Fog light upgrade w/pics

[neotech]

Beam Shots on PG 2

For those who are interested in upgrading their fog lights to something brighter here is an option. You can get these at most napa stores. they may have to order

Now I believe out trucks use the 9006 bulb which normally is a 55w bulb making between 900 and 1100 lumens

What if I said you could do better. Much better. Without HID's or stressing your wiring harness.

Phillips makes a bulb. A bulb making 2400 Lumens with 55w of power and it will practically bolt in.

This wonder is labeled as a 9012 bulb. Yes!!!! No monkey magic, no headlight fluid... Just a BULB. I have used these bulbs in a few of my other projects and wow. Huge difference between the regular bulbs and these.
There is also the 9011 bulb by phillips making 3000!!! lumens. It lines up with the 9005 but it can be made to work. You have to trim the ears a little bit but it doesn't affect the bulb at all.

Figured I would share this not knowing if it has been posted before. You know because I am new here and all.

I will be doing this mod as soon as I can pick up another bulb. When the weather gets better i will swap one out and post some pictures.

Bulbs are between 50 and 60 bucks a piece and only come as singles. But hey. It's better than hid..And they are DOT LEGAL!!!!

[TwinStick]

DUDE----you need to to do a write up, complete with pics on this !!!! $50-$60 EACH ??? or a pair ?

[hunter2500pw]

thanks man, good info. Im wrighting this down as a future upgrade as they blow.

[neotech]

Alright you twisted my arm. As I wrote this I was warm in the house. But I'm Bored. So I went and installed the one bulb I do Have. Here are the Pictures. Apparently I have to resize them so I will give some descriptions.

I went with the more powerful but slightly more difficult 9011 Bulb
Ok so the bulbs side by side comparison

the connector is slightly different. Shave the to plastic things with knife. Trim one of the ears. I had already trimmed the other for a different project. I tested the bulb in one of my spare fog lights and it fits water tight.

And bulb installed. Now the picture does not show very well. When you are standing in front of the truck it is at least 80% brighter. Also the 9011 I got is a 65 watt bulb. $52.00 is what i paid. That is only one bulb. I have to buy one more. I also don't use my fog lights alot so being this bright will be great when out hunting or in really bad weather. Hell they are frikn bright. Pictures to follow in a min. Let me point out we are having a wonderful winter storm for the last couple days and i was just out an hour ago in the truck. It's -10C here right now with wind gusting ast 35-45 mph.

[neotech]

wow the pic did not turn out well. It does not do it the credit it deserves. I also just found out that my amber passenger bulb needs replacing. This upgrade is worth it. It still is a halogen but it is so bright. Easy to do too

[w2dodge]

Excellent

[hunter2500pw]

thanks man. The black bulb is the new one and white is origional? On the pic with the black bulb in the fog light housing, is that black silicon around the base of the bulb? So your saying the new bulbs fit in the fog light fine as far as retaining clips, you just have to trim the wire conectors on the bulb some? Thanks again, i plan on doing this soon.

[neotech]

No it isn't silicon. Just have it sitting loosely. It fits perfectly as long as you nip the one corner of the ear just a bit. And yes the black one is the new one.

I took the truck out yesterday night to see. DUDE it was nuts. I actually turned the fogs off on the highway to pass vehicles. It is INSANE. Just ONE bulb too. I am going to get the second one as soon as I can get to the city.
It has been snowing and blowing hard here. Turning on the fogs was better than the high beams.

Just remember the 9012 will fit the plug with no mod and the 9011 needs the plastic guide removed. And the 9012 is appx 2400Lumen and the 9011 is 3000.

You can check it out at rallylights com. Just look in the bulbs under the 9011 and 9012.

Man turning on the fogs is like high beams to the side now. The ditches light up so well. Best Brain Fart Idea EVER.

[hunter2500pw]

col man, its info like this i love! Deff plan on doing this. Ill be going with the 3000 like you did. Thanks again!

[Ducky's Dad]

FWIW, I have been using hi-watt halogen 9005s in 9006 sockets for about 14 years, and it is an easy upgrade. You can usually get generic 9005 connectors at any good parts store and that can simplify the installation. Aside from a bit of minor trimming on the ears of the new bulb, I have found that replacing the silicone O-ring on the new bulb with a slightly fatter one is the only other mod required. The fatter ring provides a better seal against the mount, but mine are in GM products, not PWs. Should be the same fit, though. Somewhere in my notes, I have the O-ring size noted; available from Home Depot or a plumbing supply.

Re the issue of generic sockets, I just had to replace a fried 9007 socket in my PW (a result of running 100W halogen capsules and not using dielectric grease) and the Dodge dealer wanted about $45 each for just the plastic socket. So I went to the parts store and bought a generic socket for $5; looks the same and works fine.

There is another (expensive) foglight upgrade that you might want to consider. Vision-X has a relatively new plug-and-play LED fog light replacement for the 2002-to about 2010 Rams. Don't have a price and don't remember the details, but it is something I'd like to have on the PW. I'd be a little concerned about glare and cutoff in foggy conditions with either the Phillips bulbs or the LED conversion, so anybody with real experience please post. My PW fogs are running 80W halogen capsules and work great with no problems in fog, but always looking for better if the price is right.

[Hilldweller]

Good place to buy bulbs.
http://store.candlepower.com/hirlighting.html

HIR kicks butt.

[08TwinStickPW]

FWIW, I have been using hi-watt halogen 9005s in 9006 sockets for about 14 years, and it is an easy upgrade. You can usually get generic 9005 connectors at any good parts store and that can simplify the installation. Aside from a bit of minor trimming on the ears of the new bulb, I have found that replacing the silicone O-ring on the new bulb with a slightly fatter one is the only other mod required. The fatter ring provides a better seal against the mount, but mine are in GM products, not PWs. Should be the same fit, though. Somewhere in my notes, I have the O-ring size noted; available from Home Depot or a plumbing supply.

Re the issue of generic sockets, I just had to replace a fried 9007 socket in my PW (a result of running 100W halogen capsules and not using dielectric grease) and the Dodge dealer wanted about $45 each for just the plastic socket. So I went to the parts store and bought a generic socket for $5; looks the same and works fine.

There is another (expensive) foglight upgrade that you might want to consider. Vision-X has a relatively new plug-and-play LED fog light replacement for the 2002-to about 2010 Rams. Don't have a price and don't remember the details, but it is something I'd like to have on the PW. I'd be a little concerned about glare and cutoff in foggy conditions with either the Phillips bulbs or the LED conversion, so anybody with real experience please post. My PW fogs are running 80W halogen capsules and work great with no problems in fog, but always looking for better if the price is right.

Ditto, been running the 9005 mod on both my 04' and now the 08'

Way better than stock 9006, better throw and more light on the ground, have not been flashed once in 4+ years either.

[neotech]

There is an aftermarket projector foglight you can get. Using the HIR bulb you can significantly increase the output passing even some HID's with a plug and play type bulb. The nice thing too being the halogen setup the filiment is placed correctly for the proper beam pattern. The headlight and foglights are designed for that specific bulb pattern unlike the HID's. in projector setups the HID system is great but in any free form reflector they throw light very poorly. This Mod allows you to keep the correct beam pattern, not have to deal with stupid ballasts, and have a fantastic light output. Now I did not get flashed while driving with this bulb in but as those of you who may also drive a car at night will attest to the fact that the dodge lights are very bright and when an HID kit goes in it is worse. But not as bad as the Chev or Ford. They throw light everywhere. Worse when there is a few pounds in the box.

When I was testing this bulb out the conditions were extreme blowing snow. I could not use my brights because of this . Turning the fogs on was amazing to see. Not to mention that our high beams are not the best out there either. Thus the aftermarket driving lamps.

Tomorrow I am going to purchase the second bulb.

(BTW originally I had the bulb in a 60mm hella projector unit.)

[powderhoundbrr]

ON my way to the local Napa now. Thanks for that one. Millions of deer on the road where I live so anything to help spot them at night is appreciated.

[hunter2500pw]

does anyone know if the 9011 will fit the 2012 pw? If not what upgrade will?

[neotech]

9011 will fit the 9005 socket and 9012 fits 9006. if the 2012 uses the same as the older ones it is the 9006. But you can make a 9005/9011 work as well.

[Hilldweller]

does anyone know if the 9011 will fit the 2012 pw? If not what upgrade will?

Sorta.

We can put an HIR1 bulb in the highbeam and can shoehorn an H9 into the low.
It's not an ideal arrangement though. The H9 can cause glare if not aimed well...

[neotech]

HAHA I forgot you lucky ones have the new style headlights wit the dual beam. I'm still in the old H13 with fogs

[MSparks909]

Sweet! Gotta do some TLC on the ol' PowerWagon this winter. Looks like I'll be getting two of the 9012's Thanks!

[hunter2500pw]

preciate it guys. Ill be doing this to ALL my bulbs (6 total) when i get a chance to order them.

[neotech]

Sounds Good.. Take some pictures when you do. That's gonna be bright.

[Ducky's Dad]

It looks like Amazon has the Phillips 9011/HIR1 in a 2-pack for $46.98 with free shipping.

http://www.amazon.com/PHILIPS-STOCK-COL ... s+9011+hir

Amazon's descriptions are sometimes a bit off the mark, and this description claims 3200 lumens at 65 watts and 3450K. The 3200 lumnes number doesn't sound right. Can any of you confirm that this is the hot ticket? Price is right.

[neotech]

rallylights.com says 3000 lumen. They are 65w and kelvin seems right. That would be a sweet deal. I have my second one coming from napa tomorrow. $52 for one

[Ducky's Dad]

This has turned into another thread that is causing me to waste way too much time. I have found the Philips 9011/HIR1 available online from $18/bulb to $56/bulb, and with lumen specs from 2300 to 3400. So I went to the Philips North America web site to check it out. Guess what? No listing on their web site. So I called customer support. Guess what? They can't find it either and don't know anything about it. So I called Philips tech support. Guess what? They don't know much about it and told me it's only available to OEMs, so I told them it's available from Amazon and a bunch of other places. I suspect some of the online dealers are confusing the 9012 and 9011 specs, and some of the dealers may be pulling specs out of a bodily orifice. Tech support could not give me a part number or accurate specs, so they asked me to email them a request for more info and they would get somebody on it. Email sent this afternoon.

Given the range of prices that I have found for this bulb under the Philips brand, I am concerned that there may be more than one version available from Philips. When I called my old reliable parts store, they wanted to sell me a Wagner 9011 but didn't have any specs on it. I'll post up more info after Philips replies.

[GunniPWguy]

I for one. appreciate you "wasting time" on this. I was about ready to buy the ones on amazon that you linked to. Will be waiting to hear what you have to say. On another note. The dealer quoted me about $180 for a new glass foglight to replace one of mine that is cracked. Anyone know of a better deal?