The ultimate headlight upgrade H4 (not LED or HID)

As implied, the heat is not an issue with the OEM housings. I've run this setup on my 2003 and my 2015 with composite lenses without issue. Buried in the thread are also IR heat temp gun readings from the lights when on, which showed they did not get that hot.

 

Bulb burnt out this week after 6 months. Way shorter than the same 85w bulbs in the GF truck that have are going on 14 months. Swapped both bulbs in the truck for a new pair of 85w-ers I had on hand.

 

I just did this mod and am very pleased with the results. I have aftermarket housing so the output isn't an great like they would be with the OEM housing, but it was a big improvement overall. I can say that I can finally see the road ahead of me clearly. The harness is a quality piece and well worth it for peace of mind and a little extra light output.

Thank you OP! I'm glad I didn't go the LED route.

 

I post this and the girlfriends Escape almost immediately has the bulb burn out. So hers lasted about 14 months.

 

@crashnburn80

I installed the 85/80 back in November with the wiring harness. I just noticed that the passenger light is burned out. Also the led side marker burned out right after I installed it. Is there any chance something is not right on that side or anything I should check?

I've been meaning to order spares but thought these would last longer than 4 months

 

Seems like some results vary somewhat on life. The H4 bulbs in the Escape lasted 2x as long as the ones in my Tacoma, 14 months vs 6 months. Many variables can come into play such as does one drive with their lights on all the time, do lots of night driving, vibration, dumb luck ect.

I don't think there is anything wrong on that side of your truck. I always order the bulbs 4 at a time, so I have a backup set and it saves on shipping. I swapped both bulbs when the ones went out in my Tacoma, removing the one good bulb from the Tacoma and put it in a bulb box labeled used. When the bulb went out on the Escape days later, I swapped in that used bulb, and now need to order some more.

 

So what would happen if you swapped in these from here:

I am wondering that if the 85W bulbs burn out in 6 months then these would probably burn out in 4 months or less? Also I wonder the difference of these in stock harness compared to the 85W bulbs in the upgraded harness? I'm guessing the 100W or 130W would be too much with the upgraded harness? Also wonder about the heat output of those bulbs. If your replacing bulbs every 6 months thats $80 a year for bulbs and you can't find these locally.

 

The harness is stout and will probably handle the increased power draw, but I'd guess bulbs that hot will damage the headlight housings.

 

The reason I recommend the Osram Hyper 85s is they have the best balance of life vs performance for their wattage IMO. They are not just a higher wattage bulb like others.

80/85w Osram:
1750/2400 lumen
http://store.candlepower.com/64206.html

90/100w Narva
1700/2600 lumen
http://store.candlepower.com/48nahiwamola.html

So with the 90/100w you have less output on low beam (what I use most), shorter bulb life and draw more current while also likely producing more heat, so you can have a small increase on high beam. Not worth it IMO.

I couldn't find the lumen rating on the 130w Narvas, but the 130w Hellas put out 3400 lumens on high. Didn't find the low rating. Impressive, but also only a 40 hour lifespan. Super short.

The harness I used will handle it, even the 130s with low voltage.
11v*15A (harness fuse per bulb) =165w.

Temps before, and a few posts down after for the 85w, your looking at an increase of 29 degrees over stock. Not going to hurt then housings. Would have to test the higher wattage bulbs.
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...de-not-led-or-hid.398066/page-9#post-11269220

My brother recently did this upgrade on his Lexus LX (Land Cruiser) running 100w H1 Hellas. We compared side-by-side. My 85w Osram H4s had greater output than his 100w bulbs.

 

Sub'd

 

The picture looks shocking. I have seen a report said that car parked under a tree for a long time, leaves falling to the engine cover may also cause car fire when driving in a long time. So please make sure there are no inflammable under your engine cover before your start the car.

 

Sub'd. Read through all 19 pages and plan on ordering soon. Hopefully I get a bulb that last more than 6 months though!

Awesome post OP! You've been super informative to everybody here.

 

You won't be disappointed.

 

Hi JHsieh_3, I'm not sure if you are interested in LED headlamps, I said that is because I got an email from Broview, they invited me to test an review their headlamps Broview S7. I was able to receive this message, because I have bought them another headlamps. But I dont need. So if you are interested in it can check it at here https://app.reviewkick.com/products/17704, only sell $37.78.

 

Question if you even read the thread.

 

I only read the first page of this thread, then jumped to the last, didn't feel like reading the 18 in the middle

random thoughts: the gen2 tacoma halogen headlights have clear lenses, and segmented reflectors, which IMHO, work pretty darn good with standard halogen bulbs.

but since they have clear lenses, it would be pretty easy to mod a set with projector HID modules like ...


and get true HID light.

 

Sure, projector retrofits are entirely possible and many go that route. It opens up the light source possibilities with proper cutoffs compared to the stock halogen reflector. Pricey though. Good retrofits are about $1k for the housings alone, plus the cost of whatever lighting technology you stuff in them.

 

Interesting tests on lumen improvement with lighting harness alone in a Tacoma. Nearly 30% gain on low beam due to reduced voltage drop.

http://www.headlightservices.com/files/Download/LumenImprovementFormRob2.pdf

 

indeed. I've got a BMW motorcycle (1996 R1100RS) that uses a H4 headlight, common practice is to install a pair of "VW" (bosch) relays on the headlight circuit and use heavy gauge power+ground wiring directly off the alternator terminals, makes the headlight way whiter-n-brighter, plus it greatly prolongs the life of the headlight + highbeam switches which are on the handlebars and part of the hand grip assemblies so quite expensive to replace.

 

okay so i checked out that harness you mentioned and it looks pretty legit.. doesn't really mention brand name on the ceramic plugs/wires/or any stainless steel/anti rust hardware or anything on the relays either...
& i also found this one on ebay.. for half the price for people that dont wanna spend to much. it claims to be 4 100w
http://www.ebay.com/itm/H4-Ceramic-...ash=item2c78753e7c:g:2pYAAOSwrklU6cAs&vxp=mtr
s
how ever, the most important thing you wanna pay attention to is actual wire gauge/size.. less strands per wire & will add more resestance leading to less power and more chance for electrical failure and such..

whats stopping me from buying this fleebay kit is the whole conventionally switched/non conventionally switched portion.. wouldn't it be a simple fix as to flipping the internal pins on the h4 plug opposite to each other?
i had this issue when i tried hids.. my low beams and high beams were opposite so i just flipped the pins and everything ran the way it was suppose to