I was on the fence about how to improve my halogen lighting to improve visibility.
While I do like the various LED assembly options, the high cost of them wasn't worth it to me, whether OEM or aftermarket. And I don't like the fact that the LEDs are not replaceable when they fail. You're left to replace the entire assembly.
After replacing all of my halogen bulbs, I am very satisfied. I chose a more expensive option, compared to the many cheap alternatives, for my low beams and all interior lights with Diode Dynamics and more moderately priced LEDs from Lasfit for the remaining locations. My rationale is the Diode Dynamics seem to be highly regarded in reviews and are trouble-free so I should have good reliability for the lights I depend on most, low beams particularly. The other lights weren't as critical, so I could save some money there.
- Low beam, Diode Dynamics- very good, just ensure the bulb is aligned at the 0300/0900 position and you take the time to adjust the housing angle so you don't blind oncoming traffic, especially the left one.
- High beam, Lasfit - very good, light color is the same as the DD low beams.
- Turn signal, Diode Dynamics - very good, but the way truck is wired, you can't use the white LEDs as DRLs and the amber LEDs' duty cycle isn't 100%. So their full switchback effect is limited to night use when the white circuit is enabled.
- Fog, Diode Dynamics - These are the switchbacks where you change them to white or yellow by cycling the OEM fog light switch. They work well and are pretty cool, except the RAM's cornering light feature will mess with the color synchronization if you don't keep your fogs on all the time by disabling fog light drop out in AlfaOBD.
- Side marker, Diode dynamics - these lights are really insignificant and I'm not impressed with the LED performance. The incandescent bulb or an LED that focuses its light to the side is better suited for the bulb placement in the housing. The DD LEDs mostly focus their light out the top and there are only little slots in their plastic base.
I did use AlfaOBD to change all of the corresponding bulbs to LED. You will get bulb-out errors if you don't.
After I changed the turn signals, I did see a couple of bulb-out errors only on the right side for a day or so after installation. It's accompanied with the hyper-flash. If I left the turn signal on, it seem to fix itself and flash normally. Even with LED enabled, it seemed that the truck had to learn the difference. I haven't had any errors since then.
I have not had any issues with my electrical system at all (other than the few turn signal bulb-out).
I was only flashed a few times while I was adjusting my low beams. Now, I get no flashers and I have a very good beam pattern.
The fog lights are very impressive too, especially for the factory housings. They have a very good beam pattern that lets you see well to the side of the road and compliment the low beams very well. I had to adjust these much higher than they came stock. The cut off is pretty crisp and keeps the light down low and wide.
Overall, I'm very pleased with the upgrade and have no regrets. Remember to clock all the bulbs properly and accessing the side markers and low beams is easiest by going up through the wheel well after removing 3 or 4 liner screws.
5thgenrams.com
