HID upgrade...the right way!

[D-BoB'91]

Well I finally decided to upgrade to HID. At first I was like everyone else and considered a cheap HID kit from flebay...then I got educated with hours of research over at hidplanet.com

I used OEM parts for reliability and longevity, and I decided to retrofit because of the output: pure white color, intensity, but most importantly...CUTOFF!

To be honest, this project was time consuming (50+ hours), expensive, and at times frustrating. But trust me, it was worth the end result. So be prepared to spend some time with it...don't rush it either, I ruined a set of headlight housings because I got in a hurry

To properly upgrade to HID you will need the following:
1) A set of headlight housings (obviously)- I found mine on eBay for ~$60
2) A Set of HID projectors- I used a set of TSX's from an Acura- $168
3) A set of HID xenon bulbs- I bought a pair on eBay for ~$70
4) A set of HID ballasts- Found a set on hidplanet for- $150
5) A wiring harness (optional)- Misc. wiring, connnectors, etc.~$50
Approximate total- $500 (This is a HIGH estimate depending on the good deals you can find)

Headlight housings (halogen or projector)
You need to find a set of housings that you can work with. It doesn't really matter if they are halogen or projector style. If you get a set of projector headlight housings it would probably save some time because it will already have a shroud built in...but you will still be replacing the cheap projector with a real one.

Here are the halogens I used ($60 on eBay)-





Projectors *edit
The projectors are the heart of the HID system. Without the proper optics, the light just scatters everywhere. All that light will do you no good if it's not focused where you need it, not to mention annoying and dangerous to everyone else on the road. Take some time to find a good set that have the look you want, but will also fit into the headlight housing that you are working with.

Try this link, they have several different projectors and some pics of their cutoff's. This one has all the dimensions you can think of for all the different projectors. It's best to get a rough estimate of how much room you have to work with inside the headlight so that you can get a projector that will fit easier...trust me, take some time to do this. There is nothing more frustrating than trying to fit an oversize projector into a small housing. It will save you time in the end.

From what I have researched and seen, the Honda S2000 projectors are the best out there. They are very hard to find though. There is also a Lexus model that has very good projectors, but again hard to find and expensive. I would probably put the TSX projectors next on the list. The good thing about them is the availability, quality, size, and very good output. That's why I went with them. Any projector from an OE equipped HID car (BMW, Audi, Acura, Mercedes, Honda, etc.) will work though. You can find plenty of variety on eBay.

In pieces-


Assembled-


Cutoff shield inside projector bowl-


*Color mod (optional)
Many projectors can be modified so that the cutoff line has more color to it. The TSX is one of the easiest methods to do so. It simply requires that the projector bowl be spaced away from the lens. For the TSX I just inserted 2 #8 flat washers on the bottom studs and not on the top.

Color mod...bottom of projector-


Closeup of the washers-


Result-

[D-BoB'91]

Bulbs and Ballasts
For bulbs and ballast I decided to go with a D2S system. It is important to make sure all of your HID components are compatible. There are several different systems out there. (If you buy a projecor that takes a D2S based bulb...buy a D2S bulb, and a ballast that will fit a D2S based bulb)
I chose the Phillips 85122+ bulb because the color(~4200K) and output(~3400 lumens). Plus these are the bulbs that are closest to the ones used in the stock TSX projector.

Phillips 85122+ bulbs- ($75 on eBay)



Denso ballasts from a Toyota
I picked these up on hidplanet as well for $150-




Wiring Harness
Finally, I would recommend making your own wiring harness. It's not that the stock wiring can't handle it, but if I ever sell the truck, trust me I am taking the lights with me. Therefore I do not want to ruin my stock wiring.
I bought a plug that fits the 9006 plug on the stock harness...


I used 2 relays...1 for the HID system, 1 for the 4-hi option (although I really doubt I will ever need the high beams).

Relay w/holder-



I used 16 gauge wire (anything below 14 gauge is overkill) and a 35 amp inline fuse holder. Lots of flex loom, solder, heatshrink tubing, and misc. connectors.


I used this wiring diagram found on the forums at hidplanet (minus the diode,plus the relay for the 4-hi)-


Here is the final product-



Installed below the driver side headlight
(BTW those are the stock headlights, I installed the harness so I could use the 4-hi until I got the retro done)-


Shrouds
Most HID equipped vehicles have a shroud or bezel that goes around the lens. This is purely cosmetic and has no effect on the output of light...most of them anyways. I decided to use a chrome 2" pipe flange that can be picked up at almost any local hardware store for a couple dollars (compared to $20+ for BMW,Audi,etc.). I have seen people use a variety of things for shrouds...be creative.

Pipe flange-




I decided to take off the raised sections with a dremel tool for a flusher mount-


Before-


After-


*Note: Do not attach the bezels to the projectors yet...the projectors need to be fitted into the housings first. I also had to trim them up a little to get them to fit.

[neevnav]

This is definately the way I want to go.

[D-BoB'91]

Now for the retrofit...
First I took the front lens off the housings. To do this I pre-heated the oven to ~300 degrees. Once it reached that temp. I shut it off and stuck my headlights in there for roughly 10 minutes. This made the glue very soft and easy to pull the lens right off.

Lens removed-




Next you have to cut a hole in the back of the headlight housing on the low beam side. I just started with the raised circle that held the bulb in place.



This is where I messed up my first set of headlights. TAKE YOUR TIME and start off small then trim away a little bit at a time. Once the projector lens fits in from the back, it's time to mount them.

[1BadZ71Tahoe]

Subscribed. Wow.

- B

[99gixxer]

wow thats alot of work. nice job. i really want hids but have wayyy too many other projects at the time. i do get really jealous when i pass the newer acuras & such at night.

[D-BoB'91]

Unfortunately I don't have more photos showing how I mounted the projectors to the housings , but to give you an idea...I sat the projector in the headlight housing from the back and made sure it was centered. Use the bolt holes to mark the locations to drill the holes.

A few things you should consider...
Everything needs to be solid, but you also need room to adjust things. You need to be able to adjust the projector horizontally, vertically, and rotationally (due to the straight cutoff).
*It is important to get the projector mostly aimed in the mounting process, then you can use the OE adjustments of the headlights for fine tuning.
You also need to address clearance of the retrofit for re-install into the truck. Lucky for us, we have a ton of room in the engine compartment.

Here are the pics of the brackets that hold the headlight housing to the radiator support-




Then you can mount the bracket (without headlight housing) to the radiator support and use it for reference to trim the support.-


Trimmed-





That's it for now... I will try to finish this thread up soon
Just ask if anything needs to be any clarified.

[99gixxer]

just curious but what made you not buy one of the prefabbed kits? from pics ive seen they seem to be just as good as oem's. & the guy that sells them on the site seems to have some nice kits.

[D-BoB'91]

Originally Posted by 99gixxer

just curious but what made you not buy one of the prefabbed kits? from pics ive seen they seem to be just as good as oem's. & the guy that sells them on the site seems to have some nice kits.

Most kits come from places that don't have high quality control standards...therefore I have seen several guys' kits fail prematurely. Also, the prefabbed kits do not come with the most important piece of hardware...the projector.
I assume you could use a "kit" with a projector, but think about it...these high end car manufacturers pay engineers good money to develop components that they can trust to put into production on a million cars. I'm sure their research & development departments are a bit more reputable than some "kit" makers'...if they even have one.

I don't know if you would call it peace of mind, but the price of a kit versus the price of piecing together OE components isn't that big. It mostly depends on what kit you are comparing it to, of course. Some people have success with kits. To each his own I guess.

[99gixxer]

that cleared things up a bit. btw nice how-to. hopefully i can do this soon. got any pics of them on the truck & at night?

[D-BoB'91]

Originally Posted by 99gixxer

that cleared things up a bit. btw nice how-to. hopefully i can do this soon. got any pics of them on the truck & at night?

Thanks, glad to help. I have shots of them all finished up and lit up at night...but you'll have to wait.
I'm trying to post things in order. I should be finishing this thread up before too long, but here is a teaser shot-

[hornsfan10609]

That's cool man, you did your homework and did it the right way. My friend bought some on eBay for 100 bucks and they have worked fine for the past couple months, and they're bright as hell. And once he sells his car he'll probably give me his old kit, so when I do a grille swap, i'll put in that HID kit.

[g0dl355]

nice to finally see hids done right and not some jackass buying the bulbs and sticking them in half assed

would you mind adding to your first post or somewhere the total cost for everything? so I or anyone else that wants to do this has a base price to go off of?

[SLakin]

Originally Posted by g0dl355

nice to finally see hids done right and not some jackass buying the bulbs and sticking them in half assed

WERD to the billionth-power. Even the pictures of the plug'n'play kits in cars and trucks blind me.

HUGE PROPs to you D-Bob for taking the time to do a write up. I was going to do a write-up but it didn't seem like many people would care on here since most go the cheap route

[D-BoB'91]

Originally Posted by SLakin

WERD to the billionth-power. Even the pictures of the plug'n'play kits in cars and trucks blind me.

HUGE PROPs to you D-Bob for taking the time to do a write up. I was going to do a write-up but it didn't seem like many people would care on here since most go the cheap route

Thanks guys, hopefully by shedding some light on the topic (no pun intended) more people will realize that it's not impossible to do a retro...especially when you can have sexy results like mine

But it really does look much better with projectors & 4300k bulbs vs. no projectors & 10,000K bulbs. The funny thing is, people buy the HID "kit" to have more light output, when in reality these rediculously high valued K colors that the "kits" come with actually put out less light than stock halogens. Complete waste of money! But you can't argue with 'em

[neevnav]

So when do we get to see the final result pics?!? I'm definately going to start budgeting to do a retrofit like this.

[D-BoB'91]

Originally Posted by neevnav

So when do we get to see the final result pics?!? I'm definately going to start budgeting to do a retrofit like this.

I'll try to get it finished up tonight or tomorrow...stay tuned.

[D-BoB'91]

I'm trying to get this thing done...

Here is a crappy shot of the projector in the headlight housing without the bezel installed-



With the bezel-


You can see the bolts that I used to install the projector...I'm not too thrilled about how that looks but oh well. This is where a projector style headlight with the built in bezel would work well.




When I got to this point I couldn't wait to see them on the truck. So here are a few shots of the driver side HID vs. the pass. side halogen-






This is the driver side HID against the house at dusk-
You can kind of see the pass. side halogen down in the corner


Against a building at dark...
Driver HID and pass. halogen down in the corner-


It's obviously too high in this pic. and also inward too much
That dark shadow on the ground is annoying...but you can't see it from the driver seat because it's on the ground right in front of the truck-





Next I will seal this one up and make it as waterproof as possible. Then I will modify a tackle box to keep the ballasts from getting wet too.

[hca]

Hey man, love this thread!! I was wondering if it is possible someone to skip the projectors and just run the bulbs and ballasts, or do the bulbs (D2S in your case) actually need to be mounted in the projectors? Thanks for posting this, it actually gave me an understanding on what is involved in HID upgrades.

[D-BoB'91]

Originally Posted by hca

Hey man, love this thread!! I was wondering if it is possible someone to skip the projectors and just run the bulbs and ballasts, or do the bulbs (D2S in your case) actually need to be mounted in the projectors? Thanks for posting this, it actually gave me an understanding on what is involved in HID upgrades.

I believe you are missing the whole point of this thread...NOT to half a** an HID upgrade.
Most people elect to use JUST bulbs & ballasts. They stick them in a halogen housing ("projector headlights" don't help either) and think they have upgraded to HID. That's why those damn "kits" are so popular, they are plug 'n' play. They take the bulb and re-base it so you can stick it in your headlight without the use of a projector. But HID's are so bright that without the projector you get that tacky, blinding glare.

The whole idea of HID lighting is to have an immense amount of light, focused where you need it. Without the projector, all you have is an immense amount of light, scattered everywhere...including the eyes of oncoming traffic. It looks like you are driving around with your high beams on —really, really, bright high beams— on all the time.