Ducmonsta's Build Thread-very pic heavy!

[Ducmonsta]

In this pic, you'll see the front mudflap is "skinnier" than the rear. This was also taken before I removed the pink accents!

 

[Ducmonsta]

A couple other minor things to note. I have done the entire LED upgrade. The only thing different is the rear gate. Instead of using those "canister" style bulbs, I actually found a LED plate that would fit nicely. Sorry, no pics of it.
I also decided that I didn't like the clear third brake light. So, some nite shades and here it is...

Yes, you can still see it at night. Luckily, they're already LEDs so no coversion needed here.

 

[Ducmonsta]

With the theme of blacking out or di noc ing the truck...wait for it...here come the rice comments...


It's hard to tell in the pic, but the garnish is painted flat with some clear over it to get the satin look. The Toy emblem is plasti dipped. And, of course, the hilux surf is red with clear.

If you're on this forum, "hilux SURF" need not be explained.

The really cool thing is, I get compliments from other women! They usually say something like, "what kind of truck is that?", and "I never liked SUV's, but that's one great looking truck!" Best part is, the ladies say it in front of my wife!!!

 

[Ducmonsta]

It's time to go through the saga of the HEADLIGHTS!

There's a lot to explain why I did it, but I love the way they turned out.

The company my shop deals with is called ORACLE or AACSTYLE. This was their first 5th gen 4runner they had ever done, so I told them I wanted progress pics and that I wanted to go all out so that I could show my customers anything and everything they could do to headlights.

Here's the first teaser pic...


This started out as my original Limited headlamp housings.

 

[jhawk]

You can't just post a single picture! Did you do this to your limited lights?
I take it you added halo's? I'd be more interested in a mass produced projector or mass produced black housing headlight

 

[Ducmonsta]

or mass produced black housing headlight

umm...aren't you just looking for trail headlights here?

 

[Ducmonsta]

Second thing to deal with is that goofy amber lens on the side. I had plans for this and I definitely did not want the amber lens.

This part was easily removed and now leaves a big, blank, silver area.

 

[Ducmonsta]

So, let's get this thing painted. I opted to have the factory matched paint done #202 black. I know, I know, you probably can't tell this from regular black paint, but why not just use the factory color? It really doesn't cost anything different if you have an air brush. Anyway...





No, those are not my hands (or ANTMAN, for that matter). They're actually Jaime's from Oracle. Who, by the way, sounded really cute over the phone. She put up with a lot of questions and asked plenty herself. Since, this was their first crack at a 5th gens headlights, they wanted to make it unique to their product and services.
This whole process actually took a good 6 weeks from day of shipping out to receiving them back in my hands. I know this would not take as long now because they have experience with it.

 

[jhawk]

umm...aren't you just looking for trail headlights here?

I would rather not pay 450 just to rip them apart and add projectors I guess I wouldn't be happy with completely black either, as my 4runner's white - might go with a dark gunmetal.

Progress looks good! Spraying the parking light - just going to use the halos?

 

[Ducmonsta]

I would rather not pay 450 just to rip them apart and add projectors I guess I wouldn't be happy with completely black either, as my 4runner's white - might go with a dark gunmetal.

Progress looks good! Spraying the parking light - just going to use the halos?

You definitely have to want it black. It's all in personal preference. I think it looks great IMO.

Borrowed from tundratalk

 

[momo.75]

Did you strip the chrome off before you painted them?

 

[Ducmonsta]

Did you strip the chrome off before you painted them?

Honestly, I don't know. The guys at Oracle did all the work. I have found that light sanding is enough to keep primer on and then paint. However, just paint on the chrome that is on our trucks would be a pretty big no no.
I did this with the rear garnish. Believe me, I found out the hard way. That garnish was $130 mistake.

 

[iFlyUSCG]

So if I have a week of spare time... Can I come down, leave my 4R with you and let you go to town? Love the center console/headunit/buttons. Love the headlights. Love... well... it all. Sick truck my man.:bravo:

PS - Get your lights on that rack!

 

[momo.75]

I didn't know you had somebody else do it. When i did my lights i used Easy Off and it eats the chrome right off. This way the paint sticks right to the plastic.

 

[Ducmonsta]

Next thing to do was to get the projector housing mounted. I was going to do the bug eye Infinity Q45.




But I had heard they were actually not that great with the cut off. So there was the decision of which projector to use. Maybe Philsey will chime in here because I KNOW he has some experience with projector choices.

Ultimately, I wanted to keep the h11 bulb. I didn't want to have a d2s or d2r bulb to deal with and a ballast that was built in. My goal was to have the back of the housing to look as stock as possible, without sacrificing too much quality in light.

 

[Ducmonsta]

I didn't know you had somebody else do it. When i did my lights i used Easy Off and it eats the chrome right off. This way the paint sticks right to the plastic.

I sense some RC do it yourself projects here! That's exactly how I get the chrome off of anything I'm going to dye.

 

[momo.75]

I sense some RC do it yourself projects here! That's exactly how I get the chrome off of anything I'm going to dye.

lol.....exactly....:hatsoff:

 

[Ducmonsta]

So, I'm thinking, what's going to make this stand out from all of the other projector conversions out there? maybe black bezel?


I didn't really fall in love with that. Not bad, but it kinda looked unfinished to me.

 

[Ducmonsta]

So if I have a week of spare time... Can I come down, leave my 4R with you and let you go to town? Love the center console/headunit/buttons. Love the headlights. Love... well... it all. Sick truck my man.:bravo:


PS - Get your lights on that rack!

Haha..thanks! I believe your lights are gonna be at your door this Thurs?! I see you waiting for the ups guy at the window like an exited puppy!

 

[Ducmonsta]

After further deliberation between Jaime (Oracle) and I, it was time to decide how I wanted the halos installed. Here were the options she gave me.


I thought that looked kinda weird too...so we tried these...





Ultimately, I thought the smaller halos on the low beam looked best.