2010–2018 Ram 1500 headlight installation

Tools published guides use

CarParts.com’s 2009–2018 Ram 1500 headlight tutorial uses an 8 mm socket on four grille bolts and a 10 mm socket on the two lamp bolts. An install video for those years lists a 10 mm socket, a short extension, a ratchet, and a panel popper. No cited source publishes a torque. A forum post says to tape the top of the bumper before the grille comes forward so the paint does not get scratched.

Does the bumper or the grille have to come off?

The bumper cover does not have to come off to change the headlight. CarParts.com has a separate 2009–2018 bumper-cover tutorial, and that job starts by removing the grille and both headlights. The headlight tutorial itself stops at the grille, the lamp bolts, and a wheel-well hatch. The bumper is a later, larger job.

The grille usually does come off, with one important disagreement in the sources. CarParts.com removes a plastic cover (that page says six plastic rivets), unscrews four grille bolts, and takes the grille off before the two headlight bolts. The install video removes four push pins on the radiator shroud and four 10 mm bolts on the grille, then pops the grille forward. RamForumZ owners describe the same path: radiator cover, grille bolts, grille pulled straight out, then the lamp bolts and a latch reached through the inner fender.

One post on RamForumZ pastes a service-style note that says it is not necessary to remove the grille to service the front lamp units, and that the drawing shows the grille off only so the screws are visible. That note describes an upper screw, a lower screw reached between the grille and the carrier, and a slide lock in the wheel well. Another owner says a long extension got the lower screw without pulling the grille. Both approaches show up in the same thread. If the lower fastener is easy to reach, the grille can stay. If it is not, the published video procedures take the grille off. Do not force it.

This guide’s title is 2010–2018 because that is the range we are writing up. The cited procedures are titled 2009–2018, so they include the 2009 trucks in the same body. Quad and dual trucks use different housings. A quad truck (H11 low beam and 9005 high beam) needs the quad pair. A dual truck (one H13 bulb) needs the dual pair. Pulling the grille does not change which housing fits. Factory projector trucks are a different lamp and are excluded on both listings.

General steps

Open the hood and set the parking brake. Release the push pins on the radiator cover and lift that cover off. Remove the grille bolts. Support the grille and release the lower clips by pulling straight forward, not upward. Remove the two bolts on the lamp. Open the access door in the wheel well, lift or press the retaining tab the way that truck’s latch works, and pull the housing off the ball socket on the back.

Unplug the connectors. Our housings do not include bulbs, so move the original bulbs across and match the bulb type to the housing you bought. Seat the new lamp, lock the tab, tighten the bolts, and put the grille and cover back. Check both beams and the turn signals.

Aiming after the install

One RamForumZ reply about an HID install says no leveling was required on that truck. That is one owner’s result, not a reason to skip the check. The housing comes off a ball socket and two bolts, so it can sit slightly off. None of the headlight-swap tutorials cited here give an aiming height. Have the beam checked after the lamps are in.

Why a professional install is the better default

Grille clips and the wheel-well latch are the parts people damage, and quad and dual trucks take different housings. We recommend a shop that can confirm which lamp is on the truck and aim it the same visit, unless you already know this grille.

Matching parts

• 2009–2018 Ram quad halogen headlights
• 2009–2018 Ram dual halogen headlights

Sources

1. CarParts.com — 2009–2018 Dodge Ram 1500 headlight assembly — Cover rivets, four grille bolts, two headlight bolts, and a wheel-well hatch.
2. CarParts.com — 2009–2018 Ram 1500 front bumper cover — Bumper removal is a separate job that starts by taking the grille and headlights out.
3. RamForumZ — Headlight removal instructions — Includes a note that the grille need not come off, plus owner steps that do remove it.
4. 2009–2018 Ram 1500 headlight install — 10 mm grille bolts, wheel-well latch, and a ball socket behind the lamp.