what is a retrofit worth?

[BrianSD_42]

so I would really like to retrofit my lights with quality HID projectors. I am also selling my Eagle Wheels in the classified section, I am pretty sure I can get $250 for them.

I have an offer from a member to retrofit the lights for me in exchange for the wheels, trade labor for wheels but I would buy all parts of course. he seems legit and says he has done them in the past and has pics. I would only hand the wheels over once the lights were tested on my truck and I would order the parts then meet up with him for the install which I can watch.

I really want to do this mod but dont have a garage or know much about HID. does anyone think this is a bad deal?

one of the benefits of having it done is I would be more confident it will be aligned correctly ect. I know not doimg it myself is lame but this seems like a good offer.

(posted from my phone)

 

[Clemsonfan15]

$250 for the labor? I don't think I would take that deal. It really depends on how much you want them though.

You're looking at $200+ for parts. That's gonna add up fast.

 

[rickashay]

I have a small headlight retrofit business called, Headlight Hookup. I usually only do them in the winter while I'm in University so it's very "part-time", but I like doing it and it gives me a little extra cash.

Here is a link to some work I've done:
Headlight Hookup's photosets on Flickr

Anyways, back on topic. I am one of few if any others that perform this service legitimately in Canada that I am aware of. My prices my be slightly different than that of the States as there are more legit retrofitters down south. I charge $300 in labour alone for a simple retrofit. Paint, angel eyes, custom LED's, or anything extra special are going to cost you more. I even charge a little more for projectors that are not "drop-in". It is a process that takes a lot of time, patience, and some know-how. I am not claiming to be the fastest, but I take my time and make sure all the headlights are completed with the utmost quality. ala aligned correctly!!

Take it for what it's worth.

Cheers!

 

[BrianSD_42]

is that $300 US dollars for labor?

 

[rickashay]

I charge $300 CAD for labour, but as I said, it may be slightly cheaper in the US. Not much though, I cant see it being less than $250.

 

[t4r4life]

is that $300 US dollars for labor?

well by today's labor rate of 100/hr hes about right on the money if he has to open housing put projectors in, paint, wire, and put everything back together, it will take me at least 3 hours, its not hard reserch man and you can do it ur self

 

[rjaudi]

Completely depends on the retrofit. If you do a simple Morimoto projector, that isn't that labor intensive. My FX projector set-up easily took a day to install. My parts were close to 500 with everything being new by the way.

 

[BrianSD_42]

who makes $100/hr?

Anyways todays exchange rate for $300 US is 300.84 CAD.

To me this seems high but I might have a good deal for $250 since he also offered to help make they are perfect "on the truck"

 

[BrianSD_42]

I would want to do a nice one with the acura projectors and hopefully hi/lo beams.

 

[rickashay]

who makes $100/hr?

Anyways todays exchange rate for $300 US is 300.84 CAD.

To me this seems high but I might have a good deal for $250 since he also offered to help make they are perfect "on the truck"

LOL it takes WAY more than 3 hours. Even the simple "Drop-In" morimoto projectors often dont horizontally line up perfectly like they are supposed to. This is due to a bunch of reasons, but, I for one, won't send a drop-in setup out if its not aligned perfectly horizontal. My last set of "retrofit-for-beginners, Morimoto D2S projectors" had me cutting the housing up and making a custom bracket to get them straight.

That labour charge covers retrofit labour, retrofit experience, and warranty for mis-aligned projectors and/or headlight fogging. Not to mention it's a risky business because you are dealing with a very important safety aspect of people's vehicles. Headlights.

 

[t4r4life]

who makes $100/hr?

Anyways todays exchange rate for $300 US is 300.84 CAD.

To me this seems high but I might have a good deal for $250 since he also offered to help make they are perfect "on the truck"

every single automotive shop dont matter if its audio, mechanical or fabrication, the cheapest they charge is 100/hr here where i live they usually charge 150-200$/1hr

 

[GottaBeTRD]

Ive seen some pics of rickashays retrofits and they are legit! he does a solid job on them.

I wish i was ready to tackle my second retrofit, id prob sell the ones i have now for $250. I have the morimoto D2s kit and i love them! they put out a dang good light pattern and its great driving at night. They are a drop in but still give me a legitimate light

but like rick was saying, it takes much longer than 3 hours! I did mine in 3 days but i was working on them almost every hour of the day lol

I prob spent $200+ total on doing it myself. It took some time, some loss of blood and sweat and some frustration but the feeling of having them done was just awesome! oh and these drop ins required very little aiming
lowbeam

highbeam

i think you have already seen pics of mine but if not ive got them under my build thread

 

[BrianSD_42]

GottaBeTRD,

What makes the kit "drop in"?

I know there are many different setups but I thought they are all pretty similar, just some have better components.

 

[rickashay]

GottaBeTRD,

What makes the kit "drop in"?

I know there are many different setups but I thought they are all pretty similar, just some have better components.

The Morimoto Mini D2S and H1's are considered "drop in" projectors. They are manufactured around having an easier install. The projectors themselves are dropped in the reflector bowl from the front and are supposed to align themselves via a "centering ring" in the factory bulb retainer at the rear of the headlight (where the factory bulb seats into the headlight.) The problem with this is that a halogen bulb does not need to be aligned to perfection to perform their desired output. The blocks on the headlight that are supposed to center the projector via the "centering ring" and the centering ring itself, are not made to specific enough standards to make every headlight have a perfectly horizontal projector installation.

check this link: Bi-xenon: Morimoto Mini D2S 2.0 - HID Projectors from The Retrofit Source Inc

The other types of projectors are ones that are manufactured for the higher end luxery cars. (Lexus, Infiniti, Mercedes, BMW, Volkswagen, etc...) These projectors are replicated by design and require permanent modification to the headlight they will be installed in. They are often glued and drilled into place once the optimum horizontal projector alignment is achieved. These projectors produce better light output (usually better colour flicker and better/sharper cutoff) but require more work to install correctly and they are often larger in size. (so they will not work in some headlights.....)

an example: Bi-xenon: Acura TL / ZKW-R Lens - HID Projectors from The Retrofit Source Inc

 

[ryankmasuda]

Rickashay, From your experience would you build a projector retro-fit for our 3rd gens using OEM headlights or would you use the aftermarket plastic ones?

The reason I ask this is that I have 99's with the clear glass. One of my lenses has a rock chip and I want to do the retrofit but I don't want to spend the money for OEM if I'm going to take it a part for the retrofit. Unless using the OEM headlight assembly is truly worth using. Otherwise I'd rather buy some Certa-fit headlights and do the retro-fit from there.

Do aftermarket headlight assemblies come with the glass lens or is it typically plastic?

 

[BrianSD_42]

not all aftermarket are plastic. the lights that fightman and I both have are Glass aftermarket. I think they will work with a retrofit just fine.

 

[Clemsonfan15]

I think all the aftermarket headlights are glass.

 

[BrianSD_42]

Actually most of the ones I saw for sale were plastic, cheap plastic. I only found out about the glass ones by viewing Fightman's thread. I then went to ebay and searched for "4Runner headlight glass", checked the vender and bought them. They are pretty nice and I am glad they are glass.

 

[rickashay]

Rickashay, From your experience would you build a projector retro-fit for our 3rd gens using OEM headlights or would you use the aftermarket plastic ones?

The reason I ask this is that I have 99's with the clear glass. One of my lenses has a rock chip and I want to do the retrofit but I don't want to spend the money for OEM if I'm going to take it a part for the retrofit. Unless using the OEM headlight assembly is truly worth using. Otherwise I'd rather buy some Certa-fit headlights and do the retro-fit from there.

Do aftermarket headlight assemblies come with the glass lens or is it typically plastic?

Normally, I prefer plastic lenses for the simple fact that when they get beat up (scratched, minor chips, etc...) you can restore them using a headlight restoration kit. However, if the plastic on the lens is cheap aftermarket, it will probably crack from rocks etc. on the highway.

What I would do is buy a set of aftermarket headlights with the glass lenses as posted above (check Fightmans thread) and pull the glass lenses off of them. Use the glass lens from the aftermarket lights to replace the old lenses on your OEM housings. You could just do the retrofit into the new housings but the aftermarket ones I have worked with are not nearly as good of quality as the OEM toyota housings. I will be doing a retrofit into my own 99 headlights in the next month, and that is the route I will be taking...

 

[Clemsonfan15]

Actually most of the ones I saw for sale were plastic, cheap plastic. I only found out about the glass ones by viewing Fightman's thread. I then went to ebay and searched for "4Runner headlight glass", checked the vender and bought them. They are pretty nice and I am glad they are glass.

Where were you looking? Even the ones on ebay are glass.