[vortex ring state]

So this won't be the most in depth guide there is as there are many many ones out there with better pictures, videos, instructions, and tips. Instead I will try to focus more on specific ridgeline parts and general steps. Here is a good as any video to walk you through the basics.

Reason for doing this is self explanatory. Better lighting. I live in Moose country. I need good lighting if I venture at night. Here is a link to when a moose jumped out at me when it was day light to give you an example of how these damn swamp donkeys come out of no where.

http://imgur.com/1e4M62g

So here is what I have before. This is taken with a cell phone and I didn't lock the exposure setting but you get the idea.

First step is to take off the bumper and the that pastic piece of trim under the hood. Not overly difficult but if you live in a rusty environment some of those bumper flips might be completely rusted. The top is just plastic clips. Inside the wheel well is a couple screws per side and inder neath there should be about 5 bolts. Mine was missing about half those fasteners.

To take the headlight off you need to remove the 1 bolt and 1 plastic clip thing on top, 3 bolts underneath, and then one screw in the side. Here is a picture of underneath where the 3 bolts and 1 screw reside.

The FSM states you have to remove one plastic piece on the side. If you live in California that shouldn't be a problem. If you live in the rust belt this may be very difficult. Good news is you don't have to remove this piece of plastic to get the head ligth out. A bit of prying and you should be okay. You can see the rusty screw. Other side was the same. I was not in the mood to deal with this shit.

 

[vortex ring state]

To seperate the headlights you have to heat the sealant and pry them apart. There are numerous videos on how to do this. Most use the oven. I, on the other hand, didn't want to start a fight with the wife so I just used a heat gun. Watch the youtube, you'll get the idea. To note, there is one torx screw that you have to remember. Top of picture.

Remove this. You can just bend the tabs with pliers and it will come out with ease.

Get a dremel or a die grinder and grind all these little tabs to get make the circle a bit bigger. I had to do this for the style of projectors I am using. If you are not using a drop in retrofit projector you will probably have a lot more work to do here.

 

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The grinding is to make this blue nut thing fit. This is with the projector installed and the wires for the high beam out through an already existing hole.

Epoxy with the decorative trim things.

It does look a little like something an 18 year old would do to a clapped out 20 year old F150 but whatever.

 

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I took the original seals for the back fo the head lights, cut a bit out, and forced them to fit over the HID connector. It works nicely but took a bit of effort.

 

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It's important to test fit before reassembling to make sure your beams are 'clocked' correctly or level. You will see mine aren't, there is a visible slope. I had to stop here to make supper. From that first pic to this one it has been 2hrs10min.

These are the parts I used plus their replay harness.

The only concern/question for anyone else is the use of the relay harness. It takes power directly from the battery and by passes the ridgeline's relays, fuses, and power distribution box. If memory serves me correctly this means that Honda's Electrical Load Detector (ELD) will not sense the load of the headlights. Does this mean I could find myself with the headlights on but still in low voltage mode. I'm talking specifically about how Hondas use a dual mode/voltage charging system. Anyone know?

 

[vortex ring state]

Some more details pictures.

Before:

After grinding:

Before

After cutting

 

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This was a bit of a fight to get one but that only means it's a better seal.

This is right before sealing. I added some grey butyl stuff. You can buy it from the same vendor you buy all your other stuff from.

Heating and sealing. This is abotu as good as it's going to get. The problem with the heat gun is it supplies enough heat to soften and even melt the black plastic. Again, why the oven is recommened over the heat gun.

To run the high beam wires though the rubber I recommend two individual pin pricks. Better chance of sealing that way.

 

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I managed to look up what that original exposure settings was on the before picture. I manually put them into the after picture so this should be a more realistic before and after.

I took them out for a spin in the dark. It was raining. They are aimed too low so it wasn't the greatest. I didn't feel like aiming them outside at night in the rain.

So about 2.5hrs before supper and 3hrs ish after supper. Call it 6hrs total. Cost? Well, let's not talk about that. I decided HID over LED for ice and snow. I feared with LEDs they wouldn't get hot enough to melt the stuff off the lens. I know there is new ones coming out that some how reject their heat using a fan into the lens housing to prevent this but I didn't see any reviews about them. I'll see if I can remember to give this thread a long term update after a while.

 

[Buu.T]

Nice work. And thanks for the write up.

 

[Eviltwin]

Love your work, but modifying headlights is not something I support. Not sure about CA, but in the US, headlight designs are certified through the DOT and other organizations. A long time ago, I used to work for Federal Mogul, a company that made headlight assemblies for OEM clients and we had the design engineers and their test lab on the same site as the factory. The amount of design work and testing and documentation that went into each light design was phenomenal. Even to use a different bulb would put the light out of specs. All these LED aftermarket lamps that people install in existing headlamp assemblies dont pass muster, even if the seller claims that they do. Just because you can light up the road like it's daylight doesnt mean that cars coming the other way will appreciate what you did.

I would have just used a boat load of additional driving and fog lamps on a separate switch to light up the night and left the headlights alone. It looks like you also have that, so I'm not sure why you needed more.

 

[vortex ring state]

Love your work, but modifying headlights is not something I support. Not sure about CA, but in the US, headlight designs are certified through the DOT and other organizations. A long time ago, I used to work for Federal Mogul, a company that made headlight assemblies for OEM clients and we had the design engineers and their test lab on the same site as the factory. The amount of design work and testing and documentation that went into each light design was phenomenal. Even to use a different bulb would put the light out of specs. All these LED aftermarket lamps that people install in existing headlamp assemblies dont pass muster, even if the seller claims that they do. Just because you can light up the road like it's daylight doesnt mean that cars coming the other way will appreciate what you did.

I get what you are saying and I agree with you. Is it legal to modify your headlights in such a way for highway use? No. Are those drop in ebay/amazon cheap LED bulbs any good? No, like you said, they just throw light out there un controlled and blind others.

I feel, however, that projector retrofits are a different animal. Although still not legal for highway use, they do an amazing job of controlling the light as to not blind other drivers. This is why I feel what I did is not unsafe and not a hindrance to others. I've attached a picture of what the 'cut off' actually looks like. It's poorly aimed, I know. I was just doing an electrical trial, it wasn't bolted in yet. All that being said, I respect your opinion and know where you're coming from but believe me, I did put a lot of effort into doing things in such a way as to not blind others.

I would have just used a boat load of additional driving and fog lamps on a separate switch to light up the night and left the headlights alone. It looks like you also have that, so I'm not sure why you needed more.

Moose! They are even in town here when I have to have my lows on.