3rd Gen HID vs LED vs Halogen H11 projector headlights

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/headlight-adjustment.428450/page-2#post-19854373

You just need a flat wall, 10ft of space, some tape and a measuring tape, and an 8mm wrench or socket.

 

Dude, took me 15 minutes with the write up and WOW. Upgrade bulbs are coming next. I really, REALLY appreciate it!

 

No worries. Best as I can figure, based on tests I found on the Tacoma’s headlight performance and driving another my wife’s CRV which has a much better rating and performance for its headlights, is Toyota was more concerned with glare control than distance projection. I can only speculate but my assumption is that they wanted the truck to have lights that were still aimed down the road correctly when the bed is loaded.

Whatever bulbs you upgrade to, make sure to clean the bulb glass with an alcohol swab before installing and I like to keep the stock bulbs in the glove box as backups.

 

After reading the whole thread trying to find an answer to my high beam (yellowish light) poor performance issue. I find that my Philips H9 is the preferred bulb. I am not too happy with the performance of the bulb compared next to the Morimoto XB H11 (low beam) and the LED fogs. I just got the 2016 Tacoma and this is what came with. Also it could be the H9 is at its end of life but I still would prefer a whiter look to the high beam. I do drive early in the morning in very bad road lighting conditions always looking for deer to cross my path. Suggestions?

 

Use the H9 bulbs for low beam.

 

Instead of My Morimoto HID?

 

I'm very satisfied with the H9s in my SR5.

 

The best bulb for the high beam is the stock h9 halogen. High performance halogen H9’s don’t exist. If you want to color match to your HID kit and LED fogs, there are LED options that will work for the high beams but they won't have as much distance projection so will be worse for actually seeing at night. The difference in color between the halogen highs and HID lows (I had a 4300k kit from XenonDepot) is part of the reason why I went back to halogen low beams. Higher color temperature bulbs will also make it harder to see in bad weather.

At risk of repeating myself, try aiming your headlights up slightly. The high beam and low beams are linked and when you adjust one you adjust the other. I found that raising my low beams slightly, by moving the cutoff up 1/2" when measured at 10ft, made a tremendous difference in distance projection for both the high and low beams but especially for the high beams. Emphasis is on slightly in this case, as HID's are extremely irritating to oncoming traffic if aimed too high compared to halogens.

H9's in the low beams are very effective, putting out about 85% as much the non-phillips XenonDepot kit that I assume is close to the same performance as the Morimoto HID's. If you have a higher color temperature HID kit, it's possible that H9's in the low beams will actually have a higher light output.

If, after raising your headlight aim, you still want more light, it's time to add driving lights. I went with a pair of Hella 700FF's with 100w Halogen bulbs and they are extremely bright. Sounds like you'll probably want a light bar or some sort of LED driving lamp, but for $100 invested (not including the mount) I'm very very happy with the Hellas. Driving at night and in the winter in Alaska, the heat from Halogens and the warmer color temperature works out better for seeing in snow, rain, mist, and fog.

 

The 3rd Gen high beam has a very small reflector, which isn't as performant compared to the larger 2nd Gen reflectors. The small high beam reflector is what is holding the performance back. As mentioned drop in LEDs will give you whiter light, but you'll end up with more scatter and less distance projection. Those really wanting LED white light are often ok with this tradeoff. HIDs take too long to warm up for practical use, and quick on/off cycling (like turning off high beam for a passing car) is bad for the bulb. There are whiter H9s, like Silverstar, but putting a blue coating on a halogen bulb for whiter appearance will reduce performance over an uncoated bulb. The best way to increase high beam performance will be aux driving lights. You can tie them into your high beam circuit so they automatically come on with your high beam.

Another issue that you could be experiencing is that your HIDs are so bright at the cut off, that it affects your ability to see at night. That is the contrast between light and dark in your vehicle lighting has a negative effective on your night vision, making the high beam seem poorer than it is because your eyes are too constricted from the high foreground light provided by HIDs. No H9 halogen or drop in LED is going to compare to HID output, which goes back to aux driving lights for higher performance lighting.

 

I just ordered from Amazon Hella 2.0TB HP2.0-65W High Performance H9 Bulbs just to see if the ones I have are weak and are what came with the original purchase. Do you have any opinion on these H9 from Hella. I will get auxiliary lighting if needed as per you suggestion.

 

I've been on the fence on trying those. Blue coatings reduce output in halogens, but if you look at the specs on those they are only 3700k, not the typical 4000k+ you see in brands like Silverstar and others. Upside being better performance for a coated bulb, that plus the +100% claim makes me consider it. Downside being they won't be as white looking as I suspect you are hoping for. Hella says they use a special halogen gas fill for improved performance, if they were to use Xenon (big if), going from 3500k to 3700k would require just the slightest coating minimizing filtration loss. They list 'reengineered filament for better performance', but that is pretty standard on a decent coated bulb to get the output up to overcome the coating. They are made in Korea, like the Hella H9s covered in the initial tests, you can see their standard H9 lux output performance in the chart in post #2. Maybe I'll order them and test them out.

 

I will be getting mine by Wednesday and will be posting after I try them out. These are the ones I ordered they seem to have a very light coating.

$33 HELLA H9 2.0TB High Performance Bulb, 12V, 65W, 2 Pack

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B078SHPZWQ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

Yep, per their product page:
“High quality quartz glass with a specialized blue coating”

http://www.myhellalights.com/index.php/products/bulbs/halogen/high-performance-2-bulbs/

 

crashnburn80 - THANK YOU! I knew that the stock Tacoma headlights were reported to be poor before buying my new truck (and they were). I have an hour commute in the dark each morning and headlights are important to me. I also am blinded by mis-used, or mis-aimed, lights on a daily basis.

I'm very happy to report that the Phillips H9 bulbs from Amazon (marked "made in Germany") and the Amazon pigtail adapter worked great. While not like the factory HIDs in my car, I'm quite happy with the results -especially with such a small investment, $20. Sufficient light, color temperature is fine, and a nice nice contained pattern. Links below for anyone else that wants to try without searching back through the thread.

Again, thank you for your continued efforts to test and you detailed explanations!
Cheers, Mark

Phillips H9 bulbs:

$11 Philips 12361B1 H9 Standard Halogen Replacement Headlight Bulb, 1 Pack

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003YMPN3A/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1
H9 harness extension (see earlier posts for details on 5 minute modification needed):

iJDMTOY H11 H8 H9 Extension Wiring Harness Sockets Wires Compatible with High/Low Beam or Fog Lights Use

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00TXRWOPA/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

Glad to see another happy H9 user speak up !

The adapter harness is optional. You can use it or just modify the bulbs. Easy either way.

 

Agreed - I just wanted to be able to swap bulbs quickly (I'm lazy and forgetful, like to not have spares in the truck when I need them). I used a thin flat file to cut the groove in the adapter and was done in 2 minutes.

 

dumb question alert:

I have a Xenon Depot HID kit that I had purchased for my (now gone) 2006 4Runner and never installed. Is it plug and play with my 2017 Tacoma? Looking at the instructions, it seems like everything hooks up about the same. I'm guessing I bought the kit about 5-6 years ago and just found the box while cleaning out my basement

 

Yes, both vehicles take H11 low beams. Note that some have had bounce issues with HIDs in the 3rd Gen low beam projector.

 

I appreciate the info. I may give the kit a try one weekend.

 

I've ordered the Hella H9 2.0s to include data for the thread and will update the thread this week with the data. I've also reordered the Hikari Ultra LEDs for better data for the thread since I did not do distance testing with them last time to evaluate their true performance. Spoiler alert: No, they do not come close to matching the projection performance of the GEs or Philips H9s.

Of likely interest to this group, one of my next threads will be on adding aux driving lights (high beams) behind the grill and connecting them to operate like stock. First parts just arrived at my desk today.