Best 2nd Gen aftermarket headlights?

@crashnburn80

 

Okay on the Alpharex website is says to tap the IGN 15A fuse through the firewall under the steering wheel, different from what the random internet video said... Gonna try this tomorrow. Hopefully it all works.

 

Haha! That makes sense. I can tell you with certainty tapping that fuse will work in your scenario, because that fuse is only powered when the key is in the ON position.

 

Housings do not come with high quality projectors
it's up to you to retrofit them...

 

For any that has info on upgrading your headlights for a 2nd gen, I went onto alpharexusa.com to see how to get one for my 2013 taco. They are currently making them for the 05-11 and 16-20 but not the 12-15 years. Any advise on a company making something like these for the 12-15?

 

I made this change to my wiring, and it works now. I ended up cutting the fuse wire to feed it through the firewall boot easier, then crimped it back together.

 

Awesome! Glad it all worked. I'm jealous that they only make headlights for 05-11 and 16-20, but not for 12-15. They look great!

 

According to Headlightrevolution dot com, the LED GTR Ultra 2 is the "best" brightest replacement direct fit bulb we can drop into the OEM housing on the 2nd gen Tacomas.

https://www.headlightrevolution.com/2005-2015-toyota-tacoma-led-headlight-bulbs?quantity=1

 

I was running the GTR Ultra 2's for a year, the brightness was great, impressive high beams, but the cutoff was poor. I've changed lights since then.

 

Gentlemen, please. Headlight Revolution owns GTR. (Think that may play into their findings?) Our very own @crashnburn80 has tested the bulbs and they're really not that great. My son bought a set (for waaay too much money) based on the "findings" and they're now sitting gathering dust in my basement. Trust science and not marketing!

The best 2nd Gen headlight is: The ultimate headlight upgrade H4 (not LED or HID) | Tacoma World

 

Found this in the comments of their Instagram, if this matters to you haha

 

For fear of repeating myself and beating a dead horse....... Aesthetics aside, if you live in an area that gets snow, LED's are not a good choice. Because they operate at much lower temps the headlights can freeze over in certain conditions. I had them and it's unnerving when your light output slowly dims till they are completely worthless. It's downright dangerous and a deal breaker for me. Performance always trumps aesthetics in the realm of safety. In warmer climates this obviously isn't an issue.

 

LOL. Why not follow Vland from Alibaba out of China directly like everyone else instead of relying on the middle man reseller passing the buck at a significant markup domestically? You know the product will be garbage anyway, might as well get the info directly from the source.

 

k lemme just go buy 50 pairs of headlights in bulk then... just kidding but, my decision to buy Alpharex headlights was because i wanted something stylish, warrantied and street legal. There's for sure better performing lighting options, but they won't be as good looking (halogen) , or they won't be street legal (retrofit).

 

What makes retrofits not street legal?

or is there some hidden law in amuricca that i dont know about

 

I'm no expert but these 3 morimoto led projectors each say not street legal in the US, in their descriptions. I don't know what most people use in their retrofits but lemme know if I got something wrong. Also, i needed new lenses so so that's another reason why i bought an entirely new headlight and didnt retrofit.

 

Light assemblies are tested and labeled as compliant as a single component from the factory. Modifying the assembly and changing the internal components for a different light source invalidates that compliance rating and makes them not legal, even if the result of the mod would still pass a compliance test.

 

Being from California, guns are the same way I believe. The same gun in two different colors, one might be legal, one might not be even if the only difference is the color.

 

Goes back to my previous post. Since it is an individual component and not a complete assembly it is not street legal, even if the pattern would pass compliance. For example, even if the component could pass a compliance test on its own, someone could install them incorrectly in the assembly, tilted 45 degrees up on the driver side or something, blinding oncoming traffic. Hence legality is based on the compliance tested complete assembly, and not individual components.

 

I’d say retrofit headlights might be the last thing on an entire vehicle that a cop would pull you over for. I don’t know California, but of all the places I’ve lived, there’s just no way.