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As the North American distributor officially responsible for much of the early testing and ultimately every set shipped since production began, we felt it was important to publicly respond to the complaints, questions, concerns, doubts, myths, and real issues reported in this thread. No individual or dealer knows about these headlights than we do - since no matter purchased through us, through Morimoto, or any other vendor, everything funnels back through us at the end of the day.
We'll start with the most common issues first, and trickle down to the odd ***** from there.
DRL Dimming Problem: The very reason this thread was started. The white DRL outline is bananas-bright, and can be distracting to oncoming traffic at night. The first shipment of 15-17 F150 lights we received & shipped relied on the parking light circuit to dim the DRL, rather than the side marker circuit (T10 2 pin connector plug) because that’s how all of the trucks we tested prototypes worked. BUT, it would seem that’s not the case for nearly every truck out there, many of them don’t make use of that pin in the parking light, therefore, no dim action. Adapters were designed to connect those two circuits together, come shipped with the lights today, and are available 100% free of charge to anybody who needs them. This problem is solved.
Wiring: OEM LED trucks: there are literally no more connections to make compared to the OEM LED headlight. Unplug the old, plug in the new, and you’re done. Some guys were shipped lights that were setup for OEM Halogen trucks when they ordered for OEM LED though, and then got the proper OEM LED wiring after the fact – and yeah, unless you are us, figuring it all out can be confusing.
OEM Halogen trucks: everything is still plug n play, but there is one additional connection necessary to the fuse box to power the full intensity DRL outline. There is simply no way around this, forescan DRL settings customized or not…reason being that the only options for DRL on a halogen truck are to either use the parking light (which translates to the turn signal on the XB’s) or the low beam (which translates to the low beam mode on the XB’s) and because both of those modes trigger the DIM DRL on XB’s - the only way to get a signal & power source for a bright mode is to go straight to switched power (the fuse panel). We do not feel the plug n play statements are misleading, because you’re not cutting or splicing anything. The fuse-tap harness plugs into the fuse box, and then into the back of the headlights, but do apologize to anyone who feels that statement is disqualified given the +1 connection over stock.
EMI / Radio Interference: In the lighting industry, EMI is a common problem and it is standard operating procedure to check for it when testing any new product. Taking preventative measures to avoid it were on our radar very early on (note point #2 in screen shot of email below to R&D, from March of 2018) ….we installed ten+ sets of headlights on both 15-17 and 2018+ trucks during various stages of development over the course of the year, checking for EMI in every phase, and never once found any radio static. Either the radio signals here in Atlanta are damn good or we somehow dodged a bullet with trucks that were unaffected…so did not see this coming. We haven take responsibility & quick action to fix the problem though, and adapters were developed to go between the LED drivers & the internal wiring. They work like a charm to get rid of the static. Today, we are only shipping headlights with the EMI reducers inside the box. Most people don’t have it, but we certainly understand it’s ideal to have the necessary part to fix it during the initial install rather than reporting the issue, taking apart the truck, and getting the part after the fact.
Instructions: The printed instruction guide that ships with the 15-17 headlights is missing a lot of helpful information, no question, but rather than wasting paper to re-print them, have updated the electronic version which is available here. https://www.theretrofitsource.com/me...1540233179.pdf
Aiming: Some people complained that the high beams lack power or distance. After dialing in the low beam height (top adjuster)- It is important to make sure that the height of the high beam is adjusted so that it projects above the low beam pattern. The first photo below shows an improperly adjusted beam (from a complaint thread on the Raptor forum) and the second photo shows a properly adjusted beam (from dealer Raptor Retrofit) - you can see how much better the second will perform in high beam mode.
Panel Gaps / Fitment: Not one complaint on this for 15-17 trucks. We currently have around 6-8 concerned customers / complaints via dealers about this problem though for 2018+ trucks though. All of the lights are produced from the same exact mold, so there can’t really be any difference between early / current production – but to make sure we weren’t crazy, took measurements with a caliper to a random sampling of passengers side headlights in the warehouse this morning, including prototypes – and they’re all the same. We also checked against an OEM LED headlight (don’t have an OE Halogen here) and found no differences either. While no doubt some of the photos posted here show what seems to be one helluva gap, given the information we have, we think its important to consider three things. One: Got to make sure there’s nothing behind the light preventing the alignment stud from snapping into the receptacle. Put your hip into it, and push that thing in, tighten the bolts down. Two: These trim inside of these are black versus chrome for the OEM units. Depending on the color of your truck, the gap may simply be more obvious due to the added contrast. Three: Even on OEM headlights, the gap on the passenger’s side is bigger than the gap on the drivers side (as reported by another use just a few posts above). At the end of the day, we do not think this is a defect, fault, or indication of poor quality, fit, or finish. If you can’t live with it though, we certainly respect your opinions – but do want to make it clear that requesting a replacement from your dealer will not net you any benefit on this matter.
The feedback from real world users like you guys, no matter good, bad, or ugly is extremely important to us. As the guy who founded TRS back in 2005, I’m no stranger to criticism and frankly believe it’s the most constructive way to improve. Realizing what went wrong, what went right, or what’s simply misunderstood, then taking the appropriate action; has helped us grow into one of the most well recognized & respected names in the lighting industry. I take a lot of pride in what we do, and I know it’s never possible to please every single person, but if you think we’re the kinda guys who read through a thread like this, say “f it” and move on about our day, you would be wrong.
We have shipped nearly 1000 sets of these headlights out to-date and statistically speaking don’t have that many issues with them…so it’s hardly doomsday. But having said that, if you spent your money on these headlights and don’t like em, have a problem, or need anything at all: You have a right to contact me about it. I will see it through, and make sure you’re taken care of one way or another. My email is TRSMatt @ theretrofitsource dot com, and I got your back!
Panel Gaps / Fitment: Not one complaint on this for 15-17 trucks. We currently have around 6-8 concerned customers / complaints via dealers about this problem though for 2018+ trucks though. All of the lights are produced from the same exact mold, so there can’t really be any difference between early / current production – but to make sure we weren’t crazy, took measurements with a caliper to a random sampling of passengers side headlights in the warehouse this morning, including prototypes – and they’re all the same. We also checked against an OEM LED headlight (don’t have an OE Halogen here) and found no differences either. While no doubt some of the photos posted here show what seems to be one helluva gap, given the information we have, we think its important to consider three things. One: Got to make sure there’s nothing behind the light preventing the alignment stud from snapping into the receptacle. Put your hip into it, and push that thing in, tighten the bolts down. Two: These trim inside of these are black versus chrome for the OEM units. Depending on the color of your truck, the gap may simply be more obvious due to the added contrast. Three: Even on OEM headlights, the gap on the passenger’s side is bigger than the gap on the drivers side (as reported by another use just a few posts above). At the end of the day, we do not think this is a defect, fault, or indication of poor quality, fit, or finish. If you can’t live with it though, we certainly respect your opinions – but do want to make it clear that requesting a replacement from your dealer will not net you any benefit on this matter.
The feedback from real world users like you guys, no matter good, bad, or ugly is extremely important to us. As the guy who founded TRS back in 2005, I’m no stranger to criticism and frankly believe it’s the most constructive way to improve. Realizing what went wrong, what went right, or what’s simply misunderstood, then taking the appropriate action; has helped us grow into one of the most well recognized & respected names in the lighting industry. I take a lot of pride in what we do, and I know it’s never possible to please every single person, but if you think we’re the kinda guys who read through a thread like this, say “f it” and move on about our day, you would be wrong.
We have shipped nearly 1000 sets of these headlights out to-date and statistically speaking don’t have that many issues with them…so it’s hardly doomsday. But having said that, if you spent your money on these headlights and don’t like em, have a problem, or need anything at all: You have a right to contact me about it. I will see it through, and make sure you’re taken care of one way or another. My email is TRSMatt @ theretrofitsource dot com, and I got your back!
- TRSMatt
The picture you show here (my pictures, BTW) are of the Morimoto XB headlight pins, not the OEM headlight pins. The OEM headlight pin seats fine. The Morimoto XB RF headlight pin does not.
I do not agree when you say "we do not think this is a defect, fault, or indication of poor quality, fit, or finish", but since you "do want to make it clear that requesting a replacement from your dealer will not net you any benefit on this matter," then I would like to return my headlights rather than trying to install another set that will likely show no improvement.
I will also point out that the panel gaps in the pics of the OEM headlights above look perfectly acceptable, and far less obvious or shoddy than the gaps I'm seeing with the RF Morimoto XB headlight.
Zymic - yes, aware those are the pins on the Morimoto lights not the OEM's. I've reached out to a few locals in Atlanta to see if we can get another truck here soon so that we can investigate further, but given that the OE lights exhibit a little more gap on the pass side, we can't blame this entirely on the new headlights. None the less, we'll see what if anything can be done to mitigate it.
I fully respect your decision to return the lights if you're unhappy with the fitment. If you ordered them through TRS, please don't hesitate to reach out directly and we'll get it taken care of for you.
As the North American distributor officially responsible for much of the early testing and ultimately every set shipped since production began, we felt it was important to publicly respond to the complaints, questions, concerns, doubts, myths, and real issues reported in this thread. No individual or dealer knows about these headlights than we do - since no matter purchased through us, through Morimoto, or any other vendor, everything funnels back through us at the end of the day.
We'll start with the most common issues first, and trickle down to the odd ***** from there.
DRL Dimming Problem: The very reason this thread was started. The white DRL outline is bananas-bright, and can be distracting to oncoming traffic at night. The first shipment of 15-17 F150 lights we received & shipped relied on the parking light circuit to dim the DRL, rather than the side marker circuit (T10 2 pin connector plug) because that’s how all of the trucks we tested prototypes worked. BUT, it would seem that’s not the case for nearly every truck out there, many of them don’t make use of that pin in the parking light, therefore, no dim action. Adapters were designed to connect those two circuits together, come shipped with the lights today, and are available 100% free of charge to anybody who needs them. This problem is solved.
Wiring: OEM LED trucks: there are literally no more connections to make compared to the OEM LED headlight. Unplug the old, plug in the new, and you’re done. Some guys were shipped lights that were setup for OEM Halogen trucks when they ordered for OEM LED though, and then got the proper OEM LED wiring after the fact – and yeah, unless you are us, figuring it all out can be confusing.
OEM Halogen trucks: everything is still plug n play, but there is one additional connection necessary to the fuse box to power the full intensity DRL outline. There is simply no way around this, forescan DRL settings customized or not…reason being that the only options for DRL on a halogen truck are to either use the parking light (which translates to the turn signal on the XB’s) or the low beam (which translates to the low beam mode on the XB’s) and because both of those modes trigger the DIM DRL on XB’s - the only way to get a signal & power source for a bright mode is to go straight to switched power (the fuse panel). We do not feel the plug n play statements are misleading, because you’re not cutting or splicing anything. The fuse-tap harness plugs into the fuse box, and then into the back of the headlights, but do apologize to anyone who feels that statement is disqualified given the +1 connection over stock.
EMI / Radio Interference: In the lighting industry, EMI is a common problem and it is standard operating procedure to check for it when testing any new product. Taking preventative measures to avoid it were on our radar very early on (note point #2 in screen shot of email below to R&D, from March of 2018) ….we installed ten+ sets of headlights on both 15-17 and 2018+ trucks during various stages of development over the course of the year, checking for EMI in every phase, and never once found any radio static. Either the radio signals here in Atlanta are damn good or we somehow dodged a bullet with trucks that were unaffected…so did not see this coming. We haven take responsibility & quick action to fix the problem though, and adapters were developed to go between the LED drivers & the internal wiring. They work like a charm to get rid of the static. Today, we are only shipping headlights with the EMI reducers inside the box. Most people don’t have it, but we certainly understand it’s ideal to have the necessary part to fix it during the initial install rather than reporting the issue, taking apart the truck, and getting the part after the fact.
Instructions: The printed instruction guide that ships with the 15-17 headlights is missing a lot of helpful information, no question, but rather than wasting paper to re-print them, have updated the electronic version which is available here. https://www.theretrofitsource.com/me...1540233179.pdf
Aiming: Some people complained that the high beams lack power or distance. After dialing in the low beam height (top adjuster)- It is important to make sure that the height of the high beam is adjusted so that it projects above the low beam pattern. The first photo below shows an improperly adjusted beam (from a complaint thread on the Raptor forum) and the second photo shows a properly adjusted beam (from dealer Raptor Retrofit) - you can see how much better the second will perform in high beam mode.
Panel Gaps / Fitment: Not one complaint on this for 15-17 trucks. We currently have around 6-8 concerned customers / complaints via dealers about this problem though for 2018+ trucks though. All of the lights are produced from the same exact mold, so there can’t really be any difference between early / current production – but to make sure we weren’t crazy, took measurements with a caliper to a random sampling of passengers side headlights in the warehouse this morning, including prototypes – and they’re all the same. We also checked against an OEM LED headlight (don’t have an OE Halogen here) and found no differences either. While no doubt some of the photos posted here show what seems to be one helluva gap, given the information we have, we think its important to consider three things. One: Got to make sure there’s nothing behind the light preventing the alignment stud from snapping into the receptacle. Put your hip into it, and push that thing in, tighten the bolts down. Two: These trim inside of these are black versus chrome for the OEM units. Depending on the color of your truck, the gap may simply be more obvious due to the added contrast. Three: Even on OEM headlights, the gap on the passenger’s side is bigger than the gap on the drivers side (as reported by another use just a few posts above). At the end of the day, we do not think this is a defect, fault, or indication of poor quality, fit, or finish. If you can’t live with it though, we certainly respect your opinions – but do want to make it clear that requesting a replacement from your dealer will not net you any benefit on this matter.
The feedback from real world users like you guys, no matter good, bad, or ugly is extremely important to us. As the guy who founded TRS back in 2005, I’m no stranger to criticism and frankly believe it’s the most constructive way to improve. Realizing what went wrong, what went right, or what’s simply misunderstood, then taking the appropriate action; has helped us grow into one of the most well recognized & respected names in the lighting industry. I take a lot of pride in what we do, and I know it’s never possible to please every single person, but if you think we’re the kinda guys who read through a thread like this, say “f it” and move on about our day, you would be wrong.
We have shipped nearly 1000 sets of these headlights out to-date and statistically speaking don’t have that many issues with them…so it’s hardly doomsday. But having said that, if you spent your money on these headlights and don’t like em, have a problem, or need anything at all: You have a right to contact me about it. I will see it through, and make sure you’re taken care of one way or another. My email is TRSMatt @ theretrofitsource dot com, and I got your back!
We have shipped nearly 1000 sets of these headlights out to-date and statistically speaking don’t have that many issues with them…so it’s hardly doomsday. But having said that, if you spent your money on these headlights and don’t like em, have a problem, or need anything at all: You have a right to contact me about it. I will see it through, and make sure you’re taken care of one way or another. My email is TRSMatt @ theretrofitsource dot com, and I got your back!
- TRSMatt
As someone who is expecting a box of headlights from TRS tomorrow and has been watching this thread intently, this is encouraging. Thanks!
Last edited by DeltaNu1142; 11-29-2018 at 09:44 PM.
So, it's cold here in CT. Ford builds a big truck. My old shop (1907) is small. So I have to do truck work outside.
THe install isn't a quick half hour, it's involved, and plastic (brittle) parts are involved.
For those reasons I don't want to do the job twice. My set came without the RF noise kit.
I previously read that you needed to install them and then see IF you needed the RF noise unit before ordering them.
That strikes me as a bad idea.
Whats the process to expedite them? If it matters, I ordered on the group buy from Umnitza. Should I just send info to TRS?>
Big shout out and thanks to TRS for the comprehensive post.
So, it's cold here in CT. Ford builds a big truck. My old shop (1907) is small. So I have to do truck work outside.
THe install isn't a quick half hour, it's involved, and plastic (brittle) parts are involved.
For those reasons I don't want to do the job twice. My set came without the RF noise kit.
I previously read that you needed to install them and then see IF you needed the RF noise unit before ordering them.
That strikes me as a bad idea.
Whats the process to expedite them? If it matters, I ordered on the group buy from Umnitza. Should I just send info to TRS?>
Big shout out and thanks to TRS for the comprehensive post.
2 times I've tried to write a strong case for VARs (value added resellers) and each time I've been thwarted with actual work.
VARs are your advocates. Without us, most companies would be overwhelmed with work. Consider any retailer as someone that "has your back" and will work with the original distributor to consolidate issues into an easily digested simplified form that can then expedite the resolution process.
That's fancy talk for we summarize the issues, the vendor gets to deal with them more efficiently.
Currently, there are 2 of our customers that have the fitment issue. Once Jonathan sends in his lights, TRS will inform us of the measurements and fitment onto a truck and we'll go from there.
And we'll disseminate that information to our customers.
Same goes for the EMI parts, while not optimal, new products can have growing pains and unfortunately sometimes those growing pains can overshadow the significant positives.
The reality is these lights are a gigantic leap forward in light output from the halogens, and by measurements a step above the LED OEM units.
They are also much more aesthetically pleasing, TRS has done a good job of incorporating their ideas into the product to make it function the way a modern headlight should function (not like Ford's sort of watered down look). That includes the sequential aspects etc. That's not without some growing pains but being first to have these is a cachet that some people prefer (I among them).
Having installed these a few times, if you have the right tools, the install isn't more than 30 minutes per side at most. I highly recommend having 2 cordless drills at the ready, it makes the job uber quick. I do not recommend manual tools as they slow the process down and aren't as accurate. Harbor Freight has some great deals on cordless tools that will make getting these parts in and out very simple. Once we get a set in here, we will do our own video to show you how quick and easy it can be so it doesn't have to feel like a chore
So in conclusion, please funnel your questions through us and we'll help you resolve these issues.
So as I've been saying from the beginning - I'm thrilled with my Morimoto LED heads on my 2018 F150. I did not see complaints of these "fitment issues" until I had already installed mine. I wasn't about to remove them just to reinstall the factory ones and see how they fit.
So yesterday, we purchased another 2018 F-150. STX package, 16 miles on it. FIRST THING I did was look at the headlights and the "finger gap" on the RH headlight. This thing is 100% factory and not touched. Guess what - the RF headlight looks EXACTLY the same as the Morimoto ones. lol. See the pictures. People enjoy the headlights, there's nothing wrong with them. FYI, the grommet that the pin presses through on the back of the headlight.... the RF headlight pin isnt pushed through that grommet on OEM headlights either.
11-29-2018, 02:09 PM
