natsys

I've got the whole front end of my 2005 Ram apart to install the plow so I thought I'd run the hidden strobes while its open.

The 94 and 99 I've put them in before had single wall corner lamps so the bulbs were easy to pop in. The 05 has a double wall--the exterior of the housing and then an air space between the interior reflector wall.

My question is should I drill out the 1 inch access hole through both walls but install only in the outer wall, or drill first a 1 1/2" hole in the outer and then a 1" on the inner and put the bulb in the reflector part?

Anybody with strobes have a suggestion? I'd like to put this together and drive it soon.

Thanks,
Rob

julang

Hi
What kind of Strobes you will use?
I am looking to my dually also.

TIMMY22

I have strobes, I drilled 1" holes in the white lenses in the front and the reverse lights in the back. I would stay away from mounting them in a red lenses unless you are on the fire department. pretty sure red and blue are reseved for police and fire. I think you are OK with white and amber.

I mounted the "brain" to the side of the plastic bin behind the seat. They work great and I think you will like them.

RAT_03

Guys I just put 6 strobes in my 05 dodge
First I took a 1 1/2 inch hole saw and drilled a hole on the Parking lamp side, But I only went through the first layer. Now you need a high speed drill and go very slow. Once you get to the 2nd layer get your 1inch drill and go very slow. Dont put the strobe in the headlight part. It wont shine up good. Put it in the parking lamp side. Then put your strobe in with some clear Silicone. Put a little layer around the outside lip of the strobe then place it in. Then put some on the outer of the strobe. Do the same for the other side. Just be careful and go slow.
Now on the back I put two on each side. One in the parking lamp on each and in the reverse light. The rears are only one layer so just do it kinda like the front. But you will have to put the top strobe in the parking lamp at the bottom of the parking lamp so it wont touch the light itself. Dont get it to close to the lense either. Some strobes will melt the lense. Put some clear Silicone around the strobe just like the fronts. If you do the reverse strobes go in the very bottom on the flat part of the reverse section. Its a normal and easy part. Remember to keep it away from the lense. Put clear Silicone around it also. Same goes for the other side. Hope this helps you all out

Ratts

natsys

Thanks Ratts!

I had to know a little sooner, but the factory tech rep didn't answer the question as good as you did! I wanted to go with a 1 1/2" outer hole, but the tech guy said to keep it as small as possible so try 1 1/4. That looked too small so I went with 1 3/8" and it was still kinda tight to work the bulb in. The important thing is to seal the outer hole to the back of the bulb with silicone as you and the rep recommended, to keep water and junk out of the composite housing. BYW--this is my third truck with stobes and I've found that a small amount of liquid hand soap works quite well to pop those bulbs in. But I still have to do the rears so I'm going to try the silicone method on those--the advice on exactly where to drill the holes is most appreciated. You can't get better tips than from someone who's already done it.

Timmy, I did a 94 and 99 and they were easy--the front corner lenses come out real easy, but the 3rd gen corners are one piece with the headlights and they have double walls unlike the 2nd gen that has single wall front and rear. My main concern was do you put the bulb in the outer or inner wall? Also, I've used Whelan kits in the past and this is my first install with SoundOff Signal, but both of them are adamant that you mount the brain with the aluminum bottom panel against metal to help dissapate heat. I first thought that was overkill, but when I called Whelan tech support they insisted it had to be that way. If your brain overheats and cooks you'll get no help from the manufacturer. I followed their recommendation on all 3 installs and removed the seats from the truck (I believe on the 05 I could've just removed the center and saved a whole lot of aggravation) and placed the brain on the floor in the middle. Trace the outline and cut out the carpet to expose the bare floor. An air chisel is great to remove the adhesive soundproofing down to bare metal and then screw the brain directly to the floor. I never had an overheat problem and once the seat is back in place you never have to deal with the brain again.

Thanks to all for sharing your thoughts.

-Rob

Pooter

Any reason for the strobes?


Any pics/video to see how they came out?

RAT_03

I can get pics tonight and prolly a video soon.

I have used sho-me, code3, soundoff, whelen, and novi and they are all great. I really really love the sho-me strobe tubes tho. Right now im using a whelen 90watt 6 head on my 05 with sho me tubes. From my past times of using strobes the sho-me hold up better due to the shock the truck gives due to roads and such. I had a whelen strobe crack one time from the shock of the truck. I mounted my strobe power supply under the foldering of my rear seats since i have a quad cab. Its mounted half on metal and have on carpet. I just couldnt pull back my carpet anymore.
Natsys im lost on your question about the inner or outter layer. Maybe my pics will help you out sir.

NB64

I do this stuff for a living. We use a piece of plastic cut from scrap that is just larger than the larger bottom hole. It is easier to use sealer to bond the larger cut plastic piece over the hole. We never have problems with leaks. It is still easy to remove should the bulb burn out.

Patrolman808

I had mine in the corner of the headlights, and in the reverse lights b/c it seemed like there wasn't room to put them anywhere else on the tail lights.

bighornram

I have them in mine too. The '06 headlights are different and there wasn't much room for the bulb so I put them in the amber parking light strip on the bottom. I wanted to do the headlights too and have 4 bulbs but I settled for just two. Now in the back I couldn't get into the reverse lights so I have 4 bulbs - 2 in each lense top and bottom and all 4 are red. I just recently added 1 in the third brake light too. Tricky - but it turned out sweet. The laws are against white in MD anyway so my amber is legal and the red in the back is legal if I'm stopped.

RAT_03

here is some pics of my install
in the parking lamps

in the reverse lights

in the tail lights

where I mounted my box in the quad cab part

Here is the video of the front

Here is the video of the rear

SMOKnURiS

I mounted my 90W Whelen competition power supply under the driver's seat in my QC and put 2 strobes on the headlights and 4 strobes on the taillights. I have 2 in the clear and 2 in the red. I've also added the LS12 red/clear LEDs in the front grille, LED arrow stick in the back window, head light flasher, 2 red ShowMe LEDs in the rear window, and 2 self contained strobes (red/clear) on the dash. I'm using the Federal Signal electronic Q2 and an SVP dual head sirens for sound. I mounted my jotto desk medium console between the seats with all the switches and control heads. Looks and sounds great!

RAT_03

^ nice need to get a video

bulldogepd

i HAVE 2 90 WATT BOXES UNDER MY REAR SEAT AGAINST THE BACK CAB WALL. THE WIRES RUN THROUGH A GROMENT THEN 2 TO THE FRONT AND 2 OUT BACK. THE BACK HAS BLUES IN THE REVERSE LAMPS AND CLEAR IN THE TAIL LAMPS( PLACE THE REDS IN THE LIGHT COMPARTMENT AT THE TOP FARTHEST AWAY FROM THE REVERSE LAMPS) THE FRONTS HAVE CLEAR IN THE TURN SIGNALS (COMING IN FROM THE CONVEX PART OF THE HEADLAMP REFLECTOR). THESE FIRE TO THE CORNERS GREAT AND GIVE COVERAGE IN INTERSECTIONS. THE FRONT PARKLAMPS HAVE THE WIRES TO THEM FOR RED/BLUE DOWN LOW. THIS IS ALL THE STROBE ACTION FOR MY TRUCK BUT THE L.E.D.S.

RAT_03

people needs to get some videos of there trucks with the lights in action!!