convince me to retrofit

ive been thinking really hard about retrofitting with the Bi-Xenon Morimoto mini h1 6.0
my question to everyone with the retrofit is does it matter what type of bulbs i use?

i already have some HID 8k bulbs that i am running and i was wondering if i bought just the projectors, not the whole kit thats $270 but just the projectors for $120, would i be able to use the bulbs i currently have or do i have to buy the whole kit with their bulbs and ballast?

ive been looking at a bunch of DIY threads and it looks fairly easy if you have the right tools but i just wanted a little feedback from yall before i dive head first into this.
any input is helpful

thanks in advance

 

projectors only accept the bulbs they're built for. the mini "H1" only accepts H1 bulbs

but bulbs are cheap

it's really easy. took me only a few hours, and the output is exponentially better than HID's in a reflector housing

If you already have a relay hi/lo setup all you need is the projector and the bulbs.

instead of plugging the hi switch into the bulb, you plug it into the projector. all other HID bulb plugs are the same as well

I have a step by step writeup for 1st gens too
http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/1s...en-retrofit-walkthrough-morimoto-mini-h1.html

 

thanks man! im really thinking about doing this and i guess i should state that i have a 09, ive only had it for less than a year and it had HIDs when i bought it but no high beams so i bought some new HIDs and i was hoping id be able to use them but if i have to replace them thats no biggie

 

ah, well the 2nd gen install is a tiny bit more involved but still really easy. IMO it's definitely worth it


took a shot in the dark with your username as far as what truck you had and missed

 

Read the guide in my signature. I was chicken to do my own FXRs and cutting the housings seemed scary at first especially on a brand new truck.

I will tell you right now, the group buy price on both the Minis and FXRs is wonderful but for the few bucks FXR is the way to go. The beam pattern is about twice as tall (I own a car with Minis and my truck has FXR). Both better than stock but the FXRs are sweet.

Check out my guide, that should convince you enough. A lot of people felt more comfortable after I wrote a more detailed guide.

 

Haha I made the account when I had my 99 Tacoma but you would have been spot on if I still had it! In fact I had that same gold color that your truck is!

 

Hey thanks man I'll definitely check out your guide when I get to a computer!

 

Whatever you do, get rid of the 8k and never go back.

 

This!

Even 5k starts off too blue until it warms up. But when it does its perfect pure white. 4300k will be slightly yellow and 6000k will be slightly blue. 5000k is the perfect color temp for me.

 

mine to me seem more white than blue

 

If you put 8k in a retrofit you might as well have not even done the retrofit lol

 

another question for you guys

i bought this truck from a friend. he had put the original HID's in it and the HID's that he put in it were from a chevy. now chevy has two different housings for high and low, so i didnt have any high beams but the bulbs were H4 and the ballast were H4 ballast. would i have to buy a new ballast to have high beams or do i need new bulbs?


im not planning to put these on my truck because i already bought a whole new set up, but they are just sitting in my room and i was thinking about letting my brother have them to put on his tundra.

 

There are a few kinds of HID bulb kits.

Single beam kits are just what you said only a low beam.
Dual beam has a HID low beam and halogen high beam right next to the hid bulb. (this eliminates warm up time for a high beam hid)
bi-xenon has one single HID bulb and it telescopes in for the high beam changing the light patter.


If you do a retrofit with a bi-xenon projector the bulb is on all the time but a solenoid inside the projector flips down and lets more light out. This also gives you the widest beam, brightest focused light and no warm up time for a high beam bulb

 

well these will be going into my brothers truck which will have no retro fitting, i know! you dont have to say its nothing but glare because i know lol i hear it all the time but thanks for the help ill look to see if there is some bulbs that he can get with the high beams. i was just curious if i would need different ballast. im not too familiar with all this HID talk because my 09 tacoma if the first vehicle that i have them in. im still learning about all this ballast and stuff. btw the ballast that i would be giving my brother(if i can find bulbs for him) would be 35 watt

 

I'll be the minority here, retros are a pain in the ass. OEM are DOT approved and do well, the retro headlights are for aesthetics (yes I know they put out light) but not worth the headache.

 

Honestly my retro took me under 8 hours and I think it came out with a 9/10



I know what you mean though. It's scary, you can break stuff, mess stuff up, do things wrong. And then when you get it all put back together you can have wiring problems, bad bulbs/ballasts. But when you get all the kinks worked out. It's so worth it!


I think I have my first customer lined up for my retrofitting service. Once I get a few under the belt I get my reputation built up and a Retro thread and I can take the pain in the butt out of everyone's hands

 

If you already have an HID kit then you will not need to purchase new ballasts as long as they have AMP connectors. Google it and you'll know whether or not your current ballasts have those connectors. You WILL need to purchase a new hi/low harness unless you want to cut off the old hi/low connector and install the proper connectors. However, it's $35 for a pretty solid harness from TRS, in case you don't want to do that. You will likely not need to purchase new ballasts. I have been running cheap Chinese crap ballasts since day one (I've had to replace three... don't ask...) so you'll probably be fine with what you have.

Projectors are $120 plus $40 for bulbs and $35 for a harness. That will tip you just over $200 but I have to say, I just installed some 6.0s into my dad's Eclipse and they shit on my old Mini H1s (purchased in late 2010). So you will not be disappointed.

I have done a few pairs of headlights and it's not really a headache these days. The bolt-on projectors take out a lot of the trial and error and endless amounts of JB weld like it used to be back in the old days. I can usually do a MH1/D2S retro from start (removing headlights) to finish (headlights back on vehicle) in just under 4 hours. Sometimes less.

 

So I really only need one harness? Because I have the amp connectors just no harness to connect it to the battery I found a few for cheap on eBay like 10 bucks

 

+1 to this.

Retro wasnt a PITA at all. Did my FXRs in about 4 hours. Had the Mini's before them and they dont even compare to the FXRs. People who think its hard just arent handy with modifications and seem to turn everyone else off to the idea of them. The result is worth more than any other mod Ive done so far. High beams light up insanely far.

 

Maybe I worded this wrong, I didn't mean retro fitting the lights were a PITA, I meant the upkeep was a pita.