Second best option for headlights

[Finlandese]

Hello. I'm searching second best option for headlights. I know retrofit with morimoto projectors ate the best but $$ is the issue at the time. Any decent aftermarket housings available? Looking for good low beam, high beam isn't so important! Already have enough auxillary lights so I can see far! Also has to be with two bulb housing because my trucks headlights have been modified to meet European standards ( Hella projectors in high and low beam ). Light output is is junk!! Low beam has now H7 bulb and high beam is HB3 bulb! Sorry long story but dark times are coming and greetings from Finland!

[Stormin08]

Sport conversion, relay harness and a good bulb...thats about the only OTHER option aside from the retro's.

[Bullet]

A couple of 6.5" led hi-lights mounted on a bull bar up front. They are 3x brighter than my sport style headlights that I gave up on and don't blind anybody.  They are DOT certified driving lights. 

[Finlandese]

https://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog/dodge,1998,ram+2500+pickup,5.9l+l6+diesel+turbocharged,1400162,body,headlamp+assembly,10762

 

Are these junk??

[Bullet]

I have yet to see any 2nd gen aftermarket replacement or oem headlights that are what I would call good.  So to me they are all junk. 

[KATOOM]

7 hours ago, Stormin08 said:

Sport conversion, relay harness and a good bulb...thats about the only OTHER option aside from the retro's.

 

This advice...

 

I have a Sport and the OEM headlights were frigging bright...!  But because they were yellowing I replaced them with TYC stock replacements and the output is nowhere the same.  Dont get me wrong, they're not dim but they're not as bright as the factory lights were.  I have the relay harness for full voltage to the bulbs too.

If I could find some OEM housings I think it would be worth the money but they dont make them anymore and I dont believe anyone has them either.

Edited September 6, 2019 by KATOOM

[Mopar1973Man]

I've ran the Sport Headlights too but the pattern sucked. The Aux inbound light don't cast light on the ground very well at all. The path is very narrow. Even with the relay mod for the light to have both hi and lo beams pattern was bad. I even figured out how to do this mod with only 2 relays instead of 4 relays.Didn't matter lighting sucked. Dark of Idaho nad winter nights you just could see at all. 

 

Morimoto D2S now the light isn't just focused on the road. It covers all the way into the road side and another 30 or so feet easy. Then vertically I can light up a 50 foot tall tree at the top on high beams. Beam pattern is way better. Beam pattern is awesome and you can see an easy 1 mile down road without struggling. No need in blinding people either the Morimoto have a good cut off on lo beam.

 

Lighting wise my PIAA 530 LED Driving light blow the doors of the Morimoto for brightness. These are street legal LED driving lights. Not like light bars which are not legal for highway use. Just a mere 15w LED lights. These thing light up a path in front of the truck super bright. They are so bright that in snow conditions you got to turn them off it will make you snow blind in a short time from the reflected light. 

 

Even on my 1996 Dodge I changed out the stock headlights for clear lens (non-sport) and halogen SilverStar bulbs and those suck too. Pattern is all wrong. Again the pattern is too narrow and hotspots on the roadway but very dim as the pattern reaches the road edge. Anything off the side of the road like a deer you'll never see it. 

 

 

Yup. I've installed switch back bulbs on the little half ton too. 

 

[Evan]

I like that switch back bulb. 

 

I try to not drive much at night. I can barely see in daylight in dark is scarey. 

 

I do have good bulbs but stock lenses the bulbs made a difference I've got them adjusted how I like. I rarely run brights because the dash indicator blinds me.

[Mopar1973Man]

I've got purpose to driving at night and bad weather. When you consider your safety and the need for driving at night the only thing I can say is invest in high quality lighting. There is just no substitute for quality lighting. Being both of my trucks started with factory headlights which were poor from the get go. If your vision is poor you should consider quality lighting only if you know your going to drive at night. 

 

I put down 1,000 miles a week taking care of @MoparMom dialysis treatments. As winter time comes on I have to drive in the dark starting the trip and end my trip coming home in the dark from Ontario, OR. Being I've tried a few different options and ideas so far the best is the HID's. I'm know most hate the LED bulbs but I'm going to play with the idea on the 1996 Dodge 1500.

 

There is a problem. Halogen and HIDs can produce enough heat to keep snow and ice off the headlights. LED's like my PIAAs tend to snow over really easy being there is little heat to a LED light. Why I'm consider on playing with the idea see what the technology is like for headlight bulbs. My only fear is the pattern is going to be all over the map or have some sort of cutoff line in the low beam.

 

As for the switch back bulbs I love them because it's a low cost safety upgrade for long haul driving. Leave your parking lights on and the markers are white light like most modern little cars and trucks are doing for halo rings and marker lights. 

Edited September 6, 2019 by Mopar1973Man

[Bullet]

9 minutes ago, Mopar1973Man said:

There is just no substitute for quality lighting.

 

The truest statement.  When I'm fully lit I have 7 different driving lights facing forward...2 crappy headlights, 2 crappy fog lights, and 3 6.5" hi-lights on the bull bar...and I'm lifted 12 inches.  I imagine others are thinking 'what in the world is coming at me'.  

Edited September 6, 2019 by Bullet

[Mopar1973Man]

18 minutes ago, Mopar1973Man said:

There is just no substitute for quality lighting.

 

11 minutes ago, Bullet said:

The truest statement. 

 

Thank you. 

 

11 minutes ago, Bullet said:

When I'm fully lit I have 7 different driving lights facing forward...2 crappy headlights, 2 crappy fog lights, and 3 6.5" hi-lights on the bull bar...and I'm lifted 12 inches.  I imagine others are thinking 'what in the world is coming at me'.  

 

Beam me up Scotty or they come to take me away...

[IBMobile]

1 hour ago, Evan said:

I try to not drive much at night. I can barely see in daylight in dark is scarey. 

OPFTL.....Old People Follow Tail Lights is my motto. 

 

When I do venture out after sunset I use my 9104 light blubs with stock head lamp assemblies and wiring.  The low beams (80 watts) with the stock driving lights are good enough for me..  

[Mopar1973Man]

55 minutes ago, IBMobile said:

OPFTL.....Old People Follow Tail Lights is my motto.

 

Works if there is someone ahead of you but if you live out here where I do it's common to come home night or leave early morning and not see anyone for miles. 

 

56 minutes ago, IBMobile said:

When I do venture out after sunset I use my 9104 light blubs with stock head lamp assemblies and wiring.  The low beams (80 watts) with the stock driving lights are good enough for me..

 

Still an OK way of getting around the lighting issue. If the pattern is poor from a low quality housing brighter bulb is just going to make a brighter poor pattern still. It was a another old time member here that made the comment about optics and I admit I ignored him but now after seeing excellent optics just nothing comes close. 

 

Like for years I ran seal beam tractor lights that were 100w bulbs halogen but again the optics got poor and the life span was getting shorter and the bulb price was getting higher. Two bulbs on lo beam and two bulbs on hi beam. Was again a OK solution but pattern and optics were say average. The old system with high quality SilverStar halogen bulbs and tractor bulbs was huge electrical draw worse with Sport headlights. 45w (90w pair) on lo beam and 65w (130w pair) on hi beam. Then two 100w (200w pair) tractor lights. Total was 290w (22.3 Amps) this was on low beam, then 330w (27.5 Amps) on hi beam. 

 

Here was the Sport Headlight and my old school tractor lights. 

 

Now with the current setup Morimoto D2S HID's and 530 PIAA LED driving lights. High and low beam use the same bulb and use a shutter to create hi/lo beam. Hi and Lo Beams now are Morimoto HID's are 35w and the PIAAs are 18w. Double both for a total of 106w (8.8 Amps) which this is a 312% saving of power and reduction of load on the alternator. More light, less drag.

 

You can see the hot spot of the PIAAs but the light span is the Morimoto's...

 

Here is hi beam... You can see the arc in the center this grows quite large with distance. 

[Sycostang67]

I installed these yesterday, got them for free from my boss.  He ordered a set and a tab was broken so they sent him a whole new set and he gave me the others ones.  While I put these in I also added the relay harness and some Hella 9004 100w/80w bulbs.  It turned out better than I expected but there's still room for improvement.  I still need to adjust them but they are so much better than the TYC replacement housings with silverstar Xenon bulbs I was using. 

[Bullet]

2 hours ago, Sycostang67 said:

I installed these yesterday, got them for free from my boss.  He ordered a set and a tab was broken so they sent him a whole new set and he gave me the others ones.  While I put these in I also added the relay harness and some Hella 9004 100w/80w bulbs.  It turned out better than I expected but there's still room for improvement.  I still need to adjust them but they are so much better than the TYC replacement housings with silverstar Xenon bulbs I was using. 

Loving the hood ornament too!  Give us a better look at it...

[Evan]

My shitty lights 50dollar silva bulbs

 

I need to raise them alittle 

 

Second pic is brights held on with lows.

 

I've been burning the midnight between boise and mtn home lately 

[Mopar1973Man]

Yeah remember that is blinding on coming vehicles too. 

 

With HID that trick no longer works but why would need it when 35w HIDs are so much brighter that 100w of halogen.

[Finlandese]

My friend bought these ebay lights! H1 halogen bulbs in low and high beams. Not so bad light for 100$!!

[Mopar1973Man]

I seen the difference between the lenses..

 

D2S lens (lo beam) Larger lens cast more light to the side of the road.

 

H1 mini (unknown brand) more focus on aiming light only on the road surface. 

 

Your H1 mini is narrow path compared to the D2S lens that is much wider. Looks like you got the same housing I've got. Just using a halogen bulb vs. HID bulb for the light source. 

 

Excellent pattern though, good cut off... Just narrow.

Edited September 11, 2019 by Mopar1973Man

[Finlandese]

Here is a bad picture of last night heading home from work. Auxillary high beams 2x50w xenon in Bosch 225 housings. Led bar is still off!