Dakota Headlights

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clhyer

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I have determined that I can no longer depend upon someone behind me lighting the roadway for me, or that I will always be following someone at night that I can use their taillights for my navigation. This after I almost broadsided a bridge in Atlanta one night on I-285!!!

I have polished my OEM plastic headlights several times. Seems like with each polish, it lasts less and less. I do not drive at night much, but when I do, I would like to see in front of me!

So I am looking at these:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/201393828690?_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

Anyone have experience with them? Good or bad? If you have them, how long have you had them installed?
Thanks,
C
 

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You might want to PM /6 Dan and ask him what the good options are.
Even though you may opt to not follow his advice he may give you some good info to go on before you spend any pointless money on it.
 
I done my Dakota with deep woods off cleaned up like brand new over a year now also done the wifes Honda the way I looked at it there screwed anyways whats there to lose . and it works .
 
Personally I believe there should be a federal law against modern headlights. When the plastic becomes damaged / scratched / yellowed / etc, it not only prevents the driver from seeing, it also presents an awful glare to oncoming drivers.

For the "White Whale" I ended up buying chinese imports sold through the local "big" junkyard. I don't recall I think 200 bucks with bulbs comes to mind.
 
When your headlamps were new, they had a UV protectant applied to them, much
like the clearcoat over the color coat on modern paint. The plastic is polycarbonate,
(common trade name Lexan),which is extremely impact resistant(this is what bullet
-proof glass is made of), but it is not very scratch or UV resistant. Once the coating
has failed,you can see what looks like a poor paint "blend line" from a repair that
develops between the clear & hazy portions.
That is why sanding and polishing doesn't last now. Meguires makes a kit w/a
protectant, but it has to be applied out of the sun w/the lens cool,and it has to be
allowed to cure before using the lamp or exposing it to moisture. Otherwise it will
"blush" just like clearcoat exposed to moisture B4 it has cured.
There are a number of "import" offerings thru yards etc.,like Eagle eye and Depot
to name a couple.I have installed them for cust.'s w/OK results,sometimes the focus
or clarity doesn't match the OE performance. But it's better than driving w/the equal
of two hand-held incandescent flashlites !! Then install Sylvania extravisions,not the
brightest,but last a bunch longer than silverstars esp. if your stuck w/DRL.
 
my wife's car had the same issue - I bought a replacement set of OEM style from rockauto.com and have never looked back.. some of those fancy ones don't fit well and will cause you problems later on.. besides, you waited too long and they are out of stock on that Ebay spot.
 
At work we sand them down w 600 sandpaper and reclear them with automotive clear
 
I am A-flipping-mazed that Slant6Dan hasn't posted on this yet.

Trailbeast is looking up some headlight relays for my older Dak. All the current goes through the switch. Ugh. Have you looked into this?
 
Personally I believe there should be a federal law against modern headlights. When the plastic becomes damaged / scratched / yellowed / etc, it not only prevents the driver from seeing, it also presents an awful glare to oncoming drivers.

For the "White Whale" I ended up buying chinese imports sold through the local "big" junkyard. I don't recall I think 200 bucks with bulbs comes to mind.

x2
 
I am A-flipping-mazed that Slant6Dan hasn't posted on this yet.

Trailbeast is looking up some headlight relays for my older Dak. All the current goes through the switch. Ugh. Have you looked into this?

Huh?
First I heard of it.

Did I miss something?
Forget something?
 
Avoid that junk.
If you want to see safely at night in that truck, it's new OE Chrysler headlamps, relays, and good bulbs. Those headlamps take one 9007 bulb each; The best 9007 bulbs presently on the market are the GE Night Hawk Xenon 9007NHX or the Philips Xtreme Vision 9007XVS2. Then aim them correctly -- yours are the "mechanical aim" type.

All (yes, all) of the aftermarket lamps, whether they're original-looking or restyled "chrome" types like this what you point at, are trash. The low price is attractive, but the quality, performance, and durability are all substantially and dangerously inferior to the genuine items. This goes for all the many brands of aftermarket lamp—TYC, Genera, Depo, DJAuto, ScanTech, and many other brands of original-looking and restyled lamps, not to mention the newest wave of trash coming in from China under names like Helix and Sonar (projector headlamp conversions, clear-lens conversions, angel eyes, LED lines, etc...every bit of it dangerously badly made).

There is no optical engineering behind any of these; they are headlamp-shaped toys made from physical copies of the originals, which is not even close to adequate. One might as well make a mould of your eyeglasses lenses and expect to be able to cast new working eyeglass lenses from the mould. The level of shape precision required to accurately focus the beam can only be achieved with optical engineering _from scratch_. Copies don't even begin to get in the ballpark. Light distribution is way, way out of line with what it should be. Usually the DOT safety approval or certification marks are fraudulent or counterfeit, and the latest scam is to claim "NSF certification" or "CAPA certification" or other such meaningless but official-sounding things.

"Perfect OE fit and performance" is another frequent promise in the ads for the copycat lamps. This is an out-and-out lie. Take a look at this, which is the report on a large government-sponsored test of OE vs. TYC and Depo versions of simple, cheap American-vehicle headlamps. Even though TYC is widely regarded as the least-awful of a pathetic bunch, still a complete failure by the TYC & Depo units (see page 21 and 30 if you don't have time to read the whole report). And the punchline to that particular stinker of a joke is that you're downloading the report from CAPA, the association of scuzzbuckets pushing insurance companies and body shops to "repair" insured cars with this trash (and other cheap Chinese aftermarket crash parts -- bumpers, sheetmetal, etc). Left hand, meet right hand. You two chit-chat, get to know each other awhile. Sheesh.

Previous posts with overlapping but not identical info, see here, here, here.

And since I've got the mic: any of the "extra white" bulbs is a nonstarter as far as seeing better is concerned. It doesn't matter whose name is on the bulb. Sylvania SilverStar/Ultra, PIAA, Hoen,BlueVision, CrystalVision, TruView, Nokya, Polarg, etc. -- all the same scam. They have blue-tinted glass, which blocks some of the light that would reach the road if the glass weren't tinted, so they produce _less_ light than ordinary bulbs (not more), and in order to get legal-minimum levels of light through the blue glass the filament has to be driven very hard so these bulbs have a very short lifespan. And there's nothing about the tinted light that improves your ability to see -- the opposite is true, in fact. All it does is change the beam color slightly, to zero real benefit.
Sylvania recently got spanked to the tune of thirty million dollars in a settled consumer-fraud case for their "upgrade" claims about Silver Star bulbs. The other brands of the same product are the same.
 
I have a set of eBay special headlights on my 94 ram truck. They are an updated one piece design that have the side marker built in. Kind of like the 2003 and up rams. The headlight housing bolts like factory and fit horrible. But some washer/spacers made it fit the fenders great. But the bulbs aren't adjustable! It's so stupid to make a non adjustable headlight. If I mess with it and shin the housing around to fit correctly, the light beams are all over the place except where they need to be. And if I adjust it to have the light aimed correctly, they have almost an inch gap between the lense and fender.

I'm not sure if the Dakota lights are any better. I certainly wouldn't bet on them being great.
 
Use original OE lights. The only thing that will produce the life saving light the vehicle was designed with. Just bite the bullet and get the right ones, FACTORY Original, not OEM STYLE! Its your and you loved ones life at stake. REALLY!
 
Thanks for all the timely responses. I knew that I could depend upon FABO for some good unbiased info. Dan, I will be reviewing all the info you have linked to - many thanks for your time to respond and expertise.

Edit, I looked over the Rock Auto offerings. Any info on Dorman products? I think they used to be good, but that was about 35 years ago...
Cal
 
At the car lot we often use bug spray and 800 grit, then 1000 grit, then a buffing wheel with mother's headlight polish, then use headlamp clear.

Works well... done it about 150 times.
 
Lol, tell us how You REALLY feel Dan!! As I have worked in a body shop,that is
why I said the results were "OK" ,sometimes.Certain types of lamps are more
critical than others in faithful execution, the upshot is take Dans advice, if you're
buying buy OE. My friend who paints has polished, then sprayed clear on them
which lasts awhile.
As far as Silverstars light shifting goes, I have to believe the filtering coating
reduces the pass thru',and they try to make up for it w/a brighter element which
would explain the dramatically shorter life span. I have the extravisions in my cars
both sealed beam and capsule style, and find them superior to std. halogens,they
may not be the best but are good. The lifespan is acceptable(years in my case),
but my corolla has DRL and the jury's out on that yet(10 months so far),signage
really "pops" at nite almost too much.
Being the first Japanese vehicle I've ever owned w/more than 2 wheels,I priced
OE fog lamps, matching HL sw. etc., to install them, almost 5 bills...My cost as an
employee. Do a amazon/ebay search and you can buy a retrofit kit w/OE style
lamps,wiring,sw.& relay,w/bulbs.........$40.00!!! Really?!?
 
can you pop some good old 6024 hi-lo's in there? Sure youll have to make new buckets, but you can replace them for $3.80 a pop...! I kinda like the Chevy Spark no-nonsense headlamps.....I know they are megabuck projectors but the round retro style looks sealed beam.
H6024_P04_ANG__ra_p.jpg
 
I have a 2000 Dakota that I bought new that now has 228K on it. Overall, it has been a good truck, very little trouble with it. That said, there are a couple items on it that have been mediocre since day one, the headlights and the heater.

I have spoken with other Dakota/Durango owners and they were in agreement with me. When it's below 10 degrees the heater will keep you from freezing but not really warm. The heater in my wife's 98 Wrangler kicks ***, no matter what the outside temperature is you need to turn down the temp setting after about 15 minutes from a cold start so you don't roast your feet.

Long ago I asked about some of those Sylvania bulbs and was told to not waste my money on them. Last summer my headlights quit working on low beam. I did a little poking around trying to find the problem and did not find it. Since then I have been driving with the high beams on. I have yet to have somebody flash their high beams at me. Obviously my so called high beams aren't bothering anybody.

Also the headlight housings still look quite clear, not cloudy or opaque like I've seen some get.
 
I have a 2000 Dakota that I bought new that now has 228K on it. Last summer my headlights quit working on low beam.

Fix it. That's really unsafe.

been driving with the high beams on. I have yet to have somebody flash their high beams at me. Obviously my so called high beams aren't bothering anybody.

One doesn't follow from the other -- it's rare to get flashed any more, that's a thing from the good ol' days that most people don't do any more. Whether it's because they've read dumb stories like this, or maybe it's because they're too busy talking on their phone, but even the most pathetic high beams are not safe to use in traffic, just because of where the light is aimed. Fix whatever's stopping your low beams from working, put in relays and decent wiring and a good set of bulbs, aim the lamps correctly, and presto-change-o, you get to see at night without screwing it up for everyone else on the road with you.
 
Glad you guys posted this, I was going to buy those fancy ebay lights till I read this thread. BUT the OE seem to cost 2X as much. Is there a economical source for these lights? My headlights a faded yellow and side marker/turn signal are cracked.
 
I was going to buy those fancy ebay lights till I read this thread. BUT the OE seem to cost 2X as much.

In lighting we (don't) get what we (don't) pay for, and the vehicles we're talking about were made when Chrysler was still putting lighting systems as cheap and nasty as they could get away with on most of their cars...the aftermarket junk isn't just a little bit inferior, it's a lot inferior, so while OE lamps are expensive, at least they can be made to do a fairly decent, reasonably acceptable job for you with good wiring and good bulbs. There's no hope with the aftermarket junk. (Chrysler started "getting religion" about lights in 2011...that year, all of a sudden a bunch of the Chrysler cars and trucks at the auto show had lights better than just the minimum; I called up the corporate lighting lead engineer, who's in the SAE Lighting Systems Group with me, and said "I'm not complaining, but...what happened?" He said "Fiat bought us. They're European and they think lights are important, so now I've got money for lights.")

Is there a economical source for these lights?

www.tascaparts.com , www.chryslerpartsdirect.com ...
 
Seriously: all of the aftermarket headlamps are the same Chinese shìt, no matter whose name is on it.

Actually, that's not necessarily true, especially with Dorman.

I've pulled parts out of the Dorman box that were actually just re-boxed OE. Dorman will, at times, buy out OE stock and put it in their own box. After speaking to the Dorman rep on the phone about it, they'll usually do it when the OE is about to stop manufacturing of the part.
 
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