Build Thread: Mothra, the (blown) budget camping rig

[Renegade_Medic]

Drawers part 2

Fitting the whole assembly in the back

Wrapping it up, fits like a glove!

The cooler even fits perfectly on top. Now if I could only figure out a slide out for the cooler that isn't more than the cooler itself...

The approximate dimensions are:
External: 37.5"L x 39"W x 8.5"T
Drawer: 34.5"L x 15.25"W x 7"T each

Later this week will be an HID retrofit. After that, the next thing I want to work on is finishing my roof rack.

 

[theesotericone]

The cooler even fits perfectly on top. Now if I could only figure out a slide out for the cooler that isn't more than the cooler itself...

Something like these should work. It's easy enough to fab up some 2x4's to hold them to the platform. Then some more ply to create the tray. Just look at your drawers at home and you'll figure it out pretty quick.

36" 250 lbs Full Extension Drawer Slide (Pair) - 250 Lbs Drawer slides - TCH

 

[Renegade_Medic]

Something like these should work. It's easy enough to fab up some 2x4's to hold them to the platform. Then some more ply to create the tray. Just look at your drawers at home and you'll figure it out pretty quick.

36" 250 lbs Full Extension Drawer Slide (Pair) - 250 Lbs Drawer slides - TCH

Sweet! Thanks. We have a nice slide out tray for our cooler on our ambulance, but it was definitely not cheap. This looks doable!

 

[Renegade_Medic]

HID Retrofit

I always thought that retrofits were much more complicated than they are, or at least have to be. I saw lots of retrofits that utilize large projectors that require mutilation of the housing and seem difficult. I have done some retros in the past, so I wasn't scared. I then found out that some projectors can just simply go in place of the H4 bulb in the back.... easy. Here are a few pictures, it was easy and took an afternoon to do. It turned out great and I should have done it sooner. I bought new housings so the glass would be crystal clear, of course since the reflector didn't matter I bought the cheapest housings I could find.

Baked them at 240 for 20 minutes, popped right open.

\


Before beams, pretty weak

After:

I think I need to paint the corners black as well, but I'm happy with where it's at now. I do need a load resistor for the highbeam indicator, since that no longer works and it's part of our inspection.

 

[trailbikerider]

What HIDs and harness did you use? I just did the exact same retrofit using a Xentec 5000K HID kit and an Amazon harness and I had nonstop issues with flickering and then my high beams eventually quit working. I just went back to factory headlights because I'm sick of dealing with the issues.

 

[Renegade_Medic]

I used a kit from retrofit source. I have used them several times and never had an issue with any of my equipment, other than one bulb was DOA a couple years ago, I called them and they sent one that was here 2 days later. The kit is high quality and It was roughly the same price as buying medium quality bulbs/balasts and cheap projectors, plus buying their harness.

https://www.theretrofitsource.com/bi-xenon-acme-h1-stage-3-kit.html

I used the standard projector, I started worrying that it wasn't going to be as good because after I ordered everyhting I read said buy the super. Mine were marked "SUPER" on the back though.... ? maybe lens clarity? The H4 harness was simple to install and made it worth buying from them.

 

[trailbikerider]

I used a kit from retrofit source. I have used them several times and never had an issue with any of my equipment, other than one bulb was DOA a couple years ago, I called them and they sent one that was here 2 days later. The kit is high quality and It was roughly the same price as buying medium quality bulbs/balasts and cheap projectors, plus buying their harness.

https://www.theretrofitsource.com/bi-xenon-acme-h1-stage-3-kit.html

I used the standard projector, I started worrying that it wasn't going to be as good because after I ordered everyhting I read said buy the super. Mine were marked "SUPER" on the back though.... ? maybe lens clarity? The H4 harness was simple to install and made it worth buying from them.

Ah okay. The projectors I ordered were $25..................for the pair, lol. They aren't what's giving me issue though. So that kit came with a bixenon adaptor harness?

 

[Renegade_Medic]

Ah okay. The projectors I ordered were $25..................for the pair, lol. They aren't what's giving me issue though. So that kit came with a bixenon adaptor harness?

Yes, It came with everything; Bulbs, ballasts, projectors, and all wiring. You may want to call them and ask if you should order a canbus harness so the highbeam indicator will work. I ordered the standard h4 harness and the light doesn't work. I don't care, but it won't pass inspection without it.

 

[trailbikerider]

Yes, It came with everything; Bulbs, ballasts, projectors, and all wiring. You may want to call them and ask if you should order a canbus harness so the highbeam indicator will work. I ordered the standard h4 harness and the light doesn't work. I don't care, but it won't pass inspection without it.

Good to know, thanks for the info. :thumb:

 

[sunsetrunner]

Yes, It came with everything; Bulbs, ballasts, projectors, and all wiring. You may want to call them and ask if you should order a canbus harness so the highbeam indicator will work. I ordered the standard h4 harness and the light doesn't work. I don't care, but it won't pass inspection without it.

For what it's worth I bought this resistor off Amazon a year ago and it fixed the Hi beam indicator: https://www.amazon.com/Bi-Xenon-Error-Resistor-Warning-Canceller/dp/B00NQ4F1MY/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1492616191&sr=8-8&keywords=h4+resistor

 

[Renegade_Medic]

Thanks, I ordered one from ebay last night, same concept.

 

[owyheerat]

[MENTION=147235]Renegade_Medic[/MENTION]

Damn, your 4runner just gets better and better. I love the look of the HID's, and it looks like they put out a ton of light. I always thought you had to spend $500 -600 to do a quality retro...learned something very valuable today. Thanks for the link for the HID conversion. Because I know nothing about HID retro, would you mind sharing what options you chose? And would you do the exact same options again?

Also, where did you source your housings?

It looks really good.

thanks

Durwin

 

[Renegade_Medic]

[MENTION=147235]Renegade_Medic[/MENTION]

Damn, your 4runner just gets better and better. I love the look of the HID's, and it looks like they put out a ton of light. I always thought you had to spend $500 -600 to do a quality retro...learned something very valuable today. Thanks for the link for the HID conversion. Because I know nothing about HID retro, would you mind sharing what options you chose? And would you do the exact same options again?

Also, where did you source your housings?

It looks really good.

thanks

Durwin

Thanks, yes they are spectacular.

The Housings I ordered are here: Headlight Set For 99-2002 Toyota 4Runner Driver and Passenger Side w/ bulb | eBay

They are glass lenses and since they are cheap, the sealant came apart very easily.

The kit I ordered:

https://www.theretrofitsource.com/bi-xenon-acme-h1-stage-3-kit.html

As for options:
Projectors: Standard H1. I should probably have paid the extra $25 for supers, but since I have no problem tuning them, I risked the standards. They turned out nearly perfect out of the box and I didn't mess with them. Since you are just starting off, may be worth the extra couple bucks and have 100% ready to go projectors. They are nice heavy metal units with thick plastic (not a fan of plastic in projectors) lens holder.

Shroud: Mini Gatling Gun. They fit inside the assembly easily and required nothing but paint (preference). They do require at least 2 small screws (4 total spots for them) to be attached to the projector. They are inexplicably absent from the kit, that is normal apparently. The other (full size/non-mini) shrouds may fit as well, but I honestly don't know if they will fit without trimming.

Ballasts: 35w Speedy start. I wouldn't put 55W HIDs in these housings, really hot.

Bulb Color: I chose 5000k. This is a beautiful White color. It has the slightest blue tint, but it is pretty much just white. 4300K is considered to be "natural" daylight, it's a little "yellow" for my personal taste. The 5000K is a perfect crisp white and has a nice blue cutoff. The higher the numbers, the more blue/purple you get. I wouldn't go over 6000K, that's asking for trouble.

Harness: MotoControl H4. This is a great Plug and Play Harness that uses straight battery power to run the ballasts and high beams. It requires no cutting or splicing. The only problem is with Toyota's inexplicable use of a rotating ground at the headlights. It is hard to make headlight harnesses that play nice with this type of set up. The Motocontrol can be set up to work with it. There are directions for the harness where you simply switch the blue and white wires on the plug from the old headlight. The problem, from my understanding, is that the electricity does't "backflow" through the harness to activate the high beam indicator ( required for vehicle safety inspection here). I ordered a $5 little gadget that plugs into the other old headlight plug that makes the computer think the headlight is in Hi when it is. This could be eliminated by the use of a CAN BUS harness, but it may not be compatible with the switched ground. a call or email to TRS and they would be able to tell you, they are very knowledgeable.

Sealant: None

Halos: Not my thing.

The install itself is very straight forward.
You take the headlamp housings out the backing plate and bake them (stripped down) at 250 for about 15 minutes and they should easily pull apart. If you get more than just a little resistance, put them back in for a few more minutes and keep trying them every few minutes. (mechanics gloves here).
Then take out the old reflector shield and paint the housing if you want.
Then take the bulb holder (3 small, delicate philips screws, PH0 size) on the back of the projectors off and slide through the opening of the headlight from the inside. Make sure there is a silicone seal ring on first (I didn't trim mine) and then use the H4 adapter plate on the back to align the projector.
Then start screwing on the locking nut (not all the way until final assembly.
I ran my High beam wires through the hole where the factory H4 bulb is locked by the little wire holder (You'll see the hole).
Then when I was happy I tightened down the locking nut and wiped off the lens.
Re-bake headlight and front lens @200 for about 6 minutes and then they should press back together and put the little metal clamps on.
Then reassemble the housing into the mount. It is really quite simple.

This video should cover this pretty well. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PRP5Uxe-BkU

The headlights are fairly easy to remove from the truck. You do have to remove the grill. Mine is held on my zipties....

Good luck!

 

[185Runner]

The headlights are fairly easy to remove from the truck. You do have to remove the grill. Mine is held on my zipties....



Good luck!

Safety wire for mine. ...

 

[zanes71]

Great build, you might have just convinced me to do an HID retrofit... I've been looking into the same lift, how bad do the tires in the front rub with spacers/wider offset wheels? And how does it ride?

 

[Renegade_Medic]

Great build, you might have just convinced me to do an HID retrofit... I've been looking into the same lift, how bad do the tires in the front rub with spacers/wider offset wheels? And how does it ride?

The lift rides great. The front spring springs are a little firm without extra weight on the front, and with extra weight the front is not a 3" lift, closer to 2.25-2.5". The rear springs are perfect. They are not harsh or anything like that. The rear Bilstein Shocks seem a little short for the lift, NEEDS longer bumpstops to keep from bottoming out. Other than that, it rides great, those are just nick-picking things.
With wide wheels, I had to trim the front bumper pretty good, but it's easy. That's about it. I definitely would do this lift again and wheels/tires again.

 

[owyheerat]

Thanks for the very informative, detailed description. That helps this HID 'newby" a lot.

To be sure I understand completely, I have a couple follow up questions.
This could be done with existing the housing? You chose to buy new so that the lens was defect free? Correct? Did you use your 'stock' housing (the part you painted), mated with the new glass?

What color paint did you use? Black? Special paint?

Also, I don't see 5000k as an option. Possible they are currently out?

If the bulb burns out, can you just replace the bulb?

"zip ties"....yeah the factory clips are huge pain...

Thanks again.

Durwin

 

[Renegade_Medic]

Thanks for the very informative, detailed description. That helps this HID 'newby" a lot.

To be sure I understand completely, I have a couple follow up questions.
This could be done with existing the housing? You chose to buy new so that the lens was defect free? Correct? Did you use your 'stock' housing (the part you painted), mated with the new glass?

What color paint did you use? Black? Special paint?

Also, I don't see 5000k as an option. Possible they are currently out?

If the bulb burns out, can you just replace the bulb?

"zip ties"....yeah the factory clips are huge pain...

Thanks again.

Durwin

You're welcome.

You don't need new housings. I wanted them because the old lenses had lots of rock chips. I also wanted to have a back up set of assemblies (old ones) in case there was an issue with them during inspection or something. In Texas, it is technically illegal, possibly everywhere in the US. I used the new housings and lenses and left the old ones alone (boxed them up for storage).

I used self etching primer spray paint on the chrome lenses and then after it dried I painted with satin black spray paint. I also painted the shrouds. I'm not a big fan of chrome, but they could all be left chrome and it would be fine.

I guess the 5000k are out of stock, they were there yesterday. If you are in a hurry, you could call and see if they can do other brand bulbs instead.

Yes you can just replace the bulb with another HID bulb that is an H1. I plan on ordering 2 spare bulbs and a spare ballast to keep in the vehicle in my spare parts box in case I need them while exploring, overlanding, camping or wherever. They are not available locally for me.

If you have more questions, don't be afraid to ask.

 

[Mgizler]

I may have missed it somewhere, but what kind, or where did you get, the mounting plate that the winch is sitting on?

Mounting the winch under the bumper is no small feat. It was a complete pain. It's just a hair too tall for the bumper to sit perfectly. But, it's on. The mount is welded to the little rails, which are both welded and bolted to the frame rails. The solenoid box is off to the side, so it can be accessed without having to open the hood or anything else.

Bumper all cleaned up:

Hopefully I never have to use this, but it's there if I do. Also the Heavy toytec springs ride better with the extra weight up front (go figure).

 

[Renegade_Medic]

It's from Harbor Freight. I know some people may not like them for whatever reason, but I have them on 2 previous vehicles wirh no issues. One jeep i used it about 10 times total, another jeep I used it once pull out someone who was stuck in the mud. I think if people are going to be using it alot, then it may be worth it to buy an expensive mount, but for my purposes, this one is fine.