Another headlight thread from a lighting NOOB

[Sinistre1]

,

Which alphas are you going with? I ask because I have a new pair... out of the box for a quick look and then put away, for a retrofit project I never started. Even have one set of Hikaris (non ultra H7) was planning to post them soon since I'm going in a different direction with my retrofit plan. If you are interested let me know. I'm on phone in mobile mode at the moment so i don't see where you are located, but I'm in NY. If you are nearby it would work best. But I could always put them on ebay, if you have an interest. They are Gen 1. Black interior with the projector harness as I have a sport.

 

[Matt Franklin]

I appreciate the offer, but I’m going with the chrome instead of black. Good luck with the sale.

 

[Sinistre1]

Definitely can't help there. Good luck on the road to en-light-enment. I've been on it a while myself. Has always been the one thing and pretty much only thing, I dont like about the truck. The lighting flat out sucks!

 

[Matt Franklin]

Ordered the Hikari’s in H7 x2. They are here, but the housings are on backorder until March 19th. I wish I could go black, but it just wouldn’t look good with all the chrome on my silver truck.

 

[Matt Franklin]

So, more frustration...

my AlphaRex Pro series G2’s arrived this week. I’ve had the hikari H7’s on the bench waiting for a while. Out of the box, I can only get the low beam to work on the driver side. Reversing the polarity on the high beam didn’t help. I didn’t try the passenger side, because I also figured out the turn signal connectors are a mismatch. The New housings would plug into the old 9157(?) socket except I don’t have a 9157 socket. I’ve got a different 3-wire flat connector on the truck side.

Has anybody else installed these housings on a 2019+ classic? Is there an adapter harness ojt there? Am I missing something?

 

[1500ram12]

So, more frustration...

my AlphaRex Pro series G2’s arrived this week. I’ve had the hikari H7’s on the bench waiting for a while. Out of the box, I can only get the low beam to work on the driver side. Reversing the polarity on the high beam didn’t help. I didn’t try the passenger side, because I also figured out the turn signal connectors are a mismatch. The New housings would plug into the old 9157(?) socket except I don’t have a 9157 socket. I’ve got a different 3-wire flat connector on the truck side.

Has anybody else installed these housings on a 2019+ classic? Is there an adapter harness ojt there? Am I missing something?

Can you take pic's of what you are describing. It'll be easier pointing out what's what


2018 2500 6.4L Hemi Tradesman
1990 5.9L 12v Cummins W250

 

[Matt Franklin]

Can you take pic's of what you are describing. It'll be easier pointing out what's what


2018 2500 6.4L Hemi Tradesman
1990 5.9L 12v Cummins W250

Yeah, about halfway through typing. I realized I was really just complaining without pics.circled in red is the 9157 socket that alpharex says to plug their turn signal connector into. The other pic below is what unplugged from the turn signals on the factory housing.


After I put my truck back together and drove it to dinner, I started to wonder if I unplugged the connector from the socket when I should have twisted the socket out of the housing instead. Think I’ll head out to the garage and take it apart again and look at that.

 

[Matt Franklin]

I started to wonder if I unplugged the connector from the socket when I should have twisted the socket out of the housing instead. Think I’ll head out to the garage and take it apart again and look at that.

yep. That was the issue. I swear, if my mother hadn’t had me tested, I’d wonder if my elevator went all the way to the top.

stay tuned, gents...

 

[Matt Franklin]

I think I’ve got some adjusting to do, but I ran out of gumption for tonight:

 

[Sinistre1]

yep. That was the issue. I swear, if my mother hadn’t had me tested, I’d wonder if my elevator went all the way to the top.

stay tuned, gents...

 

[Sinistre1]

They simply didnt test as much back then.... our life choices would ultimately tell the tale.

 

[RoTalk]

I was in the same boat, I changed to LED just my high beam which I hardly ever use, but have the original OEM/2020 RAM 1500 Tradesman/Classic..
If I have AlfaODB/Cable do I still need to program it, I am not seeing any errors or issues on the dash and what are the benefits to let the computer know I have LED as my high beam. I did read that throwing LED in a OEM/HID case is not ideal and should have changed entire headlights.

I am thinking of buying the running lights, I have the plastic in place but didn't see any hanging wires, maybe those can help with driving at night/leds.

 

[Matt Franklin]

It’s been a while since I finished this upgrade, but I don’t THINK I made any changes in AlphaOBD for my headlights.

If you only changed your high beams to LED, you may be OK with the housings you have. What I found was that the stock quad housings threw light everywhere, so I was blinding oncoming traffic even on low beams after I swapped to LED’s.

Low beams are where I felt like the truck needed an upgrade the most. I couldn’t drive through my neighborhood after dark without worrying about running over kids that I couldn’t see. That’s why I went to the AlphaRex housings and upgraded to LED’s in the low and high beam. The pattern of light this setup throws isn’t perfect, but it’s good enough for me.

 

[hunterdan]

It’s been a while since I finished this upgrade, but I don’t THINK I made any changes in AlphaOBD for my headlights.

If you only changed your high beams to LED, you may be OK with the housings you have. What I found was that the stock quad housings threw light everywhere, so I was blinding oncoming traffic even on low beams after I swapped to LED’s.

Low beams are where I felt like the truck needed an upgrade the most. I couldn’t drive through my neighborhood after dark without worrying about running over kids that I couldn’t see. That’s why I went to the AlphaRex housings and upgraded to LED’s in the low and high beam. The pattern of light this setup throws isn’t perfect, but it’s good enough for me.

See, I've had the opposite experience with oem quads and leds. The leds I've used (on the cheaper end) have all produced halogen beam patterns, just brighter, with no glare above the hot spots. Even with hid, it was the same result, solid hot spots, minimal to no glare above. In fact, I had fewer people flash the high beams at me with quads than with the projectors I currently run, even though they are aimed lower, have a much crisper cutoff and running the same hid ballasts. Here's a pic of the cutoff/beam pattern with oem black quads and I believe auxito q16 led bulbs. Yes, there is some light above the cutoff, but it's not enough to blind anyone, kind of like how a projector has a small amount of light bleed above the cutoff to illuminate overhead signs. The quads, when aimed right actually produce a hell of a beam pattern for a reflector housing, without a lot of light scatter above. Now, aftermarket housings that look like oem, are absolutely terrible and have a beam pattern that is so scattered, that even with halogen bulbs, you'd be blinding oncoming traffic.

 

[Matt Franklin]

@RoTalk, in the end, there’s advice all over this board about housing and bulb combinations that have worked for others. It may cost a little, but really the only way to do this upgrade is to try different combinations until you find a setup that works for you.

Whatever you wind up trying though, take the time to get them clocked and aimed properly, then test them out. Go out and follow your wife or a friend or somebody you know and let them tell you if you’re scattering light into their mirrors. Meet them head on and see if you blind them. YMMV!!

 

[Matt Franklin]

Just an update for anybody who's following along at home, or those who may search this topic in the future:

The Hikari Ultra LED's in my low beams haven't lasted well. They've replaced 2 under warranty, but now I'm out of warranty and one of the replacements is dying. Since I've never really loved the beam pattern of the LED lows, I'm looking into an HID for the low beams, maybe the Innovited kit I've seen talked about.

 

[hunterdan]

Just an update for anybody who's following along at home, or those who may search this topic in the future:

The Hikari Ultra LED's in my low beams haven't lasted well. They've replaced 2 under warranty, but now I'm out of warranty and one of the replacements is dying. Since I've never really loved the beam pattern of the LED lows, I'm looking into an HID for the low beams, maybe the Innovited kit I've seen talked about.

Skip the innovited stuff, spend the extra couple bucks and go for the hylux canbus ballasts like this kit here. It sucks because if you'd have ordered a few days ago. You would have gotten a pretty good deal on this kit.

Hylux 2A88 35w Canbus HID System

Rivaled: A long standing debate in the automotive aftermarket...Morimoto, or Hylux ballasts? Often regarded as the "other" great in the HID lighting industry; Hylux has been building reputable parts for about as long as we can remember. Hylux 2A88 or A0050 Ballasts: Their powerful igniters are...

lightwerkz.net

 

[Matt Franklin]

Skip the innovited stuff, spend the extra couple bucks and go for the hylux canbus ballasts like this kit here. It sucks because if you'd have ordered a few days ago. You would have gotten a pretty good deal on this kit.

Hylux 2A88 35w Canbus HID System

Rivaled: A long standing debate in the automotive aftermarket...Morimoto, or Hylux ballasts? Often regarded as the "other" great in the HID lighting industry; Hylux has been building reputable parts for about as long as we can remember. Hylux 2A88 or A0050 Ballasts: Their powerful igniters are...

lightwerkz.net

Interesting. What is it that you don't like about the Innovited stuff? I've only seen positive feedback on them around this forum.

 

[NCRaineman]

I've not looked recently, but has Sylvania started offering plug-and-play LED headlight bulb replacements yet? I've got a set of them in the factory fog lights and they are just as bright as regular bulbs in the low beam headlights.

 

[hunterdan]

Interesting. What is it that you don't like about the Innovited stuff? I've only seen positive feedback on them around this forum.

I tried them, specifically in the h7 bulb setup and was not at all impressed. I don't know if it was a bad set of bulbs or ballasts, but the output was terrible, even compared to halogen h7 bulbs. I used another cheaper brand that worked better. But can't recall what that brand is off the top of my head.