IS 9011/9012 always the best upgrade for 9005/9006?

-Virgil-

Flashaholic
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Mar 26, 2004
Messages
7,802
New guy here.

Welcome to the board.

I found this post via search and I'm very interested in this as a possible upgrade for my 2015 Ram w/projector headlights.

The '15 Ram with BiHalogen headlamps came stock with HIR2 bulbs in the BiHalogen projector, and HB3 (9005) in the high beam reflectors. General Motors contracted with German bulb maker Vosla to put out an improved HIR2 bulb to deal with customers angry about the poor headlight performance on '14-'15 Chevrolet and GMC trucks (also with HIR2 BiHalogen). That bulb is here and fits directly into your headlamps with no modification. The HIR1 can be used as a good upgrade for the high beams after a minor, easy trim.

Make certain the lamps are aimed correctly. They're the "VOR" type as described here, and you will probably have to do quite a bit of searching to find a shop that will do the job correctly with an optical aim machine. Shining the lights on a wall or screen is not good enough. This VW bulletin gives a good walk-through of what a correct aim job looks like (no matter what kind of car or truck is at hand).

one of the Moderators here, stated that HID's were illegal. I went to a local stereo/lighting shop to discuss switching to LED's, they steered me away and I had HID low beams installed.

Oohboy. That was a mistake. Factory HID headlamps (engineered from the start to use HID light sources) are fine, but "HID kits" like the one installed by the greedy and/or ignorant pinheads at the trinket shop you visited are just as unsafe and just as illegal as "LED bulbs" in halogen headlamps. They can also damage your headlamps and large parts of the rest of your truck's electrical system. Get them out of there quicklike; halogen lamps need to use halogen bulbs. Pretty detailed workup on the how-and-why is here.

So my question is, would I benefit from switching my lows and highs to HIR?

Putting in the best version of the correct bulb and making very sure the lamps are aimed precisely will make your headlamps as good as they can possibly be.
 

Alaric Darconville

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Sep 2, 2001
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Also, in another thread, I saw that one of the Moderators here, stated that HID's were illegal.
Depending on the age of the thread, we either accidentally omitted "LED drop-ins" and the like when stating that HID kits are illegal, or the post pre-dated LED drop-ins.

So my question is, would I benefit from switching my lows and highs to HIR?
Your low beams already *are* HIR (the HIR2/9012). High beams are easily changed to HIR1 (-Virgil- has already pointed out both of those things).
 

Msquare

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Feb 18, 2019
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Virgil and Alaric - Thank you both for the responses! I have been thinking of removing the HID's for the reasons you stated. I haven't trusted them since install.
 

Msquare

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Feb 18, 2019
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I removed the HID kit this afternoon and installed a set of the GM/Vosla HIR2 (I bought them at the local Chevy dealer) in the low beam and I must say I'm pretty happy with the light output!

When I pulled the headlight housings, first time since I had the HID kit installed, I was really disappointed with the crappy work. I really wished I'd stopped and taken a few pictures, they destroyed the dust covers on the rear of the housing. Virgil you nailed it, "installed by the greedy and/or ignorant pinheads at the trinket shop". The parts of the kit were crap and the dust covers are held together by adhesive and duct tape.

Back to the new bulbs, I feel much better about them than the HID and I swear, if the output was this good in the beginning, I'd have never looked at the HID install.

Thank you for your help!
 

Sadden

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Mar 14, 2015
Messages
262
Yeah and now your headlamp is succeptable too dirt and water now :( Gotta try and get those dust covers replaced.
 

Msquare

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Feb 18, 2019
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Yeah and now your headlamp is succeptable too dirt and water now :( Gotta try and get those dust covers replaced.

I know and I'm not having any luck...so far. Dodge/Ram only sells the complete headlight assembly, not the cover plates.

Searching........ :)
 

Msquare

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Feb 18, 2019
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Salvage yard...

I spent the morning doing just that! I've got a few good leads, will no more on Monday. Thanks!

I've kind of hijacked this thread, would anyone like to see a pic of what the "professional" installer at a well known shop did to my headlight assembly?

Mods- If I should post new or not at all, please let me know.
 

Msquare

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Feb 18, 2019
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Well I'm trying to post the pics I have.....
 
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