04 Headlight Upgrade

[Yo Hoot]

Had my truck since new. As we all know the headlights are terrible. Better bulbs helped. I then added a light bar with three large Hella driving lights. Polished the lenses once a few years ago but they have gone hazy once again. I decided to replace the headlights with stock replacements.

Then I did some research an found that people are modding their lights by actually disassembling them and changing or adding internal components, specifically projector housings. I decided to go that route.

Went and ordered a specific kit for these trucks and am going to try it. I'll convert the housing into HID projectors.

To open the housing up you simply put them in an oven at about 250 deg for about 10 minutes or so. Then you simply pry the clear front apart from the rear housing. You remove the existing light assy and install the projector assy which fits through the hole and has a large nut on the outside that you tighten. You then install the decorative shroud around the projector housing and put it all back together. We'll see how this turns out.

Moving to Texas and want real lighting for those dark farm roads.

 

[seafish]

The HID projector mod, when done carefully and correctly, results in EXCELLENT forward lighting on these trucks.

 

[CJ8Rockcrawler]

Please share your process and results. I "upgraded" to aftermarket housings and a quality HID bulb replacement, but have been less than impressed with the results. So much so, that I choose other vehicles to drive at night whenever I have the option.

 

[Yo Hoot]

Please share your process and results. I "upgraded" to aftermarket housings and a quality HID bulb replacement, but have been less than impressed with the results. So much so, that I choose other vehicles to drive at night whenever I have the option.

Will do. I didn't go for the aftermarket replacements for that reason/ Never read a review saying they were good.

You want to see some ingenuity, watch these 4 videos of this mod. These guys come up with some cool methods of totally changing these assemblies. Now I'm not doing anything near what these guys do but I was impressed.

 

[CJ8Rockcrawler]

I did keep my factory housings on the shelf for the "someday" upgrade... maybe this will be a good winter project.

 

[Yo Hoot]

I did keep my factory housings on the shelf for the "someday" upgrade... maybe this will be a good winter project.

Mine faded out bad. Polished them once but that takes away the UV protection and they faded again. Trash. Not worth putting the effort in since new ones are relatively cheap.

 

[jghflys]

Moving to Texas and want real lighting for those dark farm roads.

Glad to have you in Texas. Make sure your lighting solution is DOT approved. We have vehicle inspections here and some inspection stations are sticklers for lighting if the are any color except white or too bright and no DOT approval. Your experience may vary depending on the inspection station.

 

[Yo Hoot]

Glad to have you in Texas. Make sure your lighting solution is DOT approved. We have vehicle inspections here and some inspection stations are sticklers for lighting if the are any color except white or too bright and no DOT approval. Your experience may vary depending on the inspection station.

Thank you and thank you

 

[Wayne M.]

I recently bought TYC OE replacements and aside from some fit issues, I’m happy with them. They throw light pretty well.

 

[Yo Hoot]

The ones i ordered are DEPO brand off ebay for $100 a pair shipped. Doing the mod to them