- Location
- United States
i'm selling a nearly complete hid retrofit project, i was working on, prior to striking a deer with my 04 v8 limited on the way back from an archery hunt. this project must be buttoned up, on the vehicle it's being installed on, before fully sealing the lights. $180 shipped. paypal or usps money order.
parts and materials:
amzn projector fog lights - for the housings, shrouds, and lenses
aluminum round bar, some aluminum for brackets, and some hardware
new morimoto mini 8.0 bi-xenon hid projectors (i filed and sanded the cutoff shield dead flat - for a fog light application - i blacked out the forward face of the projector with black insdustrial sharpie marker- does not flake off)
new morimoto xb h1 5000k hid bulbs - only took one out of the box to fit the grommet to the aluminum caps i made.
bolt on breather vents
new k&n ven breathers
the fog lights purchased used permaseal or something similar. the lenses did not want to be removed from the housings. this is why you see the housing flange pealed back. these can be cut off. they are not needed and this will not be seen on the vehicle. i left them in place so i would have something to clamp to when sealing the lenses. all the permaseal has been removed from the housings. when it comes to sealing these lenses, i do not believe butyl rubber is the right choice. i would use jb or marinetex (marinetex is easily sanded - this would be the preferred epoxy), and i would apply it only to the outside surface of the lens-housing junction. this would allow the removal of the lenses with a dremel tool. **pressing lenses into housings with butyl can also "twist" the housings and alter the aiming you achieved prior to sealing. since these don't have left/right adjustment, this is another reason i wouldn't bother with butyl.
fitting the projectors in the housings: using a dremel with a cut off wheel, i cut a section out of the bottom of the housings. removing this housing material allows the projector frame and solenoid to fit. i then cut a piece of aluminum flashing and jb welded this piece of flashing fog lights, resealing the housings. looks rough, but works. marinetex could have been sanded smooth.
i installed a bolt on vent breather in each housing and sealed with jb. there are two vent holes on the back of the housings (the chinese seals are a joke). i wouldn't seal these holes. i would install tubing over these holes in such a way to prevent water ingress and stuff the ends of the tubes with foam- to prevent dirt and bugs from getting inside.
i turned caps to accommodate the bulbs projecting rearward and the h1 wiring. i should have designed them differently. in hindsight, there was no reason to make them "two piece." so i would suggest using black rtv to seal the two pieces and cap-to-housing. when doing a bulb change, i would simply remove both pieces from the housing as a unit, after unscrewing the single hex nut at the bottom side of the caps. as you can see, i made adapters to install k&n breathers. these would need to be installed last. i'm not sure if these add anything to the fog lights. with the bolt on breathers and utilizing the housing's breathers, there's enough venting. so you could do away with these and simply seal up the caps. up to you.
i cut brackets out of aluminum, bolted and jb'd them to the projectors, drilled and tapped the brackets to accomodate the up/down adjustment screw. the up/down adj. screw is functional. when removing and installing the projector, go easy, there's only a few threads cut in aluminum. do not cross thread or force anything. thread the up/down adjustment bolt into the bracket to the approximate desired location before tightening the lower phillips screws.
the cutoff shields of the projectors have been filed flat and sanded to remove the steps for a fog light application. this was done correctly.
the two lower fog light housng bolts were used to mount the projector. you can aim the projectors left/right by placing washers behind these phillips screws. with the cutoff shields filed flat there's no steps to pair up. use the hotspots to aim. it also gives you the option to aim each projector outward a bit- the mini 8.0 beam pattern is already wide, so you may not want to do this as it will impact the potential down road performance.
level: it'll be close. i cannot say what will be the best solution to make the cutoff dead nuts. it may be near perfect from the start. maybe not. i'm unsure if there's adj. potential with the fog light's mounting bolts- to the bumper - or not. i hadn't yet removed my oem projectors and no longer have the vehicle. enlarging one lower projector mounting hole should afford you some adjustment. i would consider this a last resort.
you will want to perform the "high beam mod" to your fog lights so that triggering your high beams does not shut off the fog light ballasts. if you do this mod, you can run 35w hylux ballasts directly off your oem harness. i ran 9006 hid bulbs in my oem fog light projectors for years, run off the oem harness. no issues. of course you can run the ballasts from an aftermarket harness, and place the fogs on a separate switch. the mod varies with the trim level of your 4th gen. i do not know the procedures.
i opened up the fog light shrouds as clean as i could. it's not a "squared up" shroud, and it's one of the more difficult cuts i've personally dealt with retrofitting lights.
more pics to follow.
parts and materials:
amzn projector fog lights - for the housings, shrouds, and lenses
aluminum round bar, some aluminum for brackets, and some hardware
new morimoto mini 8.0 bi-xenon hid projectors (i filed and sanded the cutoff shield dead flat - for a fog light application - i blacked out the forward face of the projector with black insdustrial sharpie marker- does not flake off)
new morimoto xb h1 5000k hid bulbs - only took one out of the box to fit the grommet to the aluminum caps i made.
bolt on breather vents
new k&n ven breathers
the fog lights purchased used permaseal or something similar. the lenses did not want to be removed from the housings. this is why you see the housing flange pealed back. these can be cut off. they are not needed and this will not be seen on the vehicle. i left them in place so i would have something to clamp to when sealing the lenses. all the permaseal has been removed from the housings. when it comes to sealing these lenses, i do not believe butyl rubber is the right choice. i would use jb or marinetex (marinetex is easily sanded - this would be the preferred epoxy), and i would apply it only to the outside surface of the lens-housing junction. this would allow the removal of the lenses with a dremel tool. **pressing lenses into housings with butyl can also "twist" the housings and alter the aiming you achieved prior to sealing. since these don't have left/right adjustment, this is another reason i wouldn't bother with butyl.
fitting the projectors in the housings: using a dremel with a cut off wheel, i cut a section out of the bottom of the housings. removing this housing material allows the projector frame and solenoid to fit. i then cut a piece of aluminum flashing and jb welded this piece of flashing fog lights, resealing the housings. looks rough, but works. marinetex could have been sanded smooth.
i installed a bolt on vent breather in each housing and sealed with jb. there are two vent holes on the back of the housings (the chinese seals are a joke). i wouldn't seal these holes. i would install tubing over these holes in such a way to prevent water ingress and stuff the ends of the tubes with foam- to prevent dirt and bugs from getting inside.
i turned caps to accommodate the bulbs projecting rearward and the h1 wiring. i should have designed them differently. in hindsight, there was no reason to make them "two piece." so i would suggest using black rtv to seal the two pieces and cap-to-housing. when doing a bulb change, i would simply remove both pieces from the housing as a unit, after unscrewing the single hex nut at the bottom side of the caps. as you can see, i made adapters to install k&n breathers. these would need to be installed last. i'm not sure if these add anything to the fog lights. with the bolt on breathers and utilizing the housing's breathers, there's enough venting. so you could do away with these and simply seal up the caps. up to you.
i cut brackets out of aluminum, bolted and jb'd them to the projectors, drilled and tapped the brackets to accomodate the up/down adjustment screw. the up/down adj. screw is functional. when removing and installing the projector, go easy, there's only a few threads cut in aluminum. do not cross thread or force anything. thread the up/down adjustment bolt into the bracket to the approximate desired location before tightening the lower phillips screws.
the cutoff shields of the projectors have been filed flat and sanded to remove the steps for a fog light application. this was done correctly.
the two lower fog light housng bolts were used to mount the projector. you can aim the projectors left/right by placing washers behind these phillips screws. with the cutoff shields filed flat there's no steps to pair up. use the hotspots to aim. it also gives you the option to aim each projector outward a bit- the mini 8.0 beam pattern is already wide, so you may not want to do this as it will impact the potential down road performance.
level: it'll be close. i cannot say what will be the best solution to make the cutoff dead nuts. it may be near perfect from the start. maybe not. i'm unsure if there's adj. potential with the fog light's mounting bolts- to the bumper - or not. i hadn't yet removed my oem projectors and no longer have the vehicle. enlarging one lower projector mounting hole should afford you some adjustment. i would consider this a last resort.
you will want to perform the "high beam mod" to your fog lights so that triggering your high beams does not shut off the fog light ballasts. if you do this mod, you can run 35w hylux ballasts directly off your oem harness. i ran 9006 hid bulbs in my oem fog light projectors for years, run off the oem harness. no issues. of course you can run the ballasts from an aftermarket harness, and place the fogs on a separate switch. the mod varies with the trim level of your 4th gen. i do not know the procedures.
i opened up the fog light shrouds as clean as i could. it's not a "squared up" shroud, and it's one of the more difficult cuts i've personally dealt with retrofitting lights.
more pics to follow.
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