Do you have DRLs, and have they damaged your headlights?

So, I am curious. I don't think I've seen a count, but I've seen a lot of complaints about melted headlights from DRLs. I want to add DRLs to my truck, but am a little skeptical because of this.

So, how many of you have DRLs installed for a meaningful amount of time, and how many have actually had problems?

If there is a real issue here, then Toyota needs to fix it!

 

I have DTRL and have had no problems

 

No problems at 4500 miles, but watching very closely.

 

if you are worried just use led bulbs and then youll be fine

 

I've had my DTRL's for about 18 months now and everythings good so far. But then again I have ebay BHLM's with aftermarket yellow bulbs.

 

Yeah he can go that route but he might also need a resistor as well in order for the blinkers to work right.

 

My factory DRL's melted the turn signal lenses. Several others have also had this issue.

 

not exactly true from what ive read on here. the lower heat of the hid doesnt seem to overcome the close proximity of bulb to lens in either hid or halogen. but what do i know? mines a month old.

 

My 09 has them by default, just had both headlights replaced under warranty due to melting and cracking.
.02

 

I just looked at mine, I have had this 09 since Aug of 08. My inside lense covering the lamp of the DRL has a "reflector" in the center of the lense, and just above the reflector it seems to be a "melted spot" on the lense. Is this what everyone is experiencing that has this issue?

 

I haven't seen any melting issues in the 3 years I've had my truck.

 

Another thread with pics, same issue I had.

http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/2nd-gen-tacomas/80533-dtrl-lens-melting.html

 

I had regular drls and never a melting issue I have HID drl and no melting issues either

 

an led bulb doesnt get hot. LED is not the same as an HID bulb. hid is a headlight type of bulb

 

Sounds the same as mine.

 

Mine are starting to show signs of melting.

 

I don't have factory DRL but I did the (amber turn signal) DRL mod about 4000 miles ago and I haven't seen any melting yet.

This is not the headlights-on DRL like on my 2000 4Runner.
I think we are only talking about the turn signal mod here.

I tried several different LED bulbs and couldn't get them to work at all (in some cases) or they just were not bright enough for me. You would also need (2) big, hot resistors and figure out where to mount them so THEY didn't melt something.

The factory bulb is a dual filament bulb and both filaments light up when the DRL is on. I don't know if the factory DRL uses the bulb in single and/or dual filament combinations, like one for DRL and both for turn? That would require another wire from somewhere and was not part of the mod at least.

I haven't tried yet, but I think you could possibly get a single filament bulb to work.

 

Just had mine replaced last week from this. Covered under warrenty of course.

 

Thanks for the information, everyone!

I actually may have a solution to the problem... but I will have to do a write-up and do not have time at the moment. I will try and post it tonight.

 

is this where i say i blew it again? i meant hid, not led. thanx for settin me straight man. anywho...

im no lectric gawd nor does my new taco have this problem but theres plenty of talk about this hid senario on here. youll have to dig through the stock bulb folks for the hid guys who are havin issues but theres enough in these 3 pages to show ya theres a valid concirn.

oh, and yould be hard pressed to find any light source that doesnt generate heat. they all get hot, within a enclosed/sealed space specially, just a matter of how high the temp gets and its relationship to other parts. this seems to be the major malfunction with ours. those turn signals/dtrl bulbs are just too damn close to the lens. so it goes. do i smell a TSB rollin down the road? for now, plenty are gettin it covered under warranty.

as for leds not gettin hot, ive got plenty of led bike lights and they do get warm but mostly if left on in a stagnet state. once ya get rollin they do stay very cool and way cooler than hid or any other type no matter if theres air flow or not.