HID Retro done!

[jhrrld]

Well I finally got around to retrofitting HIDs into my 's 06 100 and wow is all i can say! The light output is phenomenal..

It took me 4 days to complete start to finish (first time I've ever done anything like this). I used TSX lens swapped LS430 projectors driven by hella gen 3 ballasts with 85122+ bulbs.

Sorry my digital camera skills are lacking The cutoff is level I promise

I managed to get one of the few 06 hundies without AHC However since I don't have it I need a way to keep the back end from sagging when loaded up. When I aimed the lights I had a bunch of junk in the back and with it unloaded the HIDs seem to be aimed too low. I think I'll get some air helper springs to help keep things level and then bring the cutoff up a tad.

 

[2000UZJ]

I wish I had the skills to do something like that. I wish they made headlights like this...


well, whats your price?

 

[1loudLX]

one of the nice things about the AHC is it keeps your headlights level, either way NICE WORK.

 

[hoser]

Congratulations on doing a proper HID retrofit. Any pictures of the inside assembly?

 

[24HOURSOFNEVADA]

That's one of the best cut off lines I've seen in a set of retro HID's. Nice job. Are the fog lights on in the first pic as they are on in the second pic?

 

[02 Beast]

Looks great!! What did it cost for everything?

 

[jhrrld]

I wish I had the skills to do something like that. I wish they made headlights like this...

Trust me, if i can do it, you can to

well, whats your price?

You buy everything and send it to me and I'll do it for 1K

one of the nice things about the AHC is it keeps your headlights level, either way NICE WORK.

Thanks!

Congratulations on doing a proper HID retrofit. Any pictures of the inside assembly?

Thanks! Actually I meant to take pictures the entire time but did not. I've got such a one track mind that when I was in the mess of it I didn't take any. :whoops:

That's one of the best cut off lines I've seen in a set of retro HID's. Nice job. Are the fog lights on in the first pic as they are on in the second pic?

Thanks! Yes the fog lights are on. Maybe in the next couple days I'll get a shot with the fogs off and post it up.

Looks great!! What did it cost for everything?

Thanks! I've been collecting parts over the last couple of years as I was originally going to do this on my 4runner with FX bi-xeon projectors. Pretty sure in the neighborhood of $700 (maybe a little more) after buying everything with the multiple trips to the store to buy odds and ends.

I appreciate all the props guys. I'm a TOYOTA nut and love messing with them.

 

[jhrrld]

Well I went back and raised the cutoff to 34" at 25 feet. I'm doing this in preparation to installing Air Lift 1000 air springs to keep it level without blinding oncoming traffic. New picture of readjusted cutoff without the fog lights on.

 

[CrusrDug]

What do the DRL's look like? Are the high beam part of the light the same?

Wondering if the DRL's are brighter??

 

[Trunk Monkey]

How about a step-by-step guide - where'd you source stuff, associated costs, what did it take to assemble it, etc.?

 

[jhrrld]

What do the DRL's look like? Are the high beam part of the light the same?

Wondering if the DRL's are brighter??

The high beam was not messed with at all. So the DRLs are unchanged. That's what was nice about doing this to the 100. The lows and highs are separate. Also when turning on the brights the lows stay on which is also nice, although the HIDs almost make the high beams useless

Here you go:

 

[jhrrld]

How about a step-by-step guide - where'd you source stuff, associated costs, what did it take to assemble it, etc.?

I will work on getting this done

 

[jhrrld]

Costs/parts rundown

LS430 projectors and shroud $350 (bought from a mud member)

New Hella Gen 3 ballast with mounting system from hidplanet (can't remember how much) ~$200ish

(2)Philips 85122+ D2S bulbs from ebay $98.99

(2) TSX projectors: from ebay $50 (for lens swap)

Wire/relays/misc ~$100 Partsexpress.com and radioshack

Thermal epoxy for potting ballast $32.67 from here

Total spent probably close to $900 (I'm sure I'm leaving something out, but worth the investment). I spent the better part of 2 years collecting these parts.

 

[jhrrld]

Process

Sorry I did not take any pictures of this Also these steps are for a 2006 front end. Your mileage may vary with different model years.

1. Potted the ballast with thermal epoxy. This waterproofs the ballast while at the same time provides a way for the built up heat to escape. If a person was to simply seal up the breathing holes on a ballast to water proof them they would die quickly from overheating.
To do this I took the back cover off the ballast and filled it with epoxy taking special attention to let the epoxy bond to the back cover to facilitate thermal transfer. After this had dried I opened up the front cover and filled up the rest. I accomplished this in a couple of different pours as the top of the ballast has all the electronic parts exposed. It's important to make sure the epoxy fills every little gap as not to leave any trapped air pockets. On the last pour I made sure the epoxy bonded with the top cover as well. This is a very messy process, but well worth it in the end as it will extend the life of your ballasts. Quick note about this I would say I used 85% of the 450ML kit to pot the ballasts so there is quite a bit of space to fill.

2. Wiring harness (this was the easy part!) I followed this wiring diagram. Soldering and heat shrinking all connections. I cut apart one of the stock bulbs and used it to plug into the stock harness on the drivers side. Just left the passenger side unplugged. I will probably go back and tape or heat shrink the connector to keep it dry. I mounted the relay on the driver-side fender behind where the stock fuse box is. I can get pictures of the harness later if anyone is interested.

3. Remove headlights. This was pretty straightforward after doing it several times. First you have to remove the grill. Three Philips screws and one clip into each headlight housing. Next you have to remove the trim pieces under each headlight: one Phillips head and then the pop out with a bit of force. You have to loosen the bumper cover in order to gain access to one of the 10mm bolts holding the housing in. To do this remove the four clips under the grill and then the two 12mm bolts in each wheel well. Once this is done the bumper cover will slide forward enough to give you enough access to get at those bolts. Remove three other 10mm bolts holding the housing in place.

4. Disassemble the headlight housing: I preheated the oven to 200 degrees F. I found the correct combo for me was 17 minutes. This gets the glue hot enough to pull apart the housing fairly easily without melting anything else

I ended up striping one of the plastic nuts that allows horizontal adjustment on the passenger side. I was pissed to say the least, thought I was going to have to buy a whole new headlight, no telling on how long that would take to get! Fixed it by threading fishing line through the plastic nut. That's one hillbilly way to fix a metal screw that threads into a plastic nut

5. Retrofit the projectors! This is the fun part. Cut a big ass hole in the low beam reflector and get the projector mounted and level and all that crap. This took forever! Multiple times installing and uninstalling both headlights (while they were still not put back together, think reflector in housing without the plastic front attached). To mount the projector i used threaded rod from lowes. I tapped the holes on the projectors that hold the lense to the rest of the projector. I had each projector screwed to the housing with three different rods. Once I had got the vertical and horizontal and rotational settings perfect I used JBWeld Stik to make it permanent. I pretty much encapsulated the threaded rod washer and nut on the back side of the reflector. Those projectors aren't going anywhere! After that I trimmed the shrouds to fit onto the projector and was done!

6. Reassemble the headlight. I blew out all the dust from using the dremel tool with a quick blast from my air compressor. After that I wiped all the reflector surfaces down with a super soft cloth and mild detergent and water. I reattached the glass/plastic front after heating the glue up some with my heat gun. After the glass was pretty much back on I again stuck the entire housing the a 200 degree oven for 17 minutes. Once it was done I made sure and pressed the plastic onto the housing very well. There was more than enough glue left from opening them to seal the housing front perfectly.

7. I mounted the ballasts to the bottom of the headlight were it looks like a stock ballast would have been. I then sealed up the headlight using a very small piece of 3" PVC pipe that perfectly locks onto the housing around were the bulb protrudes. I then slipped a 3" rubber cover over the PVC pipe. I cut a small slit in the rubber cover for the ballast to connect to the bulb and then used silicone around the wire to the housing to make it water tight. I have yet to get any condensation in either headlight...

8. Time to aim them. I used the guide on HIDPlanet to aim the headlights. Still messing with this as I need to bring it up some more. Anyone with HIDs want to tell me how high up their cutoff is set following this guide at 25'????

Sorry for the long post. Let me know if you guys want any more details. I'll be happy to answer any questions.

 

[2000UZJ]

Do the ballasts or bulbs get hot?

 

[jhrrld]

Do the ballasts or bulbs get hot?

The ballast will get warm to the touch and not sure about the bulbs as I've never touched one I assume that will shorten the bulbs life like it does a halogen one.

 

[2000UZJ]

The ballast will get warm to the touch and not sure about the bulbs as I've never touched one I assume that will shorten the bulbs life like it does a halogen one.

I wouldn't want to find out...

 

[hoser]

For those doing the retrofit, here is an alternative location for the ballasts.

 

[hks3sgte]

Dammit! I wish I was crafty! This is one the best mods to do on any vehicle.

 

[AATLAS1X]

Can this be done on a '99?

Shane

Yes I'm stupid so had to ask