First and foremost, I got the idea from iLuXoR817 basicly showing GS350 projectors will work in ours with some modding but it doesn't get into the nitty gritty of how exactly to do it. Over the weekend I jumped into this myself and decided to throw up a quick DIY for all you others that want to go away from using a halogen projector and go to a true (not the greatest) HID projector.
Two quick disclaimers, there are probably multiple ways to do this and different parts you can do, this is the way I chose to do it.
Second, Any modifications you do to your own vehicle I take no liability for and you do so at your own risk.
Parts I used are as follows:
06-11 Lexus GS350 Projectors
2016 Toyota OEM 4Runner headlights
Morimoto D2s 5500k Bulbs
Morimoto XB35 ballast
Morimoto D2s ignitors
Morimoto Clear Lenses (ordered TSX-R but they are too small, Got another set of Black series on the way more on that later)
Morimoto RetroRubber Butyl Glue
Morimoto HD Relay harness
9005 connector
Tools needed:
Patience
Phillips screw driver
Flat head screw driver (multiple sizes recommended)
Heat gun
Oven
Gloves
Dremel like tool with cut off wheels and sander wheels
Eye protection
Body Clip removal tool (to split headlights
1 1/2 or 38mm hole saw
Files to smooth out rough edges
Picks
Drill
Needle nose pliers
Duck bill pliers
Part 1: Opening the headlights
Starting off, gather supplies to start your process
Start by checking that your headlights will fit in your oven, adjust baking racks if necessary. It is possible to do this with just a heat gun but an oven is much easier.
I will say I did not take any pictures of me splitting the headlights because it was terrible and I was in a hurry to split them while warm.
I put my headlights in the oven at 250 degrees fahrenheit for 15 minutes at a time. I would pull them out and work with it for around 5-7 minutes then put back in the oven. Splitting the headlights I started out by taking my flat head and running it in the housing to break the permaseal on the outside flap to get it started so I can fold the channel back and get my flat head screw driver behind the lens. Once you get to this point see if you can get the body clip removal tool behind the lens and start to pry. TIP this is best to do when the light is fresh from the oven as it softens the glue quite a bit.
Make sure before you put the headlights in the oven you remove the wiring that goes into the headlight and the 8 or 9 Phillips screws that hold the headlights together. Also pull the rubber gasket for the high beams off as well. more open surface means the heat can get into the lights easier.
Below videos will give you a good indication of how to do this process. Start at the bottom of the lights though so any damage is not visible from the top.
https://youtu.be/5VmQbl7Wqjc
https://youtu.be/Q_fG_pXjCKg
Part 2: Cleaning the permaseal off
Headlights now open? good lets continue and while the headlights are still warm and remove the permaseal from the headlights channel. What I did was use the small flat blade screw driver I scraped the sides of the channel under the permaseal until I was able to work under the permaseal into the middle of the channel and get a section out. Once I did this I got the heat gun out and warmed the channel up from the bottom as I used my pliers to gently pull the glue up. I was able to get it done in semi large sections before it would break. I would then repeat until completed. It took me approx 2 hours and 30 minutes per light to clean the permaseal out.
Working the sections until I get it all out.
And all complete, notice how clean the channels are. This is important so you have a good seal when you seal them up.
Dont forget to get the permaseal off the lenses to, I found a razor blade was most useful for this part to get it all off.
Part 3: Projector retrofit time
Now we are at the fun part... well the part that matters most. Start by locating the projector which should be obvious and remove the three phillips screws holding it to the adjuster bracket. There will be two screws to the top and one screw at the bottom. Wiggle the projector out of the housing it will be tight around the high beam reflector but it comes out easily.
Photo is after retrofit but the bolts are still in the same place.
flip the projector around so the lens is facing down and you should see two phillips screws that hold the two halves together. At this point we need to split the two halves. There are two screws in a diagonal direction from each other and these are the ones we want to remove. Make sure you use a proper size Phillips driver as these are tight and easy to strip so be careful.
once you have the projector housing split you are left with the lens and the reflector bowl. Set the lens aside and get out the dremel. What we need to do now is cut the reflector bowl from the bracket getting as close as possible to the bracket. Please take the time to wear safety glasses for this. I did not and paid the price. I had a metal shard shoot up into my eye and scratch the cornea and now I have slightly blurred vision in my one eye until it heals. don't be like me...
And all done this is what you should have now. Feel free to trash the old bowl since it can no longer be used at this point.
now lets go back to the GS projectors and split those, same process as the 4runner stock projectors. Set the lens aside for later use and lets focus on the rear reflector. Since the GS are AFS we need to modify the housing a bit so they match up with the bracket that we removed from the stock housings.
As you can see, we need to remove the AFS pivot point in the top and some of its mounting along with a little wall that is to line the reflector to the housing. If you see the other two posts that I marked this is your call to trim these OR you can trim the bracket. On the first set I trimmed where you see the sharpie. on the second I trimmed the bracket instead. I preferred to trim the bracket of the second set but you have options. The red area is the area trimmed.
Once the GS housing is modified, you can set the 4Runner bracket on top of it.
Heres how it looks. notice the marking of where I am thinking it will need cut
Cuts made
Two quick disclaimers, there are probably multiple ways to do this and different parts you can do, this is the way I chose to do it.
Second, Any modifications you do to your own vehicle I take no liability for and you do so at your own risk.
Parts I used are as follows:
06-11 Lexus GS350 Projectors
2016 Toyota OEM 4Runner headlights
Morimoto D2s 5500k Bulbs
Morimoto XB35 ballast
Morimoto D2s ignitors
Morimoto Clear Lenses (ordered TSX-R but they are too small, Got another set of Black series on the way more on that later)
Morimoto RetroRubber Butyl Glue
Morimoto HD Relay harness
9005 connector
Tools needed:
Patience
Phillips screw driver
Flat head screw driver (multiple sizes recommended)
Heat gun
Oven
Gloves
Dremel like tool with cut off wheels and sander wheels
Eye protection
Body Clip removal tool (to split headlights
1 1/2 or 38mm hole saw
Files to smooth out rough edges
Picks
Drill
Needle nose pliers
Duck bill pliers
Part 1: Opening the headlights
Starting off, gather supplies to start your process
Start by checking that your headlights will fit in your oven, adjust baking racks if necessary. It is possible to do this with just a heat gun but an oven is much easier.
I will say I did not take any pictures of me splitting the headlights because it was terrible and I was in a hurry to split them while warm.
I put my headlights in the oven at 250 degrees fahrenheit for 15 minutes at a time. I would pull them out and work with it for around 5-7 minutes then put back in the oven. Splitting the headlights I started out by taking my flat head and running it in the housing to break the permaseal on the outside flap to get it started so I can fold the channel back and get my flat head screw driver behind the lens. Once you get to this point see if you can get the body clip removal tool behind the lens and start to pry. TIP this is best to do when the light is fresh from the oven as it softens the glue quite a bit.
Make sure before you put the headlights in the oven you remove the wiring that goes into the headlight and the 8 or 9 Phillips screws that hold the headlights together. Also pull the rubber gasket for the high beams off as well. more open surface means the heat can get into the lights easier.
Below videos will give you a good indication of how to do this process. Start at the bottom of the lights though so any damage is not visible from the top.
https://youtu.be/5VmQbl7Wqjc
https://youtu.be/Q_fG_pXjCKg
Part 2: Cleaning the permaseal off
Headlights now open? good lets continue and while the headlights are still warm and remove the permaseal from the headlights channel. What I did was use the small flat blade screw driver I scraped the sides of the channel under the permaseal until I was able to work under the permaseal into the middle of the channel and get a section out. Once I did this I got the heat gun out and warmed the channel up from the bottom as I used my pliers to gently pull the glue up. I was able to get it done in semi large sections before it would break. I would then repeat until completed. It took me approx 2 hours and 30 minutes per light to clean the permaseal out.
Working the sections until I get it all out.
And all complete, notice how clean the channels are. This is important so you have a good seal when you seal them up.
Dont forget to get the permaseal off the lenses to, I found a razor blade was most useful for this part to get it all off.
Part 3: Projector retrofit time
Now we are at the fun part... well the part that matters most. Start by locating the projector which should be obvious and remove the three phillips screws holding it to the adjuster bracket. There will be two screws to the top and one screw at the bottom. Wiggle the projector out of the housing it will be tight around the high beam reflector but it comes out easily.
Photo is after retrofit but the bolts are still in the same place.
flip the projector around so the lens is facing down and you should see two phillips screws that hold the two halves together. At this point we need to split the two halves. There are two screws in a diagonal direction from each other and these are the ones we want to remove. Make sure you use a proper size Phillips driver as these are tight and easy to strip so be careful.
once you have the projector housing split you are left with the lens and the reflector bowl. Set the lens aside and get out the dremel. What we need to do now is cut the reflector bowl from the bracket getting as close as possible to the bracket. Please take the time to wear safety glasses for this. I did not and paid the price. I had a metal shard shoot up into my eye and scratch the cornea and now I have slightly blurred vision in my one eye until it heals. don't be like me...
And all done this is what you should have now. Feel free to trash the old bowl since it can no longer be used at this point.
now lets go back to the GS projectors and split those, same process as the 4runner stock projectors. Set the lens aside for later use and lets focus on the rear reflector. Since the GS are AFS we need to modify the housing a bit so they match up with the bracket that we removed from the stock housings.
As you can see, we need to remove the AFS pivot point in the top and some of its mounting along with a little wall that is to line the reflector to the housing. If you see the other two posts that I marked this is your call to trim these OR you can trim the bracket. On the first set I trimmed where you see the sharpie. on the second I trimmed the bracket instead. I preferred to trim the bracket of the second set but you have options. The red area is the area trimmed.
Once the GS housing is modified, you can set the 4Runner bracket on top of it.
Heres how it looks. notice the marking of where I am thinking it will need cut
Cuts made
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