Years ago, David watched as a friend replaced poorly-functioning hazy headlights on a 2004 Pontiac Montana with brand new OEM replacements. The family hauler looked newer, but the light output was only marginally better. Fortunately the lights weren’t too expensive, so it wasn’t a big deal. But there had to be something better. David began researching the subject, and came across The Retrofit Source and the HID Planet forums they sponsor. There were tons of projects of varying complexity for certain types of vehicles, but a minivan isn’t exactly the hottest thing on 4 wheels for aftermarket modifications. He decided to give it a try, and succeeded in installing bi-xenon projector headlights. With permanently sealed housings, it literally took hours of baking and grinding to separate the two halves of the light assembly, with a cloud of dust and tons of handling marks. Getting everything mounted and properly aimed took forever, and it wasn’t the best looking. The light output, though, was fantastic.
In 2011, David became the new owner of a Showhauler motorhome, built on a Volvo VNL truck chassis. The post-purchase cross-country trip in a big, powerful, comfortable truck was so nice that he overlooked the headlights. But the very next trip made it painfully clear just how glaring a flaw the lights were. With a little over 200,000 miles on the original lights, it was a chore to drive at night. Almost immediately afterwards, he came up with a plan, and shortly after that had detailed a process that was miles easier than his experience with that GM minivan. It wasn’t perfect, and it still required some grinding and custom hardware.
With time, David was contacted by a number of people who had seen the project, asking all kinds of questions. Most of them related to wiring, and figuring out how to make the required mounting bracket. At the HDT rally in 2013, a few people commented about the headlights, and eventually took a look at David’s truck. But there was no one place to get everything needed, and there was still custom fabrication involved. Over 1,000 miles (driving and thinking) later, a new plan had been hatched to make it easy to get good lights in VNL trucks. Now, instead of baking, grinding, cutting, and drilling, all you need is a screwdriver, wrench, and well less than an hour with the Volvo VNL Kit to fix up your truck.
Since then, we’ve added a number of additional products, designed to meet the demands of the commercial trucking industry–most of them in response to your feedback. Our customers have put tens of millions of miles on these lights already, and that number is only growing. If there’s something you’d like to see–particularly the road ahead ;-)–let us know. We’d love to help you out!
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