Attention: TDR Forum Junkies 
There are a few members here that have done the full projector conversion and have written excellent articles (with pictures) on it. I’m just sharing my story to help save some of you a LOT of money and frustration.
I’ve spent upwards of a thousand dollars on snake oil lights over the years, be it fancy bulbs, “HID kits” or complete headlight assemblies. Alas, apparently I like to waste money. So here goes on what I’ve learned and hopefully some of you may learn from my stupidity…
First off, DO NOT BUY any headlight assemblies that have “projection” lights in them!
These “projection” headlights are for halogen lights and the companies offer optional HID kits to enhance them. These projector assemblies are designed for halogen bulbs and these bulbs are a different length from the HIDs. Because of this, the light output can be terrible. Also, the projectors themselves are a very poor quality so the light output is equality poor. These are worthless, and in my case even dangerous since the light output was much less than stock… Yes, some of the aftermarket headlight assemblies look fantastic (1 even made my truck look 5 years newer) and have all sorts of options, but most of us want light on the road, not silly rings around the bulbs or a row of LEDs under each light. Er, well, I’m speaking for the 50 and over crowd, you younger guys may like those trinkets. .
Second, please, never, ever install HID bulbs in a stock headlight assembly. You WILL blind every other oncoming driver and the light output will not be what you expected since it’s blasting everywhere (i. e. not being directed by the projectors). . Been there, done that, and ****** off a hell of a lot of drivers in just 10 minutes. . Gulp. .
Third, do your home work, listen to the guys on this forum and never fall for the latest greatest hype to dribble from the manufactures about how great their lights are. . My latest set of headlight assemblies was from Dodge Ram 02-05 Projector Headlights Halo - S Needless to say, they are going back. Even though I read all the trials and tribulations from other members, I was gullible enough to think that since it’s been a few years since I tried this type of headlight assembly, that the construction and engineering would now be even better… As smart as I think I am, I never cease to prove to myself wrong.
I always wanted to install real HID projectors in my truck, but the installation process looked scary, and I couldn’t have my truck down if something went wrong so I never did what I should have those many, many dollars ago. But hallelujah, I’ve now seen the light, (pun intended) and I’m one happy camper. .
While the worthless “pretty” headlight assemblies (see above) were still in the truck, I decided to do things the right way and installed an HID retrokit in my stock headlights from Complete Retrofit Kits from The Retrofit Source Inc
I called them and talked to Matt (who happen to be the President of the company) and told him what I expected from a light and also all my past issues and disappointments with HIDs. After talking with Matt, we decided on the BI-XENON FX-R Stage III kit but we swapped out the 35W bulbs for 55W since I wanted the most light on the road as possible. He also enlightened me as to light color and I decided to go with the 4300K lights since it’s the whitest light with no blue or purple (like you see in the high end cars or kids and their rice rockets).
The installation was straight forward with EXCELLENT directions. Yes, I did have a few hiccups, but for my first time, I was very happy. One of the biggest concerns I had was having to place the headlight assembly in the oven for 7 minutes at 265 degrees so as to allow the removable of the clear cover. Hell, it took longer to remove the extra oven racks than it did to remove the clear cover from the headlight assembly once I took it out of the oven… The hardest part of the whole job was getting the new projectors lined up properly before gluing them in. Believe me, this is one place where you need to be very thorough and FOLLOW DIRECTIONS.
I now have real HID lights with low and high beams that have the proper cut-off so as not to blind oncoming drivers and the light output is fantastic. And an added benefit is that it looks factory since the projectors are in the stock housing and even utilize the stock headlight adjustment too.
So, in conclusion, learn from idiots like me. If you want HID lights, save your hard earned money and go with real HID retro kits and do the job right. You won’t be disappointed.
I’ve spent upwards of a thousand dollars on snake oil lights over the years, be it fancy bulbs, “HID kits” or complete headlight assemblies. Alas, apparently I like to waste money. So here goes on what I’ve learned and hopefully some of you may learn from my stupidity…
First off, DO NOT BUY any headlight assemblies that have “projection” lights in them!
These “projection” headlights are for halogen lights and the companies offer optional HID kits to enhance them. These projector assemblies are designed for halogen bulbs and these bulbs are a different length from the HIDs. Because of this, the light output can be terrible. Also, the projectors themselves are a very poor quality so the light output is equality poor. These are worthless, and in my case even dangerous since the light output was much less than stock… Yes, some of the aftermarket headlight assemblies look fantastic (1 even made my truck look 5 years newer) and have all sorts of options, but most of us want light on the road, not silly rings around the bulbs or a row of LEDs under each light. Er, well, I’m speaking for the 50 and over crowd, you younger guys may like those trinkets. .
Second, please, never, ever install HID bulbs in a stock headlight assembly. You WILL blind every other oncoming driver and the light output will not be what you expected since it’s blasting everywhere (i. e. not being directed by the projectors). . Been there, done that, and ****** off a hell of a lot of drivers in just 10 minutes. . Gulp. .
Third, do your home work, listen to the guys on this forum and never fall for the latest greatest hype to dribble from the manufactures about how great their lights are. . My latest set of headlight assemblies was from Dodge Ram 02-05 Projector Headlights Halo - S Needless to say, they are going back. Even though I read all the trials and tribulations from other members, I was gullible enough to think that since it’s been a few years since I tried this type of headlight assembly, that the construction and engineering would now be even better… As smart as I think I am, I never cease to prove to myself wrong.
I always wanted to install real HID projectors in my truck, but the installation process looked scary, and I couldn’t have my truck down if something went wrong so I never did what I should have those many, many dollars ago. But hallelujah, I’ve now seen the light, (pun intended) and I’m one happy camper. .
While the worthless “pretty” headlight assemblies (see above) were still in the truck, I decided to do things the right way and installed an HID retrokit in my stock headlights from Complete Retrofit Kits from The Retrofit Source Inc
I called them and talked to Matt (who happen to be the President of the company) and told him what I expected from a light and also all my past issues and disappointments with HIDs. After talking with Matt, we decided on the BI-XENON FX-R Stage III kit but we swapped out the 35W bulbs for 55W since I wanted the most light on the road as possible. He also enlightened me as to light color and I decided to go with the 4300K lights since it’s the whitest light with no blue or purple (like you see in the high end cars or kids and their rice rockets).
The installation was straight forward with EXCELLENT directions. Yes, I did have a few hiccups, but for my first time, I was very happy. One of the biggest concerns I had was having to place the headlight assembly in the oven for 7 minutes at 265 degrees so as to allow the removable of the clear cover. Hell, it took longer to remove the extra oven racks than it did to remove the clear cover from the headlight assembly once I took it out of the oven… The hardest part of the whole job was getting the new projectors lined up properly before gluing them in. Believe me, this is one place where you need to be very thorough and FOLLOW DIRECTIONS.
I now have real HID lights with low and high beams that have the proper cut-off so as not to blind oncoming drivers and the light output is fantastic. And an added benefit is that it looks factory since the projectors are in the stock housing and even utilize the stock headlight adjustment too.
So, in conclusion, learn from idiots like me. If you want HID lights, save your hard earned money and go with real HID retro kits and do the job right. You won’t be disappointed.
