Need help on choosing headlights

Hey guys i have just bought a 99 4x4 Xtra Cab Tacoma and the first upgrade im wanting to do is replace the stock factory headlights. Just dont do the just well enough at night. So im wanting to put some kind of projector headlights in it but i dont know how they will look because my truck is white and all the pictures that i have seen are of either black or another color other than white. Was wondering if any of you guys our there had a 99 white tacoma i could so how the headlights look on just cant decide.

 

If you have problems with your ears, nose, or throat, you go see an ENT specialist. If your toilet won't flush, you call the plumber. My point here is, go to those who'll know the answers to your questions. You're asking a bunch of Tacoma enthusiasts about lighting issues. While this may not seem to be a terrible mistake, (and I'm not saying there won't be people here that might have decent advice), there are other places to go that will better serve your needs to this question.

Otherwise, you'll be one of those who ends up with a horrid 8000 kelvin aftermarket HID kit that's neither safe, legal, nor effective in a halogen housing, even if that housing is a "retrofit projector" setup. People may advocate the use of such, saying that there's a visible "cut-off" line, but the fact of the matter is that that just won't work. The photometrics and iso-scans would tell you things that your eyes can't, but the common Joe Blo off the street wouldn't ever have the means to test something so critically important as your vehicle's forward lighting. There are very strict regulations involved in the production of a car's headlights, and vehicle manufacturers spend millions in their development, and for very good reason.

With years of experience on CandlePowerForums (and with lighting), I would highly recommend you go there for your answer. These people specialize in this area, and there is one moderator that covers the Automotive section who has a substantial background in vehicle lighting. Join the forum, and look him up. He goes by -Virgil-. This guy knows his stuff. I thought I knew a lot about lighting until I met this guy.

He's likely to tell you to look up some HIR2 bulbs (I may be wrong there), which might not be "cool," but they're going to be plenty of light, and they'll be safe, and legal. All of which are what you should be looking for, rather than the cool factors which could potentially be dangerous to other drivers.

I hope this helps!

 

This is what the cut off looks like




I would recommend this kit
http://www.theretrofitsource.com/co...-xenon-mini-stage-3-kit-d2s.html#.U_1VCfldW25


A how to on how to do this.

http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/1s...en-retrofit-walkthrough-morimoto-mini-h1.html

 

My 97 Taco oem's were cracked when I bought it. I opted out of all the LED/HID/Projector stuff and put in Rampage halogens. Went in super easy, and I am way impressed with the brightness of them. I took it out on a dark road after install and those bad boys are throwing light way down the road when on high beam. Cost me $80. My Taco is not a '99 and not white, but for me I thought I'd rather put the money in other upgrades right now.

http://www.amazon.com/Rampage-5089927-Rectangular-Headlight-Conversion/dp/B001FVFVW0

Of course you don't get the "aw cool" factor of halos and all that, but they do the job and imo look good.

 

From theretrofitsource.com's FAQs page:

Looks cool, I'll admit, but not safe or legal.

I don't want to sound like a jerk in this, because I don't mean to be, but as soon as you make a modification like that and start blasting light all over the place, you'll be one of those on the road that doesn't care about the safety of other drivers. When that happens, no one is safe, right?

 

If you put and hid bulb in a reflector housing you will be blasting light up and down and blinding every driver. However if you go the projector way is does not do that.

Also from theretrofitsource.com faq page

"Power is nothing without control. Retrofitting is the process of installing a xenon or bi-xenon projector into a reflector based halogen headlight. It is the best HID headlight upgrade possible since the projector will control the light into a properly dispersed, non-glaring beam pattern"

If you do the headlight right it won't send light everywhere.

 

Yes. If the original housing was engineered around a Lambertian emitter (halogen), then yes, putting an HID (not a lambertian emitting light source) light source in it won't work. However, there are reflectors that have been designed around the light output of an HID lamp. Check out Cadillac's Escalade (2000-2006), some Acuras, Lincolns, and a few others.

False. Adding a few jimmy-rigged glued-in projectors that were taken from an other car manufacturer's vehicle and throwing in some HID's into a previous halogen reflector is not the same as the engineering that went into making either of the two light dispersement mediums in the first place.

Yeah, it might be the best, for offroad or show use only. They even say that themselves, but sadly, this is another example of selling something that would otherwise be illegal, but by saying it's for another purpose, it can be sold for that, even though no one uses it in that manner, just like all those tobacco shops that sell exotic looking pipes and hookahs intended for the use of tobacco, when you know every stoner in high school buys them for the other stuff. It's a loophole, and it sucks.

These guys know that it's not really safe or effective, that's why they say it in small print. They're still just trying to make money off all the people that don't know any better, or care.

Let's leave that to the auto makers that have the millions to engineer, test, and mass produce according to the strict standards in place for the safety of the general public.