retroshop quad HIDs

[b5rider]

I purchased some PIAA H11 bulbs and they were not much better than stock. I then read all I could (at the time) about LED lightbulbs and purchased the OPT7 LEDs. These were crazy-bright but the quad housings are not made for LEDs; at all. They were kind enough to accept a return and refunded all of my money. I proceeded to buy some quad housings and HIDs from Retro Shop.
I just received my quads with Mini DS2, large shrouds. First, the lights look factory. They did a great job in cutting the shrouds to fit and retrofitting them in the headlight. They come packed in the OEM boxes along with all of the literature from Morimoto (really just a link to their website).
These are NOT plug-and-play in the true sense. You can't just pop out your headlights and drop these in. What I didn't know was that there is at least 2 hours of installation required. According to a Youtube video made by an end-user, you have to drill into your frame to place a ground and then 4 more holes to place the resistors, run wires, hook up battery leads, mount 2 ballasts, mount 2 relays, find another ground, make sure you don't catch your truck on fire because the resistors get extremely hot, etc.
RS sends you a black and white picture of everything laid out. That's it; no detailed instructions, diagrams, aiming instructions, troubleshooting, etc. I was hoping for a little more from lights costing over $1000.
I am not bashing RS, and Jeremy will answer all of your questions when you call, but at least a crude crayon drawing of where the wires go would have been nice (and yes, I tried the search function and did not find any how-to's).
Anyhow, I'm installing the lights this Friday and will post some pictures. BTW, I am NOT drilling into my frame so I bought some stainless steel wire (I used it for my header wrap on my motorcycle) to use for mounting the resistors and I will extend the ground wire to an appropriate ground on the passenger side. If anyone has a crude crayon drawing of what goes where, send it my way!

 

[iam_canadian22]

All connections are labeled and you'll see once grille and lights are out its really easy to lay out.

Sent from my SM-G930W8 using Tapatalk

 

[0212353]

Willie, I'm sorry for the lack of info there - this is on my list of "to do" this summer as things level out from tax season here.

We do have the full color pic if needed, or the diagram from Morimoto (who worked with us on the 15+ Ram wiring) - but the videos you saw will probably show the best way to install at the moment.

15+ can be a bit tricky, hence the harness there - but all pnp.....and grounds where updated from the videos - should only have one to go right back to the battery at this point.

As always, if you have any questions on the install, aim, etc - you know how to reach me Willie. I've found in 7+ years of business that some of the "one size fits all" instruction "packets" on a custom set of lights.....just doesn't work. Its one of the reasons we actually have a phone number - vs quite a few shops that deal via email only. I'd rather take a few minutes to answer a couple questions about the install vs sending something out that doesn't match the exact setup a customer has.....which is always the fun part when there are 8,.458 options on custom lights

 

[BiGMERF]

i went the led route for my headlights.. better light, better looking and does not get as hot.. plus no huge ballast needed

 

[b5rider]

Willie, I'm sorry for the lack of info there - this is on my list of "to do" this summer as things level out from tax season here.

We do have the full color pic if needed, or the diagram from Morimoto (who worked with us on the 15+ Ram wiring) - but the videos you saw will probably show the best way to install at the moment.

15+ can be a bit tricky, hence the harness there - but all pnp.....and grounds where updated from the videos - should only have one to go right back to the battery at this point.

As always, if you have any questions on the install, aim, etc - you know how to reach me Willie. I've found in 7+ years of business that some of the "one size fits all" instruction "packets" on a custom set of lights.....just doesn't work. Its one of the reasons we actually have a phone number - vs quite a few shops that deal via email only. I'd rather take a few minutes to answer a couple questions about the install vs sending something out that doesn't match the exact setup a customer has.....which is always the fun part when there are 8,.458 options on custom lights

Thanks, Jeremy.
I'll try and help out by providing my own how-to on a 2016 here.

Sent from my SM-G925P using Tapatalk

 

[b5rider]

This is what they look like out of the box

Sent from my SM-G925P using Tapatalk

 

[b5rider]

Finally finished. PITA due to the resistors. I wish they had 5" more lead. Also, the connection from the relays to the passenger side ballast is a bit short, too. Had to change the mounting of the passenger ballast because of this. Its actually pretty tight behind the headlight as the frame impedes on the space for some of the wires( namely the igniter) . Where i mounted the resistors on the passenger side they ended up being in the way.
I did find the best spot for the relays; the frame upright has a 10mm bolt you remove on the engine side. I'll take some night shots when it gets dark here

You can barely see the loom from the relays in this shot. It was a good place to attach them as it is equidistant from most connections.
Sent from my SM-G925P using Tapatalk

 

[Rzrman328]

You just bent the tabs on the resistors?

Surprised they didn't break off....that's a good spot though. Mine are by my battery.

 

[Red5Point7]

Jeremy was nice enough to send me a personal video on all the connections to my personal lights. Not sure if he did the same for you because I told him I was not wiring savvy by any means. I've had plenty of questions and him having a number to text is awesome because he always answers right back. Great dude to work with [emoji1417]


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[b5rider]

You just bent the tabs on the resistors?

Surprised they didn't break off....that's a good spot though. Mine are by my battery.

I had no issues bending them, seems like they are made to be bent if needed as there was a score on the tab

 

[b5rider]

Jeremy was nice enough to send me a personal video on all the connections to my personal lights. Not sure if he did the same for you because I told him I was not wiring savvy by any means. I've had plenty of questions and him having a number to text is awesome because he always answers right back. Great dude to work with [emoji1417]


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I received a black and white copy of the items laid out. It helped with keeping the connections straight. I did call him during the install, but he must have been busy.

 

[b5rider]

Here you can see where the relays are mounted

Sent from my SM-G925P using Tapatalk

 

[b5rider]

Some high and low beam shots. Unfortunately, I forgot to turn off the fogs, but you can see the side illumination and the nice throw down the street. Was a bit apprehensive about the abrupt, high cutoff, but nobody flashed me.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

 

[b5rider]

I'm having issues with nonexistent radio reception whenever the lights are on. Any thoughts?

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

 

[daveray9]

I'm having issues with nonexistent radio reception whenever the lights are on. Any thoughts?

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

Same here. Never got a fix.

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

 

[quietpeen]

That is weird... I have hid's, and led's in my fogs and no problem with them interfering with the radio reception

 

[b5rider]

Just spoke with Jeremy and he is sending out some leads which will help me relocate the ballast in an effort to fix the radio issues. Great customer service

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk