'12 Suburban Retrofit - questions and worklog

[headala]

Hi, all. Thanks for having me in this forum. I haven't posted much but have benefited tremendously from so much knowledge here. I bet I've read 250+ threads in the last month, since getting my 2012 Suburban...loving it so far.

Except for the headlights. Pretty awful IMHO. The lenses are clear and without oxidation, but they don't put out much more light than our 2008 Sienna with horribly oxidized headlights. Plus I love projects. My wife says that she looks forward to the day when I will buy something without modifying it/upgrading it. Well she'll be waiting a long time I think.

So I plan on doing a relatively standard retrofit, centered on Morimoto D2S 5.0 bi-xenon projectors and 35W ballasts with 5500K bulbs (in the low beam space). In the high-beam spot, I'm putting in the new-ish Profile Hi-Lens LED Projectors. They are kindof an LED cluster with a lens for each LED. Lastly, I plan on putting in each side a 12" Profile Pivot Sequential Switchback strip across the "bar" between the hi/low beams and the DRL/blinkers.

Right now I'm waiting for the parts to arrive before I start. I did have a couple of questions.

How do people usually wire something like a LED strip/halo? I guess I'd like for it to come on with the car. Is that the usual?

Thanks for the help and advice!

 

[headala]

Reserved for worklog 1

 

[headala]

Reserved for worklog 2

 

[The Raven]

Did you get these done? Wanted to see what your experience was with the Profile LED projectors. I used both the Bi-Lens LED (for low) and Hi-Lens LED (for high) in my retro and the results are nothing short of perfect. Got about six months on them now with no issues.

 

[The_Burban]

I am using Hikari LEDs for hi and lows.

I like it. I prefer their crisp, white color.

I cannot make any testament to their throw. Not any worse than stock...

 

[headala]

Well after a couple of weeks of no replies I quit checking my thread.

I'll try to post some pictures when I get home (I'm in an airport now). The retro is almost done, golly it's been an ordeal. Cutting the frame support to accept the igniter from the projector, then the projector wasn't far enough back in the housing, etc. Added on top of permaseal

 

[Rocket Man]

Well after a couple of weeks of no replies I quit checking my thread.

I'll try to post some pictures when I get home (I'm in an airport now). The retro is almost done, golly it's been an ordeal. Cutting the frame support to accept the igniter from the projector, then the projector wasn't far enough back in the housing, etc. Added on top of permaseal

Permaseal sucks. Looking forward to pics. How did you get them open?

 

[headala]

Permaseal sucks. Looking forward to pics. How did you get them open?

I baked them 300 for 20 minutes, pried a little bit and put some wooden shims in. Then 20 mins more. Rinse, repeat. I ended up doing that for about 4 hours for the pair. They finally came apart, and all the permaseal stuck to the lens side. So then I spent another long date with the oven heating the lens, peeling/scraping off the permaseal, then heating again. This I found 225 to be the ideal temp to let the seal get a little pliable but still will peel off in larger pieces. Sortof.

 

[headala]

Did you get these done? Wanted to see what your experience was with the Profile LED projectors. I used both the Bi-Lens LED (for low) and Hi-Lens LED (for high) in my retro and the results are nothing short of perfect. Got about six months on them now with no issues.

I saw the pics of your retrofit in the Alpharex thread. Looks like it went pretty well. With the M-LED did you have to cut into your frame?

 

[The Raven]

I saw the pics of your retrofit in the Alpharex thread. Looks like it went pretty well. With the M-LED did you have to cut into your frame?

I didn't use the M-LED, I used the Profile Bi-LED (in the low beam spot). The Profiles have a wider throw than the Morimotos. The M-LEDs have a brighter hotspot but the Profiles are already almost too bright. When I'm cresting a hill oncoming drivers (below the cutoff) get absolutely annihilated.

The clearance issues are another reason I went with the LED projectors...there are no ignitors so there's nothing on the backside to worry about. The retro'ed housings fit with no cutting whatsoever. The biggest thing for me though is the ballasts. The LEDs have no ballasts and as I'm sure you know, ballasts are always the issue with aftermarket HID.

 

[Rocket Man]

I baked them 300 for 20 minutes, pried a little bit and put some wooden shims in. Then 20 mins more. Rinse, repeat. I ended up doing that for about 4 hours for the pair. They finally came apart, and all the permaseal stuck to the lens side. So then I spent another long date with the oven heating the lens, peeling/scraping off the permaseal, then heating again. This I found 225 to be the ideal temp to let the seal get a little pliable but still will peel off in larger pieces. Sortof.

I have a set of Anzo u-bars (NBS) that I did a retrofit on without opening them up, by using the same brackets made for the OEM Denali’s. I was thinking of opening them to remove the amber corner reflectors but they’re Permaseal so Im thinking Ill leave them as-is. The projectors themselves were hard enough to remove, I can imagine the lenses would be a bit much just to do that.

 

[headala]

Finally finished this up a couple of weeks ago. What a job; I have total respect for folks who do this day in and day out.

 

[headala]

 

[Rocket Man]

Finally finished this up a couple of weeks ago. What a job; I have total respect for folks who do this day in and day out.

View attachment 247234

Looks great. Yes it’s quite a bit of work but so worth it.

 

[headala]

Looks great. Yes it’s quite a bit of work but so worth it.

Thank you

 

[headala]

If I had it to do over again I would:

• Make sure I was buying quality aftermarket housings with butyl sealant. Mine were a bit cheaper than Depo but were lower quality, and had permaseal. Hours and hours of work to save a few bucks. And the adjuster slips on these quite a bit.
• Put in the latest generation of LED projector, rather than the D2S. Yes, maybe not quite as good but so much easier to wire and to not have to cut the frame behind the low beam.
• Map out how I was going to wire all of this beforehand. I ended up using quite a few relays and it became quite complicated. And I'm still working on tidying it up.
• Use a template for drilling holes in the reflector for the bolts. Spend a few bucks, get perfect holes and rotation, sell it to someone else to use.

I'm happy to help anyone who wants to do their own, or answer any questions.