DIY Projector Retrofit - Super Easy! - Save Money, Do It Yourself - 1st Gen Tacoma
Vložit
- čas přidán 25. 07. 2024
- This has to be one of my favorite mods that I have done to my truck so far! If you are on the fence, just do it! And do it yourself! It is really pretty easy and that hardest part for me was just removing and installing the bumper!
This Acme H1 Bi-Xenon kit from The Retrofit Source worked out awesome! The quality of the projectors is great and the Morimoto motocontrol harness worked like a charm.
Link to kit here:
www.theretrofitsource.com/bi-...
Acme Standard H1 Bulbs 5000K
35W Speedystart Ballasts
Mini Gatling Gun Shrouds
Moto control H4/9003 Relay
0:00 Start
0:40 Overview of kit
1:50 Disassembly of headlight
2:46 Baking in oven and removal of lens
4:39 Testing projector cutoff
5:05 Installing shroud and projector into housing
9:08 New sealant and re-baking headlight
11:48 Removing grill and old headlights
14:39 Projector bulb wiring
16:13 New headlight install
16:47 Mounting ballasts
17:42 Mounting harness
19:06 First test
19:39 Headlight aiming
20:54 Comparison between old and new
25:48 Summary and why I went this route
Gear List
Video and Photo Gear
Camera - Fujifilm X-T4 - amzn.to/3qrgjH8
Lens 1 - Fujifilm 18-55 f2.8-4 Good all-around lens - amzn.to/2ZrUdZa
Lens 2 - Fujifilm 10-24 F4, great vlog and landscape lens - amzn.to/3jWYZY2
Lens 3 - Rokinon 12mm F2, good astrophotography lens - amzn.to/3ptPuAV
Mic - Rode Videomicro - amzn.to/3jW6qyV
Drone - DJI Mavic 2 Pro - amzn.to/3bdnHQ0
Tripod - Davis & Sanford CF Travel Tripod - amzn.to/3dv0USm
Favorite Camp Gear That I Use On My trips
Fridge - ICECO VL45 - amzn.to/37qqOmJ
Cookware - Stanley Base Camp - amzn.to/3quNcTv
Coffee Maker - GSI Pourover - amzn.to/3uaY3Uy
Camp Stove - Budget-Friendly Coleman - amzn.to/37oIM95
Backpack Cookware - GSI Pinnacle Dualist - amzn.to/3k5sU0j
My Camp Chair - ALPS Mountaineering Leisure Chair - amzn.to/2NdwgCk
My Camp Table - ALPS Mountaineering Dining Table - amzn.to/3avmgxc
Heater - Mr. Buddy Heater - amzn.to/2ZqfAtR
Portable Fire Pit - Camp Chef Sequoia - amzn.to/3auiKmH
Tools and Must-Haves That I Use On My Trips
Fav Flashlight - Wurkkos FC11 - amzn.to/3pubGei
Fav Knife - Benchmade Griptillian - amzn.to/3jW6QFv
Garmin Inreach Mini - amzn.to/3aqaWm2
Air Compressor - VIAIR 300P - amzn.to/37pby9t
Battery Jump Pack - NOCO GB40 - amzn.to/37kHNGU
ARB EZ Deflator - amzn.to/3quSOgz
Traction Boards - Maxtrax V2 - maxtraxus.com/?getmaxtrax=7 - Zábava
You should consider building a whole bunch of these retrofits and selling them 👌🏼
I’d buy one
Me too
Really great DIY install video! I really like that you did chapters. The step-by-step detail was excellent. The summary at the end by your video editing station was very cool. Awesome mod and awesome job !
Thank you, I appreciate it! Thanks for watching and I am glad you enjoyed!
Excellent, very detailed step-by-step process. I own a 2002 Tacoma and bought and installed the exact same parts. Thank you!
Awesome! Glad it was helpful for you.
Just want to give you a quick shout out for putting this guide together. I was able to do this for my truck last weekend and they came out super nice. Thanks!
Hey that’s awesome! Glad this video was of help. Cheers!
Thank you for the video. You where great explaining step by step on the install. This was a huge help when I did my 02 Tacoma. I got the same retro fit kit.
Glad it was helpful for you!
Just bought the same kit for my 3rd gen 4runner! everything came in today, And now i just have to install everything this weekend! Cant wait. Thanks for the tutorial!
Awesome! You’ll be stoked!
Great video - comprehensive walk through and solid comparison. Very helpful - thanks mate
Thanks man! Glad you enjoyed
Probably one of the best safety mod you can put on your taco. Done this for mine couple years ago.
Makes a massive difference in nighttime driveability!
Awesome video. Very detailed and well put-together. Thank you, sir!
Thank you!
Great video! I'm doing my 1st gen's retrofit right now and went with Acme's as well.
Thanks! You are gonna love them
Nicely done. Now I need some retrofits!
Thanks! Yes, yes you do!
Thank you for spreading the knowledge that cheap LED bulbs in reflector head lights sucks. Looking forward to do this to my rig in the future!
Yeah man, gotta inform. I was guilty of not knowing when I put them in. Nice to have a legit headlight now!
Watching this video has made me realize how thankful I am that I just went with LED projectors 😂
Great work!
Yeah LEDs are nice! Thanks!
This was a sensational video
Fine! I'll do it! I am buying the equipment now.
Thanks for the video!
Thanks for watching!
Very nice video and You are the best instructiom make the work a lot of easy. Thanks for sharing and thinking will do it
Thank you!
Excellent video I think I’m going to attempt to put this kit in my 1999 Camry.
Been trying to avoid deer with my old Tacoma here in Central Oregon and All the solutions are pretty horrible, until now. Thanks for the thorough video tutorial! I'm buying the same kit!
Awesome man! It’s a great bumper!
Thanks so much for the video it’s full of actual details
Glad you found it helpful! Cheers!
Gotta love a first gen. Bought my 03 4 door new, still have the old girl.
I love my first Gen. will be really hard to get me away from it
Great vid, I have an 04, just ordered this kit!
Thanks! You’ll love it!
Just not sure why they don’t make these lights,so much after market out there. You do a great job at explaining how to! I would burn something out if I tried or the wife would complain of plastic smells. The best part is it’s do able
Very nice retro fit
Thank you 🙏
First saw this video about 3 months ago. This video is what convinced me to go through with it. Clear and thorough explanation of the entire process. Overall a great video and if it weren't for the video I would've got lost on the electrical part. I have absolutely no prior experience with anything like this and I was able to do it. So if you're doubting yourself just like I did, just do it. You won't regret it.
@pnwxplore great job man! Earned yourself a subscriber!
Thanks man! Happy I was able to help out!
Great video man! You inspired me to do this to my 99 Tacoma. But for anyone getting the kit that’s linked be warned that you should change the wiring harness to the H4 one. Got everything installed and mounted but now I gotta wait for the right harness to come in.
Glad you found the video helpful! Yes you do indeed have to select the H4/9003 harness, I listed that under the link in the description as I unfortunately couldn’t link directly to what I picked. Enjoy!
I think I may be getting new headlights and corner lights for Christmas. I may do this before I install them!
You should! Big improvement
Great video bud I'll be getting the parts for this project soon
Thanks man!
@@pnwxplore I'll probably watch this video 10 more times before I pull the trigger but is this setup kit the same for all first gen tacoma's ?
It should be the same for all of you have the same headlights. The earlier first gens (with the different grill and headlights) might be different, but I would not know
@@pnwxplore ok perfect...one more thing was wondering what headlights did you go with? Any links
Update: I watched the video again and found out "TYC"
Well I’m sold.
Hey man great video! Is it possible to also provide the link to the new headlights you bought?
Great video, what setup did you exactly get? I went to the retrofit site and was confused by the selections.
What is the exact set up you bought? I see several options at the page where you order all parts; but I like the one you have. And thanks for posting this video, will used it as reference to built my tacoma headlights
Great video, easy to follow! just did this mod to my first gen Tacoma. You had mentioned moisture in the headlight, were you able to get ride of that issue? I have slight moisture and didnt know if that will go away or get worse.
Naw moisture is all gone! Hasn’t come back since
I am thinking about doing this with my 2001 Tacoma, but I am not sure about a few things. There is an option for shroud adapters "Centric rings: Mini H1" did you select this option for the kit? Also, what halo size would you recommend for this and is it more complicated to set up the halos?
Great video. I was most nervous about the baking part but that looks very easy. I'm interested in the longevity of these retrofits and how long the bulbs are suppose to last. I've tried LED's but they had fitment issues and I've looked at brighter replacement halogens but they have a lifespan of under 200 hours. I"m still running the original halogens on my 02 taco and figure they have over 5000 hours on them but over 18 years either they or my night vision has become dimmer.
Yeah the baking part is pretty simple. I’d say the harder part is just making sure it’s all clean and you do t leave behind any finger prints our dust when you bake it back together.
Time will tell on how long they last, but so far no issues
@@pnwxplore when they die do you have to bake it again or at the bulbs able to be changed from the back?
@@jvogler_art4708was also interested in how to replace if required
This is an excellent tutorial and a wise upgrade. I am a new subscriber too.
Where did you buy and which brand of new headlights for this project? I have the original headlights on my 2002 Tacoma 4x4 DC and they are yellow. This will be a huge upgrade for my Tacoma.
Thanks! I talk about where I got the kit in the video and headlights are TYC
@@pnwxplore Thanks 🙏.
Question did you get shroud adapters centric rings to put on the shrouds or did you leave it as is????
Great video! very detailed step by step walkthrough. Can you add a link to the replacement headlights that you bought? Also are these projectors ACME standard or ACME super?
I am not sure, my order just said Acme HID. Prob went with whatever was more budget friendly
Great video, I want to add these lights to my truck too. What wire harnesses and LED halos did you use?
The harness depends on your current harness and what type of bulbs you have. I used an H4 harness. No halos
Great walkthrough! You have talked me into it. I couldn't find it in the video, what color temperature were the old LEDs? and what temperature did you go with on the new HIDs?
Thanks dude! I went with 5k (pure white) on the new lights, can’t recall what the old ones were however
Instablaster
Great video man. I was looking at getting this kit and thought about getting some halos to go with it. Would you happen to know what size would be the best fit for the 1st gen?
Thanks my dude! Unfortunately I do not know on the halo front.
Thanks for this video, I followed step-by-step and now have killer retrofits!
I was wondering, did your in-dash high-beam indicator light stop working after install? Mine doesn't light up when I have the high-beams on and was wondering if the bulb is out or if it's something else. Thanks!
Glad it worked out for ya! Yeah my high beam light stopped working too. I just got used to it ha! I believe there is a mod you can do to get it to work again
This video encouraged me to go ahead and try it since mine were yellowed. I had some questions after watching this video but I figured I’ll figure it out myself once I get working on my kit. Here’s the first question I had, when doing the wiring, was there only one plug that went into the factory plug from previous headlight. Answer is yes. The driver side is the only one you’ll need. The next question was when did you put the bulb in? I figured out it kind of has to be a perfect sequence to get the wires and grommets to fit perfectly since some plugs didn’t fit through the dust grommet from the headlight. After I installed mine which was just as easy as this video looks, I realized something that I’d like to let y’all know before you get too far and that has to do with the cutoff line. I thought the solenoid was at the bottom and also figured due to the placement of the alignment washer that it would be good however it is not. Make sure the solenoid is dead perfect AFTER you have tightened the nut. I do believe you can adjust it once it is installed but I am going to try to do that tomorrow after work. All in all great video, helped me a lot, and I definitely recommend this to anyone.
Glad the video helped you! Also great tips! I put the bulb in before installing the headlight.
How did you get your passenger side light to turn on with no plug into the factory wiring?? My harness only has a plug on the driver's side and my passenger light won't turn on (I'm assuming because there's no plug...). What did you do to get it working??
Excellent video, this may work for my 2001 toyota sequoia?
It might, you’d have to look into it as I am not sure.
Where is the three-prong plug that the new headlights harness plugs into????
Hi, I live in WA,
I used to live in OR
I have a gen 3 4Runner M/T,
I want to do the Morimoto retrofit w/bells & whistles/painted inner reflector.
Can you advise?
Thanks
I
Thanks for the detail video. Did you buy the H1 acme bulbs?
Welcome! Yup yup!
Nice work on the retrofit! Do you mind providing the breakdown of your kit? Lol a little confused with the shrouds, ballasts, etc.
I did the mini Gatling gun shrouds, Acme standard bulbs, H4/9003 motocontrol harness and the speedy start ballasts.
@@pnwxplore what temp bulb did you end up getting? It seems like 5000K but just wanted to make sure. Going to do the same set up. Thanks for the vid!
@@ttngu203 yes correct, 5000
Great informative video- thanks!
I too am changing the old light lens assemblies on my 04
Per previous owner:
My o4 has the only high beam diverted to added lights on a bull bar - using the steering wheel light switch
and some odd added white light aftermarket blubs and low beam wiring kit which is horrible
I plan to pull all of this out
Can you anticipate how the previous owner modified the stock light switch for an alternate high beam and how to swap back ?
Still running these lights?
Still recommended?
Thoughts on that ARB bumper ??
And all related lights as added to same…
Thanks!!
04 sr5 extended cab. 2.7 manual
Wouldn’t have any idea about your wiring situation.
I am still running these lights and they are one of my favorite upgrades. Only issue was a ballast that went out, but the retrofit source replaced it under warranty. ARB bumper fits my needs well, so i like it a lot. Not super heavy either
@@pnwxplore thanks
Amigo como estas soy de Pueto Rico y megusta mucho como quedo yo tengo una tacoma 2003 doble cabina y me gustaría si puedes decirme la especificacion del kit para buscarlo para mi gracias
I’m getting this for my first gen but I’m just wondering what options you selected on the website? I just don’t want to end up ordering the wrong stuff so if you could just list what options you ordered it would be great help.
Just be sure to get the H4 Morimoto wiring harness. Everything else will be optional I believe
I have an 04 Pre runner. I've looked at the exact kit, what shroud did you go with? I like how the projector fit perfectly in the shroud and was able to use stock hardware from the original headlight assy. And what bulbs did you end up going with? Thanks in advance.
I found them down in the comments. Thanks. they do look sweet
I’m looking for a set of projector beams for a 2001 dodge van
I got the same setup but mine didn’t come with highbeam plug
What wiring harness did you get?? There’s many options and I’m confused. And what color of bulb. I hope you see this. Thank you
I got the motocontrol harness. You get whatever harness matches your regular bulb plugs. I went with 5000k
Great video! But do you know if they sell them ready to install?
They don’t, but if you search “Toyota retrofits” you will Likely find someone who does. Nomad retrofits I think is one
I did this with my Honda Accord, it's slightly miss aligned but i put enough glue it'll be fine 😭
How did you get everything aligned properly. I have a 2004’and just installed the same kit. I had to add washers on the lower mounting screw for both sides to align my lights.
Definitely takes some tweaking. I had to shim my bulbs a bit.
Hey just wondering I bought this kit actually and bought some aftermarket tinted lights to go with them but once I popped them in the oven they did not come apart. Even put them in longer and ended up breaking them trying to get them apart the didn’t come apart like yours did. So I was seeing which lights you bought so I can get it right the second time
TYC was the brand I bought, commonly used by body shops
I ordered the exact same kit (with the H4/9003 harness) but there's only one plug (driver's side) into the factory wiring, and now only my right side light will turn on - is there a different harness that also has a plug on the passenger side???
There should be two connectors coming off the relay.
am very interested in this set up will this fit my Toyota Tacoma 1996 ? Is a different housing what will you recommend me in this area!!! I will really appreciate your help by the way great video new subscriber 🙌🏻🙏🏻
Sorry not sure if this will work on your 1996 model
Did this and my right headlight is not level. Do I need to unseal it and adjust the projector?
Level as in which way? You can rotate the projector in the housing to fix any issues like that without needing to take the headlight apart. Just have to loosen the nut that holds the projector in the housing slightly and rotate, or if you didn’t tighten super tight to begin with, you should be able to rotate it a little. You can also use the bolt I point out in the video to aim the headlight up and down.
El estándar proyector sistema funciona para tacoma 2003 con los faros nuebos que salieron si pudiera enviarte una foto de los faros que tengo para que me digas si funcion mellegaron hoy
Did you use the retrofit clips on the housing when gluing back together? I don’t have those so I either have to go buy some clamps and do what you did with your channel pliers
I just reused the clips that came on the headlight housing.
Great video! Used it as a guide on both retrofits.
Just finished installing in my 04 tacoma and the high beams don’t work only low beams. Did you do anything in specific? I know these trucks are grounded for the highs to work. Thanks!
Hmm, I don’t seem to recall doing anything special for the high beams, simply plugged everything into the harness as intended. The light on the dash will no longer come on, but the harness should handle the needs of the high beams.
Interesting, I’ll look into it. Thank you anyway!
What shroud did you choose? I can’t fond it in the video or options. Maybe I’m just missing it?
Mini Gatling gun
Nice job. Just curious, what rims are you running? Is that third generation?
Thanks! Yeah these are 3rd Gen wheels
Iv heard with hid’s that there can be a lag switching from lo beam to hi beam. Have you noticed that?
No lag whatsoever
Did you retain the "BRIGHT" notification on the instrument cluster when you switch to brights? It's required in my state (TX).
Also I want to say that you did a great job on this video. Very thorough and clear. You also added little things like the exact temp and time for the lights in the oven, the adjusted orientation of the H4 bulb retainer adapter, and the orientation and location of the electrical components. You went above and beyond, home run.
Thanks man! Glad you found it helpful! With this I did not retain the high beam indicator. I am actually not sure why. My LED bulbs prior also did not have this. Haven’t looked into it since it doesn’t bother me
Call headlight revolution. They make a plug and play resister kit to solve this as I lost mine with LED bulbs
Can the reflector bowl be painted. Seems it doesn’t need to reflect light when switching to projectors
Yeah you could do whatever you wanted with the reflector.
Do u have a link to those exact headlights, I bought others ones but could not remove lense for the life of me.
TYC brand on Amazon.
I know you post the website for the kit but can you post the actual parts on each section like what you use. My truck is the same as yours and should be the same step.
Thanks
same here, not sure which harness to go with.
How did you got to plug the factory H4 to the 9005 plug in the harness?
He chose the h4 harness
I ordered the same exact kit you used in your video and my harness didn’t have a hi beam connection nor could connect to my stock H4 plug, I contacted retrosource and the guy told me I needed an H4 harness.
So he’s sending me hopefully “the correct H4” harness.
Am I missing something?
If you ordered the bi-xenon moto control H4 harness, that should be the one. It’s what I used.
How did you arrive at the 270 for 7 min time and temp? The other guy did his at 225 for 12 min. Thanx!
Either prob works fine
Tried looking for the same kit on the mentioned website and there is nothing as a complete kit nor vehicle specific.
Did you have to piece together by adding it individually adding each item to your cart?
There isn’t a vehicle specific kit for this truck. The link in the description takes you to the kit you need ( which is universal) and you choose the options you want ( such as shroud style, halos, etc)
Gotcha, thx🤙🏽
Would everything you used work for a 1st gen tundra. Headlights are very similar
It’s very possible, but I can’t say for sure
How did you get your high beam indicator light to work again?
I didn’t lol.
Retrofit bi-led lens?
I just did this project on my truck loved how it came out but slight problem. One of the projectors is not level so at an angle, don’t know how if I aligned it correctly :/
You should be able to twist the projector in the housing and straighten it out
@@pnwxplore do you think that process involves having to open up the housing? Because I was think of loosen up the nuts slightly and twisting the projector from the back
What brand headlight housings did you get out of curiosity.
TYC was the brand.
They bumped up the price a bit. Some stuff is on backorder as of 10/20/21 also.
Anyone got a link for some headlights that worked for them? The ones I bought were sealed extremely tight and I broke the plastic trying to open it up.
TYC headlights should work well, but a well sealed headlight should be difficult to get apart, you may just need a little more heat
@@pnwxplore Thank you! I ended up melting the plastic of the front housing before the seal got loose :/ they were an Amazon purchase
Hey did you buy the optional led halos?
I did not
I haven’t installed mines on the truck yet because I’m waiting for the passenger side headlight to come in. But I’ve done the driver side. Retrofitted and all. I didn’t double check because I was too excited and missed probably one important step. But was I supposed to aim the projector/shroud at a certain direction/angle? I sealed it up and I started staring at it. That it seems to be pointing more towards the right and down? if you were to look straight at it. Hopefully it makes sense. I looked around for some pics online and noticed other retrofitted headlights looks like is facing straight and center. I posted on TW forums and one person said I won’t find out till it’s on the truck. I may have missed it during your instructional video if you pointed that part out or not
There really isn’t any aiming to be done before it’s on the truck other than rotational and making sure it’s close to level for the cutoff. You can handle the rest of the aiming once it’s on the truck
@@pnwxplore ah makes sense! Appreciate it man great video btw!
No problem, thanks man!
@@pnwxplore finally got to see em at night. But major mistake that happened for me... the horizontal cut off line is way off. I guess as I tightened the locking ring, it rotated the whole bulb with it. So now it’s like 20degrees off CW. I would have to rotate it back CCW to level and then I’d be able to start adjusting vertically. Did you have an issues with this part? I did start it off with the solenoid facing downwards
You can rotate them when they are installed. Just need to loosen the nut a tiny amount and use something to grip and rotate the projector. Then you can retighten
And do you need the shroud adapters?
I didn’t, but other shrouds might
Are these lights recommended for city streets?
Yes they are fine for city streets
How are the lights holding up?
Sold the truck earlier this year but the lights were fine. I did have a ballast go bad, but the company replaced it free of charge
I’m sure it’s nothing but I tried that method where you test the high beam cut off with the battery on both of the projectors and neither of them it did it. I tested the battery and it had power but I’m sure when I plug everything up and to a reliable source it should would. I just finished installing the projectors and bulbs in the headlights today.
Does it come with light bulbs?
Yes it does as part of the kit, you select which bulbs you want.
where did you get the headlights?
If you are about the Housings, Amazon
Hi will this work for 2002 sequoia?
I am not sure.
How did you level your beam pattern
With the nuts on the headlight for adjustment and rotating the projector as needed
Same process for first gen tundra?
Most likely!
How are the projectors holding up?
Had a ballast that went bad, but the Retrofit Source replaced it under warranty. Other than that, they have been awesome
Does this upgrade work on 3rd gen 4Runners?
Can’t comment directly as I do not know, but wouldn’t be surprised if it does work
Does this work on 1st gen tundra?
That I am not sure on, sorry!
What style shrouds are those?
Mini Gatling gun
Will this work on a 1998 ?
I am not sure
3 inch projector ?
The ACME's are 2.5. If you want 3.0 you need to upgrade to the Mini D2S 5.0
What’s the product name of that bumper
ARB