5th Gen HID / Projector retrofit installation (pics).

[philsey]

Looks awesome! With my last car I was always amazed at how far the light travels, I'd be driving a hilly country road and see my cut-off hundereds and hundreds of feet in front of me.

True, true. But what constantly impresses me is the light spread, and how much better and wider the light is off to both sides of the car.

Thanks for ruining that =)

He he he. It's only money .... you'll get more.

Oh, did you install 35w or 55w ballasts? I had 55s on my last HID set-up.

35w. I had a reason, but forgot what it was. Call Steve @ TRS. Very helpful.

The Retrofit Source online: headlight upgrades for all applications

 

[T4Fun]

having a very sharp cutoff means difficulty reading the signs at nite...no light above the cutoff...tradeoff i guess

on another note, it probably wouldnt be hard to put in autolevelers. YOu would have to get the whole lighting mechanism, be it bmw, audi or lexus and put the whole
assembly in the housing of the 4runner headlights. They are big enough to be accomodating.

whose gonna also put in LED DRL's audi style into their 4R?

 

[philsey]

..... I had 55s on my last HID set-up.

I've talked to others since I started this, who had HIDs in previous vehicles (Harper comes to mind). And for the life of me I can't imagine ever having a vehicle with HID projectors, and not putting them in anything else you drive. They should be a mfgr's option on any decent vehicle.

 

[Dispense]

Doing a little reading, 55w ballasts and 35w HID bulbs do seem put out 40% more light, but your bulbs will burn out faster.

Most say who have had both 35w and 55w setups couldn't tell the difference between the two. If any, I'm sure its negligible. Your lights will still be bright as F&^%.

I'm probably going to order very very soon, I don't need an extra set of lights either because I have a daily driver (didn't trade her in on the TE). Its just a win win win situation...its only logical..

 

[Dispense]

having a very sharp cutoff means difficulty reading the signs at nite...no light above the cutoff...tradeoff i guess

Actually the signs with any sort of reflective surface light up incredibly! That is with properly aimed lights and highway signs 40 feet overhead.

I can't explain it exactly but the cut-off doesn't effect that type of visibility in my experience.

 

[philsey]

having a very sharp cutoff means difficulty reading the signs at nite...no light above the cutoff....

That is not entirely correct. It depends on the positioning of the "step". Bear in mind also that most (now I didn't say "all) of the road signs of concern are on the RH side of the road. Look at this picture, notice that sign dead center. It's reflecting because it's in the "step", which provides greater illumination to the right of center. No, I can't read it 'cause it's 1/2 block away, but I do know there's a sign, and I'll be watching it.

Agreed, there are trade-offs.

Tell me T4, would you trade back to halogens, or do you just like being devil's advocate?

 

[Dispense]

Which wiring harness did you have to go with? I'm not sure which halogens we have in our 4runners.

I think I am going to go with just the low beam HID set-up. I did this on my last car, left the high beams stock, and honestly never had to use them once because the low beam output was so darn good.

I think I will go for the s2000 projectors as long as Cesar can work with them in our housings. I loved my TSX projectors, but might as well upgrade =)

 

[philsey]

Which wiring harness did you have to go with? I'm not sure which halogens we have in our 4runners.

The LB is H11. As to the harness, dunno, that's why I had Lightwerkz do the retrofit. He bought what I needed from TRS, and charged me the same as they would have. They know what to do, believe me.

I think I will go for the s2000 projectors as long as Cesar can work with them in our housings. I loved my TSX projectors, but might as well upgrade =)

He can, I was going to use S2K before I decided for bi-x. Gotta tell you, the bi-x HB's kick the halogen's butt. But the S2K LB is likely a bit better than mine.

Interesting thread I started, here.

TSX vs S2000

 

[azn-sensation]

Awesome pics! So do your your old high beams still come on with the bi-xenon ones when you switch the high beam on? Im gonna give these guys a call and see what they can ship me. I wanna do this myself. Thanks for all your pics!

 

[Dispense]

Thanks for the help philsey. I think I may wait for the S2K-R projectors that TRS has ben working on, hopefully it'll be ready for the New Year when the ol' tax return gets filed!

 

[philsey]

Awesome pics! So do your your old high beams still come on with the bi-xenon ones when you switch the high beam on? Im gonna give these guys a call and see what they can ship me. I wanna do this myself. Thanks for all your pics!

Yup. The bi-x HB's are very good, but I figured "why not".

 

[philsey]

Best Bi-Xenon discussion

Interesting thread for those of you interested in bi-xenons:

The best bixenon projector, What is it?

 

[ciaz]

I've talked to others since I started this, who had HIDs in previous vehicles (Harper comes to mind). And for the life of me I can't imagine ever having a vehicle with HID projectors, and not putting them in anything else you drive. They should be a mfgr's option on any decent vehicle.

I had them in my Infiniti prior to buying my 4runner. They were great and they even turned with the steering wheel. I hope Toyota adds HIDs in their refresh, and I hope they'll be plug in play with the 10-11 models.

 

[philsey]

Check out Harper's HID mod @ post #254.

http://www.toyota-4runner.org/gallery/58037-june-2010-t4rotm-harper7-17.html

Sweeeeeet. Nice before / after pics.

 

[riceandpho]

u are wack for taking a night pic at the cemetery, did u see anything strange there?

 

[blkmagic5]

Question about Retrofit Harness

This is my wiring harness from lightwerkz, does anyone know where the two bundled (red/blk) wires with little male connectors are supposed to go?
Thanks.

 

[A10MileHusker]

This is my wiring harness from lightwerkz, does anyone know where the two bundled (red/blk) wires with little male connectors are supposed to go?
Thanks.

Im not 100% but it looks like the connector for the H11 bulbs/the actual headlights

 

[blkmagic5]

- At this point, the original LB and HB plugs are off. Make sure you know which-is-which. On the driver’s side, connect the original LB’s female plug into a matching male plug on a cable from the relay. (So, when you turn on the lights, instead of lighting the LB’s, it will energize the relay, firing up the ballasts, which in turn ignites the HID bulbs). The ballasts have a heavy black cable with a unique red cap which will be plugged into the HID bulbs after the retrofitted headlights are installed.
- On the pass. side, just tape up the old LB plug as it serves no purpose.

Thanks A10MileHusker, I just realized it's where the relay plugs into the factory female lowbeam as quoted in philseys post above. I'll try and get this finished tomorrow with pics and all. Thanks guys, this forum is great!!!

 

[tHeGeeK]

hey just looking for some help with this. I'm having a heck of a time trying to get the front bumper off. All the bolts and screws are removed, but I can't for the life of me figure out how to detach all the claws. Any suggestions? Thanks

Kyle

 

[Dispense]

If you have all the screws and fasteners out, I just grab the trim in front of the tire and just start pulling toward the center; like you are peeling it away. Then do the same for the opposite side. Maybe I've been lucky, but never had a problem with getting those clips to disengage.