HID install/headlight removal made easy! TRS Morimoto Elite kit w/ stock projectors

[620mac]

So, the video I saw literally did me no good, as my kit was different, plus everyone seems to think you have to take apart your grille to change bulbs, but nobody has detailed how to do it. SO, I'm killing 2 birds with one stone.

9006: Morimoto Elite HID System - HID Systems from The Retrofit Source Inc

That's what I ordered, and you will need to select which ballast and bulb you want, anti-flicker is not needed, select CANBUS 9012 harness, and bracket upgrade is not needed.

I went with 35w, 5500k, and they are just white. My Morimoto xB LED fogs which are rated at 5000k are more blue than these are, so I'm a bit disappointed, might get different bulbs soon to fix it. If you're looking to do a setup like mine, get the 6500k bulbs, should match better.

First, for the headlight removal, there is one clip and 2 bolts to remove the headlight, and it takes like 3 minutes per side if you do it right.

Open this door in the front of your wheel wells


Push this clip up to release


Remove this top bolt, and if you use a light and look down towards the bottom through the little hole by the top corner of the light, you'll see the bottom bolt, same color, should stand out.


That bolt does NOT come all the way out, it stays attached on the bottom, so you don't have to worry about losing it. Just wiggle the light out, and you will need to pop the back out with a screwdriver, makes it much easier. Suggest using a rag.


After popping the back, wiggle it, work it, and it will come out. As you can see, my grille is definitely still in there. Magical huh? Total waste of time to remove your grille.


Next post will be the HID wiring and setup, I'm out of pictures.

 

[620mac]

Apologize, but the pictures are rotated for some reason, be sure you're looking at them properly.

 

[620mac]

I will simplify this as much as possible, if you have questions just ask and I'll try to get back, I don't want to take hours to write all this up, so I'm gonna hit the key stuff I did to make this easy.

First, assemble your harness and ballast


Next, put in your bulb, and connect it to the factory connector, and make SURE you put blue wire to blue, and black to black, or it will not work.


Next, connect your remaining bulb wires to the CANBUS harness, and ballast. When connecting the power to the ballast, be sure the red wire goes to positive + and black goes to negative - , they are marked on the ballast.



Now you are ready to seal up your housing, and reinstall. If you plan on getting better high beams, now is the best opportunity to put them in.

 

[620mac]

The way I did this was to leave room in the housing, since I plan on installing Putco Nite-Lux LED in the highs, so I wanted as much room as possible for the heat syncs. These ballasts do not fit in the housing, so, I drilled a once inch hole in the dust cap, and ran the wires out of it, and used the supplied grommet, which seems to work well, but when I change my highs I am going to run a little silicone around it just to be sure.



After you re-seal the dust cap, it's time to put your light back in. I would suggest plugging it up and testing it before putting it in all the way, just to ensure you have everything connected right.

This is the driver's side. There's plenty of room to work with to tuck your ballast/wires, this is just what I did so I didn't actually "mount" it anywhere.


Here's the passenger. There wasn't as good of a tuck spot there, so I ran a cable tie through the mounting bracket and did it that way, it's solid. Nobody's gonna see it, so I don't really care.


Next post is more details on re-installing the headlights.

 

[620mac]

So this is where it gets a little tricky to re-install. The top bolt and clip are no problems, and fitting your light in there is easy as long as your wires are off to the side which is not hard to do. The only issues here, is to make sure you tape a couple things using MASKING tape, so it rips easily.

Before you attempt to re-install the headlight completely, you must remove that bottom part the bottom bolt was attached to when you pulled the light out, it should just pull off. Place that back in the hole where it goes, make sure everything is aligned, and then tape it all in place, and poke a hole for reference.


Next, slide your headlight back into place, ensuring you have all your correct gaps. Once this is done, start with the bottom bolt, do not put the other one in, or re-attach the clip yet.

To do this, put the bolt in your socket, and use masking tape to hold it in there. Do not overdo it, you need to be able to rip the tape to get the socket away.


Insert the bottom bolt, and if it doesn't start tightening down, you may not have everything aligned right, so remove the headlight and try the previous steps again. If it starts tightening, then go ahead and start your top bolt, get it tight, finish the bottom, and re-fasten your clip in the wheel well.

That's it! I would suggest making sure your lights are adjusted at this time also. If you have any questions, post on here and I will try to get back, or I'm sure some of the other experts will.

Now, here's some before and afters ;-)

 

[620mac]

HID left side, factory right side

without LED fogs on, just HID lows

with LED fogs and HID lows

 

[620mac]

factory lows

HID's, you can see the 5000k fogs are somehow slightly more blue than the 5500k HID

 

[blackbetty14]

Looks good! Interesting to see it be doNE without removing the grill... I removed mine to do the 9012 HIDS and wasn't a fan of it lol.

I'd be interested to see how the LED highs work for you, I've seen the ones your talking about and Superbrightleds sells them for $100 but I've seen them as low as $79. I'm planning to do a fxr retrofit when it warms up so I'll be pulling the lights again, figured I'd do the highs as well.

 

[Tat2hemi]

Looks good!! Be glad you your truck came with projectors from factory. The quads to projector harness is a little more work involved. I really digging my setup. I got those new putco led bulb in my fogs and my 35 watt 5000k hids match great

 

[bgray]

IVe heard that there is issues with teh 2015's for Hids..does anyone know anything about that?

 

[1500ram12]

IVe heard that there is issues with teh 2015's for Hids..does anyone know anything about that?

Something changed in the computer or programming of the 15's. It's seems to be more sensitive than previous years. They work for maybe 30 minutes max then one or both shut off. So Jeremy at retroshop and TRS are working on a solution. Hopefully they figure something out soon. Even led's won't work for low beams. It's a waiting game now

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[darthdzl]

Sweet! Will that headlight removal method work for regular quads as well?

 

[1500ram12]

Sweet! Will that headlight removal method work for regular quads as well?

I'll should work for all 09-15 models. They changed the bottom mounting bolt a little on 13+ trucks but nothing big. To me personally looks like more of pain doing that way. I can have the grille and headlights out in under a minute. And back in just as fast.

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[darthdzl]

I'll should work for all 09-15 models. They changed the bottom mounting bolt a little on 13+ trucks but nothing big. To me personally looks like more of pain doing that way. I can have the grille and headlights out in under a minute. And back in just as fast.

Sent from my D6708 using Tapatalk

Cool, thanks. Since you're used to it and I'm a novice, wanna come to Phoenix and help me install the resistors for my front turn signal LEDs? I'll buy ya lunch.

 

[Iczer]

Did you adjust your headlights after your lift? Seems like your headlights shoot far down the road. Either I need to adjust my headlights up or yours are pretty high. Not sure, but that's why I'm asking. I'm happy with my HID's but mine definitly don't shoot that far down the road right now.

 

[ForceofWill]

The grille is only 4 bolts and it pulls off, easier to just remove it and get the room IMO.

 

[jwndriver14]

Great write up!!

 

[620mac]

I'll should work for all 09-15 models. They changed the bottom mounting bolt a little on 13+ trucks but nothing big. To me personally looks like more of pain doing that way. I can have the grille and headlights out in under a minute. And back in just as fast.

Sent from my D6708 using Tapatalk

That's definitely not possible, just saying.

 

[620mac]

Did you adjust your headlights after your lift? Seems like your headlights shoot far down the road. Either I need to adjust my headlights up or yours are pretty high. Not sure, but that's why I'm asking. I'm happy with my HID's but mine definitly don't shoot that far down the road right now.

I did adjust them up to make more use of the light. It's very easy to do. Takes a little time to find the sweet spot, but I'd definitely recommend it.

 

[620mac]

Just wanted to refresh this post to make sure life is a little easier for you guys installing HID's