2003 4Runner HID Retrofit in progress...

ah OK, I thought the 'chrome' part was removed when you put the projector in.

and you were painting it, because it was gone. The black does look good, I just like shiny things :)
 
Yeah, i understand...but with the projector in there and the plastic ring around it there wasnt much "shiny" reflector left showing so it didnt look right...so i went with black to hide it
 
Some More Pics...I just have to put the lights back together then I will finish up over the weekend....

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In the last three pictures, the gray stuff around the projector and screws is JB Weld, I put this on to add rigidity and strength.
 
Coming down to the wire, the lights are back together, now I am just waiting for my ballasts and I can finish. Hopefully I will get them by the weekend and finish this project. Some more pics...

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I got them in, and the ballasts installed and all the wiring, just hit one snag, i have to take the lights apart again due to alignment issues, so far this has been the biggest pain just trying to get the projectors straight and not aiming up. Plus I have the 2.5" daystart lift which will bring the beam up so I have to compensate for that and aim the projectors more down, hopefully all the kinks will be out by tomorrow....then pix will follow.
 
Some shots during the day, I still have to wait for nightfall to make sure the alignment is ok, I think I have them too low but better low than high

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OH that looks sweet. I was thinking the other day about how you would get each projector installed into the housing aligned the same.

How hard is it, to get the projected mounted, and aligned with the housing?
 
The alignment is the hardest part, and since this is my first time I dont have a method of doing it. So far its the only real snag I have hit and its taking a few times to get it right. I am mainly trying to eye it and that doesnt always work that well, I have a shot at night and as you can see the alignment is a little off so I am probably gonna have to take the lights apart again for a slight adjustment. More info to come...


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hey Brian, how are those lights working? have you figured out the aiming yet? just curious since i haven't heard from you on this thread. i'm planning on tackling this mod when spring rolls around, so hopefully you'll be able to help me with a few pointers. :) i can't even remove the headlights! :arrow:
 
I envy you for all of the hard work you have done to assemble your HID's. However, I believe that I will just order the Hilux surf smoked headlamps ($489 pair) for my gray 4runner. I believe that would look cool with my truck being a dark color.
 
AMAZING!

Now... what i'm waiting for is the write up.. what you used to cut it.. where to cut.. yadda yadda... but once again.. amazing work and this will be for sure my next project!

one question... that black ring around the projector... is that the G-11 stuff that you cut to cover the opening?

waiting... and.. waiting! :D

p.s.: not all the pictures work. :(
 
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how wide is your beam pattern? could you please take a picture of the beam pattern. From the looks of these pictures, you have a pretty narrow beam pattern and that it isn't wide enough.
 
Hey guys,

sorry for not responding...for some reason I havent checked the audio and electronics section in a little while and i forgot my thread got moved here...I basically removed the HIDs after the first fitting and such which was a month or so ago and had them out to remount the projectors in the headlights, while they were out I created new shrouds too. I have one back together but am waiting for the weather to clear up here, with all the rain and snow its kinda hard to do this since part of it i need to be outside to aim them and such. But believe me I am antsy to get back to the project so as soon as the weather is a little nicer I will finish up and post my hopefully FINAL pics. I have a semi-writeup and the rest I can just talk to you guys about if you have any questions, I will post back as fast as i can
 
iFORCE said:
AMAZING!

Now... what i'm waiting for is the write up.. what you used to cut it.. where to cut.. yadda yadda... but once again.. amazing work and this will be for sure my next project!

one question... that black ring around the projector... is that the G-11 stuff that you cut to cover the opening?

waiting... and.. waiting! :D

p.s.: not all the pictures work. :(

I do have a writeup but i can summarize some things here about your questions:

Any cutting was done with a Dremel (I love that thing) and yeah, the black ring around it is that G-11 Plastic, it comes green but I painted it black. Are the pics still not working? They all seemed to be there, As of right now i dont have many more pics but i may have some of the additional progress
 
iFORCE said:
how wide is your beam pattern? could you please take a picture of the beam pattern. From the looks of these pictures, you have a pretty narrow beam pattern and that it isn't wide enough.

Yeah, those pictures are a little deceiving, in the street its wider but unfortunately I dont have any pics in the road yet, but I will as soon as i finish, I promise
 
Pics of new shroud, it was originally pvc pipe painted silver, now i got a dog bowl and cut out the bottom, worked out pretty well, looks more "stock" due to the chrome of it, here are some initial pics of it

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nice idea. is there no method for making the projectors adjustable without taking it apart again? looks like a real PITA to me. there has to be a way around it. good luck with finishing it up. it looks great!
 
Well i am sure there are better ways but since I am inexperienced at retrofitting I am learning as I go. The adjusting screws that are on our lights are still functional but the problem was I must have had the projectors mounted in the reflector aiming a little too high and even at the lowest setting (the screw fully tightened), the lights were still aimed a little too high so therefore I had to take them apart to basically try and mount the projectors level which is not that easy, this time before i put the lights back together i am gonna hook up the lights in the truck with the projectors partially loose so i can tell where it will be and I can adjust accordingly then when its level I will tighten it in and then be done, this is my way of doing a manual level/adjustment. I am sure more experienced retrofitters have other ways to do it without having it in the car but i havent found that info yet....so its all a learning process
 

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