Sport headlight FXR swap, disappointed inretrofit source

[blackbetty14]

Just did this for the last 2 days. Not a fun project by any means but it was a noticeable upgrade over the OEM projectors.

I would say I have 10-12hrs in both spread over 2 days, pass headlight yesterday and driver today. Opening the headlights was a pain on the first one but after realizing they aren't as fragile I had the 2nd apart in 1/2 the time. Once opened removing all the old permaseal was worse than opening them lol.

Once I got it ready I pulled the OEM projector and then the fun began

First off I'm very disappointed in the retrofit source in the quality of the retrofit kit and the fitment. When my parts arrived from the Black Friday sale (sitting in my basement since then) I noticed they had not included anything to activate the high beam solenoid with the kit. Since it's a kit it should have all the connectors or adapter harnesses for a plug and play deal. I also don't like how they force you to use a 9006 style high beam plug where as the OEM is a small molex connector. So now you have to use a splitter to activate the solenoid from the high beam bulb. Retrofit source sent me a splitter since they didn't "think" to include one or something that ties into the OEM harness. Then I open the FXR projectors to take a look at the bowls and the finish is subpar... Not smooth and shinny but almost like rough and spattered. I would say it's no better than the finish of the OEM projector and honestly the cheap Chinese mini H1 projectors bowls are better quality. A chat with retrofit source concluded that it's fine and won't affect light output... Ummm great. Fast forward to assembly... The brackets are a fiberboard/plastic and not metal, the holes drilled literally on the edge of the material so their is no strength. The bolts that fit the bracket to the projector and then to the headlight bucket are so close you can't even tighten it flat to the projector and the nuts overlap each other causing a bunch or weird things and alkward pressures to an already flimsy bracket. The hardware is cheap and I literally had to scramble for a new bolt and nut as one of theirs snapped off the bolt during mockup. I ended up having to make my own spacers to keep bracket flex to a minimum, cut 4 bolts down, all while trying to reduce how far the projector pokes out compared to the OEM projector. I got them to sit back as far as possible which still put the projector out like .5" farther than stock. The projector lense/metal lense holder protrudes into the OEM chrome shroud where the OEM projector did not. Since now the projector is much farther forward your limited in adjustability since it will hit the shroud. I also had to grind down the back solenoid/solenoid spring bolt as it wouldn't allow the projector to slide into the housing and hit the bottom of the housing. Grinding the bolt head allowed enough clearance for me to force the projector Back as it scraped against the chrome. Massive amounts of time and energy wasted on figuring out solutions and fixing problems with the retrofit source kit. I'm very displeased with it and wouldn't buy another one of their vehicle specific retrofit kits ever again. I do usually like their projector and HID quality and will be swapping some MH1 7.0s after they restock them.

Assembling them wasn't super difficult using the retro rubber butyl however the headlight plastic was best to hell from me prying the headlight open so none of the clips etc are able to click back lol. The projector isn't perfectly centered in the shroud but it's the best I could do with the shotty retrofit source kit.

Light output is pretty good, nice colorful cutoff and wider pattern over stock. I will say the OEM projectors where brighter in the center vs the FXR, but OEM lost width quickly where as the FXR evenly distributes the light over the whole cutoff but with a less bright hotspot.

I run dual 9006 splitters as my MH1 projector fogs use the high beams to activate their high beam solenoids. So you could say I have splitters on splitters lol.

My setup is:
2014 sport headlights
FXR 3" projectors
50w morimoto elite ballasts AMP connections
6500k morimoto D2S bulbs
Morimoto ram specific HID harness
Morimoto amp to D2S adapters
9006 high beam splitters

Stock fog housings
Retrofitted MH1 projectors
DDM 55w ballasts, morimoto canbus adapters
cNlight 6000k h1 bulbs
Molex to 9006 adapters
9006 splitter

All my high beams are functional so I have stock high beam bulb, FXR high beam and fog light projector high beam when activated... So it's pretty bright! Actually thinking of swapping the OEM 9006 high beam bulbs for a LED in the future with the mesh heat sinks.

Passenger projector cutoff is slightly tilted but gotta play with the headlight mounting to even it out as their is no horizontal adjustment. Overall it's a good mod, expected alittle more light honestly but it's got beautiful colorful cutoff and I love that.

Site will only let me upload 1 pic from my phone, this is with the headlights and fogs on.

 

[MPG LOL]

If you've got an issue with them, give them a shout. I've been dealing with them for years...yes, things sometimes aren't in the package ( they're all packaged as kits on site, not from the factory), but they're always going to make good on it. The fxr are one of the best drop in projectors money can buy. And for a non oem model it's unbelievable. I bet you're happy with the end result


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[blackbetty14]

If you've got an issue with them, give them a shout. I've been dealing with them for years...yes, things sometimes aren't in the package ( they're all packaged as kits on site, not from the factory), but they're always going to make good on it. The fxr are one of the best drop in projectors money can buy. And for a non oem model it's unbelievable. I bet you're happy with the end result


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I've already contacted them about the issues, they don't offer a OEM plug in play with the OEM high beam solenoid... U have to use a splitter from the high beam bulb.

Called about the finish of the projector bowl and sent pics and they said that's normal.

Also contacted them about the bracket material and the holes drilled on the edge etc and they said it's fine.

I'm not going to raise a stink over $0.20 in hardware that was bad and it's not like they are going to make the correct metal bracket with integrated stud vs through bolts that overlap and make a mess. I've brought it to there attention at least 2 seperate occasions.

Projector output is pretty good not going to lie, always a fan of their quality and effectiveness. The FXR is a nice projector and works well so I'm pleased. Not going to lie i expected alittle more and I'm noticing from the pics that the driver hotspot is alittle off as far as output goes but I'm more disappointed in how they worked out the design of the bracket etc. their is much better ways to do it and even then they wouldn't jack up the price that much. Laser cut plastic/fiber brackets don't cost very much to make and even less than metal which they switched from if I remember correctly.

 

[Rzrman328]

Sounds horrible. I'll stick with my minis

 

[Hemi450hp]

I'll stick with letting Jeremy build my lights for me...haha.

They look good though.

 

[blackbetty14]

Sounds horrible. I'll stick with my minis

Going to try the mini 7.0s soon. I run 4 mini H1s in my firebird headlight and want alittle more light so I think the 7.0 is a big enough jump over my older 5.0 versions.

In the projector world the minis can't compete with the FXR so I'm glad I have them.

 

[blackbetty14]

I'll stick with letting Jeremy build my lights for me...haha.

They look good though.

Lol it's a lot of work so the money is well spent if u don't like or know how to work with ur hands. But I also like the $600+ I still have in my pocket and not having headlights for 2 weeks or more lol.

 

[blackbetty14]

Bowl quality. I can't see everything in the pics. It's all about how the light reflects you can see all the imperfections.

 

[blackbetty14]

U can see the bolts and how jacked up they are the way they fit the bracket to the projector mounting flange.

 

[AustinB]

Gives me anxiety.

IMO

 

[amocoharley]

Oh wow this is perfect timing for me. I just bought a pair of oem projector headlamps and was getting ready to buy that exact kit. Sounds like a no go now. I don't want a Hobbed together sloppy mess inside my headlamps.


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[blackbetty14]

Oh wow this is perfect timing for me. I just bought a pair of oem projector headlamps and was getting ready to buy that exact kit. Sounds like a no go now. I don't want a Hobbed together sloppy mess inside my headlamps.


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The kit works and it does fit so it's not a sloppy mess. But it doesn't fit like an engineered kit should. If you go through the trouble of making a kit to fit a specific application then make it
Fit and make it fit well. I think they dropped the ball on the design I order to increase profit margins and manufacturing time. While it works there has got to be a better way lol.

On a side note I would rather the TYC over the stock headlights as they have clear lenses so the cutoff even in the stock form is sharper than the stock fresnel lense. But even the TYC projectors can't perform as well as the FXR.

 

[0212353]

Couple notes, as....well......I've helped TRS with the design and development of this kit from its inception.

1 - hardware included, I told them to stop sending me. #6-32 nuts and bolts....done. They sit flat too, so no issues like you are seeing there.

2 - high beam stuffs.....yeah, thats a fun one. Take a FXR - has 2 pins....its a 9006 connection. Splitter is the "norm"......I don't like those either though. I cut the plug off of the OEM projector and solder it to the FXR. Done! Just....hate the splitters on the FXR builds....

2 weeks? pshff....who said I was 2 weeks to do a build? After hiring my painter full time a year ago.....we have become quite efficient on these builds.

 

[blackbetty14]

Lol I could of used that info before!

I know u were in the development and I'm not bashing you. I think the use of the material they chose was a bad idea. I think metal would have been a better choice. It also allows the ability to weld studs or pins for ease of install and tight spots.

I know I could have cut the plugs off the OEM high beam solenoid but I thought a saw a resistor inline on one of the wires before the plug on the solenoid side. I can still do it but might not. What was the bolt lengths you use?

I remember you saying awhile back it was about a 2 week wait. I know since then I've hired help. But I figure shipping headlights to you and back is a week (5 days) on its own about. And even if you take 1-2 days your looking at over a week for me to be without headlights lol. And I need my truck for work everyday.

Either way it's a lot of work and I think your nuts for doing it full time lol. But the end result it's worth it. Now if I can figure out why my truck just went into limp mode and won't come out of it I would be able to enjoy the headlights.

 

[0212353]

Should have asked LOL

Oh I didn't take it as bashing. Hell......the first set of the fiberous material ones that I got, I ripped in half getting out of the film its in. Whoops.......wtf. Metal is better, but I cost savings is nice too. On these, with how flush it sits, the rigidity isn't a huge thing. I wouldn't recommend welding anything or adding to the length there of the bracket......as you see then the projector hits the shroud. no fun there.

OEM highs, thats a diode, so no biggy there. Cut that booger, use it, makes things a lot cleaner. OR.......just solder the 2 wires together with no disconnect. Bolt length? 1"

Timing, yeah.......I've been as far out as 8 weeks at one time. Just insane, I hated it. Love where we are now, very steady - most jobs I can flip in 2-3 days here (obviously varies by job). Shipping does suck though......and having a vehicle down is even worse.

The nuts part of doing this full time......the repair work from "buddy" jobs.....I had to stop it. Getting hacked up stuff coming in and I look at it and think....it will cost me more to fix this than start over......its a shame, really. Yes, I'm not the cheapest.....buddy down the street is, but...he won't stand behind his work, nor is he paying taxes on his profits LOL......thats a nice chunk.......but I won't go into that any more than I already have....sore subject.....haha

Limp mode......thats........not fun at all there....

 

[0212353]

here's a pic of my mounting, using the bolts mentioned