A retrofit is a headlight conversion that replaces the original headlight bulbs and optics with modern, state-of-the-art projector optics. Projector and reflector technology are two different ways of focusing light onto the road, and modern day projectors are far superior to anything OEM cars have come standard with since day 1.

There are many benefits to retrofitted projectors, whether your vehicle began with halogen type reflectors, projectors, or even HID projectors. 
In comparison to any halogen reflector headlight, and many OEM projector headlights, upgraded projectors offer significantly better light distribution. What does this mean for you? A cleaner cutoff helps prevent glare to other driver's eyes, flashing you less often. The center 'hotspot' of light, that is, the light that needs to project further down the road for great visibility at high speed, is much more intense and well positioned with modern projectors. Aftermarket HID projectors also feature very wide distributions of light toward their edges, lighting up deer and other ditch dangers commonly found in the dark back roads of the Inland Northwest. 
Even if your car originally came with a projector system, chances are the output is still subpar. OEM projector optics degrade over time, especially if you or a previous owner tried to use a higher wattage halogen or HID system inside them. Plus, they are designed to meet outdated DOT standards for light output, and often are not made to have the brightest or widest output possible. 

There are many types of LEDs and it can be tough to know which kind you want (or need!) on your build. Here's a quick breakdown of the types of LED you'll commonly see in our builds and product pages:

• ​White or Amber only: This is as straightforward as it gets. These LEDs are single color, all the time. Commonly used as parking lights or turn signals.
• Switchback: LED products with both a white and amber mode. White can be used for parking lights, and switch to a flashing amber for turn signals.
• Flow Series RGBW: These are LED products that are fully color shifting with RGB LEDs that feature a tiny processor on every LED chip. In this way, combined with the right control systems, each individual LED can be a different color than the rest at any time. This allows for "flowing" or "chasing" animated patterns, as well as sequential turn signals, startup animations, and solid colors too. These are the most expensive but most flexible products we offer.

Your headlights, OEM or custom-built, generally will not have perfect alignment right out of the box. After installation, we always recommend to check the aim of your headlights for legal compliance and maximum utilization of the low and high beam optics.

You'll find adjustment knobs for the horizontal and vertical aim of your headlights on the back of each housing, often accessible from above without removing any parts of your car. They look like large round screws, sometimes with a Philips or 10mm socket on top, and several small teeth running around the outer edge. Even if the top face of the adjustment screw doesn't have enough room to put a tool into, you can always use a Philips screwdriver 90 degrees off axis to turn the teeth around the edge and slowly rotate the adjuster.

We recommend checking out this video by Lightwerkz for more information on properly aiming your headlights!

OEM and OEM replica headlamps (TYC, DEPO, Eagle Eyes, etc.) are tested and certified to meet OEM-grade housing and lens quality standards and will maintain a good appearance for a long time. Many cheaper aftermarket headlight housings (think Spec-D, Spyder, etc.) are not tested or designed to the same levels of quality and will often experience clear coat fading/peeling, lens yellowing, or micro ‘spider web’ cracks much sooner. We recommend having a local shop install a protective film or ceramic coating over your headlights after they are installed on the vehicle to keep the lenses clear and damage free for as long as possible.

Condensation is a blanket term often used to describe fogging, moisture, or water ingress into a lamp assembly; while it is a common issue with any headlight or taillight product, and can even occur in unmodified OEM housings, there are subtle differences and causes that do not necessarily indicate a problem.

When there is sudden or significant difference in humidity or temperature between the air trapped inside the housing, and the air touching the exterior of the lens, natural water vapor in the air inside the headlight can condense onto the lens and appear as a thin fog or even tiny water drops. If your product experiences this type of condensation during a change in weather or humidity, or immediately after receiving a shipment, remove the rear dust caps and sockets, and activate your lights to heat up the internals; this will help the air inside to quickly mix and match the air outside the lamps. Allow the housings to dry fully before reinstalling all caps and seals securely.

All headlights we provide have been designed to include several humidity vents, or 'breathing' patches, and a full fresh butyl seal around the lens. These work together to allow air inside the headlight with excess moisture to slowly vent out into the environment and equalize with external conditions, without allowing water to enter back into the headlight. However, even with as many preventative measures as we include on your build, there is always a chance condensation will occur. Condensation may take days or weeks to disappear as the air inside your lights changes to match your environment.

Please note, our 1 year builder's warranty does not cover moisture issues concerning light fogging or other effects from regional air differences. If you are experiencing water leakage or large droplets or pools of water appearing inside your headlight, especially during or immediately following rain, car washes, etc., this can be a sign of a problem with the seal and may be covered under our warranty. First double check that all rear dust caps and bulb sockets are installed fully and correctly as this can be a common place for water to enter in if the seals are not fully seated onto the headlight body. If you've checked everything and are still experiencing large volumes of water intrusion, reach out to us via the Contact page and we can help!

While there is no one-size-fits-all answer here since we use many brands and types of LEDs, there are a few factors that affect LED lifespan and stability.

Some components are more prone to failure than others. LED and HID low beam and high beam setups are designed to last several years under normal usage with no maintenance, and have long warranty periods to reflect that. Accent LED products such as switchback LED strips and halos fail rarely, but we only use products from reputable manufacturers such as Diode Dynamics and Next Level Neo that have proven their reliability in the field and also carry great warranties. Addressable (Flow Series) RGBW are the most prone products to failure due to the many intricate and heat-sensitive parts, and while they do also carry up to a two year warranty, they can and have failed sooner in the past.