What to do about weak headlights?

Right on. I hear ya. I'm wondering what I'm gonna try next, as well. The headlights are lacking, to say the least. Seems like they're about 10 years behind.

I didn't mean to sound like I was taking a position on my previous post. If you're not the guy getting annoyed by bright lights comin at you, you could just as easily be the guy that gets hit by the annoyed guy because he can't see. I've just seen guys joking on the site about people flashing them cause their "upgrade" is so good. Well, let's hope that's not a Peterbuilt flashing them. I know people don't mean any harm, but some of these guys need a reminder.

 

Completely agree. Or if they are behind you, continually blinding you and messing up your night vision. I just want to pull over and follow them with my high beams on so they can see what it is like.

If running HIDs, get proper projector retrofits. Period.

If you want way more light with correct optics not to blind others, do this (as others have mentioned):
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/the-ultimate-headlight-upgrade-not-led-or-hid.398066/

 

Also, why are your low beams + fogs illuminating roof tops that are so close? Do you have HIDs in your fogs? If you are illuminating roof tops like that, you would be blinding everyone.

Look how clean the line is on my lights. You can see it going down the bushes on the right. Also note the drastically better distribution of light provided by the high powered halogens, vs the HIDs in a halogen reflector.

 

I believe the 2013 housing are the same as the 2015 housings (I could be wrong though). I run PIAA bulbs in my 2015, and love them. They're really bright, to the point that they almost appear to have cutoff like HIDs. My truck was absolutely filthy this past week, as it snowed in CO, and my entire front end was covered with dirt and mag chloride. I could still easily see the "cutoff" with my headlights caked in that crap.

 

Which PIAA are you running?

 

I've got the Xtreme White H4s. They don't look blue either, I can't stand that crap. I picked up a set of PIAA fogs to match, but the difference of those over stock is negligible. I have Rigid D2s for low visibility, if I need them.

 

2012-2015 have the same housings.

Any bulb with a coating (Like the PIAA Xtreme white) reduces light output in order to look whiter. It may look cooler, but the coating reduces performance. A halogen bulb placed in the halogen reflector it was designed for will have the correct cut off. They will not have the HIDs lack of cutoff with shotgun scatter.

PIAAs 60/55w = 110/100w simply does not stand up to the real thing, it is still a 60/55w bulb. A quality high wattage bulb like the 85/80w Osrams will vastly outperform a stock wattage PIAA. There is a reason PIAA doesn't actually publish the lumen output.

Nothing wrong with running PIAA, just pointing out it is nowhere in the same league as the lighting improvement I mentioned.

 

that is nice, what are you using bro?

 

i got a response from the guy I mentioned before for the H4-4 HID's. He goes by hidautovisions941.on ebay. He sells just about all model lights, HID and LED. He said he would be happy to give members of the forum discounts on light packages for the headlights and fog lights and others. Just message him and mention you are from the forum. Really a nice guy, more of car guy than a truck a guy but don't hold that against him, lol, But really nice guy! I asked him to order some more 5000K HID's which are pure white and he will have them soon. Just thought I would let you guys know.

thought this might help you guys identify headlights..

What is the difference between the 4 versions that the Dual Beam HID Bulbs are offered as, & how are they identified? Dual Beam HID's come in 4 versions and are identified by a dash and number following the size bulb, for example:
H4-1 The -1 means this bulb is a Single Beam Bulb and has no high beam.
H4-2 The -2 is a Single Beam HID Bulb that has a small Halogen bulb for the High Beam.
H3-3 The -3 is a Single Beam HID Bulb with a magnetic base that retracts or tilts the bulb to change projection/angle of light.
H4-4 The -4 has 2 Single Beam HID Bulbs that both ignite when in high, This Dual Beam set up does require 4 x Ballasts.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/11137391306...1&exe=13453&ext=34391&sojTags=exe=exe,ext=ext

 

Plus they blind everyone else on the road......

 

As with crashnburn80 above, this is what cutoffs are there for, the much brighter light produced by an HID plasma arc makes every reflective surface that much brighter, so when improperly housed, even in very short doses the light is more likely to create a high danger blinding effect upon other drivers.

I get flash blinded almost every single time I meet one of these assholes who "did it because it looks cool" on the highway, and if it is relatively safe to do so, I blast them right back. It's actually somewhat humorous how much weaker their highs become in comparison when they inevitably flash me in return.

 

The correct upgrade:
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/the-ultimate-headlight-upgrade-not-led-or-hid.398066/

You need the $1000 projector headlight upgrade in addition to the HIDs to run HIDs with the correct beam pattern. You cannot just put the HIDs in your existing headlights and have a good beam. You end up with shotgun beam everywhere, which blinds other drivers and is not as effective at lighting the roadway. I'm sure that guy is super nice and will tell you whatever you want to hear to make a sale, like "it is fine to put my HID kits in your halogen reflector lights". If you can read you should not do it.

If you cannot read:

To oncoming drivers:



Scatter circled in red:

 

Word up! Gonna put these bad boys in tomorrow.

 

Anyone know if those Osram 85/80's in "the ultimate headlight upgrade" thread are actually road-legal? Although not as bad as improperly installed HID's, I wonder if these osrams would also cause problems for oncoming drivers. Maybe not at a distance, but those last several yards- that could get pretty bright for an oncoming driver?

 

That is my thread, and no the bulbs are 'Off road use only', aka not street legal. HID retrofits, LED retrofits and high power halogens are all not street legal. However, the high powered halogens are going in a reflector designed for halogens, so the beam pattern is maintained, just brighter. The other alternatives do not maintain the beam pattern in a halogen reflector, which is where the problem lies.

It is not an issue for oncoming drivers because the light has correct cut off on the beam to keep the light below the horizon and not blind other drivers. That is why it is the safest lighting upgrade (short of upgraded stock power halogens) for other drivers. If the drivers eyes are above the horizon line, they don't look really any different than other halogens to an oncoming driver. If the driver falls below the beam line, say like going over a speed bump which lifts the nose of the truck to aim up in relation to the surroundings, then lumen fury is unleashed upon those downrange. But that does not usually happen in great frequency while driving on the street.

 

Do you get flashed very often?

 

Not a single time.

 

Read his thread. Or I'll just skip to the end for you. No.

 

Makes sense. I know for a fact that the light output of the PIAAs was a significant increase over the stock bulbs for me. If I had to estimate the difference, I'd say it's at least twice as bright - it was that much of an improvement. I've never cared about the "cool" factor either, I want better lighting.

 

No, no, please do not misunderstand. He did not recommend I do any of the mods I did, he is just really helpful when you request parts. I did not ask advice on what I should do, I just asked for really hard to find parts. I promise he is not like a used car salesman telling you what you want to hear to make a sale. I was just suggesting him because he will do what he can to find you what you request and offer opinion if you ask. Honestly he suggested I use other fogs... LED's, that were more made for that use. i wanted the HID's to try to match the headlights, so thats what I bought. Not thinking of the other issues you guys brought up. Anyway, good guy to work with, if you ask an opinion he will give you a strait answer, if you say you want something else, he will try to get it for you.