okay i know there are Recon Cab light installations fot 3rd gen rams all over the internet, here i have an installtion write up for a 2nd gen. ram and with Navigator brand cab lights.. enjoy

*************************
Note before you start this is how I DID MY TRUCK, and i share with you, if you choose to follow my steps it is YOUR responsibility if things go wrong, and something gets messed up, drilling 15 holes in your roof and tapping into factory wires is something you should be very careful of PLEASE let me know if you have any questions!
*************************

Tools i used:
Drill
phillips head for drill
Drill bit ( dont remember what size, small, about the same size as the wires of each light!)
Star tip screw driver
12 guage wire,
5 wire taps
Wire butt connector
wire strippers and Crimpers
a metal punch or a small screw drive to act as a metal punch
hammer
dry erase marker
"RTV Black" Sealant
i used 5 screws the lights came with for the ground screw
used 5 wider head self tapping screws for the back mounting screw
electrical tape


Step one:
I started off taking apart the inside, starting with the visors, use a phillips head screw driver or the drill to remove the 3 screws that hold the visor itself on.


then remove the screw holding the small hook peice the visor clips on to:


do that for both the passenger and driver side

step two:
remove the Driver and passenger side A-pillars

Driver side: im not sure about anyone elses but from where i have a gauge pod over mine i didnt have to remove any screw or bolts mine just snapped off


passenger side:
Remove the rubber fill in pieces off the handle


then use your star tip screw drive to remove the bolts that hold on the handle


then the pillar should just snap right off


Step three:
removing the headliner, after you get rid of the visors, and the a-pillars the headliner will come right down with a little tug



as you can see there are 5 holes pre-marked for use.

step four:
the hardest part to get yourself to do...drill through the roof
i used the five holes on the roof, i took a small screw driver and a hammer and used it to punch into my roof slightly so my drill bit wouldnt walk, then i drilled the five holes up through the roof
[img=http://img204.imageshack.us/img204/5408/90351835.th.jpg]




Step five: line up the lights
remove the screw on the top of the lenses on the lights, doing so you will remove the lens completely, take the bulb out, so you can access the mounting holes needed later, then put the wires through the five holes in your roof, have an extra pair of eyes as you need to set them as straight as possible, i used my vision from behind the truck and had my dads vision from the front side, set them as straight as possible on the roof




after theyre straight, use a DRY ERASE marker ( i used red) to trace the placement of your lights on your roof

step six: seal cover the lights with sealer
after youve traced where your light will go, pick them up one by one (careful not to wipe off your traced line) then use the RTV black sealant all over the bottom of the lights, be sure you get plenty around the holes for the screws and all around the wire! for minimal chance of water ever leaking through



Step seven:
carefully place your lights inside your traced lines and make sure it is still on straight, then use a punch or in my case the screw driver and hammer to start a hole for your mounting screws


Step eight:
mount your lights, start off with the front ground screw (should be provided with lights) and drill it in, after the screw has bitten into the roof slow down the drill and take it down to the ground tab! its a good idea to have someone else hold down the lights while you drill the screws in!

after you do the front screw drill in the back screw, note* i used the screw that came with the lights at first, and i drilled it in the light and it completely broke the hole and drilled straight through the light mount and into the roof, so i used wider head self tapping screws for all the rear holes.

Step nine:
use RTV from the underside of the roof, use your sealer all around the hole where the wire comes in (cake it on) you dont want any water to ever come through to your headliner!



Step Ten: take a break from the lights while the RTV sets and drys up, and move inside to the wiring, Start off with the farthest light (closest to the passenger side door, what i did was, i saved a wire tap and stripped the black power wire from the light and, stripped the end of the red 12 guage power wire and used a butt connector to wire them together, its a good idea to use electrical tape over your connection after you use the butt connector




Step eleven:
using wire taps, wire the other 4 lights into the main red power wire!
if you dont know how to use a wire tap, you put the main (red) wire through the hole that goes all the way through the tap, then put your black wire coming from the lights, in the the hole that only goes halfway through the tap, once the black wire is in all the way use needle nose pliers or crimpers to squeeze the metal tab dwon through the plasitc house, doing so causes the metal tab to cut both wires and splice them together! then cover over with electrical tape



REPEAT THIS with all three of the remaining lights!

Step Tweleve:
tape the wires up to the roof to clean up under your headliner!



Step thirteen:
REMOVE the Dash bezel from the front of the dash, doing this will reveal 3 screws for your headlight switch, remove those three screws and pull out the hole unit for the headlights. run your red power wire down the driver side pillar, run it through the dash a bring it out from behind the headlight unit. then using the last wire tap you want to tap into the main headlight power wire. which on MY TRUCK and atleast 3 others ive heard of is a BLACK WIRE with YELLOW TRACER which is a black wire with a yellow thin line, ( dont not be confused with a wire that is YELLOW with a BLACK tracer) but i would reccomend that you test your wires to be sure of your main headlight wire as opposed to taking my word of which wire it is! then cover the tep with electrical tape!

******WARNING: allthough these are my instructions, i want everyone to take into consideration a different route, either adding a relay, using a different headlight switch (to handle the extra power), or just run it to a toggle switch... the reason i say this, is because months after installing my lights, i had a short in my parking lamp (which the cab lights are tapped into)... and i lost my cabs, parking lamps, gauge lights, and tail lights... and fuse after fuse would blow... and i found out its because of the overloaded power to the headlight switch... so i warn you to go a different route..*************







THEN you need to put the light bulbs back on the light housings on the roof, Flip your headlight switch and test to make sure all five lights work! if one or two do not come on check the bulbs to make sure you didnt damage them, if they are replace them, if not check all your wires and make sure its all connected!!!

if your lights all come on CONGRATS!

Step Fourteen: replace the lenses on the light housings! by screwing them back in to the base!

Step fifteen :CLEAN UP, start by tucking the headliner back in to the rubber trim all the way around, then put your visor and clips back on by using the original screws! then snap and bolt the a- pillars back on make sure your red powere wire is tucked behind the driver side a- pillar. replace your headlight switch unit, and your dash bezel, and then your all set!

after i set everything back to how it was and cleaned up here are my new lights!






************************************************** *****
hope everyone enjoys this, good luck to everyone! CREDIT for assuring me of these steps before i did them go to 95MaroonMonster without his help i would have been lost!
************************************************** *****

 

i just skimmed this but it looks like a really good diy and i have 2 suggestions for anyone wanting to do this: instead of a small screwdriver use a center punch, thats what they're made for. and instead of electric tape use liquid electric tape (the one with a brush is 4$ at walmart). electric tape likes to slide off after cooking for a few months in the sun and the liquid stuff sticks really good.

 

i do agree with the center punch, somewhere i said to use either or, but i couldnt find a punch at the shop so i used a small screw driver

 

whatever works for ya. i just didn't want someone using a small screw driver and messing it up when they probably have a center punch laying around somewhere. some people can be absent minded at times. i know i am every now and then.

 

very understandable

 

I would solder the connections and be sure to use shrink tubing instead. Other than that, great write-up, and I wonder if my 97 is pre-set like the 2001 is.

 

heres a couple more pics of the lights in day light

 

How did u get the dash bezel off?

 

take my shifter all the way down to "1" and just grab an end and slowly pop it out, and just work it out all the way around

 

Dam I hope I don't beak it! I'm going to do my recon's tomorrow.