Thunderbulb Upgrade!

Thunderhorse · Feb 13, 2017

Alright, well I was able to do this sooner than expected because I was able to get away from work early and my 9011 bulbs came in today despite being scheduled for the end of the week. The wife wants to go out of town this weekend so I seized the initiative and did them this afternoon. I apologize in advance for the lack of pictures but I was racing the sunset.

First, the bulbs I upgraded to. PIAA yellow fogs:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000H3WZJY/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Philips H9s for the low beams to replace the factory long life H11s:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003YMPN3A/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Philips 9011 high beams to replace the stock 9005s:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00480J5CW/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

And while I was in there I went ahead and put in some Philips long life turn signal bulbs to lessen the chances I'll have to go in there again just to replace those:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0087D9A7Q/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Second, some references covering removal of the headlights:
http://www.ramforumz.com/showthread.php?t=231019

And what this upgrade entails. This is kelaog's very good thread that covers how many more lumens you get out of this and how to trim the tabs to get the H9s and 9011s to fit. Admittedly I just pulled the H11s and 9005s and propped them up on my toolbox and eyeballed them; the 9011s were easy to trim with toenail clippers since the tabs were plastic, but the H9s had metal tabs that I had to go at for a few minutes with the needle nose vice grips. Note to self: get a set of files.
http://www.ramforumz.com/showthread.php?t=215104

The fogs were real easy, just crawl under the bumper and they're right there. Turn them counterclockwise and pull off the harness, install the new ones in reverse order.

Getting the headlights was a bit more of a challenge, I had to get the ball out of the socket that attaches the housing before I could swing the inboard side of the housings inward and lift up on the light to get that bottom screw out. It is long and the lights are much easier to get in than out. I did use a long 10mm socket for the bottom screw and a shallow one for the top one behind the grille. I do not have after pics yet, and I actually forgot to get highbeam pics last night with the old bulbs (I know, boo) but I was planning to do that tonight since I figured it'd be another wee before I got to install them.

BEFORE PICS:
FOGS:

LOWS:

Its getting dark now so I am going to go wine and dine my wife (she helped by holding the housings while I put the bulbs in) and get some pics while I am out. I will have them up whenever I get the opportunity.

huntergreen · Feb 13, 2017

nice job. was it worth it?

bubba33 · Feb 13, 2017

Where are the picture's. Geeez

gofishn · Feb 13, 2017

Like the DeeZee tailgate assist, you are going to love this Mod.

bubba33 · Feb 14, 2017

I think that was a digger.

Thunderhorse · Feb 15, 2017

Went out and drove to the store to get my wife some flowers and stuff for dinner before she gets off work. Adjusted the lights 3/4 turn up each (clockwise), should be perfect now. I won't get pics tonight, by the time traffic dies down she will be off work and neither of us is leaving the house after she gets home

kelaog · Feb 17, 2017

Nice thread TH :smileup:

I love the look of the fog lights!

J Rod · Feb 23, 2017

Looks great!

huntergreen · Feb 27, 2017

how are you liking the pia fog lights?

Thunderhorse · Feb 27, 2017

I honestly havent had the chance to use them much. The brighter headlights have eliminated the need to use them in low lit areas to see past the a pillars on the sides. I will try and get out tonight and get pics. I have trouble staying up past my bedtime

Thunderhorse · Mar 1, 2017

Finally:

Ok guys I finally had time to get after pics-these are the ones that really matter since lights are for looking down the road and not at nearby walls. Even LEDs look brighter shining them at a wall and as we all know they are poor headlights in these housings. I will break these into separate posts to make them easier to read. Same road, same place. Low beams before:

After:

kelaog · Mar 1, 2017

Thunderhorse said:
Ok guys I finally had time to get after pics. I will break these into separate posts to make them easier to read. Same road, same place. Low beams before:

After:

Well you gotta be happy with those results!

:smileup:
Looks much better unless the camera is just playing tricks.

Thunderhorse · Mar 1, 2017

Fogs before:

Fogs after, you can see they seem to go farther:

Thunderhorse · Mar 1, 2017

Lastly the brights. I know, I know, I forgot to get before pics, but trust me, these light up the road like it may as well be daytime-not sure the people in the houses back there appreciated this:

New lows below for comparison:

kelaog · Mar 2, 2017

:smileup: :smileup: :smileup: :smileup: :smileup: :smileup: :smileup: :smileup: :smileup: :smileup:

charcoal1500 · Mar 7, 2017

T.H. I didn't see a picture of your new lows and your new fog lights on together. How do things look with the white of the lows and the yellow of the fogs together?

Thunderhorse · Mar 7, 2017

I didn't take a pic of that. I will get one for you and post it up

Turbovsix · Mar 8, 2017

Thunder - just want to confirm the fogs using Amazon link - it pulls up the bulbs with this description: "PIAA 13506 HB (9005 / 9006) Ion Yellow Performance Bulb, (Pack of 2)"

Correct right? Amazon's fitment indicator says no go for my 2010 but that's probably just an error in their database. The fogs are plug and play with no mod to the bulb housing right?

Thunderhorse · Mar 8, 2017

Those are the ones for mine but the 2009 to 2012s with the horizontal fogs use different bulbs than the 2013+ trucks with vertical fogs

Turbovsix · Mar 8, 2017

Oh duh. That's right.:doh:

I'll do some searching and see if the same bulb is available for the 2010's.

Thunderhorse · Mar 10, 2017

Coincidentally enough I have not driven through the rain at night or through any thick fog since installing them. When i do I will try to follow up with pics

14Hemi · Mar 10, 2017

Nice writeup. I contemplated changing the fogs to yellow bulbs, but I think I like having them white as an auxiliary light. I need to hide a pair of some yellow fog lamps on the truck for the snow/rain.

Thunderhorse · Mar 10, 2017

I used to use the fogs to throw a little more light to the sides but now with the brighter low beams I have found that to be unnecessary

Gantman · Mar 20, 2017

Thank you Kelaog and Thunderhorse for a great write up on this.:smileup: Just ordered my H9's and 9011's after months of contemplating HID's and LED's. Can't wait to get this mod done and reap the benefits!

Thunderhorse · Apr 4, 2017

Well I finally had a chance to test these at night in the rain, and by rain I mean downpour. Say what you want about liking the yellow color or not but they definitely do the job. I am sure most of you know what I mean when I say the stock headlights seem less effective when the road is wet at night, making it hard to actually see the road. The yellow fogs add depth-that's the best way I can describe it-to the lighting. It doesn't seem brighter or to go farther with them on, but you can still see way better if that makes sense. I was able to do the 55mph speed limit in rain that was limiting most other drivers to 30 or so. I will be buying a set of the PIAAs for the Durango now.

I was pretty focused on driving so I did not get any pics unfortunately. Now I just need to see how these do in fog.

huntergreen · Apr 5, 2017

Yes for getting back with the results in heavy rain.

jeffjcalweb · Apr 10, 2017

Hello - don't mean to bump an old thread, but not sure if a new one is needed.

Looks like TH and Kelaog are the resident bulb gurus and I'm hoping they'll see this ...

Picking up my 2017 1500 this week and want to know if the following bulbs are the right "type" (size, power/draw) and if they are an improvement over OEM. Specifically looking to replace the "low beams" first.

https://www.tirerack.com/lighting/d....jsp?ID=1133&autoMake=RAM&autoModel=1500+4wd&autoYear=2017&autoModClar=Crew+Cab

Thank you much!

johnny 56 · May 14, 2017

Thunderhorse said:
Alright, well I was able to do this sooner than expected because I was able to get away from work early and my 9011 bulbs came in today despite being scheduled for the end of the week. The wife wants to go out of town this weekend so I seized the initiative and did them this afternoon. I apologize in advance for the lack of pictures but I was racing the sunset.

First, the bulbs I upgraded to. PIAA yellow fogs:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000H3WZJY/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Philips H9s for the low beams to replace the factory long life H11s:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003YMPN3A/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Philips 9011 high beams to replace the stock 9005s:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00480J5CW/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

And while I was in there I went ahead and put in some Philips long life turn signal bulbs to lessen the chances I'll have to go in there again just to replace those:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0087D9A7Q/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Second, some references covering removal of the headlights:
http://www.ramforumz.com/showthread.php?t=231019

And what this upgrade entails. This is kelaog's very good thread that covers how many more lumens you get out of this and how to trim the tabs to get the H9s and 9011s to fit. Admittedly I just pulled the H11s and 9005s and propped them up on my toolbox and eyeballed them; the 9011s were easy to trim with toenail clippers since the tabs were plastic, but the H9s had metal tabs that I had to go at for a few minutes with the needle nose vice grips. Note to self: get a set of files.
http://www.ramforumz.com/showthread.php?t=215104

The fogs were real easy, just crawl under the bumper and they're right there. Turn them counterclockwise and pull off the harness, install the new ones in reverse order.

Getting the headlights was a bit more of a challenge, I had to get the ball out of the socket that attaches the housing before I could swing the inboard side of the housings inward and lift up on the light to get that bottom screw out. It is long and the lights are much easier to get in than out. I did use a long 10mm socket for the bottom screw and a shallow one for the top one behind the grille. I do not have after pics yet, and I actually forgot to get highbeam pics last night with the old bulbs (I know, boo) but I was planning to do that tonight since I figured it'd be another wee before I got to install them.

BEFORE PICS:
FOGS:

LOWS:

Its getting dark now so I am going to go wine and dine my wife (she helped by holding the housings while I put the bulbs in) and get some pics while I am out. I will have them up whenever I get the opportunity

Hmmm , none of these options will fit the '16 . Just noticed that your Ram is a '13 ...but FYI

Thunderhorse · May 14, 2017

johnny 56 said:
ced that your Ram is a '13 ...but FYI

The lights are exactly the same in a 2016 as a 2013; the reason they will not fit your 2016 is that you have a Laramie Longhorn which has projector housings instead of quads like the Lone Star does.

We would have the same bulb options if I had a 2013 Longhorn or if you had a 2016 Lone Star

BLUKTY2 · Sep 1, 2017

Hey Gang,

Great information here and thanks to the major contributors! I won't mention any names.......

9011's on order and I am looking forward to "seeing" the improvement in lighting! :smiley_thumbs_up:

Pete

14Hemi · Oct 24, 2017

Same here. I just ordered the Sylvania bulbs from eBay; $47 for the low and high beams, this should be nice

Thunderhorse · Oct 24, 2017

Be sure to let us know how it works out for you!

14Hemi · Nov 14, 2017

Much needed upgrade!

:smileup:
I have had the bulbs installed for a couple weeks now and the difference is well worth the minimal effort. The hardest part was dealing with the smell of the melting plastic as I trimmed the tab using a red hot razor blade.

The low beams have more distance than before by quite a margin. I liked the blue hue that my old bulbs gave the housing when the lights weren't on, but I'll trade the better lighting for the aesthetics.

The high beams now are actually useful; I felt that the previous high beams were almost not worth turning on because it offered a thin central strip of light that wasn't much longer range than the low beams. The high beams now rival those of my wife's Grand Cherokee, which I think has phenomenal stock halogen headlamps.

I have not been "flashed" at all. In the past I would occasionally get flashed, likely due to the whiter light appearing brighter at the headlamp but paling in comparison to the H9/9011 combo.

I left my fog lights stock for now as I'm contemplating adding some PIAA's to the front to handle fog and inclement weather.

Thunderhorse · Nov 14, 2017

14Hemi said:
:smileup:
I have had the bulbs installed for a couple weeks now and the difference is well worth the minimal effort. The hardest part was dealing with the smell of the melting plastic as I trimmed the tab using a red hot razor blade.

The low beams have more distance than before by quite a margin. I liked the blue hue that my old bulbs gave the housing when the lights weren't on, but I'll trade the better lighting for the aesthetics.

The high beams now are actually useful; I felt that the previous high beams were almost not worth turning on because it offered a thin central strip of light that wasn't much longer range than the low beams. The high beams now rival those of my wife's Grand Cherokee, which I think has phenomenal stock halogen headlamps.

I have not been "flashed" at all. In the past I would occasionally get flashed, likely due to the whiter light appearing brighter at the headlamp but paling in comparison to the H9/9011 combo.

I left my fog lights stock for now as I'm contemplating adding some PIAA's to the front to handle fog and inclement weather.

Great to hear they are working out well. Your low beams are actually brighter than your old high beams now so it makes sense that the whole assembly is much better.

I know a lot of people like blue light more, and I do like the color, but bluer light scatters a good amount more so yellower light really can be more effective even if the output at the bulb is somewhat lower.

I was actually reading an article on the upcoming 2019 Silverado that said in a comparison between the Silverado, Ram, and F-150 (all 2018 models) the Ram got a marginal score for headlights while the other 2 scored "poor" in the IIHS test. Now I am assuming they used the projectors to get those results, but still it makes you wonder how bad the others are stock.

That reminds me of another comment I meant to make regarding the PIAA fog lights. My wife had to fly back home for a funeral a little over a week ago, and flew out of Wilmington because it was a lot cheaper, but it was an hour drive there. Her return landed late, and around 11pm the fog can get real bad right along the coast this time of year. Apparently it was real foggy that night, and she sent me a text mentioning how much easier the yellow fogs ( that I put in her Durango back in June) made it to see in those conditions.

pacofortacos · Nov 14, 2017

I debated yellow fogs, wish I would have of but the others are in now.

I am WORKING on a backup light upgrade. Should know how it and if it works in a few weeks.

Thunderhorse · Nov 14, 2017

What others did you go with?

It takes like 2 min to swap fogs. You just have to reach behind the bumper, its like the easiest lighting mod to do

Thunderbulb Upgrade!

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