The ultimate headlight upgrade H4 (not LED or HID)

No kidding. And it's not blinding other drivers! My favorite mod so far.

 

@topaza. Nice looking truck brother. I've got flashes a few times but I think its cause my rig is lifted 3 inch and on 33s. I may angle them down a smidge

 

Thanks man.

Before my lift I was sagging in the rear which caused me to get flashed several times on stock headlights. With a 3" lift, I haven't gotten flashed once since the upgrade.

 

Sagging rear causing the front lights to pitch upward will have a far greater negative effect than a couple more inches in height.

 

Just ordered the harness and two bulbs. Where’s the best place online to order GE +120 bulbs?

 

You can order them from Daniel Stern domestically at a premium, or from eBay internationally out of Europe for very inexpensive, but shipping takes about a month.

 

Wow, I ordered these Thursday afternoon, effectively Friday in the UK, I paid the extra 2 Euros (8 total) for expedited shipping and they attempted delivery at my office this morning. Amazons delivery speeds are impressive, even internationally.

 

Canada Post must have some sort of a secret agreement with the U.K. I get goods from the UK faster than most Canadian Provinces even at the standard shipping method.

 

@crashnburn80

Stoked to hear how they perform.

 

Is there an alternative to these clips that hold the bulb in place? They're such a PITA.

 

I wish. Retros with D2S bulbs. It gets easier the more you do it, but still a PITA.

 

Has anyone had an issue with this mod draining their battery? I made the change on Saturday and twice since then I’ve woke up to a dead battery.

Everything is connected well and plugged in correctly

 

About two years post-upgrade here, and I've never had this (or any other) issue with my headlight upgrade. (The Chinese-made Hella relay in my fog light upgrade died a few months ago, but the result was non-functional fog lights, not a dead battery.)

I know you believe "everything is connected well and plugged in correctly" but, at the risk of stating the obvious, you either have a short somewhere or your battery dying is just coincidence. Given your truck's relatively young age, my money's on the former.


EDIT: Forgot to mention my son has also had this upgrade in his 1st Gen for a couple of years and, to date, has not experienced any problems.

 

You’re most likely right. Would the lights not work at all if I have the wrong harness? Ground switched vs conventionally switched?

 

@crashnburn80 is the expert, but I don't think they'd work properly with the wrong harness. (Assume you ran the electrical ground system test before purchasing your harness?) FWIW, ground switching is more common in older 1st Gens than late model 1st Gens and 2nd Gens.

 

The only way this would drain your battery is if the relay was stuck in the closed (energized) position, in which case your lights would be visibly on even if the switch in the dash had them set to off, which is exceptionally unlikely. The relay is energized when you turn on the OEM headlight switch, when the OEM switch is off the relayed circuit is open, there is nothing to draw power as the circuit is not completed. So the battery issue shouldn't be related to your headlights.

I've installed a ground switched harness from into a conventionally switched truck. That is how I discovered Toyota made the change. The harness will not work at all, and the headlights will not operate if you use the incorrect harness. While your trucks age is seemingly too new to have a charging system/battery issue, it doesn't mean it is not a possibility. Do you have any other aftermarket electrical accessories on the truck? You can always get your charging system/battery tested for free at an autoparts store.

 

No other aftermarket electrical accessories...
I tested the battery this morning with a multimeter and everything looked fine. I went through and checked all the connections again and everything was tight, the 2 inline fuses were had backed out a little but were making contact, I fixed them..
No problems with the battery completely dying today, just a little longer crank time before it starts.

 

New Osram AllSeason 85/80w bulbs to test out tonight and compare to the 85/80w Hypers. These have a very light yellow “interference” coating, that appears to reflect back blue light.

 

Testing out the discontinued Osram 85/80w Hypers vs the 85/80w AllSeasons.

Reducing short wavelength blue light output should provide better visibility in poor weather conditions, as short wavelength blue light refracts off the rain/snow/fog back at the driver causing you to see the precipitation in the air rather than the road beyond it. I've had enough late night remote mountain pass crossing in snow storms that I was looking for something better for the winter season. I have no doubts in the ability of my truck, but it doesn't do me any good in near white out conditions where I cannot see the road.



AllSeason left vs Hyper Right



Output measurements



The coating reduces the short wavelength blue light output by nearly 2/3rds which should significantly reduce refraction in poor weather while having minimal negative impact on the output causing a 4% output loss. Blue light which is prone to refraction is approximately less than 500nm, you can see the AllSeasons work to reduce the output at less than 500nm while nearly identically matching the spectrum across the rest of the output. This causes the color temp to drop approx 100k but when looking at the light color on the wall it seems a bit more than that. Halogens produce very little short wave blue light, so filtering blue light is not nearly as impactful as putting a blue filter on the bulb to filter out the long wave yellow light, which is a majority of the output.

While the AllSeasons light output is warmer, they do have a bit more blue/purple near the cut offs on the perimeter of the pattern than I was anticipating. You can see it slightly in the above picture, left side just above the cut off to the right of the hot spot. It was a bit difficult to photograph, but looking up close is more evident.



However, facing head on, it is much less noticeable. Hyper left (passenger), AllSeason right (driver).



But I know the real question people are thinking about, how do the 85/80w versions compare to the available 100/90w Superbrights. Unfortunately in the photo below my left 100/90w was a little high as I was adjusting them and hit the door contour just right to make the hot spot look weird.

100/90w Superbright left vs 85/80w AllSeason right.



Osram 100/90w Superbright vs the 85/80w AllSeasons



Note the above measurement is at a closer distance than the first measurement between the two 85/80w bulbs, therefore they are not directly comparable.

Remember these measurements are lux (intensity) at the hot spot and not cumulative output. The greater the hot spot intensity the better the distance projection. While lumen output is similar between the bulbs, the Hyper based 85/80w AllSeasons bulbs do a much better job at concentrating the light into the hot spot for superior distance projection with about 24% greater intensity.

The AllSeason light is a little yellower than I feel pictures do justice, the up close picture of the headlight reflector is a good representation of the actual color. These lights are certainly not for everyone, as many people like cooler light for appearance purposes.

Comparing a product designed to perform well in poor weather, with the LEDs that everyone is flocking to for their cool color temperature looks, it is very clear which will be the superior performer in poor weather by minimizing the short wavelength light. If you want to minimize short wavelength light for superior poor weather preformance, even OEM LEDs are not a good solution. Measurement below normalized for output.



For the time being I've swapped in the 85/80w AllSeasons to try them out, and plan to leave them in for the winter and then switch back to my standard 85/80w Hypers in the spring.

Street output photo here:
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...4-not-led-or-hid.398066/page-77#post-19501976



I ordered my 85/80w Osram AllSeasons from Amazon in the UK here.

Also interesting, there was a 75/70w version of the Osram Hyper before they were discontinued. These were extremely popular as a great headlight bulb upgrade without needing a harness. There is a "stock wattage" AllSeason "Super" H4. But, when you look at the spec sheet nothing is inline with Osrams line. Everything is pegged at the legal maximum, power input is rated at 75/68w, which is legal max for a 60/55w bulb in Europe. All the rest of the legal Osram h4 line is 60/55w. So I think they used the 75/70w Hypers for the 'stock wattage' AllSeason Supers. Assuming the 4% loss remains true, the 70w bulb should be a significant upgrade over stock, at a slightly lower color temp.

AllSeason Super tech specs, showing Supers are not the standard bulb, available here.

 

You should be required reading prior to vehicle ownership. Prior to light modding, at the very least.