New 1500 Owner questions HID, Audio etc.
New 1500 Owner questions HID, Audio etc.
Hi, all I posted a question in the HID troubleshooting thread and I believe that it was never approved because I should have created a new thread. I am new here, just picked up a Dodge RAM 1500 (2003) Std Cab, Full Size Bed, 2x4, v6 3.7L - 180k miles.
My lease on my 08 Grand Cherokee was up and I didnt want to get a new car, or another lease, and wanted to go used. It's my dad's truck and he is going to be selling to me, so please dont kill me on the package/trim/engine I have
The truck is bare, but in great condition, it has no power door locks, no power windows, and I dont think it even has ABS.
The first thing driving me nuts was no bluetooth built in to the car and no way to connect my droid x and use pandora/google music/spotify, etc. I picked up a Sony BT-2900 head unit and installed it myself (i was a professional car audio/alarm installer for a few years in high school/college about 10 years back, but its like riding a bike) The radio fit great, looks good, sounds good, bluetooth streaming and handsfree works great, and works perfectly with my Droid X running CM7 nightlies.
The no power windows or power door locks was driving me nuts, especially in the hot summer, so I ordered a cheap power window kit ($89 shipped) (the typical universally fits none pulley system with the bendy links that drives the hand crank) and the kit also comes with a cheap power door lock kit with remote keyless entry but it comes with descent acutators and I plan on adding an alarm/remote start after I purchase the truck so the module/remotes will only be tempoairy. I figured might as well get all the door upgrades done at the same time so I also purchased a cheap set of Pioneer 2-way 6x9's to go in the door at the same time, I will run descent gauge speaker wire to the speakers and leave the wire under the driver seat so when I am ready to add an amp for those speakers I can just cut and tape the factory speaker wire at the headunit and use the new speaker wire instead w/o having to open the door again. (any tips on the power window / power door lock kit would be great, i havent done one of these kits in 10 years and they are usually a pita - i am hoping with this large door i can make it all fit/work)
The other luxury I was really missing was an auto dimming rear view mirror and some descent reading/map lights (my truck only has a single bright *** cabin light above the rear window.) I found a cheap gentex auto dimming mirror pulled off a 06 buick on ebay ($35 shipped) that ciomes with a partial harness so i should just need to put it on the standard domestic wedge mount and then wire up power from somewhere. I drive ALOT at night and get head aches bad from bright lights, so I find $35 for this auto dimming mirror well worth the cash.
Again since I drive alot at night and in some pretty rough areas (lots of deer in some areas, lots of hoodlums dressed in black in others) so I wanted to add HID's. I found some on ebay and also liked hidsrus offering. I have read the question thread and it explained about the strobing and other CANBUS issues but i emailed hidsrus and they said their digital ballasts have solved this problem a while back and will have no problems, but they still recommend adding a $16 relay harness. I was wondering if the hidsrus for 57 + 15 for the harness is worth it over the $35 ebay specials which also claim to be digital and work with CANBUS? Will the relay really make the lights brighter? They claim that the ballasts use less power than a std halogen bulb so how would the relay help make them brighter?)
Also, it appears that my trucks headlights have 2 bulbs one for hi and one for low, but i havent checked in the dark w/ the lights on yet, I am guessing that the outside bulb is just for parking perhaps? Best I can tell most guides say this truck only has one bulb. If that is the case, is halogen hi/hid lo a good way to go? I will need to pass NJ inspection next year but I figured I could easily throw in the old halogen bulbs if the halogen hi/xenon lo make the xenon lo last less or not as bright.
Once I get all that done I plan on adding 5 1/4 components in the rear (mount the tweets up the the driver/passenger head on the pillar) and adding an amp under the driver or passenger seat to power those plus an eventual sub. maybe a 10in kicker in a truck box or a infinty bass link.
Anyways this sounds like alot but its actually all on the cheap, plus 90% can be removed/re-used if the purchase from my dad falls through lol.
thanks for any help/suggestions/comments in advance!
-bandroidx
@bandroidx on twitter
My lease on my 08 Grand Cherokee was up and I didnt want to get a new car, or another lease, and wanted to go used. It's my dad's truck and he is going to be selling to me, so please dont kill me on the package/trim/engine I have
The truck is bare, but in great condition, it has no power door locks, no power windows, and I dont think it even has ABS.
The first thing driving me nuts was no bluetooth built in to the car and no way to connect my droid x and use pandora/google music/spotify, etc. I picked up a Sony BT-2900 head unit and installed it myself (i was a professional car audio/alarm installer for a few years in high school/college about 10 years back, but its like riding a bike) The radio fit great, looks good, sounds good, bluetooth streaming and handsfree works great, and works perfectly with my Droid X running CM7 nightlies.
The no power windows or power door locks was driving me nuts, especially in the hot summer, so I ordered a cheap power window kit ($89 shipped) (the typical universally fits none pulley system with the bendy links that drives the hand crank) and the kit also comes with a cheap power door lock kit with remote keyless entry but it comes with descent acutators and I plan on adding an alarm/remote start after I purchase the truck so the module/remotes will only be tempoairy. I figured might as well get all the door upgrades done at the same time so I also purchased a cheap set of Pioneer 2-way 6x9's to go in the door at the same time, I will run descent gauge speaker wire to the speakers and leave the wire under the driver seat so when I am ready to add an amp for those speakers I can just cut and tape the factory speaker wire at the headunit and use the new speaker wire instead w/o having to open the door again. (any tips on the power window / power door lock kit would be great, i havent done one of these kits in 10 years and they are usually a pita - i am hoping with this large door i can make it all fit/work)
The other luxury I was really missing was an auto dimming rear view mirror and some descent reading/map lights (my truck only has a single bright *** cabin light above the rear window.) I found a cheap gentex auto dimming mirror pulled off a 06 buick on ebay ($35 shipped) that ciomes with a partial harness so i should just need to put it on the standard domestic wedge mount and then wire up power from somewhere. I drive ALOT at night and get head aches bad from bright lights, so I find $35 for this auto dimming mirror well worth the cash.
Again since I drive alot at night and in some pretty rough areas (lots of deer in some areas, lots of hoodlums dressed in black in others) so I wanted to add HID's. I found some on ebay and also liked hidsrus offering. I have read the question thread and it explained about the strobing and other CANBUS issues but i emailed hidsrus and they said their digital ballasts have solved this problem a while back and will have no problems, but they still recommend adding a $16 relay harness. I was wondering if the hidsrus for 57 + 15 for the harness is worth it over the $35 ebay specials which also claim to be digital and work with CANBUS? Will the relay really make the lights brighter? They claim that the ballasts use less power than a std halogen bulb so how would the relay help make them brighter?)
Also, it appears that my trucks headlights have 2 bulbs one for hi and one for low, but i havent checked in the dark w/ the lights on yet, I am guessing that the outside bulb is just for parking perhaps? Best I can tell most guides say this truck only has one bulb. If that is the case, is halogen hi/hid lo a good way to go? I will need to pass NJ inspection next year but I figured I could easily throw in the old halogen bulbs if the halogen hi/xenon lo make the xenon lo last less or not as bright.
Once I get all that done I plan on adding 5 1/4 components in the rear (mount the tweets up the the driver/passenger head on the pillar) and adding an amp under the driver or passenger seat to power those plus an eventual sub. maybe a 10in kicker in a truck box or a infinty bass link.
Anyways this sounds like alot but its actually all on the cheap, plus 90% can be removed/re-used if the purchase from my dad falls through lol.
thanks for any help/suggestions/comments in advance!
-bandroidx
@bandroidx on twitter
Also, my check engine light came on after a week of driving. I checked with my bluetooth ELM327 adapter w/ Torque on my Droid X and it says power train code: o2 sensor high voltage. I believe this means my o2 is dead but my gas mileage is fine. I believe this would be the rear o2 sensor in the exahust manifold, under the truck sicne it says power train? I will get the exact code next time I am in the truck.
I was considering re-setting it and seeing if it goes away, maybe it was a fluke reading or the sensor is just on its way out?
I was considering re-setting it and seeing if it goes away, maybe it was a fluke reading or the sensor is just on its way out?
Hall Of Fame
Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 19,168
Likes: 23
From: South GA
HIDs are simple and even more so for an 03. You need the kit with ballasts and bulb, the harness and the 50 watt load resistors as instructed in that HID thread (I really hope you read the first page and didnt skip to the last).
Our trucks have ONE bulb for headlights. It is a dual bulb for both low AND high. The other bulb is a parking light.
So in your case with wanting to go to HIDs you need the two ballasts, two bi-xenon bulbs, a bi-xenon harness and four 50 watt load resistors.
Again, all of that including pics and links are all in that HID thread so go over it and check it out.
If NJ has an issue with you running HIDs then you can simple disconnect the HID harness from the headlight plug and put back in the halogen bulbs as you said. Its as simple as that.
Check out www.foxacoustics.com for some good boxes.
Front O2 sensors are about $25 from Autozone. The rear O2 only monitors the the cat. The code should tell you exactly which side O2 it is and whether it is the front or rear.
Our trucks have ONE bulb for headlights. It is a dual bulb for both low AND high. The other bulb is a parking light.
So in your case with wanting to go to HIDs you need the two ballasts, two bi-xenon bulbs, a bi-xenon harness and four 50 watt load resistors.
Again, all of that including pics and links are all in that HID thread so go over it and check it out.
If NJ has an issue with you running HIDs then you can simple disconnect the HID harness from the headlight plug and put back in the halogen bulbs as you said. Its as simple as that.
Check out www.foxacoustics.com for some good boxes.
Front O2 sensors are about $25 from Autozone. The rear O2 only monitors the the cat. The code should tell you exactly which side O2 it is and whether it is the front or rear.
HIDs are simple and even more so for an 03. You need the kit with ballasts and bulb, the harness and the 50 watt load resistors as instructed in that HID thread (I really hope you read the first page and didnt skip to the last).
Our trucks have ONE bulb for headlights. It is a dual bulb for both low AND high. The other bulb is a parking light.
So in your case with wanting to go to HIDs you need the two ballasts, two bi-xenon bulbs, a bi-xenon harness and four 50 watt load resistors.
Again, all of that including pics and links are all in that HID thread so go over it and check it out.
If NJ has an issue with you running HIDs then you can simple disconnect the HID harness from the headlight plug and put back in the halogen bulbs as you said. Its as simple as that.
Check out www.foxacoustics.com for some good boxes.
Front O2 sensors are about $25 from Autozone. The rear O2 only monitors the the cat. The code should tell you exactly which side O2 it is and whether it is the front or rear.
Our trucks have ONE bulb for headlights. It is a dual bulb for both low AND high. The other bulb is a parking light.
So in your case with wanting to go to HIDs you need the two ballasts, two bi-xenon bulbs, a bi-xenon harness and four 50 watt load resistors.
Again, all of that including pics and links are all in that HID thread so go over it and check it out.
If NJ has an issue with you running HIDs then you can simple disconnect the HID harness from the headlight plug and put back in the halogen bulbs as you said. Its as simple as that.
Check out www.foxacoustics.com for some good boxes.
Front O2 sensors are about $25 from Autozone. The rear O2 only monitors the the cat. The code should tell you exactly which side O2 it is and whether it is the front or rear.
I actually confirmed visually last night about the 1 bulb thing, I think to save cost I will just get a xenon lo - halogen hi bulb or just a xenon lo bulb. Any reason to go with one or the other, other than the inspection deal?
I will get the more detailed code from the o2 sensor asap, I had to put my cat to sleep today due to renal and liver failure so I am going to try to work on this **** the next couple of days to keep my mind off of it.
thanks.
thanks
Since your saying go bixeon and since they include the wiring harnesses and are $60 shipped, I am seriously considering these if they are correct:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...m=260673828636
wjat do you think? I am open to suggestions if you have a favorite seller on ebay too, thanks
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...m=260673828636
wjat do you think? I am open to suggestions if you have a favorite seller on ebay too, thanks
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I was going by this in your awesome HID troubleshooting thread:
"All Dodge Ram 2002+ have canbus system for their Headlights, therefore, the headlight circuit will need to be corrected."
Unless u mean the canbus issue that causes problems (turning off after x checks) ?
"All Dodge Ram 2002+ have canbus system for their Headlights, therefore, the headlight circuit will need to be corrected."
Unless u mean the canbus issue that causes problems (turning off after x checks) ?
Hall Of Fame
Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 19,168
Likes: 23
From: South GA
That ebay seller will work but also check out this link
https://dodgeforum.com/forum/vendor-...m-members.html
Overall though, everything you need is in my first post above on the third sentence
https://dodgeforum.com/forum/vendor-...m-members.html
Overall though, everything you need is in my first post above on the third sentence
That ebay seller will work but also check out this link
https://dodgeforum.com/forum/vendor-...m-members.html
Overall though, everything you need is in my first post above on the third sentence
https://dodgeforum.com/forum/vendor-...m-members.html
Overall though, everything you need is in my first post above on the third sentence
I re-read a bunch of your thread and just want to make sure I understood everything correctly in that since i am not 06+, i can use a relay harness and if i dont mind the lamp out light on the dash i dont need resistors? This is based on what I read, no where specifically do you say that....