Are there any other suppliers for parts (ballasts, lights, & harnesses) that will work with these retrofits other than theretrofitsource? The reason I ask is because I've had 3 sets of these lights, 2 had quad-xenon's and one dual xenon's. Every single set has had issues with the lights intermittently working after 3-4 months of use... I only drive approximately 8,500 miles per year, so I don't drive much... in other words, very very little use and having issues. I used dielectric grease with all my connections. The ballasts are all mounted upwards so water can't intrude into the connections. The harnesses are mounted upwards as well. I'd really like to try a different supplier if at all possible.
LX470 HID RETROFIT PROJECTOR BRACKET (2 Viewers)
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Products I’m having issues with:
Lowbeams: D2S 4.0: Part #: Unknown
Ballasts: Amp: 50W XB55: Part #: BL24
Igniters: AMP: XB Igniter: Part #: BL30
Harness: HD RELAY: 9006: Part #: H10
All of the above items were purchased from Luke111.
Below products that I purchased directly from TRS for troubleshooting:
Ballasts: Amp: 50W XB55: Part #: BL24
Igniters: AMP: XB Igniter: Part #: BL30
Harness: HD RELAY: 9006: Part #: H10
Anti-Flicker Capacitor Link: Part #: H300
Background info:
I purchased this set of headlights on 11/17/2021. When I originally got them, they fully functioned as they were supposed to. I have put approximately 9,320 miles on my vehicle since the headlights were installed. The bulk of the driving was during daylight, so these headlights have very little use on them.
I installed the headlights myself. I grew up around R/C cars that all run off of D/C power. I know how to soldier connections, test for continuity, check voltages, etc...
I installed all of the connections with these headlights with di-electric grease.
Description of Problem:
The headlights will not always power on. Usually, one side will power on immediately and then the other side will power on approximately 20 minutes later. When the issues began occurring, it started by the alternate side powering on 5 or 10 seconds after turning my headlights on. Then it went to 1-2 minutes. Then 5-10 minutes, and now it’s 20 minutes.
Steps I’ve taken to troubleshoot:
1. I disconnected the OEM to Harness and confirmed I was receiving 12volts from the OEM connection.
2. I disconnected the driver side and passenger side inputs to the ballasts and confirmed I was getting 12v from the harness.
3. I installed a 120VAC power supply that outputs 12VDC (going forward, I will refer to this power supply as a “PSU”) directly to the harness where the OEM input is supposed to plug-in. Both headlights would not fully turn on at the same time.
4. I installed the PSU directly to the ballast on the driver side and the light turned on 100% of the time.
5. I installed the PSU directly to the ballast on the passenger side and the light turned on 100% of the time.
6. At this point, I determined I had a faulty relay harness. I swapped out the internal relay parts with new relays I had from another relay harness. This did not fix my issue.
7. I checked and confirmed my battery connections from my wiring harness to the battery of my vehicle were snug and tight.
8. I tried installing the Anti-Flicker Capacitor between the OEM input and the relay harness, but that didn’t help anything.
At this point, I don’t know what further steps to take. I’d like to think the issue is my relay harness, but since it outputs 12VDC 100% of the time when I test it with my volt meter and since I tried two different sets of relays, I don’t see how this is the issue... unless it’s not capable of delivering the amperage required by the headlights? In other words, maybe there’s some voltage drop due to the relay being too weak for this system? I also don’t see how it could be the ballasts or igniter's fault given that 100% of the time I turned the power on and off with my PSU that the lights turned on and off as they were designed to.
Any ideas?
Lowbeams: D2S 4.0: Part #: Unknown
Ballasts: Amp: 50W XB55: Part #: BL24
Igniters: AMP: XB Igniter: Part #: BL30
Harness: HD RELAY: 9006: Part #: H10
All of the above items were purchased from Luke111.
Below products that I purchased directly from TRS for troubleshooting:
Ballasts: Amp: 50W XB55: Part #: BL24
Igniters: AMP: XB Igniter: Part #: BL30
Harness: HD RELAY: 9006: Part #: H10
Anti-Flicker Capacitor Link: Part #: H300
Background info:
I purchased this set of headlights on 11/17/2021. When I originally got them, they fully functioned as they were supposed to. I have put approximately 9,320 miles on my vehicle since the headlights were installed. The bulk of the driving was during daylight, so these headlights have very little use on them.
I installed the headlights myself. I grew up around R/C cars that all run off of D/C power. I know how to soldier connections, test for continuity, check voltages, etc...
I installed all of the connections with these headlights with di-electric grease.
Description of Problem:
The headlights will not always power on. Usually, one side will power on immediately and then the other side will power on approximately 20 minutes later. When the issues began occurring, it started by the alternate side powering on 5 or 10 seconds after turning my headlights on. Then it went to 1-2 minutes. Then 5-10 minutes, and now it’s 20 minutes.
Steps I’ve taken to troubleshoot:
1. I disconnected the OEM to Harness and confirmed I was receiving 12volts from the OEM connection.
2. I disconnected the driver side and passenger side inputs to the ballasts and confirmed I was getting 12v from the harness.
3. I installed a 120VAC power supply that outputs 12VDC (going forward, I will refer to this power supply as a “PSU”) directly to the harness where the OEM input is supposed to plug-in. Both headlights would not fully turn on at the same time.
4. I installed the PSU directly to the ballast on the driver side and the light turned on 100% of the time.
5. I installed the PSU directly to the ballast on the passenger side and the light turned on 100% of the time.
6. At this point, I determined I had a faulty relay harness. I swapped out the internal relay parts with new relays I had from another relay harness. This did not fix my issue.
7. I checked and confirmed my battery connections from my wiring harness to the battery of my vehicle were snug and tight.
8. I tried installing the Anti-Flicker Capacitor between the OEM input and the relay harness, but that didn’t help anything.
At this point, I don’t know what further steps to take. I’d like to think the issue is my relay harness, but since it outputs 12VDC 100% of the time when I test it with my volt meter and since I tried two different sets of relays, I don’t see how this is the issue... unless it’s not capable of delivering the amperage required by the headlights? In other words, maybe there’s some voltage drop due to the relay being too weak for this system? I also don’t see how it could be the ballasts or igniter's fault given that 100% of the time I turned the power on and off with my PSU that the lights turned on and off as they were designed to.
Any ideas?
Have you reached out to Luke (Lou)? He is pretty good at diagnosing these. He helped me with my issues.
Not sure if this will help or not, but I had a similar issue. I sold my LX about a year ago, but I had the headlights (bought full plug and play units from Luke111) for a few years before selling. I started having a similar issue after a year or so where the passenger side headlight would not fire up. I never waited long enough to find out if it would eventually fire up after x number of minutes. Usually a few on/off cycles separated by a few seconds did the trick. I did a lot of the same troubleshooting you did and ultimately what fixed the issue was a move to 35W ballasts. By that point, it had been long enough since I bought the lights that I just got new ballasts from retrofit source and installed them. From that point on, I never had an issue again. It's just one data point, but the issue was similar, so it could be something to consider trying. There was marginally less light output, but they were still far superior to just about anything else out there.
Good luck!
I have the same issue as you, but I have 35w ballasts already. I replaced the harness with the one made by @jerryb but it didnt help with having issues of one of the lights not always firing up. I also had issues with the high beams getting stuck out. The shutter would not drop and would seem to get hung up internally or there was an issue with the solenoid and it wouldn't drop. Bench testing before building and with a known 12v source would cause the shutter to work properly, but once in the truck it would get stuck. I have a feeling I need new ballasts too.
It still seems to me that if bench testing works through the ballasts, that it's the relay harness that's at fault for not being capable of handling the load these ballasts/lights put on them. One thing I didn't test was unplugging one ballast from the harness and testing to see if the one plugged in fires 100% of the time then. If that's the case, I feel like it confirms my suspicion of it being the harness that's too weak for the system. I'm going to call Lou now and maybe he'll have something to add. I'll update you guys if/when I figure this out.
without reading the posts above
bench testing with shutters, bulbs, and ballasts with a standalone source doesn't exactly mimic the car environment. Testing a shutter with two wires and a 9 volt is a good exercise but once in the car that's all it was.
The high beam splitter connection at the car end and the connection at the shutter are culprits. Ignition cords are something I don't trust either.
surge has been proven on the 35 XBs. Any relay harness sent out by me has been tested, made to withstand 55wattX2+surge, I think 10 feet travel and <14vdc.
The only thing that would happen is the 15amp fuse blows on the BAT+ leg.
Splitters on ebay and amazon cost about 5 cents each to buy in bulk, they are all the same.
If I made a pair of splitters it costs about 45$.
Ignition cords are dirt cheap on ali. The best connection to theHID element are the round pink ones on ali, or ebay if you find them. AMP only though.
They have the best socket connection to the element.
The fancy square aluminum flashing, anything with cheap locking tabs at the element will be garbage and cost too much.
Making those is out of my league. There can easily be a loose connection at the locking tab, vibration etc.
You need clean connections to the ballasts, the ignition cord at the ballast, and the HID element.
The battery, relay, trigger and output leads are easy to test.
after reading the above posts.
thex2, did you take apart the relay harness. Are the grounds and output to ballast leads joined, ground good I assume since what you said above.
Do you want to potentially put 140+- watts through that joined connection on a sub 18gauge wire? I started out with a ten amp fuse in relay harnesses, fine for 35 watt ballasts. Mapped the wire and went with 15 amp for 55watt downward compatible.
A mod deleted my HID relay thread, I don't know why. Probably because I quit paying the 10 dollar a month fee for the red ribbon. There was pretty good info there.
if you do mess around and use questionable relays and wire for long enough I think the evidence is clear that ballasts suffer.
FLickering the hid element a ton of times is bad also. Those extra sells- capacitors people sell do not help the LC LX.
I just looked at trs site again , the have the pink 90 degree cords for 17$ pair. Worth it for shipping time, but they're 2$ or so from china.
Do not buy the DIY relay they sell. IT's a copy of delphi components which can be bought for slightly more that they sell, maybe 10 dollars, terminals, housing hella, song chuan relay etc.
IF the input to ballast is good at the non lighted element (with other side lighted) then I'd assume ballast output- ignition cord/AMP junction. - then element.
IF all that's good I'd go backwards toward the battery, split the sheathing off the relay harness and have a look, swap relays, get a better ground, ground your ballasts individually, swap ballasts/cords around see if the fault follows.
Maybe I wrote too much. Don't mean to be master of the obvious to anyone explicitly. There's a lot of that info gone from the relay thread.
this is the only place I'd buy a relay kit from from that I know of, won't be to custom length, But I know these people. My personal stuff is packed up to move, other wise I could send you whatever. 170$ is ok money, not great. People would be well over that if they bought individual components to make one.
all that to say, if you don't start at the beginning with reliable power supply and grounds, everything else won't matter.
ceautoelectricsupply.com/h4-sealed-beam-headlight-relay-kits/
bench testing with shutters, bulbs, and ballasts with a standalone source doesn't exactly mimic the car environment. Testing a shutter with two wires and a 9 volt is a good exercise but once in the car that's all it was.
The high beam splitter connection at the car end and the connection at the shutter are culprits. Ignition cords are something I don't trust either.
surge has been proven on the 35 XBs. Any relay harness sent out by me has been tested, made to withstand 55wattX2+surge, I think 10 feet travel and <14vdc.
The only thing that would happen is the 15amp fuse blows on the BAT+ leg.
Splitters on ebay and amazon cost about 5 cents each to buy in bulk, they are all the same.
If I made a pair of splitters it costs about 45$.
Ignition cords are dirt cheap on ali. The best connection to theHID element are the round pink ones on ali, or ebay if you find them. AMP only though.
They have the best socket connection to the element.
The fancy square aluminum flashing, anything with cheap locking tabs at the element will be garbage and cost too much.
Making those is out of my league. There can easily be a loose connection at the locking tab, vibration etc.
You need clean connections to the ballasts, the ignition cord at the ballast, and the HID element.
The battery, relay, trigger and output leads are easy to test.
after reading the above posts.
thex2, did you take apart the relay harness. Are the grounds and output to ballast leads joined, ground good I assume since what you said above.
Do you want to potentially put 140+- watts through that joined connection on a sub 18gauge wire? I started out with a ten amp fuse in relay harnesses, fine for 35 watt ballasts. Mapped the wire and went with 15 amp for 55watt downward compatible.
A mod deleted my HID relay thread, I don't know why. Probably because I quit paying the 10 dollar a month fee for the red ribbon. There was pretty good info there.
if you do mess around and use questionable relays and wire for long enough I think the evidence is clear that ballasts suffer.
FLickering the hid element a ton of times is bad also. Those extra sells- capacitors people sell do not help the LC LX.
I just looked at trs site again , the have the pink 90 degree cords for 17$ pair. Worth it for shipping time, but they're 2$ or so from china.
Do not buy the DIY relay they sell. IT's a copy of delphi components which can be bought for slightly more that they sell, maybe 10 dollars, terminals, housing hella, song chuan relay etc.
IF the input to ballast is good at the non lighted element (with other side lighted) then I'd assume ballast output- ignition cord/AMP junction. - then element.
IF all that's good I'd go backwards toward the battery, split the sheathing off the relay harness and have a look, swap relays, get a better ground, ground your ballasts individually, swap ballasts/cords around see if the fault follows.
Maybe I wrote too much. Don't mean to be master of the obvious to anyone explicitly. There's a lot of that info gone from the relay thread.
this is the only place I'd buy a relay kit from from that I know of, won't be to custom length, But I know these people. My personal stuff is packed up to move, other wise I could send you whatever. 170$ is ok money, not great. People would be well over that if they bought individual components to make one.
all that to say, if you don't start at the beginning with reliable power supply and grounds, everything else won't matter.
ceautoelectricsupply.com/h4-sealed-beam-headlight-relay-kits/
I spoke to Lou and he confirmed what my suspicion was, which is that the harness sold by TRS was bad. I originally only swapped the relays when troubleshooting and that didn't fix the problem. Once Lou told me to swap the harness out, both lights fired up. He mentioned that you sell a heavy-duty relay harness that's capable of handling what these lights need. If that's true, I'd like to purchase 2x of them from you and possibly 3x. My dad's LX has quad-xenon's and I forget on whether he has two relay harnesses or one. I believe he has D2S 4.0's for the lowbeam slots and Mini-Morimoto's for the highbeam slots. I'll talk to Lou and confirm, but just curious if you still sell relay harnesses?
Also, thank you for your detailed explanation. We all appreciate your continued efforts to spread your knowledge on this matter.
Luke111
Supporting Vendor
- Thread starter
- #892
I have a new HID retrofit kit coming out for those not comfortable doing a full retrofit. The kit will include a pair of new OEM headlights with the Morimoto Macro D2S projector installed. The only thing remaining would be to install them in your truck for a quick alignment, remove and seal. The channels for the new sealant will be clear of old sealant along with the edges of the lenses. The Marco D2S opens up the full menu of bulbs, Osram (OEM quality), Philips and Morimoto. The Marco has a slightly better output than the Mini H1 when tested with a Lux meter and does not require opening up the shroud as it’s 2.5 inches in diameter. I sold my LX which I used to align the lights I built and think this will be a good option moving forward. It will speed up turn around time and be slightly less expensive. I will have pricing setup shortly. Feel free the contact me for detail questions.
703-371-8494
Lou
703-371-8494
Lou
Last edited:
LCT
SILVER Star
Nice good for you I love my retrofit kit I got through you favorite upgrade besides my drawers
Maybe not the place to ask, but does anyone know of a similar product available for 06/07 Land Cruisers? This looks like exactly what I need...
You mean a plug and play headlight assembly product with top of the line retrofitted aftermarket projectors? Or just the bracket that you’re looking for?
Yeah know that for the LC it’s a straight forward install using the threaded shaft of the am projector that’s why I was asking the op.
I'm not sure to be honest. I mean I'd love plug and play, but to be completely honest I'm choking a bit on the $2K+ price on the lightwerkz product. Not saying it's not worth wit, but I guess I don't have it like that. I'm a reasonably competent wrench, but I haven't ever tackled a retrofit before, so I'm trying hard to research what my options are. I saw the other posts above also and now note that a bracket isn't required and that it is "straightforward" to retrofit the LC lights - that's great to hear, so I'm interested to learn more.
If either of you are willing to answer a few questions I have, I'd be super grateful - I think I may try to tackle this myself, but I do want to make sure I have everything needed on hand so that I don't have tons of downtime with my headlights apart while I wait on more parts. Hope this makes sense - thanks for all of the replies!
