Headlight retrofit w/FXR projectors and 5K HID
#1
03-29-2011, 11:46 PM
Headlight retrofit w/FXR projectors and 5K HID
Sup all,
I was so mad at how very little light my headlights produced. I was so frustrated that I was thinking of holding my maglight out the driver window. I bet it produced a better amount of light than my headlights were. So I went shopping and I made the first mistake by ordering a plug and play HID kit and put it into my new headlight that was not designed for proper HID lighting. I drove it for a couple of days and was flashed all the time. So in order for me not to be getting flashed and possibly blinding the living hell out of the other drivers, I decided to attempt a retro fit. I found out about retrofitsource.com through a forum call hidplanet.com. I was able to purchase an upgrade kit to salvage some of the money I had wasted on the plug and play kit. I got 5k bulbs, adapters to fit to my current ballast, and the projectors. I have attached some pictures of the transformation process. All this information on how to perform this project was gather from the hidplanet.com forum. I primered and painted the light black with High Heat engine paint and heated it with a heat gun to ensure it was sort of cooked on. I tried to do a custom shroud made out of acrylic, but could not get it to form the way I wanted it too. So I carefully painted the brackets and the projector housing to sort of blend it all in. I had taken the final pictures without the black rubber that attaches to the side of the light that is between the light and the grill and I had not replaced my bumper cover. So the final piece of the project would be re-attaching those items and re-aligning my front bumper. So far, with a 2 inch leveling kit, I have yet to get flashed. I still need to make some tweaking to get a super true straight cutoff, but I am close enough for now. I am very pleased with how it turned out. I used an old OEM light as my driving light for a few days while I was doing the retro. This project took me about 2 full days and then some time at night to get it aligned. I tapped the brackets so I could use them to do adjustments and fine tuning of the projector once it was mounted into the light bucket. There is one bolt that I did not use a bracket for at the top of the projector. It is attached through the back of the light housing to the projector. This allowed me to tweak the up and down and then the leveling of the actual projector was by the screws that were attached to the brackets. Once I got it to where I wanted it, I used the normal adjustment screws for the entire headlight. If someone wanted to do something like this, take your time. Be patient and do some research, and do not rush the process. I look back at the money that I spent on a new set of OEM lights only to get the same horrible lighting effect, the wasted money on the plug and play kit. Honestly I could have saved almost 300 dollars if I would have found this earlier. That is 300 dollars I could have spent towards new fog lights, a new bumper, and the list could go on....LOL.I was not a fan of projectors in a Heavy Duty truck, but I will set that aside with no regrets every time it gets dark and once I turn on the lights…….I can see while driving.
:party018: The output does not do it justice in the picture. The fence that the light is on gives the illusion of being out of whack. But against a flat wall in an open area it is real nice. I can pull up behind cars and the lights are not shinning into their side mirrors.
Hope this may assist in helping someone else with some freash ideas on an old problem that a majority of us share.
oudive
I was so mad at how very little light my headlights produced. I was so frustrated that I was thinking of holding my maglight out the driver window. I bet it produced a better amount of light than my headlights were. So I went shopping and I made the first mistake by ordering a plug and play HID kit and put it into my new headlight that was not designed for proper HID lighting. I drove it for a couple of days and was flashed all the time. So in order for me not to be getting flashed and possibly blinding the living hell out of the other drivers, I decided to attempt a retro fit. I found out about retrofitsource.com through a forum call hidplanet.com. I was able to purchase an upgrade kit to salvage some of the money I had wasted on the plug and play kit. I got 5k bulbs, adapters to fit to my current ballast, and the projectors. I have attached some pictures of the transformation process. All this information on how to perform this project was gather from the hidplanet.com forum. I primered and painted the light black with High Heat engine paint and heated it with a heat gun to ensure it was sort of cooked on. I tried to do a custom shroud made out of acrylic, but could not get it to form the way I wanted it too. So I carefully painted the brackets and the projector housing to sort of blend it all in. I had taken the final pictures without the black rubber that attaches to the side of the light that is between the light and the grill and I had not replaced my bumper cover. So the final piece of the project would be re-attaching those items and re-aligning my front bumper. So far, with a 2 inch leveling kit, I have yet to get flashed. I still need to make some tweaking to get a super true straight cutoff, but I am close enough for now. I am very pleased with how it turned out. I used an old OEM light as my driving light for a few days while I was doing the retro. This project took me about 2 full days and then some time at night to get it aligned. I tapped the brackets so I could use them to do adjustments and fine tuning of the projector once it was mounted into the light bucket. There is one bolt that I did not use a bracket for at the top of the projector. It is attached through the back of the light housing to the projector. This allowed me to tweak the up and down and then the leveling of the actual projector was by the screws that were attached to the brackets. Once I got it to where I wanted it, I used the normal adjustment screws for the entire headlight. If someone wanted to do something like this, take your time. Be patient and do some research, and do not rush the process. I look back at the money that I spent on a new set of OEM lights only to get the same horrible lighting effect, the wasted money on the plug and play kit. Honestly I could have saved almost 300 dollars if I would have found this earlier. That is 300 dollars I could have spent towards new fog lights, a new bumper, and the list could go on....LOL.I was not a fan of projectors in a Heavy Duty truck, but I will set that aside with no regrets every time it gets dark and once I turn on the lights…….I can see while driving.
:party018: The output does not do it justice in the picture. The fence that the light is on gives the illusion of being out of whack. But against a flat wall in an open area it is real nice. I can pull up behind cars and the lights are not shinning into their side mirrors. Hope this may assist in helping someone else with some freash ideas on an old problem that a majority of us share.
oudive
#4
03-30-2011, 03:58 PM
Oudive ive got a question for ya..
Im currently running a 10K HID bulb set up in my stock headlight assembly's and im gettin ready to purchase a newer 1 piece style headlight off of scambay (ebay)
anyways what im askin is was it really that bright in those before the projector? any pics with the lights on before the swap?
i just hate how the stockers spread the light all over now and im lookin for a more controlled centered beam
any input?
Im currently running a 10K HID bulb set up in my stock headlight assembly's and im gettin ready to purchase a newer 1 piece style headlight off of scambay (ebay)
anyways what im askin is was it really that bright in those before the projector? any pics with the lights on before the swap?
i just hate how the stockers spread the light all over now and im lookin for a more controlled centered beam
any input?
#5
03-30-2011, 04:22 PM
Oudive ive got a question for ya..
Im currently running a 10K HID bulb set up in my stock headlight assembly's and im gettin ready to purchase a newer 1 piece style headlight off of scambay (ebay)
anyways what im askin is was it really that bright in those before the projector? any pics with the lights on before the swap?
i just hate how the stockers spread the light all over now and im lookin for a more controlled centered beam
any input?
Im currently running a 10K HID bulb set up in my stock headlight assembly's and im gettin ready to purchase a newer 1 piece style headlight off of scambay (ebay)
anyways what im askin is was it really that bright in those before the projector? any pics with the lights on before the swap?
i just hate how the stockers spread the light all over now and im lookin for a more controlled centered beam
any input?
Yes it was bright. As I was trying to aim them prior to doing the retro, just adjusting the main light body and being in front of the lights.....very bright. I had them angled down just as far as I could get them and you could tell the extreme angle from looking at the headlight during the day. I was still getting flashed. I did not take a picture of it and wish I would have. I did notice while looking at a thread that I think was titled HID fail at hidplanet.com, there were several pictures and I found a couple that seemed to have a similar light pattern when against a wall.... I am very happy with how the beam is controlled now. I was going to do a one peice, but read where the adjustment is not as much as it is on a two peice. Read alot of threads that spoke about using washers to try to get more of a downward angle. So I just went with a two peice. Hope it helps.
oudive
