Fordtruckfan89
Elite Explorer
- Joined
- February 17, 2012
- Messages
- 281
- Reaction score
- 192
- City, State
- NC
- Year, Model & Trim Level
- 1994 Explorer XLT 4-Dr
Here's my how to for a simple but pretty effective BI Led projector retrofit
Resources: lightwerkz and 818 retrofits on YouTube.
Things you'll need:
Set of headlight housings,I bought a set of eagle eye (Evan Fischer is also EE) housings off eBay for 50 bucks. The factory ones and tyc ones are sealed with permaseal and they are very difficult to open, eagle eyes ones are butyl sealed.
Bi led Projectors with threaded shaft mount, 2.5" ones fit best ( I went with nhk ones from eBay) I paid about 110 bucks off eBay. Some other brands have external drivers but these don't. No ballast is needed. I did have to get some tiny set screws to lock the threaded adapter in these.
Projector Shrouds -30 bucks- Amazon or eBay, I went with the iris style. Some may require trimming.
Butyl sealant tape -20-30 bucks from eBay
I used grey retro rubber
Wiring adapter for 9007- 13 bucks off amazon. Can also use diodes or a hid relay harness.
JB quick weld, assorted grommets, heat shrink, goretex patches. Whatever your preference is for sealing the back of the light.
You need to bake open the housings(stay under 250 degrees )and carefully open them. Heat gun works fine for the butyl sealant. Save the little clips that hold it together. I used an old butter knife with the edge ground down to pry it open
View attachment 465945
You need to remove the bulb cap (metal chrome piece covering bulb end).
I trimmed the ring that protruded inside the reflector so the projector would sit as deep as possible with a Dremel and sanding disc You'll also need to trim the back of the light to make it easier to screw the locknut down. 818 retrofits on YouTube has a good video of this.
Wear rubber gloves to keep fingerprints to a minimum and I cleaned the reflector out with distilled water and a microfiber glasses cloth. It doesn't take much to scratch it.
You can add extra ventilation holes and use goretex patches if you want. I added one per light but there's a vent already on each. Theres a fan on each projector.
Slide silicone washer over projector shaft, install in reflector. 818 retrofits has a good video of this. Tighten washer and locknut dow. You can clean the projector lense before this if you want. Run wiring out the hole. Biggest this is make it centered true In the hole.
I rotationally aligned mine with the truck before installing the lense.
Epoxy the nut, shaft and reflector all together so it won't move.
Epoxy the centric ring to the projector shroud, them epoxy it to the projector so it's secure.
Remove old permaseal from lense and reflector (if it has that) or heat up the existing butyl and flatten it with a screwdriver so it's uniform. I believe lightwerkz or flyryde had a good video on this.
Put more butyl in the channel. Extra will ooze out. Too little won't seal right.
Heat up the butyl until it's shiny (I used a heat gun). Install lense and clamp with spring clamps all the way around. Install the metal clips that originally held the light together. Let it cool. Peel off excess butyl.
For the back of the light, I used a grommet from Amazon to seal around the wiring running through the shaft.
There's 4 wires,
1 thicker red wire - 12v+
1 thicker black wire - ground
2 thinner black wires (+ and - for the shutter) doesn't matter which is which
The wiring adapter will provide 12v+ at all times ( with high and low beam) and tells the shutter to move on high beam.
I used a Deutsch connector to connect it to the light but that's not necessary, just a preference.
This is my first retrofit and it was learning experience, not perfect but happy with the results.
Feel free to message me with any questions or if I forgot to mention something.
Resources: lightwerkz and 818 retrofits on YouTube.
Things you'll need:
Set of headlight housings,I bought a set of eagle eye (Evan Fischer is also EE) housings off eBay for 50 bucks. The factory ones and tyc ones are sealed with permaseal and they are very difficult to open, eagle eyes ones are butyl sealed.
Bi led Projectors with threaded shaft mount, 2.5" ones fit best ( I went with nhk ones from eBay) I paid about 110 bucks off eBay. Some other brands have external drivers but these don't. No ballast is needed. I did have to get some tiny set screws to lock the threaded adapter in these.
Projector Shrouds -30 bucks- Amazon or eBay, I went with the iris style. Some may require trimming.
Butyl sealant tape -20-30 bucks from eBay
I used grey retro rubber
Wiring adapter for 9007- 13 bucks off amazon. Can also use diodes or a hid relay harness.
JB quick weld, assorted grommets, heat shrink, goretex patches. Whatever your preference is for sealing the back of the light.
You need to bake open the housings(stay under 250 degrees )and carefully open them. Heat gun works fine for the butyl sealant. Save the little clips that hold it together. I used an old butter knife with the edge ground down to pry it open
View attachment 465945
You need to remove the bulb cap (metal chrome piece covering bulb end).
I trimmed the ring that protruded inside the reflector so the projector would sit as deep as possible with a Dremel and sanding disc You'll also need to trim the back of the light to make it easier to screw the locknut down. 818 retrofits on YouTube has a good video of this.
Wear rubber gloves to keep fingerprints to a minimum and I cleaned the reflector out with distilled water and a microfiber glasses cloth. It doesn't take much to scratch it.
You can add extra ventilation holes and use goretex patches if you want. I added one per light but there's a vent already on each. Theres a fan on each projector.
Slide silicone washer over projector shaft, install in reflector. 818 retrofits has a good video of this. Tighten washer and locknut dow. You can clean the projector lense before this if you want. Run wiring out the hole. Biggest this is make it centered true In the hole.
I rotationally aligned mine with the truck before installing the lense.
Epoxy the nut, shaft and reflector all together so it won't move.
Epoxy the centric ring to the projector shroud, them epoxy it to the projector so it's secure.
Remove old permaseal from lense and reflector (if it has that) or heat up the existing butyl and flatten it with a screwdriver so it's uniform. I believe lightwerkz or flyryde had a good video on this.
Put more butyl in the channel. Extra will ooze out. Too little won't seal right.
Heat up the butyl until it's shiny (I used a heat gun). Install lense and clamp with spring clamps all the way around. Install the metal clips that originally held the light together. Let it cool. Peel off excess butyl.
For the back of the light, I used a grommet from Amazon to seal around the wiring running through the shaft.
There's 4 wires,
1 thicker red wire - 12v+
1 thicker black wire - ground
2 thinner black wires (+ and - for the shutter) doesn't matter which is which
The wiring adapter will provide 12v+ at all times ( with high and low beam) and tells the shutter to move on high beam.
I used a Deutsch connector to connect it to the light but that's not necessary, just a preference.
This is my first retrofit and it was learning experience, not perfect but happy with the results.
Feel free to message me with any questions or if I forgot to mention something.
