NYCO's '06 Boosted Blue Betty

think i'll be investing in a spare relay and ballast for the future....next time this happens at least i'll have lights...

 

Are you not able to run the stock bulbs and plug them into the stock wire harness?

 

Not with a retrofit.

 

^this

i forgot what stock harnesses look like

 

ordered some denso ballasts...skipping moving up to 50W and hoping for better luck with the higher quality ballasts

ordered the morimoto ballasts and backorder still wouldn't ship until wednesday...so f' that

 

Where'd you order the ballast from? 35w?

 

TRS

yea the denso is 35W

they're OEM replacements...should be a lot more reliable

i already have the Phillips 85122+ bulbs, so it'll make a nice pairing...besides the relay, it'll be a setup that toyota would have factory in other vehicles with factory HID

 

and speaking with TRS...it does seem like my ballasts are the issue

he said it is not normal to see such short life though...they expect 5-8 years from their ballasts...not 2

 

^so update on the lights....it was NOT the ballasts...relay harness was FUBAR

got these beauties in last week


waterproofed them (talked with TRS and this will not void any warranty)


threw them in and....NOTHING

bulbs still would not fire up....

so here's a run down..

voltage readings:
factory 3 prong - 12V constant (lows and highs both tested with same readings)
power from harness to ballast (pre-ballast) - 6V or 14V constant. sometimes it would read 6V sometimes it'll read 14V but it would be constant
Post-ballast - driver 16-26V varying, passenger 0-6V varying

sunday i was able to test the ballast directly from the battery and both ballasts fired right up with a constant 12V from the battery which confirmed TRS's standing on the Densos

so Friday when i installed the new ballasts and did not have lights, i gave TRS a call back. these guys were great in working with me through this debacle.

between my prior tests and working through with TRS, we tested damn near everything involved with the setup. we finally came to a conclusion that there was an issue with the relay not keeping constant power to the ballasts. mainly the varying voltages (6V & 14V) was an indicator that there was something not right.

TRS stood by the Densos stating they guaranteed that the ballasts were not the issue. they test every denso before they leave their shop and they have only one report of a denso ballast going bad. this was later confirmed with my work on sunday

so they are shipping me out a new harness this week which should solve the issue and get my system back together.

TEMPORARY FIX TO LIGHTS

because i've been out of headlights for 2 weeks now, i got sick of waiting so i got creative and decided to cut out the harness all together and get myself some lights

so sunday i hooked up my ballasts to a switch to give me my lights back!

through my fuse block i have fused power going to a 30A switch in cab which then goes out to the ballasts giving them 12V on demand.

great part is, the hi/low mechanism still works even though the harness is no longer hooked up to a power source. so it's a complicated way to bypass the broken harness, but it's a great way to get lights working again upon failure.

needless to say, i'll be keeping this setup handy in my truck in case of emergency along with my old ballasts that weren't failing to begin with

 

huh. interesting..i guess that makes sense though..

glad you got it figured out hopefully!

 

at least i know i'll have lights for my trip north...would be nice to have a working setup though...we'll see

sounds like TRS has recently updated their harness, so this will be the 3rd version on the truck..hoping they got it right this time



but i have the RTT back on the truck for this week's trip and next week's journey through UT

UT plans are, Arches>Zion>Coyote Buttes>Monument Valley/Valley of the Gods. hoping things work out as planned...it'll be a nice opportunity for some photoshoots with the truck

 

damn, I wanna join for the whole trip! You still gonna be in Idaho Falls this weekend? Is your wife (I think I remember you being married lol) coming? I want to get out and camp this weekend since I pussd out last weekend... If we can get something going near IF I'd love to meet up!

 

yup i'll be out there, kayla will be staying home with the dogs while i'm up there.

i'll be heading north thursday night and getting in friday morning..be at CBI friday. i'll be looking for someplace to camp friday night. saturday maybe a trail run? or at least see something cool/unique? saturday night i'll be looking to start my trip back south.

if you have some good ideas for camping & things to do saturday i'm open for suggestions...

 

I don't know that area well at all... The guys at CBI would know good places for sure. I'll let you know as the week goes on if i'll have some free time from work late friday to come meetup. Jen might come too since she's got friday off. Idk have you talked to Brady or anyone else if they're gonna make it yet?

 

not since last week

 

I can make it for sure. My wife gave me permission to skip out on a family dinner thing that's going on this weekend. It's some church thing her grandparent's invited us to that she doesn't even want to go to, but she told her mom that she would go with her to it so she is commited and I bailed. haha Not good for brownie points but I'm fine there so no worries.

 

had some fun this weekend

http://youtu.be/zSeWx9J3iOA

 

What route are you taking bob? Thru Pinedale Wyo "Peenadalleh"? haha From Pinedale to the T near Jackson is a pretty drive.

Nice vid! Braaaap

 

yup...looks to be going through peenadalleh

not sure what times i'll be rolling through so i may miss the prettiness

i'll be hopped up on 5 hour energy trying not to hit deer with my LED shining bright for most of the trip