3rd Gen HID vs LED vs Halogen H11 projector headlights

I bought from this seller back in September, happy with the projectors and tune. These are non-AFS so they are a direct bolt on replacement for the OEM projectors. You just need to dremel the bottom of the projector housing so the high beam solenoid fits, which you need to do with any RX-350 retrofit.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/2x-OEM-Lex...ith-STi-R-Clear-Lenses-Retrofit-/114461752648

TRS D2S Morimoto Elite bundle. Just select H11 harness and choose your bulbs and ballasts. My recommendation is to stick with 35w for the ballasts.
https://www.theretrofitsource.com/d2s-morimoto-elite-HS-D2S?quantity=1

If you want to split your high beams, you’ll also need 2 H11M>H11F high beam splitters.

 

While I am working towards getting the OEM LED headlights, I decided pull the trigger on the Tungsram H11 nighthawk Xenon.

I installed them yesterday and they are a great improvement! I hope they last longer than a lot of the reviews say, but for me it should just be temporary.
Anyone needing an upgrade and are ok with halogen should go for it and just plan to have a set of backups.

Thanks again for your time @crashnburn80 !!!

 

FYI

 

Just ordered a set for the Highs

 

I copy and paste this is Facebook groups daily in respond to best led bulb questions

 

Careful. I got kicked out of a Facebook 4Runner group for bringing it up. It may have had something to do with the admin being the owner of Aiden James customs (which coincidentally sold junk LED and HID bulb kits).

Also got kicked out of another one for posting silly shit like this. Oh, in another massive coincidence a few of the admins there were BD distributors. Might be a pattern there...

 

Has anyone in a "hot" area where summer days are frequently over 100 degrees, such as southern AZ or central and south TX tried the H9 bulbs over an extended period of time, such as a couple of summers? The H9 bulb emits 18% more heat than the H11 bulb. This is probably of no consequence during most of the year in most areas, but could be significant in areas where the ambient temperature is relatively high. Excessive heat is likely to cause the socket and perhaps the entire headlight assembly to become brittle, leading to failure in just a couple of years. Even a few hours above some (unknown) threshold temperature could cause rapid aging of the plastic.

A good bench test would be to run the H9 bulb for 100 hours in a 100 degree chamber, then check to see if the socket has become brittle or charred. Perhaps also run the H9 bulb for 10 hours in a 110 degree chamber to simulate conditions in southern AZ.

 

They would not be ideal for highs

 

I think you're going to find that the Hikari's are more of an upgrade for the low beams and less so for the high beams. In fact the H9 Halogen (low beam) swap will actually net you more light.

 

The philips H9 is the factory high beam bulb. So running it for a low beam shouldnt be an issue. I live in the Houston area with our basically 5 month summers and no issues so far for me.

 

Lmao unbelievable! Idk why I do it, I’d actually be shocked if there was even one person who didn’t just buy leds anyways

 

I live in PHX and we had over 105 days of 110 degrees or higher.
I have not had any issues running the H9’s in the lows. You should be just fine.

 

Funny that I have been warned countless times by major lighting industry professionals for the same thing. I've been told many times that I could in no way survive countering LED lighting companies marketing claims, despite how flawed they are, especially those with their prized 'vendor' status. But the worlds top automotive lighting expert backs my claims and points to TacomaWorld of all places as a good source of automotive lighting info. Science>Marketing.

 

Sorry, been a busy few days. But yes, that is everything you need. I personally like LighWerkz as they off the clear lens and tuning as an option. The 45w ballast isn’t really needed. But that’s up to you. The Hylux ballasts are good, I have ran them, but I do like the OEM reliability and build quality of the Hella ballasts. Plus the warm up is insanely fast.

 

How are you guys trimming the house tabs? I just got a pair of the Philips bulbs and didn't realize how tight it was gonna be in there

 

We get into H9 bulb mod a few pages back. I’ll find my posts and link.

ETA: quite a few pages back but here is what I found.

 

I ended up finding a narrow blade for my multitool at my jobs shop and used that, went right through. Also came to realize my pocket knife blade was much more dull than i remembered

 

Just ordered 4 Phillips H9's after doing a ton of reading. I wish @crashnburn80 got the commission for all of the great testing he did.

 

The original posts are incredibly well done. I've been thinking of a headlight upgrade tp either Philips or Tungsram Xenon bulbs.

Either seems like a great upgrade, but bulb light is a bit confusing. I think the life of the bulbs is listed as 250 for the Tungsram and 350 or so for the Philips.

How does that compare to rhe stock OEM bulb life?

Also, are there any heat issues with the upgraded lights? As in should i be concerned about lens damage?

 

Crash do you know if LED's will work in the new 2021 headlights for high beams where we have a LED low beam and a Halogen high beam in the new set-up?