Puddle lights
 

Puddle lights on my 2009 ram drivers door mirror just went out, are they replaceable or do you have to replace the entire mirror?

You can replace the pods. Spendy, but they are replaceable.

What is a "pod"? Is it difficult to replace and what are we considering as "pricey"?
Maybe I can live without the light!

The pod is what holds the puddle light and blinker LED's..the whole light fixture. They run around $200 or so when I was going to replace mine. I had a friend that has a collision repair place that I just ordered a whole mirror for a few dollars more at his cost. pays to know people I guess.

Is there any way of replacing the stock mirrors that have defrost to turn signal mirrors and retaining the defrost part?

Not sure, I guess you'd have to know if the wiring is there for the lights.