The ultimate headlight upgrade H4 (not LED or HID)

Want me to send you the new pair of Nightbreaker Laser 150's I just got so you can test them?

 

Thanks for the offer! I'm up to my eyeballs in vehicle/lighting projects at the moment so I'll decline at this time. I do have an idea for a future thread on comparing stock wattage bulbs which I think will be interesting for those looking for a drop in bulb replacement without going high wattage, but it will be a while before I can get to it.

 

There's a lot of info to go through in this thread. Thanks for being so detailed but I need the Coles Notes version of doing a headlight upgrade for my '16 TRD OR.

Just bought the Gy35HIR for the back up lights and this mod looks pretty straight forward.
I've read through your Fog light review and will be going with either BajaDesigns or KC lights.

My question is regarding my truck with the daytime running lights, which I'd like to keep.
My understanding performing the 'ultimate headlight upgrade' is that adding the wiring harness eliminates the DRL's on the '16+ trucks, correct?

If I can't keep the DRL's, I'd like to have brighter bulbs that will allow me to see further down the road with better clarity and without blinding oncoming traffic or burning my truck to the ground.

I've done a search but can't find any info on the HIR's and if there's an available plug and play replacement bulb for the `16+ trucks.
Thanks!

 

Wrong forum but the right idea. This is for 2nd Gen

Your looking for this thread...
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...-upgrade-not-led-or-hid.475064/#post-14386437

 

So what are the preferred bulbs to use now?

 

Just as a heads up, I contacted Daniel Stern Lighting to originally buy a glare capped Volsa H9 for my fog lights, and thought I'd see if he had any 10/90 Osram H4's as well for my headlights, and while he did not outright refuse to sell me the Volsa H9 bulb or the Osram Superbright H4 bulb, it seemed like he had serious issue with my intended use with them.

He sent back this email:


His responce to the H9's in the fog light housings:

>>>>
Thought so. There's been a flurry of inquiries along this line; looks like somebody on the Tacoma forums suggested it. There is no shortage of bad advice (in this case it's ignorant advice, probably not malicious advice) to be found on internet forums. Putting H9 bulbs in your H11 fog lamps will not upgrade them. This is not a safe thing to do; don't do it. They will create excessive heat that will damage the lamps, and they will create unsafe levels of glare to other drivers, even with the blacktop on the bulbs and no matter how the lamps are aimed. Fog lamps, even the world's best, are of almost no use to most drivers in most conditions, and should spend very nearly 100% of their time switched *off*. Please see http://www.danielsternlighting.com/tech/lights/fog_lamps/fog_lamps.html for thorough information about what fog lamps will/won't and can/can't do. The best H11 is

GE Lighting 69865 H11 55NHX/BP2 Nighthawk Xenon Halogen Replacement Bulb, 2-Pack

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00GZHC2L2/ .
<<<<

His responce to the higher wattage H4 in the headlight housing:

>>>>
Here again, common "wisdom" is out of line with reality. With upgraded wiring and relays in the headlamp circuit It's tempting to grab for big wattage numbers like this, but it's usually counterproductive. Please see bulb test results posted by my colleague Virgil at

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?392498-Interesting-headlight-bulb-test-results .

Note how the only advantage the 100/90w bulb gives is in amount of light on high beam. Seeing distance, especially on low beam, is inferior to that from a high-luminance/high-efficacy 60/55w bulb. The current best pick in 60/55w bulbs is made by Tungsram (GE of Europe); it is a +120 item that is a few developmental iterations improved over the +80/+90 bulbs in the linked comparison. I usually keep them in stock in European packaging for $43.18/pair, but I'm out of them right now. They're available in American packaging on Amazon at the moment:

GE Nighthawk Xenon Replacement Bulb, (Pack of 2)

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00O1UF79O

More detail on reasons why not to use overwattage bulbs:

As wattage increases, the size of the filament necessarily increases, both in length and in diameter. This has a strongly negative effect on beam focus -- the more closely the filament approximates a point source of light, the better the beam focus, and the greater the size of the filament the poorer the beam focus. Effective seeing distance plummets. At the same time, foreground light goes to nuclear levels, which does two things at the same time:

1) It fools you into thinking you've got "excellent" lighting. We humans are very poor subjective judges of our visual performance; it's very easy to create situations in which we think/feel we can see much better (or much worse) than we actually can.
2) It absolutely kills your distance vision. The brightly-lit foreground causes your pupils to constrict, with the result that you can meaningfully see all the irrelevant stuff going on within 50 feet of the car, and beyond that, you're effectively blind. And using overwattage low beams in a truck/van/SUV with headlamps mounted higher than they are in a passenger car means you either produce extremely blinding glare for other road users (some of whom will write you tickets for it), or you tip down the aim so far that your seeing range is sharply geometrically limited. Either way, you lose. You're much better off using well-chosen standard-wattage bulbs and aiming the lamps carefully and correctly per http://www.danielsternlighting.com/tech/aim/aim.html .
<<<<

SO...
While I am still convinced of OP's very diligent testing, the concept of the larger filiment in a higher wattage bulb making a different beam makes sense to me. But I also have no real world experience or testing and am just interpreting what OP, Daniel Stern, and his linked page to Candlepowerforums have said.

So after reading a good amount of OP's Ultimate headlight and foglight upgrade threads, talking to Daniel Stern, and reading a page or so of the Candlepowerforum link, the best option in terms of brightness, clarity and correctness of beam pattern, and a compromise of "best" lowbeam/ highbeam/ foglight performance may be to go with the upgraded harnesses, but use a standard wattage and type bulb for each housing. Which would be these bulbs suggested by OP for the headlights:

• Philips Racing Vision +150
• Philips Xtreme +130
• Osram Nightbreaker Laser +130
• GE MegaLight Ultra +120 (Tungsram +120)

And these recommended by OP for the foglights:

• Nokya Clear 3100K H11 High Wattage Headlight Bulbs 75W (Stage 2) - NOK7918
  Nokya Clear 3100k H11 75w (Stage 2)

Or the General Electric ones linked by Daniel Stern above.

@crashnburn80 I'm still very tempted to do your headlight mod with the Osram Superbrights at the very least, as I dont know if I'll be able to get capped H9's. What is your thought on what Daniel has said ?
His point of foreground illumination ruining our eyes ability to relax the pupils and focus on the road further ahead (due to darker surroundings closer to the vehicle) makes sense to me, do you find this happening with your truck? I'd rather take your actual world experience (assuming you have your own Ultimate headlight and/or foglight upgrades on your truck) over his argument, however rational it may be.

 

Something that people rarely think about as far as foreground light causing poor night vision is how bright they make their dash lights. I keep mine at the lowest possible setting to barely be able to see the gauges and such. Those lights are directly pointed at your face. Also imo having cars with all different colors of dash lights the amberish color of the Tacoma doesn't seem to have near the effect as other colors. Red would be ideal to keep night vision at its best. Take the dash light brightness into account as well. You don't really need them that bright anyways unless you are someone that is constantly staring at their dash and even at that barely lit can provide enough light to see them at a quick glance.

 

Agreed, I keep my dash lights pretty low, and would eventually like to swap all the white ones in the tach/speedo area to red.

 

I've been through most but not all of this thread... Ok.. 50% and meaning to make it through the rest... But at this point, am looking for the best value for dollar long lasting harness that you folks would recommend. I've been searching and the cheap crap outnumbers the cringeworthy expensive 10 :1... But I am looking for a good harness at a good price. What's the current recommendation?

Edited: Headlight Services here I come.

 

I'd love to switch all my dash lights to red but don't care to do the whole LED thing with them. Did that on a different vehicle and though they turned out good didn't like how finiky they were with dimming and they were way too bright.

 

I believe the best harness is the Headlight Service harness, and its cheaper than the Rallylights one as well. Those are the only two I know of. I wouldnt really want to skimp out on wiring for my headlights, especially if Im going to be running higher powered bulbs (assuming thats what you want/need it for)

 

Hmm, thanks for the heads up. Maybe I could put a red filter on the backside of my dash or something, since they are the white ones anyhow.

 

Yeps. At least that's the goal. It's an 06, and so taking the power into a new harness with my existing bulbs will brighten them up already... Then as the cash permits, drop in the brighter bulbs.

I dropped back a few pages and saw the link. The Painless was way too much. But this seems like a very good price for the components and labour.

 

Could of been the LEDs I used the write up I followed or a # of things but there is a reason they make a different dimmable LED bulb for your house than normal on offs. Also with my mesojdm ultimate dome when it's dimming to off after shitting the door it'll flicker a bit once it gets to a certain brightness. Doesn't bother me for something like that but that's kinda what I ran into with LED dash lights. Couldn't get them to dim down enough for my liking with out them flickering or just going out.

 

Exactly my thinking as well. Once you said you had a bit of issues, I remembered about my own led dome light and also the difference of led houselights. Its not high on my list. Headlights are #1 right now becuse crappy HID kit the previous owner of my truck put in is failing, and I need to see but after that its rear suspension. Theeen all the other stuff.

 

I just dropped in new Leds for map and dome lights. But skipped the eBay / Amazon Chinese kits and went right to the Philips ones. No, I didn't get 9 LEDs for 30$, I got 3. And they will likely work for the next 8 years. Next will be back up lights.. if I can find the Phillips Ultinon bulbs for it. Again, pricey... But at least they'll work and have a real warranty.

 

@crashnburn80
I've got my new harness and just trying to find time to install it.
I'm on Vaca next week and may find time then
I have four OSRAM H4's and will try to do a before and after I get back and have time to change the bulbs.

Mostly, keep up your great work!

 

Baja make very nice lights, but if you plan on street use KC are the better option.

The harness only eliminates the DRLs that utilize the headlights, if your truck uses amber indicators or the newer LED strips, it will have no impact. That said, you don't need a harness to run H9 bulbs, though you will get improved performance with one. You just need to trim the inner tab off an H9 as shown in the update here:
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/the-ultimate-foglight-upgrade-h11-not-led-or-hid.435419/

Use any quality German made H9, Sylvania/Osram/Volsa/Philips. Since you have projectors the glare caps are not necessary. There is no HIR for your headlights, HIR are only made with 9005/9006 bases which translate to 9011/9012.

 

First off, yes Daniel Stern is correct, and you will find much of that information supported in the threads.

Referring to the SuperBrights:

Less focused hot spot = less distance projection. DS has stated the hypers were an excellent product, they combined high power and high efficiency. Those bulbs are no longer available. The superbrights are what I replaced them with for those looking for a high power upgrade, but they are not a high efficiency bulb as called out and shown side-by-side in the thread.

A list of recommendations for those looking to project the stock amount of output projected further down road are included. You'll see the bulbs DS recommends are on the list, with a listed reason as to whom they are best for. If you never use your high beams, there are higher performing bulbs for low beam output. If you do use your high beams then the GE/Tungsram bulbs are the best balance of both, giving up some low beam output but having higher performance in high beam.

The intent of this thread was to provide an option to higher output lighting combating the trend of the LED craze. The thread started with the high efficiency high power Hyper bulbs, but those were later discontinued. The fractions of a mm difference in a coil wind filament of a high efficiency bulb vs a high wattage bulb are not very noticeable looking at the bulb, but the several mm difference of an LED vs a coil filament easily stand out. If the fractions of a mm make the kind of difference being discussed, how do you think multiple mms will pan out in an LED?

I've presented many options for users to determine what is best for them, when the thread started is was high efficiency plus high wattage. Unfortunately that option is not seemingly available anymore, meaning people can choose high efficiency or high wattage.

I run the high efficiency Osram Hypers, which DS sold and called 'an excellent product', before being discontinued. I do have it on my TODO list to test several high power bulb alternatives to the SuperBrights to see if there is anything else on the market that is better.

For the Fogs:

I did realize looking over the fog threads that I did not include information on how to use the fogs. If you have PM'd me about fog upgrades, I have likely asked if you drive with your fogs on all the time or reminded you not to if looking at a higher output foglight. Fogs should only be used when needed otherwise the foreground light reduces distance vision. I don't use my fogs often, usually it is in awful low visibility conditions crossing a windy mountain pass in a snow storm with dangerous steep drops and lack of ability to find the edge of the road way. Headlights are completely useless, and often times I cannot even tell if I am in the oncoming lane or where the road actually is. Ever come head-on to an 18 wheeler and not know if you need to swerve right or he does? There are no highway lights, no markers. I want the power of the sun in my fogs to try and see where the edge of the road is in these conditions. I realize this may seem very extreme, but these are the conditions that I have developed my fogs for. I do not drive with them on when they are not needed, they are not aux lights, and an LED fog would freeze over and leave me blind in these conditions.

I've been messaged by multiple others that the fog upgrade has literally saved their truck from deer on back mountain roads (with no oncoming traffic) that the extended range of the fogs has allowed them to see further to the proximity of the vehicle and avoid accidents in deer country.

I should likely add a section in the fog threads for how to use fogs effectively, and that they are not 'aux lights' for street use.

So yes, DS is correct in his statements. I present information and provide options but rely on TW members to make the best choices to fit their use cases. I warn people all the time about the the foreground light causing loss of distance vision, especially in retrofitting LEDs. I know my modifications may be ridiculously overpowered in some cases, but when I'm forging a mountain pass that should have been closed in a white out where it is challenging to find the road in a windy 2 lane highway with no other vehicles on the road, I want all the power I can to illuminate the roadway.

 

Thank you, you definitely clear up some of my concerns and questions! I agree at the end of the day it’s up to us/others to decide what our need are and what suits them best, and you’ve done a great job giving us lesser knowledged / experienced people your top pick, which I greatly appreciate.

I also apologize if I came off as rude or ignorant, as from what I had read (the first page of this thread, the page links in your first post, and what DS had said/linked) I had though for them to be conflicting.
I did not fully understand the difference between high wattage and high efficiency. But you cleared that up and I now understand better about all the info and which of the many options you have chosen to recommend for the headlights and fogs, will suit my needs best. And I thank you for that again !

I don’t use my fog lights all the time, very rarely here in socal, but I’d like for them to be very bright as I do drive in the mountains where it can be rain/snow etc and very hard to see.
I use high beams regularly so I now plan to go with the GE’s, as I’m willing to sacrifice a little low beam performance.