The ultimate headlight upgrade H4 (not LED or HID)

Osram 100/90 super bright

 

Did the test run on a really dark road. Wow they lit it up really well. I have some Cairaised Sideshooter ditch lights too, I know they aren’t some fancy Baja designs but they are what I can afford, anyways the new H4s cut right through them where they over lap. I’m pretty impressed overall. I would definitely recommend doing this mod. I was thinking hard about doing a hidden grill insert light bar, I have already ordered the brackets, after I did my ditch lights and stumbled in on this mod while in the research cave for a light bar and will probably abandon that idea for now.

 

Did you try the high beams?

I’m working on something for behind the grill...

 

This is what I did!! I loved my 2006. So after a few months with my 2013 LED tail lights I found a local guy who had a 2005 and wanted to swap for my LED tails. Win Win for both of us

 

Pretty sure I was there when you did that! At the TW meet in Kirkland.

 

I had a moment of super confusion before I realized this was the second gen thread

 

While this is the 3rd gen thread in the link below, some here may be interested in my measured proof LEDs in halogen projectors lack throw. See post #94 here:
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...jector-headlights.589465/page-5#post-19736218

 

Yes I think I’m gonna dig into the fog light mods next months project.

 

I happen to have the Ultimate Headlight Upgrade, the same KC LED (fog beam) Pods that came in first place in crashnburn's excellent comparison test here and the 32" Caliraised LED bar (all spots) behind my lower grill. Trust, me, if you want enough light to hold a football game in your yard, that's the combination. The biggest bang for the buck is still the headlight upgrade though.

 

Funny you say that. My sons football teams practice field doesn’t have lightning, so we all flip on our headlights in late Oct. early Nov. so they can get their full hour and a half practices in.

 

I just installed Osram 100/90 bulbs and the Headlight Services wire harness in my 2011. I have to say, I am not all that impressed. Maybe I need to aim my lights up a bit more, but I was expecting a much more dramatic difference in light output. The high beams are definitely A LOT brighter, but the low beam performance IMO is just "meh". It is better than stock, but I don't feel it was worth the small investment.

 

Have you taken it out somewhere truely dark? Outside of an urban area. Are your light assemblies stock? The light color is stock and with urban background light it can sometimes feel unimpressive. But when you are out somewhere that is actually dark the performance is far more obvious. Over the years of this thread I think there was only one person unhappy with the performance and they were coming from projector HIDs.

 

I have not had the opportunity to really drive in a rural area, however there are no street lights on the road I have tested on and it is fairly dark. I am running stock 2011 TRD Sport headlights which I replaced replaced about 2-3 years ago with new OEM headlights as the originals to the truck were getting hazy and attempts at "restoring" them failed. So these are crystal clear units.

Many years ago I replaced my VW Golf headlights with eCode units rom Germany and ran off- the-shelf Silvania Silverstars and feel that was a much bigger improvement than my current setup. I know that switching from the NA reflectors to eCodes was a huge improvement in itself, the bulbs were more "style" than actual lighting improvement.

I have not seen an "eCode" version of our Tacoma headlights anywhere so I assume they don't exist?

 

I’ve done the same thing with eCodes and they are amazing. Your last opportunity to run an eCode in a Tacoma was in 97, once they went to composite assemblies it was not longer an option. I ran this upgrade in my Toyota pickups with ecodes in the past and it was my favorite lighting setup I’ve ever had. Unfortunately the Tacoma is specific to North America, meaning no European coded headlights available. And the international version of the Tacoma, the Hilux, has a different front end so the ecode headlight assemblies are not swapable. I’ve looked.

The one other thing you can do for better output is run the 85/80w All Seasons which do a fair amount better than the 100/90w Osrams, but they are an interference bulb and more yellow in color as the clear version is no longer available. You can see the comparison numbers and images in post #1520 here.

 

Just order the harness and bulbs lastnight got a notice this morning the bulbs would be there in 2 days. Still waiting for a shipping update on the harness.

 

Headlight Services is a super small mom and pop shop. You are getting a very high quality product at an exceptional value. They really should charge more for their product as it is the best I’ve seen on the market.

 

From reading through the thread I'm confident I'm getting an awesome product! Thank you for the write up, I can't wait to get everything in an install it.

 

Too bad, eCode headlights are far superior!

I have tried ll-Seasons many years ago in my 1990 VW Vanagon. They were stock wattage and no wiring upgrades. They were awesome bulbs! However, that was back in dreary rainy Pittsburgh. I now live in sunny Southwest Florida! I have some Morimoto LED fog lights with Lamin-x yellow film I have yet to install to help with the summer rains and spring/fall foggy mornings, so I am not sure if I want to go wit hAll=Season bulbs as my main lights.

I did manage to take a short trek down a much darker road last night, but this time of year with all of the snowbirds, even that road had a lot of traffic so it still wasn't a great test! However, I did notice the lights to look a bit better on that road! I think I really just need to try and adjust the lights a bit better.

 

Just received and installed my wiring harness and am waiting for darkness for a test rip. I can attest, as can the photo that this wiring harness is amazingly built. The connections are bulletproof which is most important, everything is heat shrinked and sleeved, separate 20 amp fuses one for each headlamp, more than adequate wire to reach. Couldn’t be more happy with spending that 104.xx dollars.

 

And! Bosch relays made in Portugal, not China.