headlight problems

I recently bought my first vehicle, and i bought some new headlight housings and new lights, and i installed the new lights and when i had one new one installed and one stock one still, i tested them and everything was good, high and low beams worked and new light was much brighter. i got the other one installed and tested and now only the low beams work. the little blue icon on the dash for brights won’t even turn on. anybody know what the problem is?

 

With led or HID lights the high beam indicator will not work unless you install a capacitor type box in one of the headlight wires inline.
Did you install LED OR HID lights?

 

I installed LED lights, are you saying they should be making a visible switch in the lights and just not the indicator? because nothing happens at all when i turn them on.

 

There are a multitude of reasons to not put LED lights in your halogen housings.

I've never heard of the high beams not working with LEDs without a resistor (that's your turn signals that need the resistor), but I guess that's a thing:

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...t-working-after-led-headlight-upgrade.354065/

The main reason not to use LEDs (resistor or not) is that the light gets reflected differently and you end up blinding on-coming drivers. Sure, the light appears brighter, but the light is just smeared more. I drive a mildly lifted 4x4, and I get blinded by tons of people in their little Hondas because if their stupid LED/HID lights in the stock halogen housings.


IMO you have 3 options, all of which include getting rid of the LEDs:

1) Go back to Halogen bulbs, and search for the "proper headlight upgrade"
2) Or go for a full HID retrofit (spendy)
3) get some LED light bars/pods if you want the extra light for off-road use

 

I agree, you need a capacitor type box if you run LED or HID if you want the high beam indicator to work.

 

I bought new housings to though. i’m not using the stock ones they were sealed ones

 

Read below
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/hid-lo-beams-not-working.548851/#post-17820993

 

It’s got the three prongs so I don’t think i have them in wrong, would it help if i sent links to the bulbs and housings i bought?

 

Oh wait, you've got a '96.

Even still, unless you got housings *specific* for LEDs, then you still run into the same problems. I'm not even sure there really are any quality LED housings (that aren't integrated LEDs/sealed housings...

The version of the "proper headlight upgrade" for the pre-'98's is the E-code housings from Hella (still halogen iirc). There may be others, too, I'm not all that up on the E-code housings...

But yeah, if you can throw up some links for what you have, that'd be helpful.

 

Vision X Lighting VX-57 Hi-Lo Sealed Beam Replacement Light

$113 Vision X Lighting VX-57 Hi-Lo Sealed Beam Replacement Light, 5" x 7"

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000ES6N72/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_1qqUDbZR2TXRC

H4 LED Motorcycle Headlight Bulbs Hi/Lo Beam 9003 Bulb 2500 Lumens White 6000k CSP Chips LED Car Headlight H4 Headlamp 1:1 Design

$20 DAYWALKER H4 LED Motorcycle Light Bulb Hi/Lo Beam 9003 Bulb 6000 Lumens White 6000k CSP Chips H4 Bulb 1:1 Design（Pack of 1

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07QBYFVX6/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_msqUDbXHVYWJ1

 

You got bulbs with *motorcycle* in the description???

Although I'm not sure what you'd expect for $18 LED bulbs. I spent more than that on my cheap halogen bulbs. Those housings are halogen housings, too...

IMO, return all those products you purchased from a place that sells books and games, and buy your parts from an automotive retailer.

 

Vision X Lighting VX-57 Hi-Lo Sealed Beam Replacement Light

$113 Vision X Lighting VX-57 Hi-Lo Sealed Beam Replacement Light, 5" x 7"

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000ES6N72/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_1qqUDbZR2TXRC

yea i feel stupid now, was so exited and wasn’t really paying attention, should i be looking for led specific housings?

 

Like I said, I’m not sure they really exist for our trucks. LED bulb manufactures claim they are compatible with halogen housings, but they just aren’t. They project light differently, and the shape of the reflectors in the housing are very specific to how the light is projected. There are the integrated LED housings (sealed, integrated leds). Make sure you get DOT approved ones.

Maybe like these:
https://www.carid.com/1997-toyota-t...7x6-rectangular-led-headlights-547472736.html

Or these more affordable ones:
https://www.carid.com/1997-toyota-t...7x6-rectangular-led-headlights-547452669.html

Check for compatibility tho, some are for DRLs, some aren’t. Just cruise that site, maybe hit up @crashnburn80, he’s kinda he goto light guru, at least for me, lol. He might even chime in and say I’m full of shit, lol


Since you have some decent housings already, and only $20 in your LED bulbs, I would seriously consider just getting some good halogen bulbs. You can get ones with those blue filters to simulate that “hotter” color, but that does technically decrease the light output.

 

These reviews will help you below.
There’s plenty of junk and high end lights available

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=6ifsEY7KbBg

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=vCNj9hvPSfY

 

If you really want a LED headlight (instead of H6054 sealed beam) prepare to spend top bucks and buy DOT approved. But there is a catch: DOT approved means the real light output on the road will be no better than quality H4 bulb. DOT puts a limit of the total output of the lamp to not blind the oncoming traffic. This is kind of stupid that DOT allows co much glare (relative to "below the line" light) that the amount of the light below cut off line is limited. These stupid H6054 sealed beam are DOT approved this way.

So really if you want more light on the road without blinding other people you will never get it from any LED (DOT approved or not). The good news is that your truck accepts 200mm lamps designed for H4 bulbs. The good quality housing (not cheapo from China) paired with quality brand name H4 bulb (not the bulb that comes "free" with the housing - they are junk) will give you the best bang for bucks. E-cut lights while officially "not legal in USA" are much better choice than any DOT approved lamp (sorry, DOT still lives in stone age). But if you want to turn a truck into "Christmas tree", go ahead and put cheap LED bulbs but don't drive it at night - park it on your driveway and enjoy the light show.

 

Even though the cutoff beam isn't effected with the "proper headlight upgrade", glare is still increased because you're throwing more light at the road, which reflects more of that light. It should also be considered that the cutoff doesn't 100% prevent your lights from hitting another driver's eyes anyway. So even if you don't alter the light beam pattern and assuming your lights are perfectly aimed, you WILL blind drivers more than with a stock setup (like coming over a hill).

I agree it is quite backwards for DOT to limit the light output the way they have and focus more on the lumens rather than beam pattern. I feel that LEDs in halogen housings should be illegal. They have to draw the line somewhere if they want an enforceable law. You can't just say "that's too bright" or whatever. It has to be measurable.

All this being said, even with my ~20 year old technology headlights (as long as the lenses are clear and functioning properly), I've never thought that I needed "more" light for driving on the road at night. My run of the mill stock replacement halogen lights project light plenty far enough down the road that is easily within my stopping distance. No one "needs" more light. We just "want" it.

The only time you'd "need" more light is off-road, and anything that would be useful off-road is illegal to use on the road anyway.

 

https://ledlightstreet.com/products/h6054-led-conversion-kit so something like these?

 

Just search "Why you should not put LED bulb in reflector housing" and you will understand that:

That is 100% true. Especially when the road is wet and acts as a mirror. And even with no reflection from the road I'm always bracing myself when some Audi or BMW with HID in projectors are coming at me. As soon as they hit a small road bump these nice lights with perfect projection and cut-off turn my cabin into a day.

The other thing is any dirt on the reflector glass will ruin the cut-off by turning a headlight into a surface emitting the light all over the place. My 2012 4Runner has very good headlights (Toyota ruined it in 2014 models replacing big reflectors with wimpy projectors) and with halogen bulbs they put very good amount of light on the road with decent cut-off. Once I was driving in a rain (long distance) and after hour I got flashed. I stopped and check my headlights. The layer of dried road dust turned both lamps into bright glowing balls. They were blinding everybody almost like there was no difference between low and high beam. I wiped my headlights clean and I started to see much more and not blinding anyone. I had to stop every hour and repeat the process.

 

Did you look at the links I provided earlier? Those are tried and true LED specific housings with integrated bulbs. I don't have personal experience with them, but those are at least DOT approved units.

The lights in your link look just like regular halogen housings, just with LED bulbs. Not sure how that constitutes a conversion "kit".

Just about any time you see a headlight housing with a replaceable bulb like that, it's in all likelihood just a halogen housing.

Look at the difference between how the housings in my links appear, vs. the housings in your link or any other conventional halogen housing. True LED housings look like alien eyes or something.

LEDs project light completely differently than halogen (LEDs are HIGHLY directional vs. the omnidirectional halogens). Even though some (all?) LED bulb manufacturers claim their bulbs are "compatible", they really aren't. Some are better than others, but the physics is inescapable.

But again, this comes back around to what kind of an advantage you think you'll be gaining form an LED bulb, or even the true LED housings. If they are DOT street legal, the only difference will be the color of the light. They won't be brighter, and won't project light any further as is legally limited.

 

I guess what I'm trying to say here is that I'm not trying to discourage you from getting LEDs, but to just have realistic expectations of their performance, and most importantly, if you're going to do it, do it right.

From an efficiency point of view, LEDs are generally superior. They also produce various "heats" of light, where 5000k-6000k is pretty good pure white light and is good to see at night. Any more than that and you just end up with purple light which has no real performance or visibility advantage. It just looks cool, I guess...