Alpharex USA headlights

We had a little bit of snow last week and I felt the same about the 6000k. Luckily we don't get snow but a few times a year at most. If it was any more I could see using a different temperature bulb for the winter.

 

I tried living with it. Wife called me crazy for complaining these last few days .. but the weekend + this morning's commute convinced me to "downgrade". Minnesnowta and 6000k just isn't meant to be. (Are there 4300k LEDs??)

Now I get to drill a hole in the dust cap and hope I seal it up enough to avoid moisture.

 

HID's are generally bigger than fanned LED's?

 

Bulb + ballast + wiring. You have to run wiring to and from the HID ballast (square box). It won't tuck into the dust cap. Drill a hole, run the wiring out to the ballast.

 

I have the morimoto d2s 5500k and it's not great in snow or rain either. Future plan is to get orasm night breaker laser d2s. Supposedly it will be better for rain and snow weather while having a little whiter look then 4300k.

 

I don't know if the SS3's are out yet for the 2nd gen trucks. Thought I saw somewhere that they would be out in early 2020.

 

The ss3 are out. Just not the gen 2 specific bracket. They are working on the bracket now. Hoping within the next month or so for release.

 

Soo... you're saying they're NOT out yet for the 2nd gen? And that they should be out in early 2020?

 

Yeah. I emailed them and thats what they said.
Here is the screenshot of the email.

 

Another option for the OP is the baja design squadron sport. I know it's not SAE/DOT approved but that would be another choice. It's my 2nd choice actually. Just as long as you dont run them full time on the road, some does, i think it would be ok. Use them when you need them in rain and snow condition.

What about those universal headlights dust cover? They are relatively affordable, you can cut, drill, trim as needed. In case you didnt want to cut into your alpharex dust cover. It's an option.

 

Does anyone know how to keep the DRL from dimming when the headlights are on?

 

How are they powered? Does it have it own plug?

 

Yes, it has it's own harness that goes to the ignition fuse. I'll have to check the harness out to see if it has anything special built in that dims the DRLs when the HL are on. From what I recall, I think it just had a fuse...

 

Unless, it's being regulated inside the headlight. That would be tough to change. Otherwise that fuse tap is already powering them on full brightness. That's how i have my drl panel powered. It stays ON all the time. Full brightness too.

 

Apparently, it's in the harness. Others interested, see this link. Thanks @BrandonL812 for the replies.

 

I would imagine this is down to internal wiring. https://alpharexusa.com/how-to-wire-the-drl-harness/ Take a look at the table on the DRL operation. It switches from high intensity to low intensity when the parking light is switched on. I would conclude that it's using the parking light signal as an input to switch the DRL from high to low. A quick way to test this theory would be to disconnect the small parking light connector and cycle through all the lighting positions. If the DRL doesn't dim that would indicate that the parking light is indeed the source of the "dimming signal". To theorize further if that is the case, you would need to modify the internal wiring/circuitry to accomplish no dimming of the DRL while also keeping the functionality of the small corner parking LEDs. That's just my idea but I hope that's clear enough.

They do have their own wiring harness but from what I can see the only signal wire to the DRL harness is the grey(ignition) wire which is used for the "start up light sequence" also this is a quote from the link posted above.

"If you do not wish to install the harness, the only function you will be missing is to have the DRL run at high intensity while your headlights are set in the off position and the engine/ignition is on. If your vehicle’s lighting is set to the automatic setting, all functions will work as normal."

With all that said I would conclude that the DRLs are modulated between high and low based on the voltage at the small parking light connector. What reinforces this idea is that the turn signal bulb is completely independent of the DRL wiring so would have no influce on the DRL state.

Would anyone be willing to test this out?

 

I'll test tomorrow if I get a chance. I think the truck looks better with the bright DRL when the headlights are on.

 

I agree, I wish the DRL was even brighter than it's "bright" setting. As it is I don't think it should be necessary to dim the DRL when the headlights are on.

 

Agreed, the dim DRL is the only reason I still want the Morimotos. It's MUCH better than the Spyder DRLs though..

 

Absolutely. I think Alpharex Pro occupies the sweet spot in aftermarket headlights. It's differently better than a standard Spyder or EBay light but still significantly cheaper than the Morimotos. One day I'd like to get a set of the Morimoto XB's but I would have to sell my Pros first, I couldn't justify not recouping that cost.

 

I wanted to give a small tidbit of info that I discovered last time I had my headlight assemblies off the vehicle for the Hikari LED install:

I initially took them out to make the swap only to discover that the initial set of bulbs sent were bad...so I reinstalled them with the halogens in place for the time being. The next day while walking by my truck I noticed that BOTH housings had condensation. Up until that point I had been moisture free, so I figured it had to be something that I did. To make a long story short, the parking light socket doesn't quite fit as good as it could (maybe due to multiple disassembles) and you need to ensure that it is well aligned and has a tight fit. Inspect this part thoroughly because a small gap WILL allow condensation in the housing. I actually noticed that both of mine had small cracks in them at the O-ring surface in which I used a dab of plastic epoxy to fix. After reassembly, the second time, all is good again. I hope this helps someone.

 

So the small parking light socket gap can be "closed" by realigning? Sounds like there might be too much slop and the gap might form again?

 

Yes, the issue is that there is no stopping point (at least in mine) for the socket. It will just spin until the holes and tabs line up again and loosen up. If that makes sense. Basically, I can only put it in and turn it a few degrees so it is nice and tight. It doesn’t thread in and get tighter the more you turn it.

 

Ahh okay. I get it, now. I wonder if the OEM housing is the same.

 

I'm not sure. I'd hope not

 

DRL bright all the time mod complete....it was so easy, you really can't call it a mod. Basically, what I did was cut the whole "brain" part of the harness out and put the 2 red wires from the DRLs directly to the gray (ignition) wire. The DRLs turn on full blast all the time. It also has no effect on the "knight rider" startup sequence. Pics attached.

 

Interesting! I'm about to install mine and may do something similar. I like the idea of them being bright all the time. Random question as I have yet to open up the fuse box - is there anything special you did to accommodate the new wire into the fuse box when the lid is closed? Is there enough clearance under the lid to route the gray wire into the fuse box, or did you doctor anything like cutting the plastic to make a channel so the wire isn't crushed?

 

There's no modification necessary to the fuse box. I had pic earlier in this thread that shows the wires draped over the side. The lid to the fuse box will clear no problem.

 

Glad to hear that you had success! I'll give that a try this weekend.

 

Perfect thanks!