CLOSED - The Retrofit Source GB

So I did just the drivers side yesterday it it seems it shakes like and elderly women wining at bingo when I hit bumps. If I got any tighter on the locking ring I'm pretty sure something is gonna break. Any solutions to this. I feel like I've done something wrong but I've pulled them apart 3 times now and everything seems ok

 

So I noticed that a little bit too on my first gen. Especially when my high beams are reflecting off a distant reflective sign. I think it is mostly due to the cantilever weight of the projector assembly inside the enclosure (the lens is pretty heavy). I can't really think if anything that could help from the outside of the enclosure unless you could fabricate a metal plate (like 12ga) to fit under the lock ring and then bolt to the body...but that would not allow you to adjust the beam very well.

 

I had the same issue first it was my actual headlight housing was shakey then I just JB welded the projectors in new housings and it fixed my problem. Think the silicone washer probably just shrunk over time for mine

 

so these work with stock housings i presume? if so, does anyone have pics

 

Yes these are for retrofitting the stock housings.

 

See my pictures above lol

 

Did you go with D2S? I did mine on a 2012+ headlight set with D2S and haven't had that issue. I did torque down on the nut so it put a decent compression on the rubber washer. Actually what I did was give the nut a good tighten down, then I put the lights back on the truck without the front lens on and turned the projector itself to get a nice level cut off. The small amount of turn I gave it was in the direction that would further tighten it onto the washer. The very last thing was a small dab of jb weld to the nut and threads just to prevent it from backing off down the road.

It was a bit time consuming doing it that way, but I did get a perfect cut-off and haven't had any issues with them wobbling over bumpy roads. Hopefully something in there might be of some help to you.

 

I think it might be the fact I used the alignment ring. Time to bust it apart and start over lol

 

Ah that sucks man, I hate having to pull apart work a second time. Although obviously it's better to do that then have your projectors wiggling around. Your truck is gonna look great when it's done

 

I had that shake and actually removed the silicone ring and tightened it up. Once tight and aligned I put some JB weld in there between the projector and the housing. Still had some shake but it was way less! Ultimately I think it is the fact that there is so much weight forward of the housing acting as a fulcrum. Having seen both the D2S and FXR kits I can tell you that the D2S acts like a seesaw while the FXR sits further back in the housing and is balanced better so less shaking.

If I had to do it all over again I would just order the FXR and cut the hole.

 

So I'm thinking remove the big washer and the alignment ring then?

 

Well the only problem I see with that is you will lose your cut-off alignment. Are you prepared to pop the lens off again if you need to?

 

Well I'd have to to remove that giant ass washer on the back of the projector

 

By the way you said you used the alignment ring... did you modify it or just drop it right in as it was? It's been a while since I did my retro but it seems to me that ring needed to be modified a bit. If you put it in as supplied then your rotational alignment is probably off a few degrees anyway. Maybe someone else can chime in on that but I seem to recall that ring would not provide a level cutoff as it was supplied.

 

No I had to trim
The notch off. But was I right leaving that big froggin washer on the back of the projector(between the projector and the head light bucket)

 

I left mine in.

 

Well I decided to get creative or maybe it was laziness all I know is I wanted to stabllize the light with out having to take it apart again. Stabilization comes from multiple points of contact. The headlight only has 3 points. So I added four more. Yeah it looks like shit. But the light does NOT move unless you punch it. Will get shorter bolts and silicon around them but I'm very surprised with how well this hack worked lol

 

So not to be a dick here but you just locked in your aiming... meaning your adjustment screws do nothing...that may not have actually been a good idea. See my post above about the D2S being a seesaw on a fulcrum...really not much to do about it. Get some JB weld and try and support the projector against the reflector for greater support.

 

Actually all I do is back them off a few threads set aiming then lock them back down.

 

But can you do that with the lights installed?