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Public Service Announcement Warning - Retros

Discussion in 'Vendor Reviews' started by TTU19, Jun 1, 2018.

  1. Jun 1, 2018 at 7:36 AM
    #1
    TTU19

    TTU19 [OP] Wreck 'Em

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    So I'm pissed about these damn retrofit headlights I got from Leo, so bare with me while I express my frustrations and hopefully keep someone else from making the same mistake I did with this crap. You would think they'd last longer, and I'm not usually into putting someone on blast, but I've had problem after problem and enough is enough. Again, this is just my personal feelings and frustration and maybe you've had better luck than I have. If so, congrats!

    Bought retros from Leo in December 2016. Here is my list of problems over the last year and a half:

    -1st set came damaged, had to return them. (Not his fault)
    -2nd set the passenger high beam wouldn't work. Finally fixed it because it was glued down.
    -Just a few months in, passenger led shroud goes out, sent back to replace
    -Couple months later, driver led shroud goes out, sent back to replace.
    -Came back with the motor damaged and got a new one.
    -Few months after that the passenger head light starts flickering and then just goes out completely. Got a new ballast, doesn't work. New bulb, doesn't work. Finally had to get a whole new wire harness, and it works again. I guess having to take it apart so many times over the year, it became loose.
    -Now here we are again a few months later and the passenger led shroud goes out again.

    At this point I'm just done. He wont return them and give me any kind of credit and I'm tired of sending them in. Time to look for an alternative or pick up some original shitty factory headlights to go back to. If you are on the fence to get "new" retros, dont.

    ---------------------

    Haha OK, so with all that being said though, these do still have some value so I'm going to be selling them for a very reduced price if anyone is interested and want to fix the problem themselves or pay him to do it. To this point the projectors work great, it's just that led shroud. I also have a brand new bulb, and a replacement ballast. Selling as is so if interested, PM me.
     
    LKSR5-14, jro05065, iHacker and 4 others like this.
  2. Jun 1, 2018 at 7:56 AM
    #2
    Rngr188

    Rngr188 Ranked the best new member of all time

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    That sucks. I'd like to get some 2018's from Roman and a harness for my 2017. Retros look cool but I would be worried about issues.
     
  3. Jun 1, 2018 at 7:59 AM
    #3
    TTU19

    TTU19 [OP] Wreck 'Em

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    YEP. That's what I'm doing now, researching the '18 Led's and the harness I'd need.
     
    619Tundra likes this.
  4. Jun 1, 2018 at 8:02 AM
    #4
    dcsleeper408

    dcsleeper408 BASTRDS

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    Sorry, to hear the shitty situation Wes.
     
    BlueBottle, joonbug and TTU19[OP] like this.
  5. Jun 1, 2018 at 8:10 AM
    #5
    Rngr188

    Rngr188 Ranked the best new member of all time

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    Cool post pics of you go that route.
     
  6. Jun 1, 2018 at 8:13 AM
    #6
    94slowbra

    94slowbra New Member

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    i had a similar situation with lights made by him. i did buy them second hand from a member on here but all the work was done by him, leo. i finally had enough when the drivers side projector came unattached from the housing and was literally just resting inside. i have pulled them all apart myself and am in the process of redoing them with all new parts. his work is sloppy with no attention to detail.
    i have had retrofits on my last two trucks and have had great success with them. guess the old saying is true, "want something done right you do it yourself".
    good luck on your 18 swap, should look great
     
    iHacker, BlueBottle, Y0TA PR0 and 2 others like this.
  7. Jun 1, 2018 at 10:43 AM
    #7
    040Tundra

    040Tundra Teddy 2013-2019

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    A little of this and a little of that.
    That sucks. Sorry for your troubles.
     
  8. Jun 1, 2018 at 10:45 AM
    #8
    TheBeast

    TheBeast The Beach

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    damn you keep having problems with your retros...just get Toyota LED oem and be done at this point.
     
    TTU19[OP] likes this.
  9. Jun 1, 2018 at 12:15 PM
    #9
    B737

    B737 Throbbing Member

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    whenever you open up the headlight can of worms this is inevitable. go factory or deal with constantly fussing. i made this mistake once on prior tacoma, never again. you have a 2016 so maybe just go middle ground here and put in 2018 toyota LED headlights with ihackers harness. prob safest 'aftermarket' route you can take to strike a balance.
     
  10. Jun 1, 2018 at 12:17 PM
    #10
    TTU19

    TTU19 [OP] Wreck 'Em

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    Yeah, I get it now. I went with retros because so many did them and no problems. At least not that anyone posted, so it seemed cool. So I unless I just got the "lemon", no one else has ever really posted anything. O'well, you live and learn. Looking for the '18 LEDs right now.
     
    SouthBoundSteve likes this.
  11. Jun 1, 2018 at 12:21 PM
    #11
    B737

    B737 Throbbing Member

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    I think often times, those who do mods are reluctant to post about said mod sucking at a later point, or do not hold onto the vehicle long enough for real world results.
     
  12. Jun 1, 2018 at 1:26 PM
    #12
    nowayout

    nowayout New Member

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    I did some research before getting mine done and decided not to get them done by Leo. There are some really quality guys out there doing retros you just need to find them.

    Hopefully you don't give up to stock lights as I could never go back.
     
  13. Jun 1, 2018 at 1:30 PM
    #13
    Erichudgins

    Erichudgins New Member

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    https://www.tundras.com/threads/the-un-limited-build.25949/
    Get the 18s.. good factory fitment with no issues. And better quality too. I could not be happier going this route.
     
    UTTundra and B737 like this.
  14. Jun 1, 2018 at 1:36 PM
    #14
    Shaggypeach

    Shaggypeach New Member

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    Sorry for your troubles. I have a harness for sale if you need one. Pm if you are interested. Good luck. You can't go wrong with the 18s
     
  15. Jun 1, 2018 at 4:59 PM
    #15
    MotoTundra

    MotoTundra The Ocho

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    -TRS Mini D2S Retrofit on TRD Pro Headlights (Apollo 2.0 Shrouds, 35w XB Ballasts, 5500k Bulbs) -Baja Designs Squadron R Sport Aux lights. -TRD Pro Grill -TRD Rear Sway Bar -BakFlip VP Tonneau w/BakBox -Dipped wheels & bumpers -Iron Cross HD steps -Undercover Swingcase -SunTek Paint Protection film -Tinted glass -Bedmat -OEM Towing Mirrors
    Sorry for your troubles man. I did mine myself a while ago and I haven't had any issues. I specifically didn't did Halo's so it would be one less thing that could break. Seems like a lot of people have issues with Halo's.
     
  16. Jun 1, 2018 at 5:17 PM
    #16
    tomsinamerica

    tomsinamerica New Member

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    I did the same thing and similarly have had no issues... The halo / strip stuff tends to be cheap Chinese crap and I've been pretty vocal on my thoughts there on other posts ..
     
    MotoTundra[QUOTED] likes this.
  17. Jun 1, 2018 at 5:27 PM
    #17
    BlueBottle

    BlueBottle not a PRO

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    Sucks man. One of the reasons I stay with oem. If I do retros I would do it myself to make sure it’s all quality.
     
    iHacker likes this.
  18. Jun 1, 2018 at 5:37 PM
    #18
    TTU19

    TTU19 [OP] Wreck 'Em

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    Well I just bought the ‘18 led lights and will buy the harness from @iHacker once he has them rdy this weekend. Can’t wait!
     
    LKSR5-14, 619Tundra, B737 and 6 others like this.
  19. Jun 1, 2018 at 6:04 PM
    #19
    MotoTundra

    MotoTundra The Ocho

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    -TRS Mini D2S Retrofit on TRD Pro Headlights (Apollo 2.0 Shrouds, 35w XB Ballasts, 5500k Bulbs) -Baja Designs Squadron R Sport Aux lights. -TRD Pro Grill -TRD Rear Sway Bar -BakFlip VP Tonneau w/BakBox -Dipped wheels & bumpers -Iron Cross HD steps -Undercover Swingcase -SunTek Paint Protection film -Tinted glass -Bedmat -OEM Towing Mirrors
    They will be a one and done.
     
  20. Jun 1, 2018 at 8:35 PM
    #20
    831Tun

    831Tun heartless Bastrd

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    Sorry to hear about your issues Wes. I have had a similar experience with Leo's retros. My DRL strips began failing in less than a year. I've replaced the harness twice, moto control once and an igniter. Now that I know how to trouble shoot the HID system I think I'll build myself another set of retros, and keep a spare part for everything. I am certain my work, doing it for the first time, will be far cleaner. I have annoying little issues like DRL failing, DRL wires being visible from outside. I loom ALL my wires. And when I seal them up, I don't think it will end up looking like a preschool finger painting project. OK finger painting is a slight exaggeration.
    The 18 LEDs are a solid choice, best of luck.
     
  21. Jun 1, 2018 at 9:30 PM
    #21
    Borgs

    Borgs New Member

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    Who is Leo?
     
    rons23 likes this.
  22. Jun 1, 2018 at 9:33 PM
    #22
    iHacker

    iHacker SW TRD PRO

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    Sorry to hear about your issues Wes, seems like I’m not alone with a few issues I had in my retros also made by him, almost same issues like the ones you have.

    - Harness for LED strip and shrouds fell apart right taking the parts out of the package on day one (not a problem for me built my own harness and wired to a switch and relay under dash :cool:),
    - Driver side high beam didn’t work and I discovered myself excess of expoxy from shroud over high beam solenoid and shield, I repaired this myself since the guy wasn’t so helpful,
    - Another aesthetic issue was that I had visible red and black wires in the clear part of shroud, wires almost getting out of shroud (I had the Panamera LED shroud) I never fixed that and had to live with it,
    - The worst part was the resealing he used too much retrorubber in some spots and little or nothing in others spots a really nasty job in the resealing big chunks of glue over the lens (I tried to fix this and trimmed a lot of the retro rubber)
    - All the lenses tabs broken or damaged making them unusable and lens secured in place just by the torx screws and the retro rubber,
    - I also had some visible defects in the bowls paint job (scratches, dust, etc. He said this was normal WTF! o_O),


    A lot more defects just to mention a few.


    I’m not trying to hurt anyone’s business but we all deserve a quality job as customers because this kind of jobs are expensive and the guys doing this have the obligation to pay attention to the most tiny detail to send a perfect product keep the customer happy and earn their loyalty.

    I was too lazy to the the job myself and decided to pay to get the job done but I regretted this stupid decision later, with my OCD I have done perfect Retrofits in my previous cars including a ‘15 Tacoma and a ‘10 Honda Civic Si. We live and learn from our mistakes and I’m pretty sure this will never happen to me again and do my research before pulling the trigger.

    I’m not the kind of person who likes writing bad things about people because as mentioned before don’t want to hurt their business and I thought probably was just me and my bad luck to get this poor service but enough is enough and hope this help others in the fence and save them a few bucks, Retros are cool if made by the right person/shop.


    If you are looking for quality Retrofits I recommend you this guys one is in chino California and the other Cesar in New Jersey, they do quality jobs and headlights will be perfect like if they never opened the lights they do a perfect sealing job (follow them on YouTube and see their job), they are expensive but you get for what you pay 100% quality job.


    El Stig Garage

    https://www.elstiggarage.com/



    Cesar @Lightwerkz

    https://www.lightwerkz.net/
     
    Last edited: Jun 2, 2018
  23. Jun 2, 2018 at 4:04 AM
    #23
    MotoTundra

    MotoTundra The Ocho

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    Pm'd
     
  24. Jun 2, 2018 at 4:13 AM
    #24
    MotoTundra

    MotoTundra The Ocho

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    Or if this could help anyone....
    I head a set of TRD Pro headlights with a broken tab so I figured I would repair the tab and give it a shot. Zero issues since. Nothing broke in the process, however it did take a LONG time to do them.

    https://www.tundras.com/threads/diy-mototundras-2014-tundra-d2s-retrofit.3638/
     
  25. Jun 2, 2018 at 5:05 AM
    #25
    fundra_goes_west

    fundra_goes_west I’m just a guy with a girl

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  26. Jun 2, 2018 at 5:28 AM
    #26
    PermaFrostTRD

    PermaFrostTRD Tumescent Member

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    Sorry to hear Wes. On my future mod wish list I literally have “wes’s Retros” on it. Hahaha.

    Good luck with the 2018’s
     
    MotoTundra and TTU19[OP] like this.
  27. Jun 2, 2018 at 6:02 AM
    #27
    GreatAvalon

    GreatAvalon New Member

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    Like @B737 said, once you open up the lights (or try), they'll never be the same. Not sure if LED drivers and harnesses failing as mentioned in the OP's first post fall on the builder, but it's just another aspect of retrofitting. Spend big bucks to put cheap China $H!T in with very low QC into a headlight and then epoxy in and seal up. It's all cheap China $H!T, some is just slightly better and more expensive than others, but it's all trash. This is why I personally avoided any LED accents in the retrofits I built for myself (they're all crap with super high failure rates). I used OEM ballasts and OEM bulbs. But I still had that MotoControl relay that was controlling everything. I never had any issues from the relay, but never fully trusted it either...because again, it's all cheap China $H!T. This is also why I waited until @iHacker had the harness for the 2018 LEDs figured out that doesn't need the MotoControl...eliminate the weaknesses from the situation and result should be reliable and trustworthy.

    Anyways, just figured I'd mention that. Some of the things I read undoubtedly fall on the builder, and some may not. However, this thread is not the first I've read saying things very similar about this builder.

    OP, the 2018 with iHacker's harness is the solution to this ordeal. Absolutely love mine and fully trust they will work as designed every time.
     
    LKSR5-14, B737 and TTU19[OP] like this.
  28. Jun 2, 2018 at 6:12 AM
    #28
    TRD PRO 17

    TRD PRO 17 New Member

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    I had issues with a set he retrofitted for me as well. I ended up going clean slate and having Caesar from LightWekz doing a retrofit for me and I couldn’t be happier! Does great/clean work!!
     
  29. Jun 2, 2018 at 6:13 AM
    #29
    GreatAvalon

    GreatAvalon New Member

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    Buying from LightWerkz is a one-and-done type ordeal right? They nail it the first time, you install and just enjoy?
     
  30. Jun 2, 2018 at 8:12 AM
    #30
    TRD PRO 17

    TRD PRO 17 New Member

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    100%. Really great company to work with. I recommend them to literally everyone without any kind of reservation at all!
     
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