Headlight Upgrade 2017 TRD

Those are really impressive bulbs. I will be switching the GF's H9 modified low beams to run the GE +130s as soon as they burn out, as they are on full time low beam DRL. Let us know your impression after your drive, there is certainly no comparison in projection distance to a highly engineered performance halogen vs a drop in LED.

 

Thanks crash, I just ordered a set of these tonight at work as well.

 

As mentioned, spent the better part of three hours driving on an unlit highway with the +130s the other evening. These are great bulbs. The difference over the LEDs (RSI) that I replaced them with is noticeable right away in city driving, but it is really evident once you're on the highway without any other lighting sources present.

The main difference is the throw of the bulbs, which to me is the most important quality of a set of headlights/bulbs. The blue tinge that LEDs exhibit looks great but it doesn't do anything to help see further down the road, especially in poor visibility conditions. There was some brush burning going on for ~80km at one point and they cut through the smokey patches as good as once can expect. I tried to get some pictures, but I was only using an iPhone and of course they look like well lit blurry crap.

I have retrofitted a MY08 Tundra and a Second Gen Tacoma in the past, and these don't compare to the output of a true projector setup designed for an HID bulb but if you're looking for plug and play performance without having to alter OEM housings then these +130 bulbs are a really good bang for your buck.

The big question now is longevity...I keep the stock H11s under the backseat as a backup should I get a burnt out bulb, I'm just hoping that won't happen for a couple years at least.

 

Glad you like them. Their distance focus is excellent. Unfortunately one of the drawbacks of halogen technology is trading bulb life for performance, and these are the highest performing H11s. I believe their bulb life is 140-150 hours, which realistically will probably be 6-9 months of use, depending on how often you use your headlights. H9s have about the same bulb life. You can go to a lower +100 bulb to get better life while still having a great improvement over stock, but the GE +130s will do quite a bit better.

You can take a few measures to increase use life, such as don’t run your headlights during the day time and always turn your headlights off when you turn the truck off. If you start the truck with the headlights on the cycling voltage from the starter draw is unkind to the filaments and will reduce bulb life. Of course also do not touch the bulbs on install.

 

DRLs are legislated here but the decorative LEDs serve that purpose, so I'm covered there. I will make sure I keep the switch in the off position when starting the truck though, I didn't realize there was a enough of a voltage disruption to effect bulb life when cranking the engine over, thanks! And yes, a pair of Ansell Nitrile were used when putting them in

I think I'll stick with the +130s vs. a longer lasting lower classed bulb. I think the trade off is worth it

Thanks again for the heads up on these bulbs, well worth the money

 

Wish they would figure out the automotive LED as my MTB LED's work so well, lots of light with a lot of throw...
I know bike speeds are slower but still think they can improve the auto lights to give us what we need...
Great light and longer lasting so we can put them in and forget about them.

 

I agree the trade off is worth it, just making sure expectations were realistic, so you are not surprised/upset when they burn out.

Automotive Engineers have already figured out automotive LEDs, and can do some really amazing things with them. Check out this Audi lighting video, this is what quality engineering looks like:
https://youtu.be/P5bBEfphebI

Problem is that people discussing LEDs are not buying engineered LED headlights. They are trying to incorrectly put LED products into light assemblies designed for a halogen bulb. An LED is not a halogen and despite LED manufacture claims does in no way replicate one, resulting in all the lighting geometry being incorrect. For LEDs to work the entire light assembly needs to be built around an LED light source, which is what TRS/Morimoto is coming out with for the 3rd gen headlight, and what many manufactures have started doing for LED fog lights. Your MTB LEDs are engineered from the ground up for LEDs. But new engineered LED lighting assemblies for vehicles are more expensive than a drop in LED bulb, in the case of the upcoming 3rd gen LED headlights I believe they are $1200+.

 

Thanks for that explanation....
Expensive for sure but would be an awesome addition to our trucks..!!

 

I’m glad I’ve been following this thread too, as I’m really disappointed with the HID kit I bought after having it installed for 2 days. The bouncing is driving me nuts, 4300k is blue enough to get washed out in a blowing snow plus clash uncomfortably with the high beams, and worse yet I don’t think the actual light on the road was all that much greater than my H9’s. Side projection may have been better, I’ll know better in the morning when I drive to work because I swapped back to the H9’s tonight. Kinda miffed at spending the money honestly, especially when the base of one of the igniter boxes broke off while trying to unstick it from the truck.

Edit- forgot to add, I don’t have a fancy lux meter but I do have an app on my iPhone that can measure lux with the camera. The actual numbers was probably not accurate, but if the percentage difference measured was the 4390k HID’s averaged 11-15% brighter than the H9’s in and around the hot spot.

 

If you thought your H9s were good, you should really try the GE Megalight +130s as they are a measured 25% brighter, which is achieved through real optical engineering.
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/headlight-upgrade-2017-trd.575174/page-2#post-19035062

Edit: Might also help for others to know which HID kit you bought for bouncing reasons.

 

XenonDepot 4300k, not the Phillips version.

Either the Phillips +100s or the GE’s are next to try.

 

The bounce/shake issue has been reported by many across multiple brands, I've looked at this and am still not sure why it occurs.

However, as with everything, I promote quality first.

XD left, XD Philips right


The XD bulbs pictured on the left use a floating silicon type gasket that is not attached to the bulb, which leads to a spongy bulb mount feel in the headlight housing. It is tight and actually somewhat difficult to lock in place but not like OEM. But by comparison the XD Philips bulb pictured on the right locks in identical to OEM, feels like OEM and looks like an OEM seal. The bulb is very fixed and does not move, the seal is mounted to the bulb like OEM. However, that said, people have reported bouncing issue with the Philips bulbs too. Looking at how the Philips bulbs mount in my 2016 headlight assemblies, I do not see how that is possible for the bulb to bounce or move.

 

The GE +130s will completely blow away the Philips +100s. I'd highly recommend ordering the GEs and waiting the couple extra days to get them.

 

The bulb thing is disappointing, I guess I should have spent the extra $40 on the Phillips bulbs but, shake or not, the bright blue-white light still isn't my favorite and the mix with halogen high beams kinda sucked for any sort of distance.

The H9's are about 10-15% dimmer on the road then the HID's however, especially to the sides which is where I most have issues with the stock low beams. Hopefully the GE 130+'s are better in that regard to the H9's, it became pretty clear with the HID's that forward lighting is most limited by the cutoff and aim of the projector, but the side lighting is limited by the amount of light the bulbs output.

I'm kinda stuck with this kit since the base of one of the igniter snapped off with the 2-sided tape when I removed everything. Maybe I'll get a new bulb and put one HID in my motorcycle or my 4-wheeler.

 

GE +130’s are on the way from Powerbulbs. I’m also hoping to get in the warehouse at work next week and properly aim my headlights. We have a bright white bay door and just enough room to get the front of my truck 25’ away from it.

 

Nice! Did you mess with the aiming when you had HIDs? The GE bulbs shouldn’t require any headlight adjustment since they are the stock style bulb the housing is designed for.

 

Can you run the 130 + in fog lights and still have the low curoff .

 

As long as you have the TRD H11 fogs, yes. Because they are the stock style bulb the housing is designed for. The SR5 and limited take H10 or H16.

 

Cool thanks.

 

I didn’t, but I suspect that our trucks are aimed somewhat low from the factory. There are a few reasons for that.

First, My wife’s CRV has significantly better headlights using the same H11 bulb, and I noticed that her lights shine higher on our shed (which is a good 75ft away from our parking pad) than my Tacoma’s when they’re parked roughly evenly.

If you compare the headlight ratings on the two, the Tacoma shows no glare but had poor performance, falling well short of their recommended range while the CRV with halogens reached out just about to the the IIHS suggested range but did produce some glare, suggesting a higher aim (no doubt ride height plays in to this too).

Finally, it’s a truck so there’s a strong potential for it to be used as such. Any significant weight in the bed could lift the lights in to bad glare territory if the lights were perfectly aimed for maximum vision in an empty truck. It would stand to reason that Toyota would leave the aim a bit low on purpose to counteract that. I recall reading this in regards to trucks in general somewhere many years ago.

After driving with the HID’s for a couple days, with how they filled out the pattern, it’s clear that the headlight’s distance throw on this truck is severely limited by the aim once the power/brightness aspect is taken care of. I think the craziest part about HID kit for me was even after the swap my wife’s car still had better visibility down road than my Taco. My lights were brighter but hers were better.

I don’t think it will take much adjustment up to make a difference either, but I need to make measurements first to confirm the factory aim and compare it to what’s legally allowed.

I’ll be using the Toyota service manual guide for aiming and comparing it to the guide on Daniel Sterns website.

https://www.danielsternlighting.com/tech/aim/aim.html