How to: 04-08 OEM headlights FX-R Projector HID retrofit.

powerz69 · #1 11-04-2010, 07:13 PM

Tools needed:
SAFETY GLASSES
Dremel tool or other rotary tool.
1 cut shaft bit
Fiber-cut off wheels 1 inch 4 of them
1/2" Sanding drum 4 of them
1/4" sanding drum 4 of them
permatex ultra black rtv silicone 2 squeeze tubes.
clear silicone (optional)
Shop Vac, Compressor for blowing dust off lights.
8- #8, 1 1/4inch Phillips/flat screw head bolts (drawer/cabinet handle bolts).
9/64 drill bit
13/16 drill bit
Power drill
1 sharpie
1 set of extra headlights. you can sell the extra set after done the retrofit.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
HID parts needed:
2 FX-R projectors
2 Gatling shrouds (what I used)
2 HID bulbs type D2S
2 Digital ballasts (I went 35w)
1 HID wiring harness
Halo (optional)
100MM halo (what I used) might be able to go one size smaller. your risk

I paid around $350.00 for all HID stuff and $100.00 for extra headlights.

* I bought the above by piecing it together from Retro-solutions.com or you can buy the kit from link below. http://store.theretrofitsource.com/p...eed27988a34979 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

First off you have to bake your headlights one at a time in the oven. It took me 5 tries to get one apart. Read this link on "how to paint your headlights" to take them apart.
How to Paint Headlights
OK now that you have your headlights apart. Remove the bulb shield with a torx bit. Take your reflective bowl and With a sharpie mark the middle from left and right of the light bulb hole 3 lines over . Now from the top of the light bulb hole, mark the middle 1/4 inch above the first line. Below the light bulb hole mark the middle at the top of the bulb shield spot. Now free hand a slight oval with the sides wider. As in pic 1

pic 1

Take your Dremel and cut shaft bit and cut 1/4 inch on the inside of the marked oval you just made. Dremel and cut shaft bit are in pic 2 as well

pic 2

Now take the Dremel and 1/2 inch sanding drum and sand to the line. Now take the FX-R (projector) and fit it in. Under the FX-R mark the piece hitting the bowl like in the picture. pic 3

pic 3

Take the Dremel with cut shaft bit and cut a square where you marked below the FX-R. Then with the Dremel and 1/4 inch sanding drum clean it up and add two sanded areas on the sides for brights wires. (2 red wires) Also sand a angle where the bulb shield went. Be careful not to sand to deep on top when you start to see black plastic stop. Now put the black rubber seal back on the back of the housing pic 4

pic 4

Place the FX-R in the bowl hole and through the black rubber seal. looking sideways the two silver prongs should just be past the black rubber seal. If not sand the bowl some more till prongs look like picture (very important)
pic 5

pic 5

When you get the FX-R to fit properly level and scratch where the holes are. Do this as straight as possible. Now mark them with the sharpie. pic 6

pic 6

Take the drill and 9/64 drill bit and start drilling the holes at a angle for a bit. pic 7

pic 7

Now straighten the drill out, and drill through the bowl. pic 8

pic 8

After drilling the holes should look like this. pic 9

pic 9

After doing the steps above, the bowl should look like this. Take a #8 -1 1/4 inch bolt and using a screwdriver slowly screw the bolt into the holes. Like you did when making the holes with the drill and drill bit. Once the holes are threaded try not to insert/remove bolts to often. DO NOT USE DRILL you will melt the plastic threads for holes. pic 10

pic 10

Now if you want you can put a rubber grommet in like I did for the brights wires and halos if you want them. Hole size will very. pic 11

pic 11

powerz69 · #2 11-04-2010, 07:13 PM

Now the Gatling shrouds. The next 4 pictures will be comparing a modded shroud to a new shroud. We need to sink the shroud onto the FX-R as far as we can so when done the clear lens for headlight won't hit it. In this picture you can see the cut outs made on the bottom of the modded shroud for the bottom of the
FX-R. pic 12

pic 12

Inside the shroud will need to be cut down. pic 13

pic 13

The sanding that will need to be done on the inside. pic 14

pic 14

If you want to run the 100MM halo the plastic for the vents will have to be cut. And the inside of shroud will have to be sanded close to the front. pic 15

pic 15

OK first install the FX-R into the bowl allowing the red wires to fit in the sanded groves in the hole.(pic 4) One on each side. Use the 4- #8 bolts to screw the FX-R in with a screwdriver. Install the shroud and line up how you want the vents on the front of the shroud to look. Mark where the screw and tab meet the shroud. Where the screw is measure 3/16 up the shroud. Where the tab is measure 7/16 up the shroud.
pic 16

pic 16

Your marks should look like this. Take the Dremel with the cut shaft bit and carefully trim the outline. Not to close to the line. Now take the 1/2 and 1/4 inch sanding drums and sand close to the line. pic 17

pic 17

On the inside of the shroud sand down as much as you can all around 3/4 inch from edge. With the 1/2 inch sanding drum.
On the inside of the shroud mark 3/8 all around. Measure from back of shroud. pic 18

pic 18

Using the Dremel and cutoff wheel, cut where the line is. pic 19

pic 19

*** Skip this step if not installing a halo ***
Cut the outside vent tabs as much as possible without hitting the vent . so watch and change you cutoff wheel. Use Dremel like in the picture below. pic 20

pic 20

*** Skip this step if not installing a halo ***
With the 1/4 inch sanding drum, sand as far down the shroud as you can. Like in the picture. But unlike the picture you will have to sand the the groves almost out. Almost flush all the way around. GO SLOW BE CAREFULL NOT TO GO THROUGH OR HEAT THE SHROUD UP TO MUCH, or you will get burns on the outside. Only when the plastic gets really thin will you get heat burns. Don't sit in one spot keep the Dremel moving.
pic 21

pic 21

powerz69 · #3 11-04-2010, 07:14 PM

*** Skip this step if not installing a halo ***
This is how the 100MM halo looks when new. ( I know not the best picture) pic 22

pic 22

*** Skip this step if not installing a halo ***
With the halo in your hand take the 1/2 inch sanding drum and sand the outside quite abit. Sand the metal tabs off the back, and the chrome piece of the front so it round.
***DO NOT SAND THE CLEAR PLASTIC ON THE FRONT.*** pic 23

pic 23

Once you think you sanded enough put the halo on the FX-R and the shroud. Put the clear lens on the back headlight housing. Check for clearance between shroud and clear headlight lens, there should be 1/8 inch or a tiny bit more. If shroud is touching the lens, sand the shroud some more on the inside. If shroud is still touching clear lens sand the bowl where the FX-R goes a bit bigger on the sides and top. Once it all fits together now would be the time to paint what you want.

With the FX-R out drill the FX-R mounting holes bigger with the 13/16 inch drill bit and drill. Now it's time to put everything together (kind of). Run the wires through the bowl, screw the FX-R to the bowl with the halo on it. pic 24

pic 24

To make things easier I removed the ends off the wires with a sharp owl. I then ran the wires out the back of the headlight through the hole that was made earlier in the how to. I then installed the ends back onto the wires. This is what the wires look like with out the plastic ends on. (Notice the 2 tabs that will need to be pushed in and pulled out to install) pic 25

pic 25

Once you have the ends back on the wires in the back of the head light, it's time to wire up your ballasts on your truck. (read your instructions) Install the bulbs into the headlight (FX-R) connect all the HID wiring. Install the headlight on the truck. Go to a flat area 25 feet away from a wall. If you cannot do this at your place drive with the normal halogen headlights to where you can, then switch the headlights. **DO NOT DRIVE WITHOUT THE CLEAR LENS PROTECTING THE FX-R. Once at the wall drive as close to it as possible. Place a 12 inch piece of tape horizontal at the middle of head lights on both sides. Also there is a 3mm circle in the middle of headlight measure from it to the ground, and see how close your tape is to the measurement. Now place a 12inch tape vertical in the middle of headlights. Should look something like this on the wall.

___l___ ___l___
.... l ........ l
.... l ........ l .

Move your truck back 25 feet from wall to FX-R. Turn the 4mm bolt for the headlights to raise them so you'll have no problems to lower them when adjusting, or in case you get a level kit in the future. Now you can use a drill to adjust but slowly. This is how you want it to look like.

........ __l___------------__l___-------------
. ______/_______________/ .

The picture above will make more sense when you see it. The low part on the left side make that 3 inches below headlight hight. Where the steep is on the cut off put the straight part of the t in the middle of it. Once adjusted your lights should look like or close to this. pic 26

pic 26

After you have your lights adjusted take your headlights out. Using the permatex ultra black rtv silicone run a bead around the FX-R and the back of the bowl from behind the headlight. I also put some on the back of the bolts to back of bowl. Then Squeeze some in the front and back of the wires hole. Put the rubber seal boot on the back of headlight around the back of the FX-R. I made 3 small slits in the boot to fit around the FX-R better. After the boot fits good go around it with the permatex ultra black rtv silicone. pic 27

pic 27

Using the permatex ultra black rtv silicone or clear silicone put some in areas on the FX-R where the shroud goes and install the shroud and push it as far as you can onto the FX-R. Now run a bead in the crevice of the headlight housing, install the clear plastic lens. Now clamp the lights together but not to tight like I did.(the headlight twisted throwing the one projector cutoff out a few degrees) Instead of clamps you can also use those 2 foot long zip ties around the headlight. pic 28

pic 28

After 24 hours of drying remove the clamps and look at what you accomplished. pic 29, 30, 31

pic 29

pic 30

pic 31

Install headlights back into truck and go back to the wall where you adjusted them before. See how they are, you can lower or raise them. If one is a few degrees out you can install a washer where the headlight bolt is (what I did) or you can bend the cutoff tab inside the FX-R. (I never tried this yet)

Picture of halo in the dark. pic 32

pic 32

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powerz69 · #4 11-04-2010, 07:15 PM

Some pictures of the finished product.

Only halo on, flash from camera. pic 33

pic 33

Only halo on, flash from camera. pic 34

pic 34

The way I drive around in the daytime with halos and switchback leds. pic 35

pic 35

A night shot with a iphone. pic 36

pic 36

Night shot with a real camera. Projectors on low beam. pic 37

pic 37

Projectors with High beams on. pic 38

pic 38

Projectors with low beams on, and capped HID bulbs in fogs on. pic 39

pic 39

Projectors with high beams on, and capped HID bulbs in fogs on. pic 40

pic 40

If your cutoff does not line up on the rotational axis like the picture below.

Quote from LightWerkz:

Quote:

What you can do for a small tweak is bend the metal that holds the shield straight. Once you bend it (use a flat head screwdriver) the shield should sit better. This works for a slight tweak only, which seems to be your case. it is possible to fix it without taking it apart, but it can also lead to a larger problem if you dont know what you are doing.

Quote:

If you use my advice you dont even need to take apart the light, you can work with it once removed out of the car. Just need a long flat head screw driver and you can tweak the part that holds the shield to tilt it a few degrees.

Quote:

I took a photo so you guys could see what I am referring too. Obviously you wont have the bowl off since the projector is mounted inside the light, so this is just for illustration purposes.

You press down on one side, and up on the other, and this will cause the shield to sit at a different angle when your all done. This only works (without a compromise to the beam output) if its a few degrees.

The output gets flipped upside down AND flipped left and right. You have to do this through the bulb hole.

MGDfan · #5 11-04-2010, 07:17 PM

Hi sir!

May I be the first of many to THANK YOU for this fantastic effort!

No worries - when the Mods add this to the Tech Articles section they will remove this post.. BJ just loves to do that to me

MGD

powerz69 · #6 11-04-2010, 07:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mblouir

I don't think I could rate the entire project with a single score....instead I'll try to break it down. I found more difficulty in certain aspects.

Out of 10.....1 is easiest and 10 is hardest. I consider myself pretty mechanically-inclined, so this was an easy project with the How-To.

Breaking open headlights: 2/10 (I had done this on my last set so it was much easier the 2nd go-round.)
Cutting hole in reflector bowl for projectors: 3/10 (It was touch-and-go to get it the right size, but the How-To is a great starting point.)
Drilling mounting holes in reflector bowl: 3/10 (I will say go slow here....if your drill gets through too fast you risk widening the hole too much.)
Cutting shrouds to size: 2/10 (Not hard at all, especially since most of what you cut won't be seen.)
Wiring up HIDs: 3/10 (Only this because mine did not come with installation instructions.....luckily had done this in the past so it wasn't an issue.)
Aiming projectors: 4/10 (This is difficult if you have trouble finding a level parking surface. The rotation is probably the hardest part to get right. I'm fixing mine tomorrow morning. This is also the most crucial step.)
Putting it all together and re-sealing: 5/10 Wasn't necessarily hard....just a PITA. I like to go back around the exterior of where the headlight halves come together and lay a bead on the outside to make sure there is no condensation. Let's just say I was covered in RTV sealant by the end of this. )
Seeing the results: 10/10 (It is that hard to believe. )

Quote:

Originally Posted by Powerz69

Breaking open headlights: 7/10 (I have never done this, and it was a PITA)
Cutting hole in reflector bowl for projectors: 9/10 (It took forever to get the right size of hole for the depth, No howto: for a gideline)
Drilling mounting holes in reflector bowl: 3/10 (I will say go slow here....if your drill gets through too fast you risk widening the hole too much.) (I agree)
Cutting shrouds to size: 6/10 ( since most of what you cut won't be seen.) (Gatling shrouds require more cutting again no howto.)
Wiring up HIDs: 3/10 (Took more time then expected but easy)
Aiming projectors: 2/10 (I found this to be easy. This is difficult if you have trouble finding a level parking surface. This is also the most crucial step.) (I agree)
Putting it all together and re-sealing: 5/10 Wasn't necessarily hard....just a PITA. I like to go back around the exterior of where the headlight halves come together and lay a bead on the outside to make sure there is no condensation. Let's just say I was covered in RTV sealant by the end of this. ) (Iagree)
Seeing the results: 10/10 (Oh yeah!)
*** I used the same difficulty scale as mblouir did in post 162. Added and deleted some wording.

...

Quote:

Originally Posted by mSaLL150

Breaking open headlights: 2/10 I used ebay headlights, and they had some kind of glue that was SUPER easy to split/remove. 7 minutes in the over @ 240 degrees was all I needed, didn't have to put them back in or anything. 30 seconds to split them open

Cutting hole in reflector bowl for projectors: 6/10 Time consuming and annoying because of all the noise and dust, but not necessarily super difficult. Had to cut it considerably larger than this guide shows. Also be careful as the chrome can flake off if you aren't somewhat gentile.
Drilling mounting holes in reflector bowl: 5/10 This part wasn't hard to do, just make sure to algin the projectors a bit before drilling, if your holes are off at all it will be a PITA.
Cutting shrouds to size: 2/10 I didn't add halos and I used the apollo shroud. This step was cake.
Wiring up HIDs: 3/10 Super easy, just make sure to ziptie the wires to avoid any movement and also mount ballasts to a solid, CLEAN surface.
Aiming projectors: 8/10 This was the hardest part for me. Took me a couple hours! Getting the projectors pointed straight, leveled, and at an appropriate drop-off for a lifted truck was time consuming.
Putting it all together and re-sealing: 4/10 I used epoxy glue to hold the projectors solid in place, so it just took more time. I also recommend using 3M sealing butyl tape instead of silicone, works wonders. It also sucked waiting overnight to fully dry when I was so tempted to toss it on the truck!

Carolinaboy32 · #7 11-04-2010, 10:39 PM

Subscribed!

Carolinaboy32 · #8 11-08-2010, 05:57 PM

any updates?

powerz69 · #9 11-13-2010, 02:47 AM

OK almost done, just have to proof read it and fix some things up!

Tell me what you guys think!

88racing · #10 11-13-2010, 09:56 AM

Good job!

Carolinaboy32 · #11 11-13-2010, 10:23 AM

WOW looks great! If you don't mind me asking how much out the door did this cost you, I would like to do this in the future

powerz69 · #12 11-13-2010, 12:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Carolinaboy32

WOW looks great! If you don't mind me asking how much out the door did this cost you, I would like to do this in the future

I paid $350.00 for all HID stuff and $100.00 for extra headlights. You can sell the extra headlights and get the $100.00 back once done. So $350.00.

mblouir · #13 11-13-2010, 01:45 PM

Bookmarked. Will be doing this as soon as I scramble up the money and time.

THANK YOU!

Carolinaboy32 · #14 11-13-2010, 02:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by powerz69

I paid $350.00 for all HID stuff and $100.00 for extra headlights. You can sell the extra headlights and get the $100.00 back once done. So $350.00.

Awesome! Thats definitely affordable

Quote:

Originally Posted by mblouir

Bookmarked. Will be doing this as soon as I scramble up the money and time.

THANK YOU!

Ditto!

topland · #15 11-13-2010, 06:08 PM

That looks awesome! any better pictures of just the halos on? I love halos and want to do them. Oracle makes a wicked halo diy kit, but id like to see yours and maybe ill do the whole projector and halo retro fit! Awesome job!!