Xenon Depot HID Kit w/ Philips 4300K Bulbs: Review and Install

Having gone from the Phillips 4300k to the 5000k myself, anecdotally speaking, there is nominal difference in output and your description above is spot-on. Additionally, the warm-up time of the 5000k is a bit longer (fully lit in approximately 15-20 seconds).

 

well, if HID's in general are so bright that people are adjusting their lights down to avoid blinding on-coming traffic, who needs the additional 25%?

- kirk out

 

Update, The Retrofit Source reached out to me. It looks like they are inundated with calls and support now that they officially own Xenon Depot so everything is backed up.

As far as the Philips bulbs, they are no longer going to carry them and will be updating the images on the site to reflect the changes. They were happy to offer me a full refund which I accepted.
I will be going down the road of a rx350 retrofit which I think will be a better choice in the long run since I want to do the BHLM anyways.

Best of luck!

 

Very valid point. I’d believe the Philips specs to be on target more than the XD ones though, meaning that if the Philips bulbs were 3200 lumen, the XD ones were actually closer to 2400 lumen.

 

With regard to this...can’t speak for an earlier model but my 2019, which is a month and a half old with 1.8K on the clock, I am also looking to HID.
I just went out to the garage and pulled out the bulb from the low beam and stuck my finger in the mount and tried to wiggle it. The projectors didn’t even slightly budge looking at them from the lens side and I tried it hard enough to rock the front end. If this was an issue I think Toyota may have addressed it on the 19. Id check your specific truck but my mine is fine.

Was looking into the XD but now I’m considering the Morimoto setup now that XD is bought out.

 

Not quite sure if that's how it works.... When the vehicle is physically moving and how the housing moves with that may be the issue too. Maybe our housing needs some shock absorbance. lol. My 19 definitely has the shake, non phillips bulb (since Xenon depot mislead me lol)

 

Never heard that, I have the Philips HIDs from XD and never adjusted them or been flashed by oncoming traffic in the 6 months I’ve had them.

 

Have you tried to move the projector mounts with the bulbs out of them to see if they move?

My previous vehicle had factory (lexus) without auto-levelers hid and I know when I was getting used to them, the cutoff is so sharp that at a distance any small bump in the road and the suspension travel looked like that cutoff was bouncing around. However, a small movement at the light source is going to be greatly magnified at the long distance where the cutoff is seen.

This effect is very much like aiming a rifle. Lining up your shot in the sight you are dead on target. However when actually pulling the trigger say you jerk it, this moves the muzzle a fraction of a millimeter off. That angle magnified over the large distance places the round a few inches way off from the sighted placement. We are driving trucks and not luxury cars. Our suspension is a bit more lively than other vehicles and I’m wondering if the bouncing guys are seeing is attributed to this along with the much brighter and obvious cutoffs that can be easier seen.

 

-KIRK OUT

 

My XD kit just arrived. Will report tomorrow with how it looks. It did come from GA.

 

I get a chuckle everytime this guy posts. Lol

 

I can just cut the grommet off the bulb wiring right?

 

Correct, just be careful not to nick the wires

 

I ended up with the Morimoto set. Is anyone else getting these square reflections? After the install of the HID's, I had to really lower my adjustment cause they were aimed super high.

 

Those are the squirrel spotters. They are normal, it is to illuminate signs above the horizon. You don’t notice them as much with non-HIDs as the intensity is less.

 

Thanks! Never noticed them in my previous cars with halogen projectors and HID kits. I did notice that those squares are unnoticeable while driving though. Comparably to previous cars, IDK if I'm liking HIDs in these. LOL!

 

Halogen reflectors also have squirrel spotters, though of different design. They are supposed to be mild enough to not cause glare issues to oncoming drivers while allowing light to illuminate highly reflective signs for the driver.

You can see a breakdown of the differences in lighting tech in the 3rd gen projectors here:
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/3rd-gen-hid-vs-led-vs-halogen-h11-projector-headlights.589465/

 

Great read! Thanks much! Question, I know you've done some testing. I went out to make sure my bulbs were seated properly. The plastic around where the bulb twists into the headlight unit, it seems to be a grey area. But I have some white around it too. Have you seen this? It's a little dark to really tell, but trying to get confirmation that this slight discolor isn't burning or melting. LOL

 

That’s why you don’t put hid’s in halogen projectors. Think of the other people on the road bro’s lol.

 

Had my passenger side not want to turn on today. I opened the hood checked all the connections. then went to the headlight stalk and flicked them on and off a few times finally they started running after a few flicks... any ideas what that was about?