My 2013 RAM 2500 projector headlights are subpar in rural areas and especially on rainy nights. Upgrading the bulbs to premium LEDs helps a bit on the side to side but not down the road. Can anyone point me to a good DOT approved HID conversion kit?

 

Welcome to DF. I will move thisto the correct section.

 

Ebay Has Kits Out The Blank In Hid kits With The Bulbs For Your App For Single HID Low Beam running Around 30 Bucks And 60 For Bilevel HiD Kits For Hight And Low Beam Im Getting One For My 2005 Ram

 

What premium LED bulbs did you get for those projectors?

 

Long story short....No HID conversion kit is legal in the US. They are all made outside the USA and imported for use in Tractor and farm equipment. It's a loophole the government needs to close.
Even the HID projectors that I custom retro fitted with OEM ballasts and OEM bulbs from a different vehicle are still illegal.

HID bulbs are only approved for us in DOT approved HID projectors. That means vehicles that came with them from the factory only! Installing HID bulbs in halogen housing is not legal regardless of what others have done or continue to do.

Also, halogen projectors are different than HID projectors. For the most part, sticking a HID bulb in a halogen projector will not give you additional output that you are looking for. It is because the bulb spacing and bulb length is different for each. The projector bowls are optimized for the particular bulb used. Halgone bulbs are shorter and have a different light beam/pattern than HID. It's likely you will get very bright yet blotchy HID output up close that isn't even as far as the halogen bulbs. You will likely get glare/hotspots in odd areas you didn't see with halogen bulbs.

 

Dirty Dog nailed it. Their is no way at all to do it legally short of buying the whole system that Dodge builds for the Ram. And he is right about the fact it's a total myth that adding HID bulbs to housings designed for Halogen bulbs will give you more light both up close AND far away. You end up with a ton of light up close and blind everybody else on the road. The town next to me routinely pulls over and impounds cars and trucks with HID conversion kits that blind other drivers.

It would be far easier AND cheaper to simply add a set of good driving lights. I used Dirty Dog's tutorial on mounting a set of Hella's behind the grill on my 06' and anytime i needed more light i just flipped a switch and it was a huge increase. Total cost was around $100 and two hours of my time. Not a difficult install at all.

You can also upgrade the bulbs in your factory fog lights as well.

 

The biggest mistake people make is that DOT approved=street legal. DOT is about safety. Light kit ABC has been inspected to not damage your car (wiring) if installed. It does not mean you can legally install them. The lighting law in the US is FMVSS 108 so don't just look for DOT.

You can easily buy DOT approved but they are not street legal. Same goes for "for off-road use only" as far as the law is concerned, there is no such thing. Back in 2007, NHTSA updated/clarified the law making it 100% illegal to install HID in a halogen system.

All that being said, I would install a high-beam only HID because that would be the only time I would use it. Or, as stated above, some aftermarket lights which many are now HID or LED.

 

Its true that HID kits are illegal in the US it is not true that they don't improve the light output and blind folks. I hated the stock lights on my '10 and upgraded with aftermarket kits high, low and fog lights. Its is MUCH brighter and I do not blind oncoming traffic. I DID check the aiming after the install, if your lights are aimed right your in business.

 

Hids in my stock halogen housing are night and day compared to the factory bulb light output. Like scotch said you must re adjust the lights after the install or you will be blinding oncoming traffic. I have had mine installed for a few years now and have had no issues with on coming traffic flashing at me or highway patrol hasseling me. Im running 8k and they are quite blue. I wanted a little less blue but they light up all four lanes on the freeway with the yellow hid fogs I also have.

 

I'm getting these this week.

http://shop.retroshop.us/ProductDeta...ode=4GD%2EHIDs