3rd Gen HID vs LED vs Halogen H11 projector headlights

maybe less expensive to do an LED projector retrofit?

 

My understanding is that requires the entire headlight housing swap, which I feel the juice is absolutely not worth the squeeze as far as ROI is concerned. No knock to those who've done it, however not the path that I'd go. That money will go to a long range fuel tank, far before doing that. I already have Baja Design Squadron Pro (4,900 lumen each) full flood fogs and a 30" dual row hidden LightForce light bar that is spot only for off road. The goal here was to get a better light for daily driving purposes.

 

Your goal for daily (street legal) lighting is best served by H9 halogen bulbs to replace the low beam bulbs. You might also look into SAE fog lights, as those Baja ones cannot be used on the street. Lastly, consider SAE driving lights. They are legal to use as auxiliary high beams (i.e. not legal for full time use, only when not opposing traffic).

 

@mynameistory has good advice, the only thing I might add is to consider the Hella 2.0 performance H9 bulbs over the Philips H9s if looking for a slightly whiter light, as they are noticeably whiter than the Philips without taking too large of a hit in output. The Hella 2.0 H9 review is linked in post #2.

 

Thank you for the input gents, I'll take a gander at both of those as they may fit the bill. Not sure why I had it in my mind that LED was the way to go, but this might be it. To clarify, I'm definitely not going to swap the fogs I have, as I intentionally purchased them fully knowing what I was getting and the limitations of off road use only (which I adhere to unless on back roads). They work very well for flood/ intermediate distances and are much brighter and throw better than my OEM low beams. I'm just looking to improve the low beams for DD purposes, as mentioned previously. Link to current light setup:
https://youtu.be/Jyr0rahXV4g

 

Wow, so that's stock osram H11 low beams? The parking lights almost look brighter.

 

OK, so, I was curious and did some quick searching, a long range tank for DCSB (maybe you have LB?) Tacoma is potentially in the realm of $1800 for 32 gallons? Holy S!

I get the convenience aspect of it but even going with a full set of 4+ large rotopax fuel containers to add enough reserve to top off a completely empty stock tank could be done for less than $500 and be far more versatile. At say 15 mpg, 40 gallons of fuel gets you 600 miles of range. Are you really going that far off the grid that you need more than that? Genuinely curious.

Maybe there are cheaper options for aux fuel tanks?

I bet the set of Tacoma owners willing to spend on long range fuel tanks but not willing to drop $1500 on LED lighting is a pretty small group.

 

More about convenience of not needing racks and rotopax to cary spare fuel, saving space to carry other things. But yes it certainly isn't the most economical way to carry spare fuel, but it is the cleanest in execution. There is a tank by the same company that replaces the spare with an aux secondary tank for a fair amount less, for those running oversized tires on a swing out carrier.

 

Everyone's got different oranges to squeeze. I get the appeal of a LR tank AND great lighting. Wallet is the limiting factor.

 

To those questioning AlphaRex as being a legitimate LED headlight maker:

The AlphaRex headlights: https://www.alibaba.com/product-det...m=a2700.7724857.normalList.280.6fde6241RXmkv7

And their new OEM knock off headlights they have been posting in private facebook groups: https://www.alibaba.com/product-det...m=a2700.7724857.normalList.255.6fde6241RXmkv7

It would appear that one is likely just buying cheap China Alibaba products at 400%+ markup.

 

Anyone know where I can get the GE Nightbreaker Xenon +120? The link in the 1st and 2nd post go to an H1 bulb. Are they no longer in production since GE sold their light business? I looked for them under the Tungsram name and can't find them either. If they're no longer available what's the next best thing to replace the stock fog light bulb in a halogen bulb?

 

I haven't seen them available yet under the Tungsram label, and the ones under the GE label all appeared to sell out. The 2nd best is the GE/Tungsram Megalight +130. PowerBulbs is sold out, but there are some on ebay out of the UK here.

 

Thanks for the info.

 

I should add, an H9 swap is higher in output, costs less and is readily available. You just need to trim a small internal plastic tab off the bulb which only takes a minute with a small knife.

 

Yeah I ordered the wiring harness to modify and the Philips H9's for the low beams. Would this be just as good as the Nighthawks for the fog lights?

 

I didn't realize you were talking for the fogs. No, you don't want to use an H9 in the fogs, you want to stay with H11. The H9 bulb doesn't have a glare cap and will emit excessive uncontrolled glare. If possible, more ideal than a bulb change is to swap the assembly with Diode Dynamics SS3 SAE LED fogs in selective yellow.

Edit: Also note only 12-15 trucks, and 16-19 TRD trucks use H11s in the fogs.

 

Yeah I have a 19. Thanks for the info on the Diode Dynamics. They're currently on back order so I may wait and see if they do a black Friday sale. Are the Sports good enough or do I need the Pro? I live in Northern Cali and we get some thick ass fog in the winter months.

 

You can’t go wrong with either one. Sports have a shorter beam with tighter cut offs than the Pros. You can see my review on them in post #2725 here:
https://www.tacomaworld.com/posts/22622437

 

I strongly disagree, but hey, that's why Baskin Robins makes 31 flavors!

The tank is 34 gallons, approximately a 14 gallon increase over stock, and has been selling for apprx $1,500 shipped to TW members. In addition Be it rotopax or jerry cans, not only would you need 3x 5 gallon receptacles, but you'd need to store them somewhere taking up a significant amount of space. For me, I'm trying to keep the exterior of the truck relatively clean, so that would take up bed space which I'd prefer not to. Not only does that take up precious space, but anywhere you'd mount the aux fuel cans places significant amount of weight (90+ lbs) higher up, raising center of gravity. Lastly it is indeed a pain to fuel, three times over, as opposed to just having the fuel there on demand. I personally see a significant benefit to the added fuel capacity, far over that of additional low beam brightness. In addition, I could reach 90% of the effectiveness of the 2020 OEM LED headlight conversion at a fraction of the cost with drop-in LED's or HID's. Of course this is unfortunately not to my preferred color temp, the cost vs benefit doesn't shake out to me.

More info on the tank here, for those interested. Apologies for the derail. https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/long-range-automotive-fuel-tank-34-gallon.490548/ BTW I really do appreciate the input on light options, knowledge is king and it helps to know what is out there.