Lifetime LED Install and Review In Progress

As far as I know it's ok to do. Xenondepot survives by doing just that.

 

Yeah, maybe they just have to have a reflector or something similar to make it work right.

 

If I remember I'll snap a picture of the 4Runner cut-off tonight.

 

Oh I believe you. I just remember a buddy with an F150 that had projectors telling me his didn't work with a kit he bought. Maybe it's manufacturer specific or there is something simple to make it work.

 

These are dope!

 

10 X times brighter is wishful thinking.

 

I just assumed it's a figure of speech. This whole thread has been about overstatement.

 

This.

 

Here is the cut-with 4Runner factory projectors and Xenondepot HID's.

The '16 Taco should be about the same.

 

Hmm, doesn't look nearly as tight to me as a factory OEM HID or custom built HID projector system, but then again it could just be the bush

 

It's every bit as tight as the bi-xenon's on my Audi.

 

German Osram 85w H4 hyper. Best bulb out there, 2400 lumens, which is more than many HID kits. Running a standalone headlight harness should be done to prevent any damage to the factory wiring harness. They are going in my truck this weekend.

 

They may be bright but they're illegal by federal regulations..
http://www.king5.com/story/entertainment/2014/07/31/12965978/
federal: ttp://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CFR-2004-title49-vol5/xml/CFR-2004-title49-vol5-sec571-108.xml

 

So are HID and most LED retrofits. However, using the correct bulb with the reflector designed for that bulb will be safer than someone retrofitting the wrong type of bulb into a halogen reflector causing scatter to blind oncoming drivers. I've run them for years and never been flashed or stopped.

 

Just saying. I'd be more concerned with a bulb that's too bright than a properly retrofitted hid or led.

 

I went with the 55w 4300K versions. They aren't quite as bright but they do rate higher than the silverstars in usable light and lifespan. They are also US DOT conforming though they are not technically DOT approved, which is fine because I live in Canada.

All modifications made to the stock lights that are not reinspected and approved are illegal, technically speaking. So LED's, even DOT approved fog versions, and HID retrofits are not approved once they are installed unless you have your car inspected and certified for kicks. I doubt you'd ever get a ticket for it but who knows.

 

This is wrong. There isn't really a way to properly retrofit an HID or LED without passing commercial inspection. Technically over bright bulbs will still have the proper throw from the lens because the light source matches the bowl curvature. It's only unsafe because sometimes a car may be below the cutoff, in which case an HID is going to have the same effect as an overbright bulb.

TBH there is a reason why OEM HID's are no where near as bright as super high end OSRAM HID's and oversized ballasts and that's it.

Safely done retrofits are fine, but let's not start acting like they are totally street legal and don't cause issues to cars if the cutoff is even slightly off.

 

So I got my Osram Nightbreakers. The light output is better than the Lifetime LED's for sure and, from what I remember, better than Silverstars top end as well. The light is slightly yellow, not pure white like an LED, but it's livable. In truth all I've learned from this is that unless I want to spend $1K or more on a retrofit, which I don't because a light bar would be better bang for buck, high end halogens are the way to go. At only ~$35 CAD a set these Nightbreakers are affordable enough to replace every year, if I have to, yet throw off much better than stock light.

 

What is the color temperature on those?

 

4300K