether the same issues are being found.

RodeoGeorge
 
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IF, on our 2018 and 2019 Classic, the bulb out error is a one time thing and does not appear every time the directionals are use, I can live with that.
I'm basing this on @GordDavey comments in Post #36. Just don't know if that's also applicable to the 2018/2019 Classic.

I would also like to see come comments on the AlphaRex LUXX Series, and whether the same issues are being found.

RodeoGeorge

From what I have been told it happens all the time ... I can't confirm this because I haven't tried it but for the money I would expect for these headlights to have no issues if we can supposedly fix it with ALFAOBD ...

There are other options out there and cost way less .... but again I haven't tried them myself so it might just be user error ....
 
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AE5548

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Thanks for review, got a couple of questions.

1) Do you have to run separate lines to the battery to get the DRL’s to work if you are running the headlights in automode? That was not clear to me from the website

The DRL’s have a control box that connects to the + battery terminal, the. - terminal (or chassis) and a single wire to fuse box to a circuit that is energized with the ignition. They recommend and I used F66. Just used a fuse tap. Then from the box it comes with a harness that plugs into each headlight. Takes about 15 minutes to do.

2) upper and lower DRL‘s work?

Yep. Bottom portion acts as a switchback to yellow for the turn signals

3) turn signals sequential?

Yep

I’m glad to see there is competition for the Morimotos, this appears to be a superior set up, looks better too

I was all set to buy Morimotos. I even placed an offer for a set. What ultimately turned me off was all the complaints of melting and adjustment components breaking. Some people were on their third and 4th sets and. Then the light output compared to these was so much less. The idea of paying more despite the issues just steered me away
 
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AE5548

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The hyperflash and messages about lamps out is what's holding me back ... I keep seeing people trying to fix it with ALFAOBD and I still see them saying that it's not helping at all ...

I have an 18’ Ram and have never had any hyper flash issues with the turn signals or lamp out message with the turn signals. None. Even before I changed my turn signals to “LED Yes”. In fact, I have since switched my turn signals back to “LED No” and I still have no issues with the turn signals.

The only issue I ever had was at start up I would get a “Front marker lamp out” message. And then it would go away. Even if I turned my parking lights on and off the message would not return. It was ONLY at startup. I have since cleared the message using AlfaOBD and it has not come back.
 
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