projector retrofit

[cAs]

Has anyone on the forum done a retrofit? I am really considering it only bacause I feel that the light output on the DJ is poor...

Here's what i'm planning on...

http://www.theretrofitsource.com/product_info.php?cPath=24&products_id=227

These guys are very good, curtious and proffessional and many many Subaru enthusiasts have used their products on the Subaru forums so I completely trust them...

[burgandy25]

I have heard great things from them as well. I wish you the best, comparing the output of the DJ to a '99 Ford taurus, '97 dodge stratus,'03 Ford winstar, and a '03 chrysler town and country; the DJ has to be the best of the cars I have long term seat time in.

I recently swapped the high and low beam to 9011 and 9012 Philips HIR bulbs and there is a noticeable difference.

I was thinking about a projector retrofit also seeing that the Low beat of the DJ has a lot of space to work with if you impregnate the projector into the reflector housing and not cut a hole out and just stick the projector part into the housing be having the rest of the projector module sticking out behind the housing. I say that because obviously you have looked behind the headlights and the passenger side has room but the driver side has very little room.

I was looking at the low beam lexus rx kit with a osram 4200k HID bulb but the prices rise quickly for the kits. The high beam would be an interesting and challenging retrofit seeing that the high beam section is tiny, but I have heard of people converting dual high/low cars into bi-xenon projector lights, so it can be done but with more work i imagine.

[cAs]

The kit that's in the hyperlink is like a universal projector that you kind of just screw into the halogen light hole with some very minimal cutting/modification... the shrouds of course go over and there you go, an "easy" retrofit.. I contacted someone that did it on their DJ and it looks good... His shroud selection is questionable though and they look pretty off on our car. I will keep you posted when I decide to get it done.

Here's a couple of pics of the DJ that the other guy did... Like I said, questionable shroud selection, but still a good retrofit. I will also be painting the headlight black for a cleaner look.

Edited January 14, 2013 by cAs

[onlytehbest]

By the looks of this you can never go back to stock.

I would be hesitant to do this, as I do not plan on keeping the vehicle for much more than 3 years and I would worry about what the dealer would say or any potential buyer.

How easy/hard is it to aim the beam?

I have been thinking of upgrading the wifes to the HIR bulbs as the stock Halogens just don't cut it.

I had hoped Dodge would have come out with an HID option for 2013, but they did not.

If you are listening Dodge, maybe you should consider this.......

[burgandy25]

That looks really good in my opinion, superior lighting down the road can't go wrong with it really.

[cAs]

Double post, sorry

Edited January 25, 2013 by cAs

[cAs]

By what TRS says, it's as easy as aiming your regular halogens.

You are correct, once you go projector, you cannot go back without buying new headlights. The light output is definitely superior to any halogen or plug and play HID light kit.

I will post pics up of the light output from this specific projector when I get home so that you can see the difference.

Edited January 25, 2013 by cAs

[Moparman]

Nice!! Biggest issue i would be worried about is cutting open stock lights. This guy have any pics of that?

[Mcgusto82]

I've been on the fence on this.

The projector kits I've seen have a property hid bulb.

So.. If your bulb goes out, you need to get the bulb from them again.

I want to be able to get the hid bulb from anywhere.

Idk.. When the weather gets better (soon) I'll get back on modding.

[Powerz69]

Did anyone attempt to do a projector retrofit on a DJ? The pictures above are the only ones I seen done, I couldn't find any other info.

Is there still interest in doing a projector retrofit?

Just some background on me. I was the first that I know that did a FX-R projector retrofit in a 04-08 F-150, and did a HOW TO.

I also did a MH1 projector retrofit in my 96 dodge caravan.

I'm looking at getting a 2014 DJ R/T, the first mod I'm looking at is a projector retrofit.

Edited May 12, 2014 by Powerz69

[Lobitz68]

Did anyone attempt to do a projector retrofit on a DJ? The pictures above are the only ones I seen done, I couldn't find any other info.

Is there still interest in doing a projector retrofit?

Just some background on me. I was the first that I know that did a FX-R projector retrofit in a 04-08 F-150, and did a HOW TO.

I also did a MH1 projector retrofit in my 96 dodge caravan.

I'm looking at getting a 2014 DJ R/T, the first mod I'm looking at is a projector retrofit.

I have one planned and have everything I need except the new housings... I'm planning on getting it going early this summer...

I have the MH1 kit from The RetroFit Source.

[Powerz69]

I have one planned and have everything I need except the new housings... I'm planning on getting it going early this summer...

I have the MH1 kit from The RetroFit Source.

Good to hear!

I think the MH1 would be an easy install with none or very little trimming on the light housing. The only problem I see would be filling the space between the back of the shroud and the bowl on the light housing. The bowls might be deep enough to hide that space also though.

I'm curious if a 2.5" FX-R projector would fit in there, I think it might but it would be tight.

I think finding the extra housings at a decent price will also be a challenge.

[Lobitz68]

Good to hear!

I think the MH1 would be an easy install with none or very little trimming on the light housing. The only problem I see would be filling the space between the back of the shroud and the bowl on the light housing. The bowls might be deep enough to hide that space also though.

I'm curious if a 2.5" FX-R projector would fit in there, I think it might but it would be tight.

I think finding the extra housings at a decent price will also be a challenge.

I was planning on covering the opening on the back of the shroud with aluminum tape to stop the light from bleeding through. I also intend on painting the halogen reflector bowl black and the shrouds black, so it should blend together and make any gaps unnoticeable...

[Totemus]

My 50 cents: chrysler lights are really hard to open, they use a grey compound, not black, don't remember how they call it, but this thing is really really heat resistant. Even professional retrofitters hate Chrysler lights for this. So I ended up buying aftermarket headlights for my another project (Tyco is really good, almost oem quality). It is more expensive, but:

1. You will still have your oems if busted with the project for any reason.

2. Aftermarket lights are easy to open (YouTube has all guidelines you need).

One point about TRS: their customer service is good, I purchased from them several times and they were good every time.

The quality... I don't have much experience with other kits, but my guess is you can have the same quality for lower price. For example, their bulbs don't look superior to other hids, Philips and Osram are better if you compare them side by side.

This winter I installed the hid kit and had issues when the temperature was below 20F: the lights blinked and flickered. This disappeared when temp went up, so I guess the kit is vulnerable to low temperatures.

Just my opinion and experience.

Good luck

[Lobitz68]

My 50 cents: chrysler lights are really hard to open, they use a grey compound, not black, don't remember how they call it, but this thing is really really heat resistant. Even professional retrofitters hate Chrysler lights for this. So I ended up buying aftermarket headlights for my another project (Tyco is really good, almost oem quality). It is more expensive, but:

1. You will still have your oems if busted with the project for any reason.

2. Aftermarket lights are easy to open (YouTube has all guidelines you need).

One point about TRS: their customer service is good, I purchased from them several times and they were good every time.

The quality... I don't have much experience with other kits, but my guess is you can have the same quality for lower price. For example, their bulbs don't look superior to other hids, Philips and Osram are better if you compare them side by side.

This winter I installed the hid kit and had issues when the temperature was below 20F: the lights blinked and flickered. This disappeared when temp went up, so I guess the kit is vulnerable to low temperatures.

Just my opinion and experience.

Good luck

Chrysler uses "permaseal" and I will definitely be buying a second set of lights (from TYC, I assume that is the brand you were referring to?). I have experience with other HID kits and the differences between the cheap kits and the TRS or OEM brand bulbs are in the details, stuff most wouldn't notice unless they knew to look for it. For example, the cheap kits all have bulbs that are not perfectly perpendicular to the base of the bulb, meaning that the bulb is "cockeyed" which affects hot spot location and focus. The cheap kits also don't have the "hot spot" of the bulb at the "correct" distance from the base. This means that focus is compromised and is part of the reason for light scatter in OEM reflector housings. Most cheap kits also use cheaper gases which results in a large variation in color and intensity of the light produced. In my opinion, going with TRS products is the best option if you don't/can't go with an OEM brand like Phillips or Osram. Thanks for sharing your experiences...

[Totemus]

Yes, TYC not Tyco

Edited May 20, 2014 by Totemus

[LFSoccer2k6]

I plan to retro the Journey I just got for my wife. My car had permasealed lights and had to be cut open. Biggest issue is dust. To close I used CA glue, black silicone II and aluminum duct taping.

[Lobitz68]

I plan to retro the Journey I just got for my wife. My car had permasealed lights and had to be cut open. Biggest issue is dust. To close I used CA glue, black silicone II and aluminum duct taping.

I believe the DJ's are permasealed as well...

[LFSoccer2k6]

I believe the DJ's are permasealed as well...

That's what my research shows. I did have a few members at HIDPlanet say it wasn't though. I would rather heat open, but don't always have that option.

[B4ZINGA]

I'll certainly be interested in seeing where your project goes. I have projector HIDs in my 300M Special, and had added OEM-replica projector headlights to my Charger shortly after I bought it a few years back. I'd love to have HID again in my Journey, but I'm not a fan of stuffing HID bulbs into reflector housings. I recently drove through rural Ohio late at night and was left wishing I had projector HID and a better high-beam. I'd like to retrofit projectors, and possibly add a set of driving lights (different from fog) behind the grille.

Edited August 14, 2014 by B4ZINGA

[LFSoccer2k6]

I'll certainly be interesting in seeing where your project goes. I have projector HIDs in my 300M Special, and had added OEM-replica projector headlights to my Charger shortly after I bought it a few years back. I'd love to have HID again in my Journey, but I'm not a fan of stuffing HID bulbs into reflector housings. I recently drove through rural Ohio late at night and was left wishing I had projector HID and a better high-beam. I'd like to retrofit projectors, and possible add a set of driving lights (different from fog) behind the grille.

I usually find a broken cheapo headlight on eBay to experiment with on best way to cut open and to understand how to remove reflector housing.

Not sure on your state, but in Missouri, more than 4 driving lights is illegal. So having headlights and fog lights and adding something behind grill wouldn't fly here.

[B4ZINGA]

I usually find a broken cheapo headlight on eBay to experiment with on best way to cut open and to understand how to remove reflector housing.

Not sure on your state, but in Missouri, more than 4 driving lights is illegal. So having headlights and fog lights and adding something behind grill wouldn't fly here.

I doubt it would fly here either, but they'd only be used on back roads, which are few and far between here in Metro Detroit. Michigan has no inspection, so the only way the fuzz would know is if I drove around with them on frequently. I'd probably end up looking for a way to have them come on instead of the high beam, since the high beam would go from the current nearly-useless state, to completely useless. Then put LEDs in the high beam to act as DRLs that turn off when the headlights turn on. That all solves the issue of there being to many lights, legally.

[Lobitz68]

That's what my research shows. I did have a few members at HIDPlanet say it wasn't though. I would rather heat open, but don't always have that option.

That's why I typically buy a pair of TYC's... I have yet to see one of those that are permasealed and the fit, form and function are on par with the factory assembly considering that the reflector will not be used going forward.

[LFSoccer2k6]

That's why I typically buy a pair of TYC's... I have yet to see one of those that are permasealed and the fit, form and function are on par with the factory assembly considering that the reflector will not be used going forward.

I have used TYC in past for customers. My main concerns are going to be longevity of the lens and the plastic in the housing. In past aftermarket ones melt really easily when I open them. Where is the best place to pick up a pair of the TYC?

[Lobitz68]

I have used TYC in past for customers. My main concerns are going to be longevity of the lens and the plastic in the housing. In past aftermarket ones melt really easily when I open them. Where is the best place to pick up a pair of the TYC?

RockAuto.com has them for $85/each... that is the best deal I could find by quite a bit. The TYC lights are certified as far as materials and construction go and I've never personally had any issue with them. There are other aftermarket brands that have been an absolute nightmare to deal with though...