Ram 2005 headlight bulbs

Daniel Stern Lighting is a very good resource for all things lighting.

http://www.danielsternlighting.com/tech/relays/relays.html

You could spend a month reading the info on the site.

deltabravo wrote:
There's a few companies that make a relay upgrade kit that will power the headlights directly from the batteries, without modifying or cutting the existing wiring.

I will do some research and see what I can find. I kind of got thinking I should install one on my 2006, which sees a lot of night time driving when I'm doing RV transporting with it.

For the last 5 years or so, I've been buying headlight bulbs from Ebay after getting irritated that my $40+ set of Silverstars failed in less than a year.

There's a few companies that make a relay upgrade kit that will power the headlights directly from the batteries, without modifying or cutting the existing wiring.

Gdetrailer has a point. Voltage drop through the labyrinthine tangle of narrow-gauge OEM wires can really diminish light output.

Another consideration is that as these bulbs accumulate hours, the filament starts to vaporize and coat the inside surface of the bulb, which makes them visibly dimmer. This is a much slower process with a halogen bulb than with a plain incandescent, but it does happen. If the headlamp bulbs are original to the truck (10 years old), any replacement lamp should appear brighter.

Avoid blue or overly white lamps. The colors overwhelm the rod cells in your eyes, causing night-blindness for you and everyone touched by your light. That's the reason the bluish lights blind everyone. It's not glare, scatter or over-brightness, it's too much light in the blue wavelength. It causes the same effect you get when you go from bright sunlight into a darkened room. You can't see until your eyes adjust - meaning the rod cells in your retinas recover from being overdriven. Traditional yellowish headlamps are much less aggressive to the eye.

I'm sorry in advance if any of this is rambling or incoherent. It's 2° here this morning, and I'm still on my first cup of coffee.

I have been using Silverstars (NOT the ultra) in all my vehicles for a while and have never had to replace any. I have heard folks saying that the Silverstars don't last as long, but I have not had any issues with them. They do improve night visibility for me, and they DO NOT have any sort of bluish tint to them.

Agree with GDE on the relay idea too...I added relays when I replaced the OEM foglights with PIAA foglights...used the light-duty OEM wiring as the relay trigger and wired the relays to the battery.

Gdetrailer wrote:

DirtyOil wrote:

On the new to me 05 Ram 2500 CTD, I note a big difference in lighting compared to Old Faithful (97 Ram), but it's still not perfect. What type of bulb should I use while staying street legal? I've used Sylvania's zXe in the old truck, they are good but pricey. What about SylverStar Ultra?

rather then replacing bulbs try what I did to my 05 ... huge difference even with OEM bulbs. I tried the different aftermarket bulbs, they were just as bad. Then I changed the headlight wiring harnesses to heavier gauge wire(the light gauge wiring is ok for relays, but not for headlights)... check this out:

http://www.danielsternlighting.com/tech/relays/relays.html

We have a winner!

Folks please read the link.. It IS what I am talking about.

It isn't your bulbs, nor is it your reflector or housing it IS THE WIRE.

All it takes is two Bosch style relays, some wire and now days you can buy plugs and sockets and you now have the light you are supposed to have.

Replace the housings, first.

Use ANCOR wiring products, HELLA relays and Phillips Night Guide lamps. I've done the Stern conversion on four vehicles the past dozen years.

srt20 wrote:
Dodge headlights are terrible.

My 2nd gen trucks had the worst, my 3rd gen trucks are very bad, and my 2014 projector headlamps are just bad.

So maybe by 2025 they will have headlights comparable to a 2010 Chevy.

It confirms what I thought. Driving with candelight glow is not my idea of fun.

DirtyOil wrote:

On the new to me 05 Ram 2500 CTD, I note a big difference in lighting compared to Old Faithful (97 Ram), but it's still not perfect. What type of bulb should I use while staying street legal? I've used Sylvania's zXe in the old truck, they are good but pricey. What about SylverStar Ultra?

rather then replacing bulbs try what I did to my 05 ... huge difference even with OEM bulbs. I tried the different aftermarket bulbs, they were just as bad. Then I changed the headlight wiring harnesses to heavier gauge wire(the light gauge wiring is ok for relays, but not for headlights)... check this out:

http://www.danielsternlighting.com/tech/relays/relays.html

We have a winner!

Folks please read the link.. It IS what I am talking about.

It isn't your bulbs, nor is it your reflector or housing it IS THE WIRE.

All it takes is two Bosch style relays, some wire and now days you can buy plugs and sockets and you now have the light you are supposed to have.

On the new to me 05 Ram 2500 CTD, I note a big difference in lighting compared to Old Faithful (97 Ram), but it's still not perfect. What type of bulb should I use while staying street legal? I've used Sylvania's zXe in the old truck, they are good but pricey. What about SylverStar Ultra?

rather then replacing bulbs try what I did to my 05 ... huge difference even with OEM bulbs. I tried the different aftermarket bulbs, they were just as bad. Then I changed the headlight wiring harnesses to heavier gauge wire(the light gauge wiring is ok for relays, but not for headlights)... check this out:

http://www.danielsternlighting.com/tech/relays/relays.html

srt20 wrote:
Dodge headlights are terrible.

My 2nd gen trucks had the worst, my 3rd gen trucks are very bad, and my 2014 projector headlamps are just bad.

So maybe by 2025 they will have headlights comparable to a 2010 Chevy.

Check the voltage at the bulb.. If it less than 13V when the engine is running you need the relays.