2004 Headlights

Sorry if this is a repeat but I have done quite a bit of searching for upgrading my headlights. It is for my 16 year old son and his 04 Tacoma. The lens are not in terrible shape and we have polished them to help clear them up. Is there a bulb upgrade that can be done easily, or secondly upgrade wiring harness, or thirdly buy new lens and etc? All of the above that is reasonable in price?

Thanks in advance

 

Don't bother with LED. Don't put an HID bulb in the OEM light that is designed only for halogens and the light will scatter everywhere and just blind oncoming traffic (and the people driving in front of your son).

Your option are to use a non-DOT approved, higher wattage bulb in the stock housing or a more expensive option like these projector headlights. (You can retrofit the current housings, but since you're asking, you don't already know about this, so you can do deeper research on that if you want.)
https://headlightrevolution.com/sta...ector-headlights-kit-2001-2004-toyota-tacoma/

Watch the video and you'll understand what's going on with a projector:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yb-zi_b6rTg

 

Anybody on this forum have these installed? What is the quality like? How is the light output?

 

Could something like this be used with LED or is it HID compatible only? I love the look of HID's but not a fan of the heat they produce, same with higher wattage bulbs.

 

This was brought up just a little while ago but here you go.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2-X-H4-H...e&pageci=9feecba2-9d78-42f3-9d65-2333c85e37df
http://www.headlightservices.com/Wiring.html

 

So can I just purchase the bulbs and that will help? Or do I need the wiring harness also?

 

From my understanding of what was posted earlier. Its like 3 pages back. I don't remember who exactly found it. But..
You can do just the bulbs but its best if done in conjunction with the harnesse. But if you have DRL you need to disable them buy cutting a wire under the dashboard leading the the DRL relay.

 

Here ya go
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/the-ultimate-headlight-upgrade-h4-not-led-or-hid.398066/

 

I use Sylvania SilverStar bulbs in my 02. They are brighter than the regular halogen bulbs for sure. Some people complain about a short life span, but I've been using them for many years without breaking the bank. No special wiring needed, it is just brighter version of the same OEM bulb.

I see they did not make the "ultimate headlight list" under the stock wattage bulbs section. They are still worth a try for the price IMO.

 

I'd try spending 25 bucks on some high end, high output halogens like Osram NightBreakers, or GE Megalight, etc. before getting into spending the bigger money. A set of NightBreakers really helped me to see better at night

 

The heat is a good thing in snowy conditions. Helps with the melting. Snow buildup on PnP LED is a problem.

 

Like these? Are these the ones I would need?

$29 OSRAM NIGHT BREAKER LASER H4, next generation, 150% more brightness, halogen headlamp, 64193NL-HCB, 12V, passenger car, duo box (2 lamps)

https://www.amazon.com/generation-b...1546818794&sr=8-7&keywords=osram+nightbreaker

 

Yep

 

Osram nightbreakers are a quality bulb. I run them in my 2010 Tacoma with good results. A nice improvement over stock.

 

One thing worth to mention: quality bulb is not only that is bright but also that it has proper geometry. The tolerances are very tight for bulbs used in reflector type housing (0.2 mm according to Phillips site). This is why LED don't and will not work here (unless someone invents LED bulb that has the light emitting chip size and the light pattern the same as incandescent filament - keep deaming). Unfortunately there are also crappy incandescent bulbs on the market - I always got them when I bought housing with "bulbs included" deal. After the first try they ended up in a trash and got replaced by Silvana (Osram).

https://www.philips.co.uk/p-m-au/au...ticles/article/what-makes-a-good-halogen-bulb