I truly hope there is written documentation of your endeavour. Good job, truly good job

 

Hello Fellas,

Well I haven't done any cutting yet and am not 100% sure I will need to. I will know more probably Sunday. I will take pictures of what ends up needing cutting and other various points in the install.

If I need to cutt I'm first going to give the dremel a shot, which probably won't do the deed, so I'll run to HD and rent a sawzall which will easily get it done.

They should be here Saturday based on FedEx tracking but I won't have time to work on it Saturday. I'll be spending the day with the girl friend and her family and then taking my girl friend and her Mom out to see a movie. We're going to see the Larry The Cable Guy health inspector movie that comes out Friday. It's a bit of a running joke with us because her Mom is a health inspector and it's her birthday Friday so I said I'd take her to the movie on Saturday as part of a joke. Turns out she really wants to go see it, so to the movies we go. I think it'll be a funny movie.

Duke

 

Great job they look stunning.

I would just never have that amount of patience to get all of that done.


BUT< YOU ARE THE HID PIONEER. No one will ever be able to take that away from you.

 

Hello Thrill Racing,

Thank you for the praise, hopefully the final install will go smoothly this weekend.

In all fairness there were two full HID retrofits before me. However, one was with simple projectors and never fully finished near OEM type standards and the other was done with little posting here (it was also more of a looks type projector and less emphasis on performance).

Mine will be the first fully documented retrofit that has a projector based on both top level performance and stand-out looks.

Thanks again for the praise, it has been a lot of work and effort on many individuals parts.

Duke

 

So, can we have an est cost of the project? How high into the 4 digits are we talking here?

Did u ever thought of using a HID-based navi headlamp and do body work instead?

 

Total cost of the project is about $1,200 to $1,300 (kinda lost count and it was too disappointing to think about). But that's because there is some custom engineering to make these bi-xeon and they are the only ones of their kind.

Didn't even bother with the lincoln headlight idea with body work because the reflector HID isn't as good as projector HID. Not only that it wouldn't be worth the body work and the dangers that come with that. One thing to do would be to take the actual hid reflector out of the Lincoln headlight and fit it into the F150 headlight. It just dawned on me sitting here that it would be a good cheap way to do a retrofit while keeping with the F150 headlight and not having to fork over a lot of cash for projectors and custom work to the F150 headlight.

In the end, there isn't a projector or HID system of any kind out there better than the LS430 modified into bi-xeon

Duke

 

Sorry maybe I'm silly, but over 1,000 dollars just to have HID's seems pretty stupid to me. Well to each his own. Probably looks good just not worth it. My .02

 

Point taken, but it wasn't just for HIDs to me. These are truely one-of-a-kind, which is worth it if you appreciate top-notch lighting.

I'm really big on lighting because I drive to work when it's dark and I'm not driving back till its dark again. It's also a lot of driving in the country where it is absolutely pitch black and deer litter the roads. So I have a big need for good visability.

Not only that I go up to northern minnesota quite a bit where you won't even see road lights, much less other car lights at night for long stretches. So once again I have a use for good lighting in this situation. I equate it to guys who get lifts and big tires to go off-roading. It's a mod that suits their driving habits and is in fact even more expensive then mine.

To each his own though.

Duke

 

04FX - $1,000 for true projector HID's is cheap. I'd buy a set tomorrow if I could find them like these.

Before you spout off and call someone stupid for investing in an improvement that looks great, makes their truck one of a kind and much safer to drive at night you better think of how many stupid people spend thousands on assenine sound systems & tires and lifts that ruin the ride of the truck.

You obviously have never driven a vehicle with HID projectors. They make our regular headlights seem like a couple of candles.

 

You obviously have never driven a vehicle with a quality lift. I'm not asinine by any means either dammit ;P Looks great Duke, wish I could afford that.

 

First off fellas, I'm just going ask that we keep our responses polite even though we might not agree with each other all the time (we are all after the same thing here, customizing OUR own trucks how we like them). You both are stand out guys so I'm not worried, just making everyone else aware.

Josiah,

You kill me sometimes bud! Can't afford them? Humor me and tell me how much that sweet lift, tires and rims are going to set you back? And by the way, I KNOW I'll be reading a thread from you on Saturday about how you can't even drive the truck because the lift won't be high enough for those tires and rims, I can just feel it coming. I really hope not though for you because that will be a whooping pain in the ****.

Those tires and rims are flat out sweet, though I personally might have tried 35's with the 20's (though I don't know if that's even possible).

I'm going to put 22's on next year after I've bought and furnished my house this year. I can't wait because I know it'll make a huge difference in the look of the truck.

Look forward to seeing pics from your project.

Duke

 

Oh not much, alright a purdy penny

Anyways, I can feel that as well. I really hope all goes well, I think I will be ok if I reuse my factory 2" block in the rear on top (regardless of what everyone says), it should work for now. It will only hold me over until I get the leafpack. As for the front, well I am not sure how bad it will rub as everyone who rubs has the Procomp, I guess I'm basically hoping the Fabtech has a little more lift and clearance than the Procomp and my coilovers will do the job safely. We'll see (it's my dd so I hope it goes well).

 

dd? I think it'll work out with full crank on the coilovers. I've had a bunch of friends with lifts and I've seen some pretty weird stuff gotten away with. I'd just be worried about the coilovers being at full crank for a long time. Best of luck! I'm going to need it too.

Duke

 

ok first off...those light are awesome Duke! make me some! ok i have a few qustions. Why wouldnt you just go the Hella HID offroad light route if you needed good lighting? we have a baja class 1 buggy and we have 4 of the lights on it and its like daytime running through the desert in pitch black. Its just question, not meaning to be an ***! ok and second...my procomp coilovers are cranked all the way up and i was wondering why it is bad to crank them up? i know that the spring back rate is horrible but other than that why is it bad?

 

Good point on the off road lights. It was a combination of a few things. Looks being one, I wasn't crazy on the different places to hide them and I like the OEM/Luxury look of HID.

On the full cranking of coilovers, I was told in college by a friend of mine that had done a couple lifts (he and his dad own a construction company and have a ton of trucks) that it wears out the coilover much faster at full crank. He could be wrong, or at least part right. Of course I'd consult a professional though, or even more than one to get an accurate opinion on the matter. I'm by no means a pro on the matter. Just passing on information that I was told by someone who was pretty good.

Duke