I have a stock bumper w/plastic but no mounts for the fog lights.

Are the fog lights worth it and are there any other ways I can mount lights in the holes without buying the extra plastic?

Thanks In Advance.

 

There are other lights I have seen mounted in that location. Unfortunately, even though I have one of those trucks, and Dad has another, I have never looked to see how they are mounted. I can tell you these lights, on both trucks, and the fish-eye driving lights and I am told are illegal because the beam cannot be aimed. For this reason, and they look cheesy, I'd like to put something different in there, but would liek to go through a minimum of mounting headaches. I will be watching this thread to see what others have done.

Chris

 

Pilot has a kit [PL114C about $80]. You have to see if there is clearance where the lights go on your truck because IIRC they state it will not fit a diesel. I think they mean the early 2nd gens. I reposted a writeup of the convoluted way I enlarged the sight shield holes on my 96 to fit the Pilot light kit. I was able to make perfectly round 4" holes right on center of the original 2-5/8" holes. I can redo it here if you want.

 

BlueRam01, I'm interested. How did you mount the lights behind the bumper? I know that Dodge has a special bracket for the factory lights.

Chris

 

Hi Chris,
The Pilot kit comes with sheetmetal mounts to hold the light fixtures.
Here is the procedure I used to enlarge the holes in the sight shields.

My Old Post---

This is the method I used to install the Pilot PL-114C Auxilliary Lighting Kit on my '96 Ram 1500 (in response to a posting on another forum). The reason that I came up with this procedure was to make the 4" holes for the new lights exactly on center of the existing 2-5/8" holes in the plastic sight shield.

I just put in the Pilot 4" driving light kit on my '96 (a while ago). The plastic "had" the 2-5/8" diameter holes where the lights normally mount. I assume your truck is the same. I spoke to a rep at Pilot (emailed and he called right back) and they said the small bullet style lights did not work properly. Very poor performance. I can attest that the 4" lights are very powerful and when properly adjusted will fill in where the stock headlight are lacking. But back to the story.

I was concerned how I would get a 4" hole into the plastic sight shield. You can't just put a 4" hole saw thru the front of the bumper because the opening is only 3-7/8". You can pull off the sight shields but the bumper has to come off and then they are riveted on. Too much work for me. I also did not like the idea of trying to cut a round hole with a razor knife. A hole saw was the only answer to get a perfectly round hole. What I ended up doing required a little set up but was finished cutting the holes in 15 minutes. They are perfectly round and 4" diameter.

The process takes a few steps before the 4" hole is cut. The equipment I used: Reversible drill motor, 4" hole saw, 3-1/2" hole saw, 2-3/4 hole saw, hole saw arbor, circle cutter, a piece of 1/4 rod 12" long.

The reason for the extra steps is that a standard depth hole saw will not cut as deep as the plastic shield extends from the face to the back of the small hole.

1. I made centering guide from 3/4" thick pine board. One circle 3" diameter (circle cutter) and one from the 2-3/4" hole saw. The 2-3/4 hole saw makes a drop out circle that fits snugly into the factory hole. Center the drilled holes of the circles and nail or screw together.

2. Make another centering guide using 3/4 pine board. Use the circle cutter and make a 3-9/16" OD circle. This one is for the second phase and will fit tightly into a 3-1/2 hole.

3. Now that the use of the hole saw with the 1/4 center drill is complete replace the center drill with the 1/4 rod. Grind a flat on the rod the same as the original drill bit. This rod will be used to drive the hole saw from the front of the bumper. The reasons for this are that the center drill will ruin the centring guides and will allow the hole saw to go off center and the drill obviously can't be used from behind the bumper.

4. Assemble the 3-1/2 hole saw.

5. Now the fun begins. Place the centering guide into the small factory hole from behind the bumper.

6. Check the clearnce of the 1/4 rod to the radiator support and adjust if needed. (I think it shoud be about 7" long.) Cut the 3-1/2" hole from the front of the bumper. Be careful to cut the whole thing at once and not one edge.

7. Install the 4" hole saw onto the arbor.

8. Insert the hole saw assembly into the 3-1/2" hole from behind the bumper. Insert the 3-1/2 centering guide over the shaft and into the hole.

9. With a reversable drill connect to shaft and drive hole saw in reverse while gently pulling and cutting a 4" hole in the plastic. Be careful to cut the whole thing at once and not one edge.

10. Clean up the edges gently with a razor knife and install the new fog lights.

This looks more complicated than it actually was. I had intended to take pictures but it would have taken longer to set up the camera than getting the job done.

For the wiring I decided to use the Pilot supplied harness and switch. The little "mouse" switch is installed on top of the steering column and is unobtrusive.

 

NICE post....thats a keeper.

 

BlueRam01, thank you for the information. Members like you are what makes this site so great.
One more question. You got any pics of the lights, during or after the install?

I just looked up that kit online, and it said something about "without transmission cooler". Is your install with a tranny cooler? Does the left light go back so far as to interfere with the tranny cooler (if you don't have one it would be like if the AC condenser went all the way across)?
Another place said "except diesel", but I know that's wrong.

Thanks,
Chris

 

Blueram01, in addition to the other question, can you tell me if these lights are adjustable/aimable? In Virginia the light won't pass inspection if they cannot be aimed.

Thanks,
Chris

 

Hi Cris,
Yes, The lights are adjustable. Highly recommended (to adjust) because they are bright!!!
When I get into work I will post a pic (or pics if I have more). I have a front shot at a campground from a couple of years ago. I'll edit this post w/ the info....

Also, The truck I installed these on is gas. No interference. The early diesels had a huge tranny cooler behind the bumper. You can see it thru the rectangular holes in the bumper. I'm pretty sure they reverted to a different cooler on later years because the fog lights were available from the factory. If you have clearance behind the bumper they should fit no problem.

Here's some pics...before & after...




I thought I had a pic looking behind the bumper (not a good pic) but I did not have it here...
Here's my Diesel Ram

 

I bought the factory set to replace the lights that were mssing on mine when I got it. All the rest of the stuff (plastic bezels, factory switch, wiring harness, etc) is left over. Let me know if interested.

 

Again BlueRam01, I appreciate your time on this.
On my 99 I have factory driving lights, but on my 96 I do not. The 99 and 96 appear to have the same condensor and tranny cooler setup on them (as far as dimensions go), and there is no clearance problem on the 99, so maybe I will be just fine.

One more question, I hope.
Do these lights have a DOT number on them? Something else the inspector mentioned.

Thanks,
Chris

 

Chris,
The kit lights have the DOT and SAE #'s on the lens so you should be good to go.
Steve

 

Thanks again Steve. I just ordered a set.

Thanks,
Chris

 

For the record, these Pilot lights do not work with a diesel, at least right out of the box. Their brackets, which are supposed to bolt to the front of the carriage (radiator support) interfere with the intercooler support, which hangs off the front of the carriage. I'm going to see if I can make them work, since I now have them in my hands.
And plan to pull the bumper, so you can get inside to make the mods. I had to pull my bumper because the old "bullet" style lights didn't have enough clearance to come out once I unbolted them.
If I can make them work I will try to take pics and describe what I did.


Chris

 

I just ordered a set of Bosch foglights from Daniel Stern Not sure how they mount but I'll have to think of something.