Projector retrofits worth it or put the $$ into suspension?

eBay 30$ projector retrofit. Whole setup minus housings. Under 100$

 

Well I just ordered up all the stuff to do the Morimoto retrofit, but I realized the MLED 2.0 just came out and the beam pattern looks very similar to the D2S 5.0, whereas the original MLED had a really narrow pattern. So I went MLED 2.0 instead of D2S so I don't have as much wiring hanging out in the engine bay. Hopefully the output looks as good in person as in videos!

 

I think I'm going to have to figure out how to put the Panamera Switchback shrouds on a switch or something so I can change the color at will.

 

@Ccrames2018 Great choice on the setup!! Those new MLED 2.0's actually outperform the D2S 5.0. The G5-BRT outperform the MLED 2.0, but only by a narrow margin.

The switchback in the shroud is a little tricky on our trucks. If I recall on your earlier 2nd gen (similar to the 2.5 gen) you can wire your White wire would go to an ignition on power source, the amber wire would go to the blinker wire and ground of course goes to ground. But if you add a switch then the white wire would simply be powered by your switch.

I'll probably wire up my white wire at some point to see how it looks.

Have you looked at Headlight Junkies on Facebook yet? Lots of amazing ideas, great support and they love Tacomas! I believe the owner of The Retrofit Source owns a Tacoma and an FJ.

 

Those are a great choice on a budget! I believe the majority of eBay and Amazon H1 projectors are based off the Morimoto MH1 4.0 or 5.0. They are now up to 7.0, my guess is there will be a new version coming within the next year or so. It's been a while since the MH1 projector has been updated.

 

I haven't seen their stuff yet actually, I'll have to check them out. How would I do a switch to be able to have either constant white or constant Amber? As of now I'm planning on using an add a fuse to make white the constant color and tap into the turn signal for the switchback, but I may want to run constant Amber at some point.

 

You could do one of 2 things.

- ON/OFF (SPST) switch - Power from your tapped ignition power source (IGN+) to the switch, and from the switch to the AMBER wire so you can turn that on or off with IGN+ power on. The AMBER wire will also have to be tapped into your blinker power as well, assuming you want it to flash with the blinker. Then the WHITE wire would be wired directly to your IGN+. You cannot go the other way around (i.e. white wire to the switch) because switchback modules are made so that when the AMBER is powered that it will override the WHITE.

- ON/OFF/ON (SPDT) switch - Power goes into the center terminal from your IGN+ and from there the WHITE would be connected to one terminal and AMBER would be connected to the other terminal. The AMBER wire would of course be tapped into your blinker just like above, again assuming you want the amber to signal. This would allow you to power whichever color you would like and have the option to have the halo completely off.

Something else I like about running amber is that most amber colors from all brands are extremely similar but white varies SOOO much that you pretty much have to stick with the same brand halo, strip and bulbs if you are going full switchback on all the lights. Which of course can get very SPENDY!!! The preferred brands for halo, strips and demon eyes are Profile (budget) and Diode Dynamics (expensive, but proven the most reliable, brightest AND made in the USA!!). There are some other brands out there that are good too like XKGlow but I see fewer proffesional builders use those over the other 2. It seems like the Morimoto halos and strips are being phased out and Profile is replacing it, my thought is that they are revising their product line-up. If you want the BEST LED signal bulb (switchback, amber, red or white) then you want VLEDS V6 Triton ($125-$175 a pair), there is NO better LED, PERIOD!

I just want to mention, I am not a professional builder for hire. But I have done a good number of personal builds and have been around the lighting community for quite some time.

 

Awesome info, I'm thinking I'll do the on/off/on switch and tap into the blinker with the amber. All I will have other than the projector is the LED Switchback shroud, so I don't have to worry about matching up the temperature of the white with anything else.

So having it tapped into the blinker while also on constant power amber from the IGN+, it won't just get brighter as if it wasn't a switchback when you turn the blinker on?

Thanks for the help!

 

The amber doesn't have a "dim" setting. But when the blinker is signaled it automatically starts blinking. It's internally controlled in the brain box/controller.

 

@TacoFergie how can I get the headlights apart without destroying them? I bought some super cheap aftermarket ones and the butyl didn't soften at all until it was around 300°F, I had it in and out of the oven for around 30 minutes. The black plastic housing ended up melting where it was sitting on the cardboard in the oven. Keep in mind these were crappy housings from the start, the tabs were really flexible. I have a set of '08 headlights coming from another member and don't want to damage these too.

 

OEM headlights come part very easily at 225F for 12-15 min in the oven.

I'm wondering if your aftermarket ones bay be perma-seal (like the 3rd gens). Make sure you have all the screws off the back of the lens as well before putting it in the oven so you have more working time instead of messing with a hot headlight and a screwdriver.

I use a wide bladed flat screw driver or panel removal tool to start splitting the lens as well.

 

Yeah maybe they were permasealed. I have a "seal splitter" from TRS on the way so I'm going to use that this time on the OEMs. I used a wide butter knife on the others. The new set will need some work to make them clear but I think they should be easier to work with.

 

I CANNOT STRESS HOW CAREFUL YOU MUST BE WHEN USING SEAL SPLITTER!!!!! That is some insane stuff, not only on your skin but on the plastic as well. It makes the lens plastic VERY BRITTLE!!!! Use very little and use in small spots at a time.

 

It's not a chemical, it's just a tool that they labeled "the Seam Splitter". But yeah I don't want to deform the plastic either

 

Ahhh, gotcha! My bad. I got very scared for you for a minute! Haha

 

Lol I appreciate it man, thanks for the help!

 

Retrofits put out a shit load of usable light. One of my favorite mods.

 

I’d do retrofit but the idea of opening up my Pro lights, yeah I don’t think so lol. I’ve done plenty of opening and painting lights but yeah lol!

 

How hard was it mount the projectors in the bowl?

 

From the looks of the MLED 2.0s I have, that should be the easiest part, other than getting the cutoff perfectly level. The mounting shaft just goes through, you use a H4 adapter plate, and the lock ring screws down to hold it in place.

The problem I'm having is getting the housing apart.

EDIT: Unless you want to use the rx350 projectors or some other ones. The Morimotos with the mounting shaft are supposed to be easiest.