3rd Gen HID vs LED vs Halogen H11 projector headlights

But what about the house? It could get new lights too.
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...lighting-using-leds-hirs-and-halogens.574930/

 

Just wanted to confirm these are the XD bulbs to get? https://www.xenondepot.com/H11-HID-Kit-Xtreme-HID-p/xt-h11.htm

 

The H11s are the correct size. When choosing from available H11s in the drop down, the 4300k Philips +$79.50 bulbs were the brighter ones in the test.

 

He's right

 

For you 2nd gen guys, Amazon has the Philips +30 H4's for $4.99 per bulb. (Last I checked)

 

The 2nd Gen guys are over here, in the 2nd Gen Headlight Upgrade thread:
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/the-ultimate-headlight-upgrade-h4-not-led-or-hid.398066/

The H4s have quite a bit more options but are not able to swap out the bulb the way you can with an H11->H9.

 

I just read through that LED conversion thread and all I can say is wow just wow

 

All engineering and science facts on automotive lighting are ignored there, references to literally the most respected industry leading lighting expert's articles are treated with complete disregard. It is a dark place.

 

I have Morimoto XB 4300k HID’s with fastbright 35 watt AC ballasts in my low beams. They are adjusted to the correct height (my truck is lifted), have a great cutoff (never been flashed).
Everyone who has ever rode with me at night says that I have the brightest headlights they have ever seen. Spent about $150 2 years ago and haven’t had a problem yet. They should last about 10 times as long as halogens.
I work night shift in the hospital, so I do a lot of night driving.

 

Note that aftermarket HIDs are typically around 2000 hour bulb life, stock halogens are 1000 hours, so you are really at 2x the bulb life not 10x. However that is assuming the HIDs are driven with a true OEM grade 35w ballast. As demonstrated in the thread, in the case of the XD ballasts, they were actually 42-43w, which means that HID bulb life will take a hit from being over-driven, potentially dropping their life down to 1.5x of stock halogens. Of course once you go performance halogen and sacrifice life for higher output, it is a whole different story.

 

Damn @crashnburn80, you are a walking-light encyclopedia! Thanks for all you do, and thanks for sharing your knowledge!

 

Just for clarification. If running the h9’s in the h11 low beams is there a conversion harness or do I just need to trim the tab off of the Hellas? It’s been a while since I’ve dug through this thread and don’t recall.

 

Yes you can just trim the tab off the bulb itself. I chose to make the conversion harness because I drive a lot at night and winter in Alaska and I wanted the ability to switch back and forth between both types at 40 below if one blew while driving. Also it made more sense to me to modify a harness once then a bulb every time I changed it considering these aren’t long life bulbs.

 

Overdriving the bulbs and "bounce" are a couple of the things that steered me away from the HID's. That and the fact that "someone" is sticking an HID bulb on on an H11 base. And it's not Philips or GE. An H11 HID isn't really a real thing.

I've also read countless posts of people going HID and then back to halogen for one reason or another. Seems to be a mixed bag.

 

In your experience, can the tab be easily trimmed off or do I need to dremmel it down? I’m wondering if my kershaw will do the trick.

 

You can do it with a small knife, no specialty tools needed. See example of trimming below. Left is stock, right the upper internal tab is trimmed.

 

I see what you did there (dark place). All kidding aside, it's actually quite a shame. Not a**kissing, but I spent two days scouring your posts about lighting technology, after I just KNEW I was going to get bitching LED headlights. After reading through your exhaustive research (many many thanks for your work), most of which I didn't really understand (just an old retired soldier, far from an engineer), I was convinced to allow myself to follow what smart people who obviously know what they are talking about. I actually went with the H9 for both HB and LB, and did the GE +130 for the fogs. Happy as a clam. Your work and research are greatly appreciated, and I'm pretty sure there are many others appreciate you doing all that work too.

 

I'd counter that it's really bright. So bright and full of glare that everyone is blinded.

 

Ever since this thread, I’ve not only noticed all the innaprropriate leds in wrong housings on the freeway but I rant to my gf about them. She doesn’t give two shits...

 

Just like anything else in life, the devil's in the details - if you're willing to know them, that is.