DIY: MotoTundra's 2014 Tundra D2S Retrofit

No worries, didn't get an answer but didn't try calling and asking.

 

Alright fellas, here's my progress thus far. I got the assemblies open and got all the old permaseal removed and cleaned up.

I tried @MotoTundra method of the pick on the first light.... I won't lie, I got pretty frustrated as it just wasn't seeming to work. After about my 4th time in the oven, I got aggressive with a small flat-head screwdriver and started working it between the housing and lens and doing a little prying action. (Note, somebody had previously tried to open these headlights before I purchased them and they did a piss poor job and mangled some of the plastic, left side headlight in photo). I got it started open, put it back in the oven for another 8 minutes, then pulled them apart by hand.

Second headlight, I started off with 20min at 265 and used my screw driver method...Insert the flathead in and run it along the face between the housing and lens, no prying yet. I got it pretty much all the way around, then moved back to one end to start prying it open. I got it open much easier and started to work my way around by hand after getting a portion started, it started to cool a bit and get a little stiff. Back in the over for 10 minutes, pulled it out and popped it open the rest of the way by hand.

Cleaning of the lens face's was nearly non-existent in both methods. The first light I hardly had to touch the lens to get the permaseal off. The second light I had probably a total 6 inches worth of permaseal to remove in a couple spots. I just used a box-cutter and did some light scraping with it making sure not to get into the actual lens for the tough spots, but where I could I just used my thumb in a rubbing motion and got the permaseal to ball up and pull off.

Removing the permaseal from the housings??? PITA. I used a combination of the flathead screwdriver and a pair of pliers to get it out. Sometimes I get pull out big long strips of it with the pliers, other times it was back and forth with the screw driver scraping it out. I quite possibly could have put them back in the oven to soften the seal, but I opted not too.

Total time thus far: 4.5 Hours.

 

Nice workw great progress! The hardest part is over! Now potting the projectors will be the next biggie.

 

Hey guys, am I wrong in thinking that this is too much of a gap??

It's a little bit better without the silicone washer in in, but I feel like you can still look in and see too much of the actual projector??

 

It looks a little shallow, but I think it will look fine once everything is back together and the silicone washer is removed. Did you trim the shroud or was it like that?

 

I have not trimmed the shroud at all. However, when I did mock-fit after removing the silicone washer, I did notice that the top of the shroud IS contacting the housing, so I will have to do a little bit of trimming. Kinda makes me feel a little better as if they are actually going in as far as they're supposed to.

 

Yup, they'll be good to go! Good job!

 

Tip for getting the back of the headlight reflector bowl flat:
Clamp a belt sander upside down on your work bench and sand the back of the factory bulb housing down. Its much easier to get it nice and flat than using a dremel. Thats what i did on my commuter car when i installed some mini h1's.

So these d2s's have a threaded neck and locking nut like the h1's do? When I installed the h1's, i didn't have to re-align the projector, the silicone washer made the projector sit perfect.

 

Good call on the belt sander. Unfortunately I don't have one and still don't. But that makes a lot of sense, if I ever do another set I will do that.

As far as the silicone washer, they didn't sit perfect for me, they sat low, which is why I had to dig in to the reflector bowl just above the bulb. Eventually I had them sitting nice, but due to the shape of our bowl the silicone washer wouldn't hold them steady. Fortunately there is JB weld haha.

 

Thanks for the clarification, i was wondering why people were using epoxy to seat the projector. Makes sense though.

I wish trs had a black friday like sale mid year.
I'm going to go with denso slim ballasts and CBI bulbs. I was going to go with trs d2s projectors but now that i hear you need to epoxy in the projector to the reflector, i'm thinking i may just spend the extra $60 and go with rx350 projectors. Might be a little more work, but probably not that much. I'm looking at 450 or 500 bucks in parts which if i remember correctly, would max out the black friday discount (wasn't it like 20% off $400+?)

 

Nice. Let us know how they come out! I can't remember the discount either but I think you should be in the 15-20% range, probably 20%.

Can't wait to see the final product.

 

I'll make a post when i start the build! stay tuned for a shit load of questions when it comes time

 

Are you going to paint/black out the reflector dishes? If you need to see what it would look like I can show you mine. It makes a HUGE difference.

 

I do indeed plan on painting basically everything. The bowls will both be blacked out, my bezel and shrouds will be MGM, although the color-matched paint I have may be a shade off...I just got my first bezel painted last night, and I think it may be too dark. Gonna have to wait for a non-rainy day to go out and compare before I start painting the other bezel and shrouds.

I'm not sure if I'm going to have to remove any of the projector bowl or not. I went with the M-LED's from TRS, and they seem to fit pretty well without the silicone washer. Time will tell once I get to the point of aiming everything. Fingers crossed.

 

Am I the only one that doesn't like black reflector bowls?

 

I think that it changed the look of the truck to appear even much more 'premium' if that makes sense (at least on black):

Stock headlights and chrome bowl (dirty, but the only angle to compare):


Same angle with black-out headlights and projector:


From the front:

 

I have the MLEDs and you are going to LOVE them. I can send you some night shots to show the distance, width, and cutoff if you would like, but they do not disappoint.

 

Some guys keep the chrome and go with chrome shrouds to match. I like the setup, but love the black setup.

That's why there's chocolate and vanilla right?

 

Alright fellas....Here is a comparison between my painted bezel(bottom) and my MGM grille... The question is, are they close enough to matching, or do I sand out the painted bezel and start all over with a new, hopefully more color matched paint? Or do I continue as is, paint the other bezel and both projector shrouds, and run with it? I think the new paint is either darker, or not near as much metallic in it, or a slight combination of both.

 

It's hard to tell from the picture, but it looks close enough to me.

 

Alright fellas, try number 2 on color match from my local auto place. They're suuuuper close I feel, but you can definitely tell that there is more metallic in the OEM paint. Do I take it and run with it, or do I try a 3rd time from Automotivetouchup or touchup direct? And if I go that route, I assume I'd want to go with their full system of adhesion promoters, primer, color and clear coat. I now have two pieces painted that would then get repainted, is it possible to cause a chemical incompatibility? I'm already at $180 in paint costs at this point...

 

I think they are good!

 

I'd run with it, they are not going to be immediately adjacent to the grill so it would be hard to tell and only a super close inspection would show that they were not exactly the same. You'd basically have to point it out to them.

 

Thank you for this @MotoTundra

 

My pleasure!

 

For anyone who needs to know in the future:

Morimoto Mini H1 projectors come with an H4 alignment plate. In 3rd gen Tundras the H4 bulbs are put in at an angle, so the plate will aim your projectors about 20* off. You’ll need to dremel down the nub so it can rotate to achieve the correct level for the projectors.