curious, has anyone ever made projector fog lights? lol
Yes, they have. The 3rd gen SE-R's actually come stock with projector fogs. Granted they're a halogen projector but they do a pretty good job with an HID bulb.
There are also various retrofitting companies with will do fog lights as well. I've actually been talking to one of the guys on Maxima.org, (ChrisMan287) about a set of projector fogs down the road.
There's one last thing I want to add and then Bee can send this over to the FAQ in a few days.
In previous generations the MH1 projector was known to have issues with the solenoid sticking resulting in a blurry cutoff when the shield was put back into place. It was also known to have a slightly bowed cutoff which was a factory defect. A member over on HID Planet, (StupidPig) typed up a nice set of preretrofit instructions to help alleviate these problems before they have a chance to surface. In all fairness TRS states that with the current generation, (4.1) that these issues are taken care of and to test the solenoid with a 9-12v battery 30 times prior to installation to test the mechanism. If it does not stick during this testing than it will not stick during normal everyday use.
I tested the solenoid as prescribed by TRS and did not have any issues. So anything enclosed in this thread you do at your own risk. Keep in mind the necessary mods if performed improperly will leave you without high beams.
So now that you have HID projectors you may notice you have a nice color beam at the edge of the cutoff. This is a property of projectors in general and can be manipulated to be thicker, thinner, have different colors, and so on. Here's a nice little How To also from HID Planet. I have left mine "stock" as I find the OE color band to be enough.
The last and final bit I want to include, (I promise this is the final final bit) is the legality of all of this. Anytime you install HID's or projectors into a housing that did not have them from the factory, even swapping in OE projectors into a housing that had OE projectors from the factory is illegal if the headlight/projector combo is not DOT/SAE certified. However, 9/10 police officers will not bother you with a HID projector retrofit as long as you have a suitable kelvin rating, (4300-6000K). But there is always the chance. And by doing this mod you will make your car 50 state illegal for safety and you should fail a safety inspection immediately. But if you live in a state where the inspection station will let you pass with halogen's just not HID's you're still in luck. Rather than swapping in new housings every time you go for inspection you can mod the back of the projector to accept a halogen bulb.
Thank you all for reading and I hope to see more of these in the near future. You don't need to buy everything as a kit from TRS but it makes the whole process easier and the TRS products are a higher quality than you will generally find on eBay. It also eliminates the possibility of mismatched components not playing well together, like the 1st gen owner who did this had with a non TRS relay harness.
Clean lenses are a must with projectors. Recently I took the Alty through a car wash since it was still to cold out to turn the outside water at my house back on. PVC pipe doesn't like when water freezes and expands.
But after I took it through I noticed that the prior owner of these housings must've used a restoration kit on these because they are now slightly hazy. Although, the housings did not fog at all! This has resulted in a loss of that nice clean cut-off and color band I raved about earlier. The cutoff is still there, but it is slightly fuzzy now and output seems to be a little more scattered. So as soon as possible I'll be restoring these housings again.
And with that said, BeeCee please move this on over.
I've used the Mother's headlight kit with the drill mounted polishing pad and PlastiX bottle with good results....
After doing my retro in my original (hazy/yellowed) DEPO lenses, I didn't feel like moving everything over to the brand new DEPO headlights that I had bought for the retro so I have a brand new set of first gen lights sitting on the shelf now...
I just polished them a second time after maybe 6 months? and they look great with a great color band visible at cutoff....
I've used the Mother's headlight kit with the drill mounted polishing pad and PlastiX bottle with good results....
After doing my retro in my original (hazy/yellowed) DEPO lenses, I didn't feel like moving everything over to the brand new DEPO headlights that I had bought for the retro so I have a brand new set of first gen lights sitting on the shelf now...
I just polished them a second time after maybe 6 months? and they look great with a great color band visible at cutoff....
Jeremy
I just polished mine and waxed them the other day when I started prepping my car for Sundays NJ meet should I be able to make it.
I meant to post this sooner since TRS Garage Sales tend to go rather quickly. But earlier this week Andrew@TRS posted a slightly used bulb sale for dirt cheap in a variety of bulb sizes. Most of these bulbs were used for testing purposes and as such have almost no use but they can't be sold as new so TRS is offering huge discounts to get rid of them
The point is, I picked up a set of 5000k H1XB35 bulbs from them. They arrived today, but it's raining so the install will have to wait. XB bulbs are just re-based Philips bulbs and Philips is one of the top OEM suppliers. These should be a nice bump in lumens from my 6000k H1 bulbs that I bought originally from TRS.
TRS has also given us a release date for the Morimoto Mini H1 V5 projector, this Friday 6/15. The updates from the 4.1 which is what I have, are a foreground limiter and a hex shaped lock ring on the back. The foreground limiter allows the human eye to see farther since the foreground is not flooded with light as is the case in every generation up until this one. Don't get me wrong, the illumination of the projector is a major increase from a halogen or PnP setup but a foreground limiter is better for clear conditions. The second improvement, the lock ring, will now fit a standard socket size as opposed to the old one which required it to be tightened by hand. Unfortunately since the bowl size is still the same, which is what makes the Mini H1 projector so easy to work with, you cannot use a ballast over 35w without running the risk of ruining the chrome finish inside the projector.
Lastly TRS has hinted at a garage sale for ballasts will be coming shortly. Which is a very good thing for me since I've been looking into fog housing retro's and I'd like to use quality components all the way around.
Got my 5000K H1 XB bulbs from TRS installed today. This is the first time I've swapped bulbs on an H1 setup but with the housing out I'd go so far as to say it's much much easier than a 9007 lock ring. When you buy them from TRS they will come with another pigtail harness attached to them that you do not need. I don't know why, I may call TRS and ask, but it's just like swapping any other HID bulb.
Onto output shots. Well not so much output as head on shots.
Side shot.
Above the cutoff.
Below the cutoff.
Now if you compare the color to my prior setup you'll notice that it's a little less blue but they are significantly brighter. That is because 4300-5000K is where the maximum amount of lumens are. 4300K is more of a halogen white whereas 5000K is more of a pure white. I can't wait to actually take these out for a drive with the increased lumens.
"Explain to me why lowering it would down grade the car. Whats wrong with a lower center of gravity? If you say ride comfort, I will smack you through my monitor."
when are you going into production on these? LOL sweeeeet!
Lol, not me personally. I don't have the time and don't want to deal with the hassle of something not working correctly or the consumer braking something and blaming me. But if you want them done head on over to HIDPlanet. There's a bunch of guys who do them for a pretty reasonable fee. I plan on having ChrisMan287 do my fogs when I get that far.
But thanks for the appreciation. For a while I thought no one was reading this thread anymore.
Like I said a couple days ago. TRS mentioned a 2nd Garage Sale for ballasts. Well that sale is here. I plan on picking up a pair of 3Five ballasts shortly.
Picked up a pair of the previous gen Morimoto 3Five ballasts just now to put towards my fog retro. As soon as a member on HID Planet gets me a shipping quote I'll also have the fog light projectors and I plan on reusing my bulbs for the time being. When I get closer to finishing the fogs I'll order the TRS relay harness to replace the wimpy eBay one I have now. Housings will most likely come from eBay.
While I was on the phone with TRS I asked them about the extra harness on the XB bulbs I got as well. Nate said it's there for a housing that uses a sealed design, like if there was a 12 pin connector on either side of the dust cap on the back. It allows you to run the wires outside of the housing and still keep the waterproofing intact. He said 99.9% of H1 applications they sell for do not need it and to avoid confusion with consumers they remove that harness but it must've not gotten removed.
__________________ Stage III"MO POWAH to the wheels" Shout out to NissanClub for the knowledge proud member of "Got balls to rock the right rim size" Club!
Thanks Jae. Keep an eye on HIDPlanet. Obviously if you can piece it together over time it'll be cheaper than buying everything new from TRS. These garage sales are a perfect time to at least get the bulbs/ballasts if they still have what you want.
EDIT:
Forgot to add they currently have some 9007 harnesses FS cheap as well. And even though the MH1 v5 launched today if you want it you'll have to call it in and ask specifically for it until the site gets updated next week. Although I can imagine they'll drop the price on the 4.1 soon (which is what I have) and if a foreground limiter is that important to you Matt said they'd be selling them separately as well.
Last edited by StanzaDescendant; 06-15-2012 at 07:29 PM.
Just got back in and lemme tell you. Between cleaning my housings and swapping to the XB35 5000K bulbs I've fallen in love with my projectors all over again. Between it being an "OE" bulb, higher lumen count, and my lenses being nice and clear again the output is definitely better than it was with the Morimoto 6000K. I for one will never go higher than 5000K ever again and I now know why people spend the big $$$ for OE bulbs. Aftermarket ones, although bright just don't quite meet what an OE bulb can produce.
I also just bought a BNIB pair of Blazer fog light projectors from a member on HID Planet. I'm gonna call TRS on Monday and see what they have to say about painting the lens. There's currently a thread on HID Planet about changing the fog bowl via paint or anodizing it, (Anodized yellow bowls for fowl weather lighting idea) and I'm curious to know if it would be possible to paint the lens of the projector and if the paint could stand up to the heat generated. The reason being I'm looking into blacking out my projector fogs, leaving the housing lens clear, and painting the projector lens amber to keep my amber fogs.
Lastly, I don't remember if I already posted this, it's been a looooong week but my neighbor saw me swapping the bulbs on my headlamps the other day and we got to talking about projectors. I gave him the basic run down of projector vs reflector and why my lights are so bright at night. The convo ended with me getting quotes for a MH1 setup for his 2001 F-150 which has sealed beams from the factory. I don't know why manufacturer's ever thought that was a good idea. Hopefully he'll go through with it though.
EDIT:
I forgot to add one other little tid-bit about the XB bulbs. Now I don't know for sure if it's the bulbs or if it's because my housings are nice and clear again, or a combination of both. But the color band that is visible at the step in the cutoff shield is roughly twice as thick as it was with the Morimoto 6000K bulbs. I personally am very much ok with this. Although I did find myself watching the cutoff a bit while driving last night.
Last edited by StanzaDescendant; 06-17-2012 at 03:03 PM.
On their site it says that if you received the wrong item by their mistake you do not have to pay return shipping so I'm gonna call in a bit and see how that works. Quoted from their FAQ,
"Who pays for shipping on returns or exchanges?
The customer is responsible for shipping costs to and from our shop. However, if the exchange is necessary because of our mistake, we will cover all shipping charges involved. Free shipping promotions are not valid for any exchange. "
I was excited to go out, pull off my front end again (3rd time in a week) and swap ballasts to see just how much faster these would be in my fog location. Oh well, looks like I'm waiting a few more days.
Last edited by StanzaDescendant; 06-18-2012 at 05:40 PM.
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Ada
I don't know why manufacturer's ever thought that was a good idea. Hopefully he'll go through with it though.
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