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Philips Luxeon LED & Cree MK-R LED

79K views 281 replies 74 participants last post by  Joeynotz 
#1 · (Edited)
After much consideration, I decided to make this write up into its own thread so others that want to follow or search for it will have a little easier time. As time progresses, I will certainly update the thread as needed. Please don't hesitate to ask any questions or comment if you'd like a few different photos. I'll try to accommodate any request.

If you would like more information on these bulbs, you may do so by contacting the vendor directly for more details. You can find them on Facebook at The Auto LED Corp and by email at talcorporation8@gmail.com
 
#2 ·
Just as the postal service said, I had a box waiting for me at the door. I quickly unwrapped it to find all of my LED's very well organized and well padded in the box. A quick inspection of everything showed me that all looked good. The wiring felt like quality wiring and not the cheap R/C toy car type. The materials had some weight to it that lead to the belief that it will withstand vibrations and other factors once mounted on the truck. Here is a photo of what was in the box. I had LED Reverse lights, 9012 Phillips LED for the headlights and 9006 CREE MK-R LED bulbs for the fogs:

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Here are a few of the 1300 lumen reverse lights. The bulbs have two LED's and one will be positioned so that the LED faces the plastic tail light housing and the other will face the reflector inside the housing:

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#3 ·
Here are the 9012 Phillips LED's that are rated at 2500 lumens each. Each bulb has two LED's and a metal braid for cooling. There are (4) braids and in order to close up the projector housing you will have to place two braids on one side of the housing and two on the other side. Once I get around to the install, I'll take a few photos. Notice the LED has (4) clusters on it and the LED itself is flat with no rounded "cover" around it.

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#4 ·
Lastly is the 9006 CREE MK-R LED. These push out 3500 lumen each and they have a heat sink with fan on the backside of the LED to help keep it cool and disperse the heat. These will not fit into the headlight housing of the projectors on our Rams because the heat sink does not fit behind the dust cover. Notice that these bulbs have two LED's on them and they are labeled "L" and "R". I'm not sure if it matters how they are mounted, however I will pay close attention when it comes time to put them in and make sure the left LED is in fact facing left. These also have a cluster of (4) on the LED itself, however notice the LED is very large and round unlike the Phillips LED.

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#5 ·
I threw the reverse lights in tonight since they are easy and quick to install. All you'll need to do is take out both torx head screws that hold the tail light in place and remove the halogen bulb from the bottom of the housing. You'll notice that the reverse light was made so that it connects the same way the halogen bulb did. Be mindful to make sure the black OEM wire lines up with the black wire on the LED bulb and the Purple OEM wire lines up with the Red wire on the LED bulb. There is a rubber grommet that holds the LED in place so that you can position the bulb by just turning the LED housing. You'll position it so that one LED faces the back of the reflective housing and the other LED faces out the rear of the taillight directly at you.

As you can see in the photos, the light is much whiter and crisp. I believe the LED bulbs are a little brighter, however it wasn't a slam dunk in my opinion. I'll let you all decide for yourselves from the photos. I apologize for the photos on my Uconnect screen. It's never easy to take a picture of a picture.

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#6 ·
Ok ladies and gentlemen... I hope you throw some rep points my way, I'm burning the midnight oil to make sure I got some good photos for you. Installation wasn't horrible and it doesn't add any steps to the process if you were just changing out bulbs. Note, you will have to get into the inner fender through the wheel wells in order to take the headlights out. You'll first start by removing the grill off the truck and then it's as easy as removing two bolts, releasing the plastic tab through the fender well and unplugging the power supply.

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Install of the Phillips bulb in the headlight is very easy. Separate the cooling braids and place 2 on one side and 2 on the other. Everything else fits nice and neat into the housing and the dust cap closes tight with no issues. **Note, I did take photos of the CREE LED's in the headlights, however the dust cap had to remain off since the heat sink does not fit behind the dust cap**

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I'll let the photos do the talking for me, however I will say my personal preference is having the Phillips 9012 bulbs in the headlights and the Cree MK-R's in the fogs. The light output is MUCH better in this configuration and it seems like the Cree bulbs just push the fogs to do as they are designed- to push light low and wide. Though the Cree bulbs were brighter than the Phillips in the headlight housing, it wasn't enough to convince me. The color is crisp, brilliant and clear. It's a night and day difference from OEM. I had no error codes on my 2014 when I installed the lights without decoders, however I have thrown them on to complete the installation and avoid crawling under/through my truck again.

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#7 ·
#11 · (Edited)
Here is a link to their Facebook:

https://m.facebook.com/TALcorp8

It's not a specific kit, however if you advise them you own a Ram truck and want the Cree MK-R for your fogs and the Philips for the headlights, they will know exactly what you want. Good luck to ya!
 
#12 ·
Thank you!! :smileup:
 
#14 · (Edited)
I have no experience with HID systems, therefore I won't speculate on a comparison. What I can tell you is that I don't think you can compare these two beasts to one another as apple to apple.

With a solid HID system or LED set up like I have, you're talking about a very dramatic increase over stock OEM lights. One major benefit to the LED is it is a true plug and play system. If you're worried about having bulb out messages, get the decoders and plug one end of the decoder into the stock connector located on the truck and the other end of the decoder into the LED bulb, all of this wiring fits neatly inside the OEM housing and the dust cap seals back up just as it should. Simply then plug the truck power supply into the headlight and everything works as planned. When you talk about FX-R systems, you're talking about another level. Not only is the projector a completely different set up since it is optically clear AND designed for HID systems, but you're also talking about putting your headlights in an oven to break open your OEM headlights to install the FX-R projectors and sealing them back up. I've come across very few people who are willing to invest that kind of time and money to modify their stock housing. Even HID users will tell you that there is a difference between HID's in a stock OEM projector and an FX-R projector, so I'm confident in saying that the LED system is no different. Would it compare to a capable HID system in the OEM housing, I believe it would. Does it compare to a true HID FX-R set up, I'd have to say probably not.

I've discussed this issue with Braden and there are some benefits to the FX-R set up. First they provide an optically clear lens and second they are specifically made to focus the light and cast a better beam vs. the OEM projectors. Would you see an increase of light, yes..... without a doubt you would, however would it be so dramatic that everyone will jump on board to either risk breaking their headlights or pay $600-700 for someone else to install FX-R projectors- My opinion is that you won't find many that NEED that extra push from what the stock LED's provide.

Also, you have to really look at the photo I provided of the CREE bulb in the fog light housing. That bulb is designed to "shine" (pun intended) in the reflective style housing, like in the fogs or the quad light set up. They work well in projectors, however the beam is just phenomenal in the fogs. Even with an FX-R set up, I believe the CREE bulbs are so bright and crisp that you won't notice any difference in front of the truck. My guess is you would see a beam that might cast light a little wider, possibly a little farther and you would find a much more crisp/defined cut off at the end of the low beam on an FX-R modification vs. the stock projector.

I did send an email to Jeremy Mcfail of Retroshop. If he is willing to provide some time and some equipment, I hope to make a drive over to him and compare apples to apples. My hope is to take a few photos of the LED system vs. a plain HID set up and then also compare it to a true FX-R system. If it is possible, I'd like to also take it up another notch and do a side by side comparison of the LED bulb in an FX-R projector and and HID bulb in an FX-R projector. Keep in mind that at this point, I haven't been able to do anything other than reach out and ask. It certainly is asking a lot of someone who stands to possibly loose out on some HID business if these bulbs perform as well as I believe they will. Make sure to subscribe to the thread if you're interested in following my progression. I also plan to leave periodic updates as to how the system is performing.

Which takes me to my next line of business. Thus far, I have had no error codes, flickering, bulb out messages or actual bulbs going out. We've had a few days of wet weather and a few days of some pretty hot weather and thus far, there is nothing to report other than smooth sailing. :smileup:
 
#19 ·
Installing tonight

MissouriRam, I ordered the full kit from Braden last week and received everything today. I'm going with the same set-up as you in my 2013 Ram 1500 with projectors. Cree LEDs for the fogs, Phillips LEDs for the projectors, and decoders for both to avoid any potential issues. I'm planning to do the install tonight and I'm looking forward to the improvement over subpar stock halogen lighting. Any pointers to make the install go smoothly? Also, did you have to re-aim your headlights and/or fogs? Thanks in advance and have a good one.
 
#21 · (Edited)
Make sure you mark where your lights were before the install. Park about 25 ft back from a wall/garage door etc, on a flat surface and mark where your cut off is. I used tape to mark mine off. After the install, just park back in the same location and you'll know if they need adjusting. I had to raise my passenger side just a smidge.

Good luck and please post your results for us on here!


MissouriRam, I ordered the full kit from Braden last week and received everything today. I'm going with the same set-up as you in my 2013 Ram 1500 with projectors. Cree LEDs for the fogs, Phillips LEDs for the projectors, and decoders for both to avoid any potential issues. I'm planning to do the install tonight and I'm looking forward to the improvement over subpar stock halogen lighting. Any pointers to make the install go smoothly? Also, did you have to re-aim your headlights and/or fogs? Thanks in advance and have a good one.
 
#22 ·
You'll want to confirm with Braden first, however I believe their premium decoders work in the 2015's with no problems. I'm running that specific decoder on my 14 with no problems at all, then again we didn't have issues on the 14's like you do on the 2015 models.
 
#23 ·
Does anyone have dark spots from the fogs? I believe it has to do with the orientation of the chips. Can get mine to install straight either vertical or horizontal. The face about 2 o'clock.
 
#24 ·
Install went pretty well last night. I just have a few questions/thoughts. MissouriRam, maybe you can help with this or maybe you had similar issues. I'm running into the same problem that Nutshell was describing but I don't think I'm getting any dark spots. When installing the Cree LEDs I was not able to get the light chips lined up either horizontally or vertically., no matter what I tried because based on the tab sizes on the ring on the bulb they can only be installed one way. I have attached 4 photos to this post. First one is looking straight on at the driver's side fog light. You'll see that the LED has a slight rotation to it with the chip at about 2 o'clock. MissouriRam, were you able to get these either horizontal or vertical? I remember in a previous post that you mentioned the L and R on the LED for "left" and "right" probably and you were going to try to get those llined up accordingly, were you able to? Since my fog lights are vertical and not horizontal (similar to yours), should they be straight up and down not left and right? Second photo is of just the Phillips projectors by themselves. I didn't take the time last night to do any adjusting of the headlights but I did try to get the fogs adjusted. In the third picture, this is just the Cree fogs on. There isn't really much of a "cut-off" line and that light scatters upwards pretty far as you'll see. It does put a lot of light down on the pavement as well. Should this be happening, with light going way up my garage like this? MissouriRam, in one of you picks you have the Philips LEDs in the fogs shot against what looks like a garage door and it looked like there was a better cut-off, how did the Cree's look? I just want to make sure I have these installed properly. The last picture is from the front with just the Cree fogs on. Pictures 1-3 were shot from inside my truck at about 25ft from my garage, and picture 4 was shot from 25ft in front of my truck.
 

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#28 ·
Your photos look just like mine.... I don't think my cut off lines are any crisper then yours, just a matter of background colors and different cameras I think.

What's your overall opinion of the install and the light output?
 
#26 ·
So what was your final install?
Phillips in your highs and lows and CREE in your Fogs?
If so, was this your top pick for placement of the kits?
I see you did some switching around in the pics
Thanks
Oh and do the color of the CREE match up to the Phillips kits?
I hate working at the headlights in these trucks so I want to get it right the first time if I do pull the trigger on these lol
 
#27 ·
The bulbs do not sit perfect in the housing. On my fogs my driver's side has one LED positioned at about 2 o'clock and the other at 7. On my passenger side they are positioned about 11 o'clock and 5 respectively. The light output was more then sufficient out of the fogs, so I haven't really considered or found a need to want to rotate them. At this point, because they lock in place, it would be impossible to mount them any other way. I do know that the next generation bulbs that are being worked on have an adjustable base so that you can rotate the bulb in the housing. I really wasn't too concerned how they mounted in the projectors because I don't think it matters as much in the projector housing.

As far as the dark spots. I have had no issues or concerns with those. You may check your housing and make sure they are clear of bug guts, rock chips etc. That is the only thing I can think of at this point that would cause black spots in the light. You may also check the reflector on the fog itself and make sure there are no deformities etc. If you continue to have issues with spots, I would contact the vendor and let him know... I'm sure he will take care of you. If you wouldn't mind, please take a photo or two and post them up for us to look at. I can't quite picture in my mind what these "spots" look like.

The colors match up close enough that I haven't noticed any discrepancy in colors between the fogs and projectors. My set-up and the one that projects the most light IMO is to put the Philips in the projector housing and place the Cree bulbs in the fogs.

All great questions... let me know if there's anything else you guys need!!
 
#29 ·
Just a quick update for everyone.... lights continue to work perfectly. I've had no flickering, no bulb out errors, no actual bulbs going out or any other issue with them. Ran the truck through several more car washes, several rain storms and not a single concern.

For those of you with the quad light housing, I know the next generation bulb will be out very soon. The new generation will have an adjustable base so that you can manually adjust the position of the bulb so the LED diodes are positioned just right in the reflective housing. Make sure if you're interested, let the vendor know so supply can be ordered (I hate waiting on things).
 
#33 ·
Yes, as I said in one of the earlier install photos, you'll have to place two braids on one side and two braids on the other. Dust cap goes on without any issues... nor should it, if you encounter any resistance, check and make sure all the wiring is tucked inside the headlight assembly.
 
#31 ·
Have you noticed, since installing LED reverse lights, that your back up cam screen quality has gone down to shit?

Since putting them in, my screen feed flickers and kind of fuzzy... but not enough to remove the LED's but still enough to notice every time I go into reverse....

Still with the new decoders... I still get the occasional bulb out message though.
 
#34 ·
The screen gives me no issues. The screen has always been lack luster in low light. I don't think it has to do with the LED bulbs, you're just now making more light hit the ground and you can really see that the camera cannot compensate for it since it's not a low light camera.

As far as the decoders, a few guys installed them backwards and caused some malfunctions. You'll want to double check and make sure that the black wire goes into the (-) on the decoder plug and the hot wire goes into the (+) side of the plug. If the locking tab is in place, the wires should be where they need to be, however it's better off to check and make sure. If you're having error messages, contact the vendor and make sure he knows. Like anything, nothing is perfect and I believe he will stand behind the product and fix the issue for you. On your 13, you shouldn't encounter any issues with the decoders.
 
#35 ·
Since you have the projectors, I don't see a need to wait, however that is personal preference. The Cree bulbs are just phenomenal in the fog light housing as mentioned before and I have no concerns or regrets about waiting. I don't see an adjustable base on them creating any better pattern then what they already have. The Cree bulbs will go in vertical, however to lock the bulb in place, the diodes will rotate to the 2 o'clock and 7 o'clock position and also the 10 o'clock and 5 o'clock on the other. Once locked in place, the diodes are half way to already being mounted in such a way as to maximize the reflectors on the vertical fog mounts. Without actually being able to rotate the bulb to a true 12 o'clock and 6 o'clock position, I can't say if the pattern would be optimized from where it's at, however it's a non-issue for me.... the pattern is fantastic as is for my preference.

I also don't know when the new generation will be out. You may contact the vendor to see, however I would assume they are probably still a few months out. I know once they arrive, the vendor likes to fit the products and make sure they mount as they should and also test them for a little bit to ensure once they are sold in quantity, that they will not encounter any issues. Having said that, they may still be 2-3 months out before actually releasing them for public sale.

I believe the new generation Philips bulb will bump up the lumens just slightly. I don't know what the final number will be, however I've heard they estimate the bulb will go from its current 2600 lumen to possibly 3000 lumen. An extra 800 total lumen may be well worth the wait if it's needed in your application, that's something only you can decide. I'm confident in saying you will not improve on the Cree MK-R. So, if you're hesitant to move forward on the Philips, that's understandable, however I'd say spring on the Cree bulbs and don't look back. It will literally take you 15-20 minutes to install them in the fogs and you'll be blown away by their quality and output. From there, you can mull over what to do in the projector housing but at least you'll get into some LED's and see what they are all about.

Good luck and let us know what you decide....
 
#36 ·
What is that little copper nun in the middle if the heat sink? It was hitting the dust cover so I trimmed it. First one went ok, second one I think I cut a little to much and I can see the inside of it. I just used a different one for the headlights but I'm afraid to plug this in if I did something catastrophic to the light.
 
#37 · (Edited)
It should not interfere with closing up the dust cover. If it touched it, it would be fine. There are many of these bulbs out there that have been tested and no one has melted any of the wiring or the plastic on the housing/dust cover to my knowledge. If you encounter resistance, back away for a moment, re-position the wiring etc. and start over. There is no need to modify the bulb in any way.

With that said, you'll have to contact the vendor and get an answer from him. I am not involved with the manufacturing process and cannot begin to tell you what that piece is. I would assume it is some type of pin that fastens the braids into a heat sink, but that's the best guess I can give.
 
#39 ·
As mentioned in the earlier posts, I purchased the Philips 9012 bulbs for my projector housing (low beam), the Cree MK-R 9006 bulbs for the fog lights and LED reverse lights. I have not switched out the high beam bulbs at this time.
 
#40 · (Edited)
Since I'm not allowed to respond to a private message yet, (post count 22, need 25) I'll post this here. hopefully Joeynotz will see it.


Joeynotz said:
Hey whatsup man, I just reads in a chat on this forum that you swapped out your old hids for the leds. I was just wondering what you liked better, and what was brighter.
I had hids in my truck for a year and half now and they are a head ache here and there. Thinking about making the switch.
You answered your own question. They were a pain in the butt. The HID's don't play well with the Canbus system in RAM trucks. They would work, then not work. Oh they were great and extremely bright when they worked. That's when they worked. Finally the right front fog light went out and wouldn't come back on. I swapped the bulb and ballast out with the left side and everything worked. so it wasn't a problem with the HID's it was a problem with the Canbus system in the truck. It learned their was an issue with the right side, and stopped providing voltage to that side in order to clear the dashboard warning message. The Cree MK-R LED's do not use a ballast they are plug and play so to speak just like the stock factory lamps. I have had no issues with them yet and they are extremely bright. As bright, if not brighter than my HID's were. It's not a good photo because I shot it through a dirty windshield and it's a reflection in a plate glass window but I shot this this morning. The headlights are still HID's but the fog lights are the Cree MK-R LED lamps. I love 'em.

 
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