Ok folks. Need some help.

I'm not a total repair newb, but not great at diagnosing electrical issues, which I suspect this probably is, so here goes.

2001 Ram 1500, 6cyl, 3.9L.
the front end had been wrecked at some point before I bought the truck almost 9 yrs ago, and she's been a great, reliable vehicle.
I've replaced everything at typical intervals, but one problem she's had since the beginning is dim headlights.
I replaced the plastic headlight assembly, and put in new Sylvania super bright bulbs (whatever they were called, can't remember now) with no difference.
Eventually those burnt out so I put some $55 others in that were supposed to be brighter on the K scale, and they were a little brighter, but not enough
to substantiate the price difference.
Anyway, because of the previous front end body damage, driver's side lights don't shine quite as far/ at the angles they should, but neither side is anywhere
near as bright as they ought to be, and driving at night, esp on dark, unlit, Kansas country roads is a dangerous proposition. I can drive with the high beams
on and I don't think anyone even realizes they're on high beam...

SO...my thinking is that for whatever reason, the wattage output is not what it should be, and the bulbs themselves are not getting the power necessary
to shine them very bright. Does that sound plausible? And if so, where / how do I start to find and fix the problem?

Thanks in advance!

 

FYI - the ground wires *look* ok, but I'm gonna check tomorrow with multi meter and we'll go from there!

 

Plausible, yes, but you need to figure out what's going on. There are two "peculiarities" with the truck: After having headlight switches and wiring frequently melt Chrysler changed the way the headlights are switched. On a 2001 there is an always-on feed to the headlight bulbs, and the headlight switch and combination stalk connect ground to either filament. Check the violet or violet/red wires (depending on side) for voltage to ground, it should be full battery voltage. The other quirk is that there are two very similar light bulbs which look the same at first glance but are not interchangeable. The non-Sport model uses 9004 bulbs but the 9007 fit physically, just not electrically. Details here: https://sparksmith.com/blogs/news/do...and-9007-bulbs To exclude the bulbs disconnect them on both sides, then check voltage from the violet(/red) wire to violet/white (low beam) and red/orange (high beam). Again, should be battery voltage.

 

As said check the bulbs and the voltage at the bulbs. I also have Sylvania silverstars and the light still sucks compared to what's out today. If you are getting battery voltage at the bulbs then they are working the way they should. You can upgrade to led bulbs but the only real way to get really decent light is to retrofit projection housings(led,hid xenon etc) in the clear lens factory style housings.
https://www.theretrofitsource.com/pr...led-projectors

 

I replaced my headlight housings, as they were severely yellowed, and also installed the LMC Truck heavy duty headlight harness. It re-wires the headlights so the headlight switch is only controlling two relays. Permanently solves the overheated headlight switch problem, and provides MUCH better power feeds for the bulbs. I also used the Sylvania Silverstars, and light output is far superior to what it was. I also re-aimed my headlights in my driveway.... That helped quite a bit as well.