How To Change Headlight Bulb On 2009 Dodge Ram 1500

Rustyraindog

Joined: Nov 15, 2020

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Location: Spanaway, WA

Ram Year: 2011 PW

Engine: 5.7

I am looking to upgrade to LED on my 2011 quad reflectors. I see a lot of people in other threads talking about Fahren and that is what I am leaning towards. Power consumption varies from 80W to 160W based on the model and Lumen output. I was leaning towards 20,000 Lumen or the 24,000 Lumen. They are 120W and 160W respectively. I know my stock halogen only draw about 55W. Will the increased Amperage draw cause problems with the BCM? I don't want to have the problems that this guy had. I have searched for a while now and can't seem to find this issue addressed in the forum. I do have AlphaOBD if I need to adjust voltages.

hunterdan

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Location: SE PA

Ram Year: 2016

Engine: 5.7 Hemi

I am looking to upgrade to LED on my 2011 quad reflectors. I see a lot of people in other threads talking about Fahren and that is what I am leaning towards. Power consumption varies from 80W to 160W based on the model and Lumen output. I was leaning towards 20,000 Lumen or the 24,000 Lumen. They are 120W and 160W respectively. I know my stock halogen only draw about 55W. Will the increased Amperage draw cause problems with the BCM? I don't want to have the problems that this guy had. I have searched for a while now and can't seem to find this issue addressed in the forum. I do have AlphaOBD if I need to adjust voltages.

The numbers they quote are for a pair of bulbs, not for a single bulb and usually at 12v not 14 or 14.5v that cars typically run at. Another thing to keep in mind is that higher wattage = more heat. More heat may cause a loss in brightness after several minutes and if the bulb isn't good at mitigating the heat, it could damage the housing as those aluminum heat sinks do get very hot. I've run the aukee 80w 16k Lumen bulb and was able to hold it in my hand without it getting warm. It's also extremely compact and very bright. I've held other leds that have gotten too hot to hold within seconds.

Rustyraindog

Joined: Nov 15, 2020

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Location: Spanaway, WA

Ram Year: 2011 PW

Engine: 5.7

As a low voltage electrician ( security systems and access control) I am well aware that automotive voltage is usually 14-14.5VDC. I am also aware that higher amp draw=more heat. That is why I am asking as I don't know that the BCM or the wires will withstand the higher amperage.
Assuming voltage is 14vdc....
a 55 watt set draws 3.9amps or almost 2 amps each
a 120 watt set draws 8.6 amps or 4.3 amps each
a 160 watt set draws 11.5 amps or 5.75 each

I am not sure of the gauge of the headlight wiring and am concerned the wiring will overheat.
Can anyone tell me the gauge of wiring for the high and low beam circuits?

RAZ175

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Ram Year: 2016 Power Wagon

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You do realize that LED's only use about 15% of the wattage of a halogen bulb? The wattage that the LED seller are listing are for halogen equivalent. So for a 160 watt halogen equivalent LED, it would draw ~24W. This is the reason that the Canbus system has issues with these bulbs, they draw such little wattage that the system does not detect them and thinks it is burnt out. The LED bulbs have to have a resistor network to trick the Canbus into seeing the bulb.

kurek

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. The LED bulbs have to have a resistor network to trick the Canbus into seeing the bulb.

I bet if you made the resistor out of a thin enough material you could get it hot enough to glow, then you could mount it in a glass container with inert gas in it to prevent it from burning up and just use the light coming off the resistor as a headlight. Then you wouldn't even need the LED in the first place!

Rustyraindog

Joined: Nov 15, 2020

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Location: Spanaway, WA

Ram Year: 2011 PW

Engine: 5.7

You do realize that LED's only use about 15% of the wattage of a halogen bulb? The wattage that the LED seller are listing are for halogen equivalent. So for a 160 watt halogen equivalent LED, it would draw ~24W. This is the reason that the Canbus system has issues with these bulbs, they draw such little wattage that the system does not detect them and thinks it is burnt out. The LED bulbs have to have a resistor network to trick the Canbus into seeing the bulb.

That is part of what confuses me as the descriptions just say the wattage, not that that is equivalent wattage. I do know that LEDs can draw large amount of power based on design and output. That is why I am asking these questions. So even with the brightest bulbs available, it shouldn't heat up the wiring or the BCM? I wonder what caused the issues in the video I linked in the OP? I just don't want to have my harness catch fire because of lighting changes.

hunterdan

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You do realize that LED's only use about 15% of the wattage of a halogen bulb? The wattage that the LED seller are listing are for halogen equivalent. So for a 160 watt halogen equivalent LED, it would draw ~24W. This is the reason that the Canbus system has issues with these bulbs, they draw such little wattage that the system does not detect them and thinks it is burnt out. The LED bulbs have to have a resistor network to trick the Canbus into seeing the bulb.

This is not accurate. Watch the reviews on some leds where they actually test the wattage and amp draw. You'll see that many run 20-30 watts which is about half of a halogen, not 15% or so. Those 120 and 160w systems are for the pair, so 60-80 watts max. You can safely run up to 100w per side, each side is individually fused I believe.

Smokeybear01

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Ram Year: 2005

Engine: Cummins 5.9l

If my 160w LEDs actually drew that much juice I wouldn't have needed all those resistors to fool the Canbus system (brain or AI) This is a 2005 truck so it's older. Your's may be different with regard to Canbus. Not sure how I fell into this thread. But also, they don't get anywhere near as warm as halogens. Good luck, you'll like em.

I'm curious, are those Fahren bulbs mentioned in the OP DOT approved?

Just asked a question... About LED's being DOT approved. Ask a simple question, get a stupid answer... Guess it's true...

None of the led bulbs that are sold to replace the halogen bulbs are DOT approved. A decent set of led bulbs are still better than the halogen IMO. When you do change the bulbs, no matter if they're led or halogen, you do need to make sure you properly adjust your headlights so you get the proper light pattern that is useful to you and doesn't blind oncoming traffic.