Morimoto Elite HID System and LED Fogs for your '16+ Tacoma

There is absolutely nothing wrong with the morimoto bulbs. On the smooth road they are fine but lets say you drive over a set of train tracks they just wiggle a little and go back to normal as soon as you are back on smooth pavement. Absolutely nothing to worry about, they are one hell of a upgrade from stock halogen bulbs any-day!!!!

 

Why not reuse the OEM gaskets off the original bulbs? When my kit comes in I'll see if that is a viable option.

 

Already Did that same thing. Still moves. It's probably the bulb

 

Been lurking for about 6 months on this forum (I tend to be more of a lurker/learner than a contributor, as I'm not that chatty of a person), and after receiving possibly some of the worst customer service I have ever received from an online vendor "The Retrofit Source". And seeing posts like the one from Corey I feel that it was time for me to chime in some.

Please don't take this personal Corey, as I feel you are a Godsend with all of the information you happily share with your fellow forum members, and you've helped me just by reading some of your many posts.

But your constant praise of "The Retrofit Source" and your write up (much appreciated) on installing a set of fog lights (my truck being like yours and foglightless) were 2 of the reasons I bit the bullet when "The Retrofit Source" had their recent 26% off sale, I purchased the full set of lights (Low/High/Fog). And although the fog lights have been fine, I certainly can't say the same for the Low or High Beams.

NOW, where you live out in PA your roads may be a little smother than over here where I live in Jersey, but where I live (including the 4 mile road I live on) the roads are full of LITTLE imperfections (filled potholes /cracks and the like).

Which makes driving with this set of headlights on every road around me for miles, like watching a bright white POGO stick bouncing ahead of you on the road (and thats not even the worst issue I have with these lights).
I don't have to drive over any RAILROAD tracks or huge POTHOLES to make these lights bounce. They constantly bounce over every bump big or small.

Now if you are happy paying $150 for a set of lights just to watch them bounce around every time you drive over a bump then I say "Go for it". But I'm not.

Is everybody having this issue (possibly not, depending on how the roads are around where you live and drive), but its OBVIOUSLY an issue, as plenty of people including me now, on this thread, and the original thread on the "Group Buy" forum have chimed in about it. If you are like me, and expect the lights to stay as firm in the housings as the $10 bulbs that were originally in there than I say "Look elsewhere for your lights".

I was lucky enough to go for a ride last night with a friend who owns a GoPro (which I do not) in my truck with the headlights on, and took a nice video of this issue and other issues I have with these lights, so that other potential buyers can see for themselves if they are willing to spend the money and possibly experience the issues.

My friend is editing the video, and then I have to create an account on YouTube (again I'm more the lurker type) to post it. So it may not be until the weekend until that happens.

Again I apologize Corey as this is not an attack on you (I'd buy you a couple of beers if I every ran into you just for your fog light help). But you and other forum members who keep coming on here and saying its not an issue are just flat out wrong.

And you and other forum members who keep touting "The Retrofit Source's" great customer service and products, are not dealing with the aggravation that I have been dealing with them for over the past month.

Thanks

 

Maybe someone with the Morimoto HID's needs to pull out a bulb an measure the O-ring's. It seems to me that the O-rings these bulbs come with are for a wide variety of vehicles not vehicle specific.

Measure the O-ring with a set of calipers then buy some thicker ones to test with, report back.

McMaster Carr has a huge variety of O-rings on their site, i'm sure you can find whats missing in there.

http://www.mcmaster.com/#o-rings/=10nmdh8

 

I totally hear you man, it is an issue but I only spent $40 on the bulbs and i used my almost brand new DDM ballasts for them. I also purchased a $150 set of LMZ High beams from VLED's and they are even brighter than the retrofit led high beams, they are 4500 lumen! I totally agree its a issue that needs fixed cause i just purchased a kit for my uncles 2015 GMC All Terrain and installed them about a week ago and there is no shaking like my Tacoma what so ever. So surprisingly is just the Tacoma bulb.....???? Let me know when you post that video and maybe we can get @TRSAndrew to look at it. I don't have a go pro or i would have done the same, maybe i can try to borrow my buddies and get a video myself. (BTW if I ever do run into ya I'll take ya up on that beer offer!!!)

I appreciate the compliments man, I'm here to help people and that's what I like to do!!!

 

Hell let me tell u what between the retro fit source XB LED fogs and my 600 lumen switchbacks in my turn signals I don't even need the low beams to drive at night. Their just a added bonus lol!

 

You guys are really making me reconsider making this purchase. I was holding off until the 1st of the month but I live out in the mountains on a country road FULL of imperfections. I can't have lights moving around on me when I'm trying to look out for wild life. Looking forward to the GoPro video and would also like to hear a reply from TRS.

 

Finally someone gets me. The roads I drive on is bumpy cuz it's not perfect, but these lights bounce around. And still no fix or what so ever. Cheers to @NewJerseyTacoma!! Let's see what trs have to say. I've noticed mine on day 1 in October when I got the 2016 taco. But these trs guys say they'll get back to me and it's been very quiet since....

 

I will update this thread when I get the video uploaded, but I am also waiting until my bigger issue with these headlights is resolved with "The Retrofit Source" to do that.

Although the bouncing issue is certainly annoying, and in my opinion totally unacceptable for a $150 pair of headlights, you can live with it. And in the near future, there might possibly be a fix.

The other problem I am experiencing with these headlights makes them totally unusable.

"The Retrofit Source" first response to my problem was to mail out a solution/fix.

When those parts did not even fit, they sent me out another solution/fix.

When that solution/fix fit, but did nothing to alleviate the problem their response was "Oh yeah you are right, the fix we sent out wont fix your problem" WHAT???? BUT you can spend another $100 to POSSIBLY fix the problem.
And THAT'S our solution.

Also even though I informed them of my problem within a week or two of receiving the lights (it took me that long to get the time to install them) and after waiting more than a week to receive the first incorrect fix, and then a week to receive the second fix that wouldn't fix them. I was told OPPPSSS TOO BAD, you can't return the unusable product NOW as its past the 45 day RETURN PERIOD.

Meanwhile, constantly being told, that according to the tacomaworld forum, that I was the only one experiencing this problem.

I'll say that if you put "Morrimoto HID (and my problem)" into Google you get page after page of results of people on other forums experiencing the same problem I am having.

I make this problem "ambiguous", as I am in dispute over it currently.

My only recourse then was to dispute the charge.

SURPRISE! SURPRISE! SURPRISE! Now I get an email that I can return them for a refund.

BUT in order to do that I have to agree to their return policy, AND pay for return shipping.

NO! NO! NO! NO!

A little about me. I was a Mechanic for 16 years. Now I am a technician working on medical equipment in house for my company. I fix electrical modules that get installed to our machines to make them run as they should. Our machines are used in this country and other countries where it has been approved.

My company has won THE HIGHEST Customer Service award you can win in our industry, for I don't even remember how many years running.

WHY? Because our customer service policy is this.

We sell you a machine.

It doesn't work? We send a field technician to your location, at our cost for as long as it takes, no matter where that might be, to figure out the problem.

He can't fix it? You get another brand new machine, until you get one that works as it should.

He can fix it, but you'r not happy with it, or perhaps leary of it because of the immediate problem.

NO PROBLEM, where can we send you a check for a COMPLETE REFUND, and when can we send a truck to pick up the machine ON OUR DIME.

Sorry about the experience, I hope we can do business in the future.

Let me paraphrase this by saying that the later solution rarely happens. Not because we never have problems, of course we have problems.

BUT because we go above and beyond whats to be expected to get the problem resolved/fixed in the first place, that most customers soon realize that this is the same customer service they will always receive from us.

That is why when our customers are polled by our industry we get the HIGHEST customer service rating available.

Now you might say? Is that abnormal customer service? NO

Its pretty much the same customer service you'll get from reputable companies like AMAZON.

Like many I've been an Amazon customer for years, and of course had some issues from time to time. NEVER ONCE was I treated like the treatment I have received from "The Retrofit Source".

When the time comes I will upload the video with the bouncing issue and my other bigger issue and again you can make the decision yourself whether these issues are acceptable to you and should be expected from a $150 set of headlights.

Again, I'm mostly a LURKER, and have learned and will learn a lot hopefully on this forum. BUT these issues and the way "The Retrofit Source" have dealt with them have totally pissed me off, and forced me to join.

Also, coming from the company I work for, with our customer service policy, and the customer service I receive any time I have an issue with Amazon, the customer service I have experienced with "The Retrofit Source" has been totally unacceptable.

Sorry and thanks for reading, but as you might be able to tell, I'm not happy with the issues I am experiencing with these headlights, or "The Retrofit Source".

Thanks

 

the OEM gaskets are stiffer, but they are also a bit shorter than the ones come from the HID kits

 

I too am a 10 year veteran of a company that is centered around customer obsession. You guys know it here pretty well. I hold that bar to companies I deal with but I try to be understanding. To be fair, my one email correspondence with TRS met that bar and I still respect the company, which is why this is concerning. Of course it's your word here versus what may have actually happened, the devil is often in the details. All I care about is a product that works and a company that stands behind it. I won't pass judgement just yet.

 

Today I made a new bracket for my relay and ballast. I like it more than have it by the radiator.

 

That's a shame. My buddy who has a 2015 WRX stacked his OEM gasket on top of the supplied one and that stopped the bounce but I'm not sure that's the best option for me. My kit is still inbound so I may let it sit until a solution can be had.

 

I think that people notice the bounce more because with the HID kits, it's a lots brighter, so you can see the cut off line much better then the OEM bulbs. So every time the truck bounces, you notice the lights bounce more. I might be wrong, but that's what I think.

 

Exactly why I ALWAYS do all business/problems/experiences in writing. I have everything that I have written above in writing via emails between me and "The Retrofit Source".

I know there have been members that have come here and bashed other members for expressing their dissatisfaction with these headlights and "Why didnt you pick up the phone and call them".

NO! NO! NO! NO!

Email them.

Get it in writing. I have everything I mentioned above in writing.

That way its not your word against theirs.......its right there in the EMAILS and their RETURN POLICY which they want me to agree to before I return the items.

They sent me a link to click on to return the product, and the first thing that you have to agree on before you can continue is their return policy. When I emailed them back about where I could find the return label for the defective product I have yet to hear anything back. Hence here I am, and this is also not my style as I to like to give someone the best chance to resolve my problem.

But when I have to DISPUTE a charge for a defective product, THAT is not CUSTOMER SERVICE.

Again, I'm the Lurker type. I read and learn and search, and am happy with being just that. And would have probably been that on this forum (Lurker) for years if it weren't for this experience.

Thanks

 

I don't think you can stack the gasket on this bulb. It has a groove for the gasket, won't fit two gaskets in the groove.

 

Everyone stay calm-- There is a potential fix in the works.

There will be more on that later. Just hang tight.

 

I hope so, my wallet is getting ready to burst...