Headlight Removal, pics

I removed my headlights today to start the BHLM (Blue headlight mod )

As most people probably know, there is a bolt that is a pain to remove. The first few are obvious to remove, but I didnt figure out the last one until I did a quick search on TW! Someone mentioned a 10mm and a half of a situp to get it out. Sure enough, thats an accurate description, lol. Anyway, I thought I'd put up a couple pics for those who might want to see the area before tackling the removal. I didnt see any pics posted, but then again, I didnt look very hard since the description I read was enough for me. Well, I hope this helps some people out.

Heres the first few things that need to be removed. Obviously, this is from the point of the grille being removed.

If you didnt know that these two screws are holding the headlight down, stop any further work on your truck






Theres also another one tucked down in the bottom. I pulled the bumper forward a little and its enough to get it out of there. Also, get that push pin out.



I now removed the lower trim piece under the headlight. The inner end of the piece should already be loose from undoing the push pin. Now just use a flat head screwdriver to depress the clip and pull the trim piece towards the center of the vehicle to remove it.




Now for the harder part. To make things really easy, just remove the two 10mm/phillips screws that hold the lower portion of the fender liner in place. I just bent the plastic liner up out of my way. Once I removed the headlight, I simply put this back in place. The two screws are at the bottom of the fender. Very easy to find. No pic necessary.

Grab your 1/4" drive and a 10mm socket. Although you wont be able to see the screw, its directly above the visible bolt that holds the panels in place. The socket is placed on the headlight screw in this picture.



For reference, another angle w/ the headlight out. Pretty sure this is the hole that it came from




And thats it! Remove the bulb/harnesses and just wiggle that headlight out. As others have said, its optional to put this back in place when you reinstall the headlight. The other screws are enough to hold it in place and not putting this back will only make future removals 5 or 10 minutes quicker.

 

thanks for the info. im thinking about doing a bhlm on my truck in a few weeks.

you mind taking pics of the process? i know there are some out there already but it couldnt hurt to have more. maybe even a video?

either way thanks for more info

 

No prob man! Glad they helped out a little
If the lights turn out good, yea, I'll post up the pics, otherwise, no! lol. kidding of course, Sure, I can post some up during the process, thats no problem. Not gonna do a vid though. Too much trouble

Theres some good ones in Viets thread: http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/lighting/65226-how-black-head-light-mod.html

 

Mine were superrr hard to get back in..and there's a ton of scratches on my bumper now

 

mcleod90; I was going to take more pics, but honestly, I think every pic thats been posted so far pretty much covers what you'll need to see or know. Its much more intimidating than it is when it comes down to it. You'll see, its easy to do.

On a side note, I've decided against just spraying on FUSION satin black paint. I think I'm going to color match mine, and I'm going to do the same process as I did w/ my grille. Sand>Adhesion Promoter>Primer>Paint. I'll allow it to cure before re-joining the lens and housing.

Here we go! Remember,......Its all about the prep work!!!

The top portion is after sanding. I'll update as I go along. Right now, my big decision is whether to keep the headlights off the truck and order up some Retros or just stick these back in

 

Btw, this is using 100 grit paper. ^^^

 

RETROS!

 

Thanks for the info..........that last screw is a bitch to get out sometimes .

 

I totally bitched out on doing the retros. I spent a lot on the family and gf for xmas, so I put them on hold for now.

No prob!

 

Heres a brief follow up too.

About 97% sanded:


After a coat of primer:


Here it is after paint. I did 2 coats AP, 2 coats Primer and 3 coats Base w/ a 1500g wetsand after the 2nd.



After the Indigo Ink Paint:


And back on the truck:

 

brah! you gotta. im doing them too. depending on what you wanna do. you can get morimoto projectors and bulbs and then get cheapo balasts til you have money. not recomended haha

 

ugh, I know man! Believe me, I've been driving around lately and really regretting not having done it while they were apart. What setup did you wind up going w/?

 

Just for reference, I replaces my lights 2 years ago and had to take them out to fix a moisture issue, Well I replaced all the screws including the inner wall pain in the ass one and when I took them out later on they were gone on both sides.

I now drive around without the inner wall screw and the lights are still secure

 

Headlights look great and from reading it sounds like you did your own grill. Think I could bribe you with a few beers to give me a hand one warm weekend doing my lights and grill (or at least be on call for some questions)?

 

The lights look awesome. Nice job.

 

Sure thing man. Just give me a heads up when you're ready and we'll figure out a day/time.

Thanks

 

im gonna go with morimoto minis, phillips bulbs, morimoto ballasts, and gatling gun shrouds and ccfl lights like this-

 

Pretty much what I was going to do. My setup when I decide to bite the bullet is:

• Projectors: LHD (North American Standard)
• Bulbs: New Philips 85122+ D2S
• Ballasts: Morimoto 3Five (35w)
• Wire Harness: H4 Bi-xenon
• Shrouds: Apollo

 

Thanks for all the info Chris.

My first "real" mod on my truck. Took me under an hour to swap out the lights and I even put the side screws back in.

Black head lights.... next I think I'm going for a new grill.

 

No problem man! GLad it helped out... truck looks great!