Quality projectors/halos
Thread Starter
Senior Member
Joined: Mar 2012
Posts: 523
Likes: 22
From: TEXAS
Quality projectors/halos
I really would like a set of projectors and HID's or a sed of LED bulbs, but I am nervous about all the tedious fabrication that goes on with retrofitting. Are there any quality plug and plays at all? What about the U-Bars?
Timber Baron
Joined: Apr 2015
Posts: 645
Likes: 77
From: Steamboat Springs
You can get quality projectors at theretrofitsource.com. They have single beam(low beam only) and bi-xenon(high and low through the movement of a metal shield, actuated by an electromagnetic solenoid).
They have 'no-cut' bi-xenon projectors called the Morimoto Mini. These projectors thread into your existing bulb hole in the factory reflector and are held in place by a lock ring on the outer/back side. The bulb is then inserted into the projector from the outside, similar to the factory halogen bulb. You have to bake and separate your lens from the headlight housing to insert the projector, align everything, and then bake and re-glue the lens to the headlight housing. There should be no cutting or permanently altering your factory housings, so theoretically you could remove the projector and go back to stock. I went with the Mini H1 version 6.0 in my previous car(2004 accord) and they were 3/5 stars. The light output was 500% better than the factory halogens, however, after a few months one of the solenoids would get stuck and would not allow me to have high beam on that light. I removed my bumper, baked my headlight apart, fixed the solenoid (smoothed it with polishing cloth in a drill) and put it all back together. A few weeks later, same thing happened with the other side.....
TRS has some better projectors as far as light output and solenoid reliability, but they require you to either buy another set of headlight housings, or cut up yours. This is not something for the mechanically disinclined. You must make your own brackets to secure the projector in your housing, also coming up with a way to aim them.
A basic bi-xenon projector retrofit can be done for $300 in parts. It goes up from there as far as better projectors, lenses, bulbs, ballasts, and then all the add-ons such as halos, demon eyes, LED strips, etc.
They have 'no-cut' bi-xenon projectors called the Morimoto Mini. These projectors thread into your existing bulb hole in the factory reflector and are held in place by a lock ring on the outer/back side. The bulb is then inserted into the projector from the outside, similar to the factory halogen bulb. You have to bake and separate your lens from the headlight housing to insert the projector, align everything, and then bake and re-glue the lens to the headlight housing. There should be no cutting or permanently altering your factory housings, so theoretically you could remove the projector and go back to stock. I went with the Mini H1 version 6.0 in my previous car(2004 accord) and they were 3/5 stars. The light output was 500% better than the factory halogens, however, after a few months one of the solenoids would get stuck and would not allow me to have high beam on that light. I removed my bumper, baked my headlight apart, fixed the solenoid (smoothed it with polishing cloth in a drill) and put it all back together. A few weeks later, same thing happened with the other side.....
TRS has some better projectors as far as light output and solenoid reliability, but they require you to either buy another set of headlight housings, or cut up yours. This is not something for the mechanically disinclined. You must make your own brackets to secure the projector in your housing, also coming up with a way to aim them.
A basic bi-xenon projector retrofit can be done for $300 in parts. It goes up from there as far as better projectors, lenses, bulbs, ballasts, and then all the add-ons such as halos, demon eyes, LED strips, etc.
Last edited by Toshbar; Jan 24, 2016 at 09:33 PM.
Thread Starter
Senior Member
Joined: Mar 2012
Posts: 523
Likes: 22
From: TEXAS
You can get quality projectors at theretrofitsource.com. They have single beam(low beam only) and bi-xenon(high and low through the movement of a metal shield, actuated by an electromagnetic solenoid).
They have 'no-cut' bi-xenon projectors called the Morimoto Mini. These projectors thread into your existing bulb hole in the factory reflector and are held in place by a lock ring on the outer/back side. The bulb is then inserted into the projector from the outside, similar to the factory halogen bulb. You have to bake and separate your lens from the headlight housing to insert the projector, align everything, and then bake and re-glue the lens to the headlight housing. There should be no cutting or permanently altering your factory housings, so theoretically you could remove the projector and go back to stock. I went with the Mini H1 version 6.0 in my previous car(2004 accord) and they were 3/5 stars. The light output was 500% better than the factory halogens, however, after a few months one of the solenoids would get stuck and would not allow me to have high beam on that light. I removed my bumper, baked my headlight apart, fixed the solenoid (smoothed it with polishing cloth in a drill) and put it all back together. A few weeks later, same thing happened with the other side.....
TRS has some better projectors as far as light output and solenoid reliability, but they require you to either buy another set of headlight housings, or cut up yours. This is not something for the mechanically disinclined. You must make your own brackets to secure the projector in your housing, also coming up with a way to aim them.
A basic bi-xenon projector retrofit can be done for $300 in parts. It goes up from there as far as better projectors, lenses, bulbs, ballasts, and then all the add-ons such as halos, demon eyes, LED strips, etc.
They have 'no-cut' bi-xenon projectors called the Morimoto Mini. These projectors thread into your existing bulb hole in the factory reflector and are held in place by a lock ring on the outer/back side. The bulb is then inserted into the projector from the outside, similar to the factory halogen bulb. You have to bake and separate your lens from the headlight housing to insert the projector, align everything, and then bake and re-glue the lens to the headlight housing. There should be no cutting or permanently altering your factory housings, so theoretically you could remove the projector and go back to stock. I went with the Mini H1 version 6.0 in my previous car(2004 accord) and they were 3/5 stars. The light output was 500% better than the factory halogens, however, after a few months one of the solenoids would get stuck and would not allow me to have high beam on that light. I removed my bumper, baked my headlight apart, fixed the solenoid (smoothed it with polishing cloth in a drill) and put it all back together. A few weeks later, same thing happened with the other side.....
TRS has some better projectors as far as light output and solenoid reliability, but they require you to either buy another set of headlight housings, or cut up yours. This is not something for the mechanically disinclined. You must make your own brackets to secure the projector in your housing, also coming up with a way to aim them.
A basic bi-xenon projector retrofit can be done for $300 in parts. It goes up from there as far as better projectors, lenses, bulbs, ballasts, and then all the add-ons such as halos, demon eyes, LED strips, etc.
Thread Starter
Senior Member
Joined: Mar 2012
Posts: 523
Likes: 22
From: TEXAS
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Senior Member
Joined: Oct 2015
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Watch all of The Retrofit Source videos on their Youtube channel.
Also, check out this thread if you haven't yet:
http://www.f150online.com/forums/200...-retrofit.html
I went with FX-R's and have no regrets. Yes, it took some dremel work but if you take your time, it's really not that hard. The mini's are convenient but too small for our housings in my opinion. Regardless of what you do, make sure you seal them properly.
Also, check out this thread if you haven't yet:
http://www.f150online.com/forums/200...-retrofit.html
I went with FX-R's and have no regrets. Yes, it took some dremel work but if you take your time, it's really not that hard. The mini's are convenient but too small for our housings in my opinion. Regardless of what you do, make sure you seal them properly.
former member
Joined: Jan 2014
Posts: 3,092
Likes: 857
IF you elect to save some money and order previous -gen units from their Closeout section, those can ( and likely will) be suspect. You SHOULD be proactive in that case and condition the solenoids and 'tune' the projectors before ever installing them permanently.
Abundant, excellent tutorials on all aspects of the H1 ( fixes, mods ) on www.Hidplanet.com. Yer single Best resource. It behooves you , if yer at all serious, to spend many sleepless nights absorbing the incredible depth and breadth of the FREE info provided.
Good luck
MGD
PS - projector type make little difference size-wise for large housings - it's covered by a shroud, which SHOULD be as large as possible to look better in said mondo housings. TRS offers several big'uns, aight. But - yep, If you go fer a 3" lens, can't be had on a Mini.
I agree, though - NEVER run Mini-Gats (default MinH1shrouds) in these massive housings - they tend to end up looking like zits, IMHO
PPS - don't use a dremel use a 3" holesaw fer an FX-R - it'll drop right in purty much (okay, a l'il dremelin' required to clear that pesky solenoid, lol). Great projector. 3" lens looks great in that housing ).
PPPS - I never recommend an H1-based projector. Min-D2S and up. Many benefits. Unless yer really cash-strapped.
Last edited by MGD; Jan 25, 2016 at 03:28 PM.
