Paint is dry, and the hitch/light bar is installed.
Last step is wiring. I thought I had a relay laying around the shop, but I can't find it and had to order one...
Paint is dry, and the hitch/light bar is installed.
Last step is wiring. I thought I had a relay laying around the shop, but I can't find it and had to order one...
While I'm waiting for the relay and a couple other things, I decided to start another lighting project on the truck. Waaay back, I had picked up some LED lights that were originally going to become 'headlights' for the NA after removing the original headlights. I ended up going with different lights, but had these sitting on the shelf ever since. I decided they would make good auxiliary back-up lights for the truck. I originally planned on just noodling out the mounting today and working on it tomorrow, but there was a factory bolt in just the right place for a very simple installation, so on they went.
These should provide a little more light for backing, and I'll complete the wiring when I do the driving lights.
Looks great, i've still got a switch kit and wiring for the same kind of lights to be installed in my f150 for retrieving the boat at night. (three way, off, on with reverse lights, on no matter what.) i'd have sent it to you if i'd known. just never used it. we shifted how we boated a month later and the LED strips I installed on the trailer frame did a great job of lighting up the trailer for retrieval after dark when we did stay out late.
In reply to Mad_Ratel :
This truck has the factory auxiliary switches, so I'll be wiring through those. I appreciate the thought, though.
TIL there are factory aux switches for that generation Dodge truck. I'm going to have to look into this.
In reply to Keith Tanner :
Yup, they were an option, not sure what year RAM started offering it. My '17 dually did not have them, but this 2500 does.
Here's the .pdf for upfitters for 2014~2016... https://www.ramtrucks.com/assets/bbg/pdf/2016/docs/ram/ramaux.pdf
I have managed to find the 2009-13 version. Now I'm going to have to go out to my truck and confirm that I don't have anything in that space :) It's a 2500, but a relatively low spec with (gasp!) cloth seats.
In reply to Keith Tanner :
I think the aux switches were probably more common on 'work' trucks and cab/chassis than they were on the higher trim levels. I do like my leather seats for those 600+ mile days, though... 
Today was wiring day...
Aux switches in the cabin
The outputs are on the firewall on the driver's side, with the fusebox adjacent with the relays and fuses for the aux circuits. I forgot to take a picture, so here's one from the upfitter guide.
The truck, when new, came with a wiring kit with pre-assembled pigtails that just click into the connector but I didn't get it with the truck, so it was one of the items I had to order. The kit makes it easy, you just snap a wire into the proper hole, and hook up your circuit. The aux switches are fused and have individual relays, but because I want the driving lights to dim with the high beams I added a second relay that is switched by the power to the high beams. First step was to pull the headlight and locate the proper wire.
Once I had the proper wire, I tapped it and ran the lead up to the relay so the power from the aux circuit is switched with the high beams.
Once I had that figured, wiring in the lights was pretty straight forward. I elected to direct wire the rear lights, so they will need to be switched on when desired rather than just coming on with the reverse lights. Everything is wired and working properly, just need to aim the lights.
And I hit one other minor snag. The aux switches are programmable in the dash settings whether you want them to be powered by battery or ignition, and to be momentary or latching. This programming screen is behind a PIN unique to the truck, and the dealer gave me the wrong PIN when I bought it. For now, they are on the default programming of battery/latching. I would prefer them to only be active with the ignition on, so I'll need to go to the dealer to get the PIN reset so I can program them. Hopefully they won't charge me, since I already paid them for the wrong PIN...
Got everything aimed and buttoned down last night. Cell phone pics don't really do justice to the difference.
High beams only
With driving lights
On my previous truck, I had used one driving lamp (R) and one pencil beam (L) to get a little more punch in the center of the lane. Two driving lamps gives a lot more fill at the deep end of the high-beam pattern, but still has good reflectivity way out there. The whiter light also makes for quicker recognition of objects in the lighting field. I would liked to have tried the higher end Hellas, but couldn't justify nearly 5x the price for the use case.
The improvement in the rear is impressive. Will make nighttime backing much easier.
OEM reverse lights
With LED lights
Frustrating visit with the RAM dealer this morning. When I explained to them I needed to reset the PIN for the commercial settings menu, the service writers had absolutely no idea what I was talking about. Turns out the PIN they gave me back in April was for ignition key programming and completely unrelated. After ten minutes of them telling me such a thing didn't exist and the internet was wrong, I went home and printed out the Stellantis programming instructions for the Commercial Settings menu and went back to the dealer. After showing them proof that it existed, and watching the service writer click around aimlessly on his computer for 15 minutes, they insisted I would have to go to a "fleet dealer" because they couldn't couldn't reset it. With the next closest RAM dealer being over 100 miles away I wasn't really excited about that. I decided to check in with the sales manager to see if he might know what I was talking about. He called the service manager, who was nowhere in evidence in service, and never offered by the writers (I should have asked for him right away). The service manager actually knew what I was talking about, but didn't know if they could do it... he said he would look into it and I made an appointment for next week to bring it in.
What a cluster. It never fails to amaze me how little dealership personnel know about the products they sell. If it's not in the brochure, or it's not on their clickable computer 'script' they are usually clueless...
In reply to Rodan :
In a similar vein It took me 6 dealers, a call to ford performance, and finally a plea on facebook groups for the Boss 302 to find out that the ONE dealer I did not call in Charlotte was the only one still knowledgeable about the Ford Performance Pack Track Key for my Boss. Ford was happy to charge me $600 for it but you have to get the key programmed to turn it on and only dealers that have kept their machines from 2013 still have the ability... Turns out that dealer is the only one in the Carolinas that still does it and people ship them their cars to have it enabled...
Hilariously, I started looking at Kirkey seats for my NC to get more head clearance because i'm multiple inches above the broomstick with jass lowering brackets... Found a post of yours about mounting seats in your bright red car on mx5net. :D
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