Christmas Retrofit

SR_5runner

SR_5runner

New member
'Tis the season...for an excuse to blow thru some money to get some mods done! Been doing some research since almost last Christmas on all I will need, want, etc to do a retrofit but still need some help.

First off, should I use the morimoto mini H1 kit or the mini D2S kit? I know they are relatively the same performance wise, but I'm looking for the easiest install.

I'm still split between shrouds, but have narrowed it down to two:
Iris: Iris - Projector Shrouds from The Retrofit Source Inc
or
E55-R: E55-R - Projector Shrouds from The Retrofit Source Inc

With the help of [MENTION=55855]zopperman[/MENTION] who is in the middle of his own retrofit, I'm getting some measurements to hopefully put in an LED driving light in place of the stock high beam bulb (if it fits). Question is will this light be bright enough!?

LED DRIVING LIGHTS : LED Driving Light 42W

Moving right along, I plan on doing tow halo rings on each headlight, similar to the X5 halos. I plan on using these (also will be adding a diffuser to try to smooth out the individual naked LED look):

CALL US (909) 684-5044 Switchback BiColor LED Angel Eyes

Question is, will I need to ADD the stock DRL feature/ controller to make this easier for me or what? Wanting to have white halos while driving, then have them turn off and the ambers on for blinkers.

Lastly (for now) comes color choices, this is where I need some help deciding.
3 options, help me decide: Leave the whole housing chrome, keeping super stock look, paint them all black or color match white (my Runner is white).

Any questions, pictures, ideas, comments, etc are more than welcome, can't wait to hear/ see input. Thanks for all the help in advance!
 
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90 views and no love!? thought I gave some layups for at least ONE person on here! Have been trying to get intimate with the search features but am struggling to find any solid convictions on which setup is easier for someone with limited experience but plenty of motivation. Any help on H1 vs D2S would be awesome, the DRL answer would be an added bonus...
 
Always like seeing people investing and actually do their own retros. Can't stand it, err, Umm, I mean, it causes me concern when folks just plug and play HIDs into their stock reflectors (2003-05).

AS far as choosing what to do with the housing. What "look" are you going for? I was going for the stock look. I kept mine chrome.

I have Iris shrouds on my Civic retro. I have Apollos on my 4R. Not sure how the Iris would look on a runner. Looking at the shrouds, I like the E55Rs. BUT, I'd have to see them in person.

I had my retros done with Lightwerkz and later modified with Lightmodz. I would LOVE to re-do them, but I wouldn't send them out. If only I had time/work bench......... oh, and money, LOL.

Good Luck!
 
CookieRoe said:
Always like seeing people investing and actually do their own retros. Can't stand it, err, Umm, I mean, it causes me concern when folks just plug and play HIDs into their stock reflectors (2003-05).

AS far as choosing what to do with the housing. What "look" are you going for? I was going for the stock look. I kept mine chrome.

I have Iris shrouds on my Civic retro. I have Apollos on my 4R. Not sure how the Iris would look on a runner. Looking at the shrouds, I like the E55Rs. BUT, I'd have to see them in person.

I had my retros done with Lightwerkz and later modified with Lightmodz. I would LOVE to re-do them, but I wouldn't send them out. If only I had time/work bench......... oh, and money, LOL.

Good Luck!
Click to expand...


Real Hella E55 (EVOXR from trs) on left and, cheapo morimoto mini h1 on right. yes i said cheap. compared to the real E55, yes they are cheap and the optics dont compare. also metal vs plastic



[MENTION=50507]CookieRoe[/MENTION]
Your E55 shrouds, well reall E55 shrouds, not the trs ones


btw OP add in a set of replacement headlamps to retro them into to buy. will make your life much easier :)

I am doing quad bi-xenon, Hella E55 in lows and morimotos in hi beam bucket.

going to do my halo's like this


i love the idea of the switch back halos, but i am going to put them in my tail lights. make them like the range rover style
 
SR_5runner said:
First off, should I use the morimoto mini H1 kit or the mini D2S kit? I know they are relatively the same performance wise, but I'm looking for the easiest install.

I'm still split between shrouds, but have narrowed it down to two:
Iris: Iris - Projector Shrouds from The Retrofit Source Inc
or
E55-R: E55-R - Projector Shrouds from The Retrofit Source Inc

With the help of [MENTION=55855]zopperman[/MENTION] who is in the middle of his own retrofit, I'm getting some measurements to hopefully put in an LED driving light in place of the stock high beam bulb (if it fits). Question is will this light be bright enough!?

LED DRIVING LIGHTS : LED Driving Light 42W

Moving right along, I plan on doing tow halo rings on each headlight, similar to the X5 halos. I plan on using these (also will be adding a diffuser to try to smooth out the individual naked LED look):

CALL US (909) 684-5044 Switchback BiColor LED Angel Eyes

Question is, will I need to ADD the stock DRL feature/ controller to make this easier for me or what? Wanting to have white halos while driving, then have them turn off and the ambers on for blinkers.

Lastly (for now) comes color choices, this is where I need some help deciding.
3 options, help me decide: Leave the whole housing chrome, keeping super stock look, paint them all black or color match white (my Runner is white).

Any questions, pictures, ideas, comments, etc are more than welcome, can't wait to hear/ see input. Thanks for all the help in advance!
Click to expand...

Mini h1 will be easier. I'll get the measurements for you later, sorry been bbusy with finals :redbrick:

I would highly recommend the morimoto xBA halos from TRS over the ones that you posted. They will be brighter and they look very clean (no breaks in the halo)
 
zopperman said:
Mini h1 will be easier. I'll get the measurements for you later, sorry been bbusy with finals :redbrick:

I would highly recommend the morimoto xBA halos from TRS over the ones that you posted. They will be brighter and they look very clean (no breaks in the halo)
Click to expand...

his halos are the switchback ones he wants...trs doesnt have those.
 
Nothing like having "original" equipment! Those E55 (real) look like they will last for YEARS. Very robust looking. Mini's not so much. I completely understand why people use the mini's b/c of budget. When picking the components of my retros, I had the "I want to install them, use them and completely forget about them" mentality.

I love to mod my cars, but headlights are something I'd rather not go cheap on. Especially with my family on board. If I were single, I wouldn't care. Having a wife/kid and having my headlights fail on me isn't something I want to go through. I've had (teething) issues with my retros, but I iron them out before going on any roadtrip with my fam. I don't mind changing out the HID bulb (I went with Osram CBI in the runner) from time to time (every 2+ years) ............. OK, I'm ranting, I'll shut up.

Rear LED ring is very cool looking. Yeah, reminds me of the Range Rover tail lights.
 
CookieRoe said:
Always like seeing people investing and actually do their own retros. Can't stand it, err, Umm, I mean, it causes me concern when folks just plug and play HIDs into their stock reflectors (2003-05).

AS far as choosing what to do with the housing. What "look" are you going for? I was going for the stock look. I kept mine chrome.

I have Iris shrouds on my Civic retro. I have Apollos on my 4R. Not sure how the Iris would look on a runner. Looking at the shrouds, I like the E55Rs. BUT, I'd have to see them in person.

I had my retros done with Lightwerkz and later modified with Lightmodz. I would LOVE to re-do them, but I wouldn't send them out. If only I had time/work bench......... oh, and money, LOL.

Good Luck!
Click to expand...

Wanted to do either E55-R or iris bc I feel like most of the other options are too busy. As far as "look" goes, I've kinda had a theme of "modified stock" in my head. Tasteful modifications that would tell the trained eye there is time and effort spent, but not an over the top look to the casual car driver who only cares about going from point A-B. I have some grill mods in mind that will hopefully happen this weekend which should shed light on the "modified stock" look if it comes out as i have it envisioned.

gshadow325 said:
Real Hella E55 (EVOXR from trs) on left and, cheapo morimoto mini h1 on right. yes i said cheap. compared to the real E55, yes they are cheap and the optics dont compare. also metal vs plastic




[MENTION=50507]CookieRoe[/MENTION]
Your E55 shrouds, well reall E55 shrouds, not the trs ones


btw OP add in a set of replacement headlamps to retro them into to buy. will make your life much easier :)

I am doing quad bi-xenon, Hella E55 in lows and morimotos in hi beam bucket.

going to do my halo's like this


i love the idea of the switch back halos, but i am going to put them in my tail lights. make them like the range rover style
Click to expand...

Definitely am sourcing a donor set of headlights as we speak! This retrofit is strongly driven by budgeting as well as ease of install. So as much as I'd LIKE to have the best parts, I need to get a retrofit successfully under my belt before I step into the realm of full on heavy modified custom work. (especially for a 4runner that I paid $9750 for!) Also, i don't doubt that there are farrr better retrofit options/ better performing parts ($$$), but the jump from stock halogen headlights to something that will actually give me some improved visuals (mini h1/d2s) is quite enough for me. Im not looking to light up a full line of latitude and longitude, just make it so I don't have to question if my headlights are on or not! :lookout:

zopperman said:
Mini h1 will be easier. I'll get the measurements for you later, sorry been bbusy with finals :redbrick:

I would highly recommend the morimoto xBA halos from TRS over the ones that you posted. They will be brighter and they look very clean (no breaks in the halo)
Click to expand...

No worries, keep forgetting ppl still have exams and the like now that Ive finished college :doh:
I'd love to purchase all under TRS BUTTT the want for switchback exceeds the TRS angel eye look. I'm also going to source out some diffuser rings to try to make the switchback LED's look much closer to the TRS angel eyes.


Also thanks for the responses! If there is anyone who understands the 12v systems intimately I would love some help/direction/suggestions as to the easiest way to integrate running lights (white halos) that also turn off when the switchbacks kick in and the ambers come on for the turn signals. If I wire the white portion of the switchback to my parking lights, I dont think they will turn off when the blinker activates, hence why I thought maybe the addition of the stock DRL system would be my easiest route...
 
Bump it up!

Shoutout to the few who have commented so far! For the other "viewers" lets hear/see something, I KNOW there are a considerable amount of retrofitters that have plenty of nuggets of knowledge. Any help on tips, tricks, or things to watch out for would be awesome! [MENTION=55855]zopperman[/MENTION] is the only so far to help answer the H1vs D2S question :thumb:

Any opinions/ suggestions aesthetically speaking are also welcomed!
 
1/2 dozen or six, same thing. Different wording. Both can work, your choice. Good thing about h1, you can fit a h3 in there if needed
 
gshadow325 said:
1/2 dozen or six, same thing. Different wording. Both can work, your choice. Good thing about h1, you can fit a h3 in there if needed
Click to expand...

Thanks! I know it probably seems like I'm harping on something minute, but I'm kinda flyin blind on the whole retrofit, so really looking for the kit that will be easiest to install, align, etc.
 
youtube is your friend. mine too. sit back and watch them. lots of stuff from trs, and others. i watched a few hours worth.

now even consider doing this. projector etching. read into it. you'll see what i am talking about
 
Slow is Pro...

gshadow325 said:
christmas is over! where are we with this retrofit? i am done with mine, show me yours!
Click to expand...

Wow, feels like ages ago that this was on the first page! So a little update on things: Holiday season + working in the hospitality industry = NO FREE TIME TO DO ANYTHINGGG!!! :ybrick: :yield:

Also, this retrofit was/is a one and done operation, I will NOT reopen these headlights to add things. Im doing this once, and then moving on to the next mods, so slow is pro for this retrofit.

Also had some technical difficulties. Fell in love with the E55 shrouds (which I ordered), but was crushed/ frustrated to find out they are WAYYY too shallow and didn't cover nearly enough for the 4runner headlights. SO they have been shipped back to be swapped out. Also finally found diffuser rings to use with the exLED switchback angel eyes I want to install. Now is where I need your opinion: In regards to halo size, do I do two rings per headlight that are the same diameter, or two rings per with different diameters?? (pics below for examples)

http://www.toyota-4runner.org/4th-gen-t4rs/117564-dark-knight-kazakhstan-build-thread.html

OR:

ORACLE Toyota 07-13 Tundra CCFL 6000K Angel Eyes Demon HALO Fog Light Bulbs Kit
 
So here's an update: Installed everything, and it took/has taken me the last two days (midday-into night). Ive realized this may have been on the outside edges of my capabilities, but glad to push the boundaries. Now is where I rant. After wiring everything up last night, did a test fire to get the alignment level and aimed as close to proper as I could. (I think it's very close to the high standards for most mods on this forum). Fast forward to tonight. When firing up my HID's, they both "burp" on then nothing. I have to turn the headlights off, then back on, then only one side works. I then have to turn it BACK off, then back on to get the 2nd light to turn on, and even then it's not a strong burn until it heats up it seems. After reading through a lot of write-ups on hidplanet, and checking and re-checking every connection, I can only assume that I am a victim of bad ballasts and or relays. I cannot begin to describe how FRUSTRATING this is. I hate to say anything bad about TRS, especially because so many praise them for their "great customer service", etc. but I am finding out the opposite. I called yesterday (thurs.) afternoon and got a voicemail service. Left my name, number, etc. and no call thurs or at all all day today (Friday). My ENTIRE reason for spending a considerable amount more for HID's from TRS was to avoid any failures, and have a high quality product. Not only does it seem that I have missed the boat on quality, I'm finding myself to be one of the few ppl who are NOT getting the "great customer service" I read so much about. Trust me when I say, I'd MUCHHHH rather be raving with the rest of the successful, non-issue customers...

-Standby for progress...
 
haha I ran a ddm 55w kit in my old truck that saw far too much water and I live in SC on the coast, so salt is an accepted issue with all things, and they lasted 4 years without one ounce of trouble!! My 4runner is 05. Are the digital ballasts the new ones TRS is using now?

Morimoto low beam driver's side does not fire intermittently...

this is exactly what my symptoms are for my HID's. after I give it a few flicks on and off everything seems to be working fine :becky: :wink2:
 
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