3rd Gen HID vs LED vs Halogen H11 projector headlights

Well....it depends on your ability to re-open the headlights and doing custom work. I know that any 2 led light like the DD SSC2 or something like that will fit with no issues. If an SS3 fits in that opening that would be that much better. I would probably do a “driving” light pattern as they are focused towards having a usable beam pattern for High Beams. I highly suggest using a reputable company as Chinese lumens on Amazon aren’t the same as REAL WORLD usable lumens as seen below.

See this link: https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/the-sae-j581-aux-high-beam-thread.696597/#post-24638990

Another option for a high beam is the Morimoto High Beam projector. Pretty good performance, not as good as a J581 high beam but it might fire your style more and install will be far easier.
https://lightwerkz.net/collections/led-projectors/products/high-beam-morimoto-mini-hb-led

The other option that would suffice BOTH issues is to do a retrofit. The US spec RX350 (bi-xenon meaning high and low beam) is a bolt-in projector that is considered to be the top dog of projectors. All projectors are compared to these and have been for years. The width is amazing and the overall beam pattern is what aftermarket projectors strive to achieve. They aren’t cheap, but they are hard to beat. $270 for projectors alone, $370 if you get the clear lens and tuning (worth it if you want the best output). If you get some Morimoto bulbs or NHK bulbs the price isn’t bad and you can get your choice of light color, I would recommend 5k or 4300k light color. If you go 6k or higher the color is far too blue and not very usable, especially when poor weather comes about. https://lightwerkz.net/collections/hid-projectors/products/bi-xenon-lexus-rx350

Another option is a bracket that allows you to bolt in the Morimoto G5-R (HID bi-xenon) or Morimoto M-LED 2.0 and Profile Bi-LED. If you go with the G5-R its considerably cheaper and it has a very bright hotspot with very good width, not as much width as the RX350 but the G5-R does have a brighter hotspot for further down-road lighting. The LED projectors are good. But when something goes bad.....your stuck replacing the whole projector.

Brackets: https://lightwerkz.net/collections/retrofit-brackets/products/2016-tacoma-to-d2s-5-0-g5-r-brackets
G5-R: https://lightwerkz.net/collections/hid-projectors/products/bi-xenon-g5-r
M-LED: https://lightwerkz.net/collections/hid-projectors/products/bi-xenon-g5-r
Profile Bi-LED: https://lightwerkz.net/collections/led-projectors/products/bi-led-profile-bi-lens-led-2-0

If you go the route of HID I would build the kit on your own vs buying an all-in-one kit. The major reason is ballasts. Go to a local auto salvage yard and look for an early to mid 2000’s Audi A4 or A6 and grab the ballasts out of them. They are Hella Gen III ballasts that have EXTREMELY fast warm-up, completely waterproof and insanely reliable. DO NOT go any higher than 35w on the ballast. YOU WILL RUIN YOUR PROJECTORS! If you run higher than 35w your projectors could last 6 months or 2 years before the chrome begins to burn up, but either way...the projectors will be screwed!

If you are wondering what the RX350’s look like, here ya go. I did this in my 2nd gen, much more difficult since its a reflector housing and there are way more challenges involved. Keep in mind this is from my iPhone 10 and i did the best i could do to make look as it does in person. Also this wall is about 100ft or more from the truck. I didn’t take pictures of the High Beam but it’s very impressive. Specs: RX350 with clear lens tuned by me (very time consuming), Osram NightBreaker Laser bulbs, Hella Gen III ballasts and Morimoto Moto-Control harness.



This one is over exposed but I thought I’d share it too.

 

If you don’t mind sticking with stock wattage I would recommend Philips Racing Vision or Tungsram (GE) Megalight Ultra. Pretty cheap on PowerBulbs. They always have 20%-25% sales too, their shipping doesn’t take long from the UK either. Both bulbs showed to be very comparable to the H9 (65w) vs H11(55w) while generally lasting longer than a higher wattage bulb.

https://www.powerbulbs.com/us/store/category/car-bulbs/fitting/h7-499/all

 

On h7 you can try the new philips gt200. People's review say that they are more powerfull than racing vision 150. Or you can buy what is recommended here, ge +130. Both have similar lifetime.

 

For fogs

Depends on your fog housing, some are H11, some are H16

If H11, any of the H11 bulbs recommended in this thread are ok (not H9, as you need a glare cap)

If H16, upgrade to a H11 housing, or further upgrade to a purpose-built LED housing suggested in this thread. (not LED bulbs, not HID bulbs)

 

This one: https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/the-led-sae-j583-fog-pod-fog-light-review.554813/

 

Is the X1 running projectors or reflectors? It looks like both were available. The Osram Rally/Hyper bulbs were one of the best bulbs of all time, they are discontinued and you'll pay a premium for them now. In H4 they were offered in 65w and 80w low beam, if it is the higher power model that is money well spent. If it is the lower power model, they are still really nice bulbs but the latest Racing Vision bulbs from Philips should get close to similar results at a lower cost in a reflector. If you are running a projector, I'd look at the Tungsram Nighthawk Xenon +120 or Tungsram Megalight +130.

The GT200s are good bulbs. Although see the Philips GT200 review in post #3169 here (granted H4). The GT200 don't perform any better than the Racing Vision +150. This appears to be a case of moving the goal post where the +200 rating is changing the baseline of the comparison to compare to a lower performing bulb vs the +150 rating, making the +200 efficiency rating seem higher even though output performance has not improved. However that isn't to say there are not any improvements. The GT200s have double the bulb life of the Racing Vision +150, meaning they offer twice the value at a similar cost making them a better buy.

 

I appreciate the validation, however
When data is not available, we depend on expert opinion.

Many here would consider you an expert (including myself), and rightly so, based on your approach.

In the absence of data, would you consider Hikari's or Morimoto 3.0's better than H9's in the high beams?
"We don't know" is a valid answer, but curious to your opinion

In my work, I am faced with the same "expert opinion" questions in the presence of limited data, or the absence thereof. However, we are asked regardless.

 

I typically like to answer with solid data backed answers, but I do not have a clear concise answer for the high beam application for reasons described earlier. So I'll share some background.

The H9 is rated at 2100 lumens +/- 15% @12.8v. Halogen bulbs increase output exponentially to the power of 3.4 with voltage increase. The 12.8v 2100 lumen output rating is with the vehicle off powered by battery only, with the vehicle running you are at higher alternator voltage. Measurements on a 2nd Gen show voltage to alternate between 13.5-14.1v (as the alternator fluctuates voltage to meet charge demand). I've standardized my testing on 13.8v as that was a measurement at the headlight plug long ago and falls in the center of the voltage range. At 13.8v that puts the H9 output at ~2700 lumens. (Ranges between 2500~2900 lumens). But then there is that +/- 15% allowance for manufactures to push those output numbers higher.

Morimoto specs the 3.0s at 2600 lumens cold, and 2100 lumens stable. So because the halogen output varies some on the alternator charge cycle, at the lowest end of the halogen output under minimum alternator charge the Morimoto cold rating for maximum output, they will just exceed the halogen output in lumens. But lumens (light output) does not equal projection intensity (candela). The Morimotos will pay a focus tax over the halogens as they are a larger light source that is not omni-directional, as the assembly is designed for a halogen. Most people will briefly use high beams, and will not leave them on for 15+ minutes to reach stable output, so while a low beam application should always focus on stable numbers, the same doesn't necessarily hold true for high beam for most peoples use cases. The strength of the Morimoto 3.0s is best in class focus, but they lack the output power of the stock H9 bulb except for a very small window, combined with the loss of focus from using a bi-directional LED in an omni-directional halogen reflector, I do not anticipate these being an upgrade over stock in terms of peak pattern intensity. Recall that the high beam does cast significant uplight, but also has focused hot spots just above the low beam hot spots for maximum distance projection. The Morimotos should result in more uplight due to less focus (more scatter) and reduced hot spot intensity, reducing the distance projection.

Hikari doesn't publish specs like Morimoto, but to make some relative comparisons: The Hikari Ultras have 10% higher output intensity in the low beam projector than the Morimoto 3.0s, which have superior focus. The only way to achieve that is with higher output, since focus is working against the Hikaris that means the Hikaris are at minimum greater than 10% higher in output than Morimoto based on stable numbers. Focus reaps higher rewards and penalties in a projector (3rd Gen low beam) than a reflector (high beam), meaning the Hikaris are definitely greater than the 10% difference in output. Hikari's change in focus from the Morimotos will pay a lower tax in the high beam than the low beam. When you start adding that to the Morimoto output numbers, it seems to be approaching the halogen numbers. The real difficult thing to determine is how much of the Hikari light is shifted to uplight from hot spot distance light and for that I do not have a conclusive answer.

So based on that very lack of conclusive information, if I really wanted to go LED for the high beam, I'd likely go with the Hikaris. While they will give whiter foreground light, I think the distance projection is going to be close, likely still favoring the halogen H9s.

 

and don’t believe your trucks manual. I have a 20 TRD OR and the brochure says that’s the wide angle fogs. The manual says the wide angle fogs take H11. But the housings in there are stamped H16 and came with H16 lights, so something somewhere is wrong. Makes it hard to know what to buy if I wanted to stick to OEM since if I pulled these to sell, that’s what I would have advertised them as for sale since....that’s what Toyota’s telling me I have.

 

Picked up my 2021 OR last night and had my Hikaris ready to pop in. One really odd observation that I’m curious if anyone else has noticed...I installed them all and only the high beams worked. Unplugged and replugged the lows. Nothing. Finally figured I might as well turn the plug upside down (part that clicks into the OEM harness) and boom, they work.

Not a huge deal but seemed weird to me. Also having the flip the male hikari plug over, it doesn’t have the positive “click” and lock, since the little tab that locks into the OEM harness is now on the wrong side.

 

Which all begs the question: Why would anyone spend close to $200 for a set of the very best LED bulbs for their high beams when there is virtually zero difference in light output?

 

Halogens are agnostic to polarity, just a filament. LED’s are not and require + and - correctly wired.

It is possible to depin and repin your OEM connectors to swap. That would then be totally fine for any halogen bulb too.

You could also get an H9 extension harness (or crimp one yourself if you have tools) which would snap in tight on both sides and allow H9, LED, etc.

On the OEM harness side, white / black indicates ground.

 

interesting. Thanks. Just wonder if the oddity is on the Hikari or Toyota side, since the highs are fine and the lows aren’t. Guess that must mean it’s Toyota.

they do at least fit snugly, if not with the positive “click” of it being turned the other way.

 

I do not understand the “why” part myself either. I remember noticing this when I first installed non-modified H9 bulbs in my halogen low beams using an H9 extender harness. In my case, however, I could simply reverse the orientation as it didn’t matter. I don’t believe I had the same confusion with the Odyssey, leading to the conclusion that Toyota just likes to do this one backwards?

If I had to wager a guess, it’s so that nobody accidentally swaps high and low beam connectors? They are close enough and there is enough slack so that seems to be the likely reason.

 

Marketing. For sales, the reality is that the story told is usually more important than the data behind it.

Same applies to politics

 

Thanks for the suggestions. Our X1 has reflectors, so I will look into the Philips Racing Vision.

 

Be sure to use the discount code. Free shipping and no tax:
https://www.powerbulbs.com/us/produ...MIyo3Q-eTa7QIVAhmtBh0-7wHXEAQYASABEgJlmvD_BwE

 

@crashnburn80 Any chance the weather is looking good enough to test those xB v2's? I put mine on a week ago and I love the light, but my issue was not being able to see road markings when it's really wet (so I wanted a lot of foreground light). I really want to know if I'm actually getting worse light than my stock lights.

Also, do you have a really good tutorial for aiming lights? With the LEDs and the sharp cutoff it seems like I aimed them right below eyelevel of oncoming car drivers, and right below street sign level.

Thanks!

 

Could you clarify what you mean by not being able to see the road markings? Do you mean trouble seeing the stripes on the road when it is wet with the stock lights? I don't foresee the Gen2 Morimotos being worse than stock for low beam, the Gen1s were the highest performing low beam option (though not by much) when they were released before Toyota came out with the OEM LED headlights.

Weather isn't looking good today. Possibly tomorrow, but likely early-mid week for weather. I do have the rest of the year off though, so plenty of time to tinker. In some ways winter makes outdoor testing easier because of how early it gets dark, but it also rains a lot in the winter to making availability less predicable.



As for the headlight aiming, take a look at this article from Stern.
https://www.danielsternlighting.com/tech/aim/aim.html

It looks overwhelming, but just scroll down to the aiming table. Use the VOL numbers. To make it really easy, find a wall with enough level space to back the truck 25' from the wall. Pull the truck up to the wall so the bumper is nearly touching, with the headlights on, mark the cut off point with tape. Back up 25'. Reference the table for the amount of drop needed based on your tape mark height from the ground. Adjust to the 2.1-3" drop from your tape mark depending on the table.

 

@crashnburn80 What I meant was that when it's night and really wet I have a hard time seeing the stripes on the road. It was wet last night when I was driving around with the V2's that they seem to be doing a lot better than stock for this, so I'm happy with that part so far. In Utah we don't get reflective bubbles / tabs like they do in Cali or other states because the snowplows would just break them off every winter.