Dual Projector Headlights?

If I/you spend enough on her/them to make up -sort of- for what I/we spend on toys it can some times work in our favor, not always mind you but some times, if the earth's rotation is just so and the moon is just so and so on and....

 

It is highly unlikely that any LEO will want to look that closely at my headlights in fact a great deal of local LEO's are auto enthusiast themselves that and Florida long ago got rid of inspections.

 

You don't know my wife, this woman is the love of my life, the single best thing that EVER happened to me who also long ago saved me from strip clubs and alcohol. Not only would I gladly die for her I would happily kill for her too. To each his own but remember I busted my ass for 40 years to enjoy whatever time I have left on this planet.

 

Update:

Spoke to Tom, we are going to collaborate on this, hopefully it'll work out. Fingers crossed!

 

Bi-xenon projectors, especially the TLs

Not sure you understood...
Acura TL projectors are bixenon. That means hi and lo beams from the same projector. These projectors with BMW e55 crystal clear lenses are the tits, were the gold standard of retrofits (may be dated now).

Frankly, any retro for that won't fit the stock projector hole isn't going to be much better than bubblegum and bailing wire- id really love to see the duct take and jb weld that goes into that 2k retrofit.

Re: mod budget. Have fun with that. Personally, I'd never do that. If I think I'm going to spend the value of the car in mods, I take that budget and see what double the value gets me. I'm very well off too, but know the values that got me there.

 

I understand what a BiXenon is they're in my wife's SUV. I'm not interested in BiLED's I'm looking for a dual projector high/low setup and won't pay for or indulge in anything less than a professional modification. A new back/mounting plate may need to be made I have access to a 5-axis CNC machine so that's a non-issue. I spoke with the owner he's going to do his research and I will continue mine, hopefully together we can arrive at a viable solution. As for the money, I've understood the value system from a young age, my family owned and operated one of the largest electrical contracting firms in Florida, I worked since I was 12 for every penny of it, I earned it and now intend to enjoy it with my wife. Call me stupid but my old Super Duty cost me way more than this Tacoma ever will. It's a toy to me, it's a hobby and it keeps me occupied and from breaking things in the house so I can repair them. This Tacoma project has become somewhat a technology/product demonstrator so it may cost me a whole lot less in the long run with vendors chipping in or doing the work for free just to be part of the project. Some of these people are old customers who I did electrical work for so deals are made every day but I need to cover my ass with a budget.

Just wanted to add, I watched both my parents die young both being so concerned about money to the point of obsession both being Great Depression children and they lived comfortably too. You cannot take it with you, life is very short, enjoy it but don't over do it that is my value system.

 

I've tried doing a quad retrofit with one of my previous cars and I was never quite able to get the alignment right. The problem comes from trying to align the cutoff pattern of 4 different projectors.
If you want an even line then the projectors them selves all have to be on the same y-axis. If one is higher than the other the cutoff becomes a nightmare to make even.

My OCD didn't let me live with it and I eventually just ran a bi-xenon setup.

 

I never said it would be easy and I do understand keeping the projectors aligned to a degree but defer to experts in automotive lighting for such matters. The low beam projector's mounted location should not change, since you don't need as large a lens for high beams that will be a smaller diameter projector so I would think and am hoping there's room to work with to keep them vertically and horizontally aligned. If a mounting plate to accommodate has to be made it'll be made. I'm looking for a lighting system that works superior to stock not for looks itself, function over form here. If in the end it can't be done with current technology then I bite the bullet and install HID's but I have decades of experience with general HID lighting and it isn't what people think it is. The gas packs don't degrade uniformly so color will change over time as will foot candles thus performance. Most of I-95 in South Florida was lamped by my company or a competitor he and I will both tell you xenon-metal halide HID's suck and FDOT's LED retrofit can't happen soon enough. HID served a purpose and has done so well over the years but LED is the way to go and the path I hope works out.

 

When I upgraded the projectors in my truck I ALMOST did a quad retrofit but decided against it.

Just the upgraded bixenon projectors plus the high beam bulb is plenty of light for driving. And that's coming from somebody who likes a lot of light output.



Things to keep in mind, there are no left and right adjustments of these headlights and the highbeam is meant to go straight down the road, therefore its centered more and pointed upward. Doing 4 projectors would have your normal two low cutoffs wide just like your stock ones. The "high beam" ones would be closer together and above the cutoffs of the "low beams" unless you shimmed them or epoxied in place to correct this.

In my opinion it's not necessary. I have plenty of light output with bixenon (high and low) plus the high beam bulb. If you need extra, do a stealth light bar.





In the last picture, the house you can see to the left of the red reflectors is quite a ways away...

 

LEDs are the better technoloygy but HIDs are still significantly brighter at the moment given a standard automotive housing.

 

Okay I get it I do, everyone is for BiXenon HID's, if I can't get LED's to work I'll have to deal with HID's until someone figures LED's out and Hella may have already done so with a 90mm projector that will have to be cracked open and the BiLed components removed to optimize for single voltage emitters.

 

Better technology? They are still a few years behind HIDs unless they are OEM LEDs. Aftermarket LEDs aren't reliable enough yet and definitely don't provide the proper optics when placed in projectors. Unless actually designed for that projector.

 

Thank you!!

I agree at the moment here in North America LED projectors are not providing the throw of HID or high quality halogen for that matter. It is a different story in Europe where Hella uses there BiLED, the Europeans are far ahead of us in lighting technology. I can get my hands on the Hella's.

 

Calling it now:
It's this guy-
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/rksport-hood-w-scoop.468964/

- Florida
- Quicksand 3rd gen
- Nonsensical obsession with a technical modification
- same "pride" though humbled a bit
- same, "I have all the resources, and largely the answers, bit is still her asking questions

Too easy...

 

I mean at a fundamental level of producing light. A light emitting diode is on so many levels a better way to produce light than a glass bulb filled with xenon gas. That being said LEDs currently don't throw out as much light. They are forced to be placed in a housing designed for a bulb though which doesnt help.

Edit: fwiw i run 55w HIDs.. ha. I couldnt care less about efficieny or better tech. I wanted more light output so

 

Far superior technology, no HID can compete with LED, it's only the projector housings and lenses that are diminishing the capability of an LED. I could put you under a GE Cobra Head the most prevalent light fixture on roads/highways in the US and demonstrate to you just how superior an LED board is to ANY HID lamp. You can choose the measuring device of your liking, ft candle, lumens etc the photometrics of a HID are vastly superior because they are directional add the focusing of a projector housing can only add to that feature.

 

Exactly! It's the housing the emitters are placed in that are not designed around an LED that are holding back the technology not the LED itself.

 

But this technology is not yet properly available to consumers. All these aftermarket LED kits and whatnot are junk and unreliable just because of lack of cooling. The heatsinks on these leds are not big enough to cool the LEDs and they aren't great at lasting a long time.


Comparing it to something that comes with OEM LEDs they are nowhere near as good as OEM components. OEM has to be built to last the life of the vehicle. Therefore it's done right.



Lots of ability to cool the components there ^

 

You're right I'm trying to find a solution to this problem so far the best I can come up with is the Hella BiLED. I would rather have an all sealed unit with no serviceable "bulb" and I believe that's how the Hella is designed, if a complete unit you should be able to control heat. It's either Osram or Philips that make a new bulb that doesn't have a fan or heatsink on it, I found it searching one of their EU or AU websites. They're getting better with the technology or at least overseas they are. The more noise the masses make the greater the likelihood of getting something made.

 

Agreed.