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I don’t know who needs to hear this, but some of the factory headlight lenses and interior bulbs are not good. In fact, they aren’t even okay. Project TowBoat, a 2011 Dodge Ram 2500, was upgraded with a better bulb that I purchased, but even then, the light output was very poor. I tried cleaning the lenses up, putting better bulbs in and even added a light bar to help with night vision. Although the lightbar was the best decision I made thus far I can’t legally run it at night because it’s so bright and it’s been known to blind people.
The bottom line is I needed exterior lighting in a bad way and the interior wasn’t far behind. I was told to buy these bulbs, try HID, try this, or try that. I was stuck on which direction I needed to head until I stumbled on ANZO‘s newest headlights and universal dome lights.
Their Dual LED Projector Switchback lights fit the 2009-2019 Ram 1500, 2500, and 3500 which was perfect for Project TowBoat. fits right where we needed. Considering the truck is silver with chrome accents, it only made sense to get the chrome and amber package. If you’re familiar with these trucks, you know that a headlight replacement is straightforward. Plus, ANZO takes pride in their “plug and play” design.
As for the interior lights, their universal dome light bulbs looked like an exact fit for the rear dome light. Once again, the idea was to spruce up the lighting and see what a difference Anzo’s LED replacement bulbs made.
Depending on what year Ram you have, there are a few different wiring harness options you can use (that are supplied) to make the wiring effortless on the headlights. Within just a few minutes, you can completely change the look of your truck and upgrade your vision by, in my opinion, double. Not to mention, all of ANZO’s assemblies, including these, are DOT and SAE compliant, too.
The Replacement
On these Ram’s, to access the headlight assembly area, a few items need to come off. There are a few bolts on top of the grill holding it into place. With those removed, you can pop the grille of the truck out and access the mounting bolts for the headlights very easily. There are two bolts on each headlight assembly that connect it to the fenders.
Once the hardware is removed, you’re still not quite ready to remove them. If you look inside the fender well, you’ll see there is a small access panel. If you flip that panel back, you see the backside of the headlight assembly. There is a large white bracket that is acting as a hold-down for the assemblies. If you push up or down in either direction, it will free up the housing.
Once you slide the housings out, all that remains is the wiring portion. The factory headlights only have two connections and once you slide the safety clips back, it’s just a matter of unplugging them. Get ready, because the new Anzo housings are about to go into place.
After I got a taste of how they would look, I pulled one of the housings back out to get the wiring portion taken care of. Since this truck didn’t have the factory projectors, I used the wiring harness for mine. The switchback design made this effortless. I made the connections and taped the resistors to the subframe hiding behind the housing and that was that.
I really like using quality parts on this truck and I was really pleased to make these connections on the lights. You can tell the wiring, plugs, and the entire plug-n-play side of these lights are heavy-duty.
Before I strapped the new housings into place, I powered them up to make sure the connections were working. I would be lying if I didn’t say I was in shock once the power made it to these lenses. I am talking an instantaneous “WOW” when the lights hit the shop wall. These LED lights are incredibly bright. The truck just looks sick with the chrome housings, but my goodness, the light output is on another level.
I wanted vivid white light and maximum visibility and I can honestly say they have gone above and beyond my expectations. Modern styling, weather-tight seal, perfect fit, heavy-duty bulbs, easy installation, and all backed by ANZO’s one year warranty.
You can see here in the side-by-side comparison that they look completely different. The factory lenses on these trucks really don't look bad but these new housings look very updated and the performance of them is lightyears ahead of the old.
On the interior dome light, using a small flathead screwdriver, I popped the cover off and it was as easy as popping the old bulb out of its holder and replacing it with this LED unit. Since the door was open due to the Missouri heat, I was nearly blinded when the bulb got power. My retinas definitely approve of the light output on these small but powerful LEDs.
Thank you to everyone at ANZO for helping out on this project. It’s been fun to compare what Anzo’s lighting offered against stock and to anyone who is looking to upgrade lighting, check out ANZO. If you’re interested in pricing and products, head on over to their website here. For part reviews, truck features, and event coverage, stay tuned right here to Diesel Army.
