3rd Gen HID vs LED vs Halogen H11 projector headlights

Yeah those have to be aftermarket. I've seen lots of people with blue fog lights and it always makes me laugh.

 

That is way too purple to be OEM, definitely aftermarket. And LEDs don't even go up anywhere near that high in color temp typically, I bet he is running 12,000k temp HIDs. Facepalm.

 

What I'm talking about is the 2 low beam projectors in each headlight don't look like they are aligned to each other properly in each housing.

Left headlight it appears one projector is rotated slightly off and is higher and to the left of the other. Represented in red is one and blue in the other. You can also see it in the prism type pattern at the bottom of the picture how they aren't lined up properly.



The right headlight has a similar issue but in a different direction.



Lining up 2 projectors in one housing is not easy. There will always be a discrepancy in where the step either crosses if they do not point straight ahead. IE if they intersect at 20' then at 25' they will appear crossed on a wall. If they are aligned so they point straight ahead there will always be a 3"-6" gap (or whatever the distance between the center of each projector is in the headlight) between the step of the cutoff assuming they are on the same horizontal plane with the top of the cutoff and rotation being the same between the two projectors in this situation. In this situation it appears that left headlight has one projector that is high, pointed left and slightly rotated counterclockwise. The right headlight appears that one projector is high and pointed right, appears the rotation is decent though.

Below is what it should look like....roughly. Though this is dual RX350's.

 

I think the easiest option if you are willing to open up your headlights would be to install a small blower fan inside. I think it would keep the warm air circulating just enough to help icing over at moderate temperatures, once below 0F I'm not sure. It could be mounted on the bottom side of the housing and exhaust toward the lens. However it may blow dust on the inside of the lens if there is any present, but there shouldn't be as they are sealed headlight housings.

$9 Wathai 4010 Blower Fan 12v Centrifugal Fan 40mm Computer Case Tiny Fan Micro Turbine 40x40x10 for DIY 3D Printer Cooling 2 Pack

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$13 Gdstime 30mm x 30mm x 10mm 12V Mini Brushless Cooling Blower Fan Dual Ball Bearing

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Yeah, projectors should just face forward in a multi-projector assembly, trying to align the cut off step will mean one or multiple projectors are not straight and at extended headlight distances it will cause the light to not be aimed ideally.

The drivers on the Morimoto XBs are external (main producers of heat), on the bottom of the assembly. And the projectors will be sealed. I don’t think there will be any worthwhile benefit ifit to adding fans.



Here was the halogen image from a significant snow event that froze over the headlights I mentioned earlier.

 

Hi all!

Assuming my reading comprehension is up to par with my age (lol!) I wanted to double check and ask before I spend a boat load of money on bulbs

From what I'm understanding, we can run the same bulbs in the headlights as we can the fogs? (2018 SR5)
If this is indeed the case, I want to buy "GE +130 H11" correct? As they seem to be the superior bulb with no modification needed. I appreciate the help

 

This is very cool! I wish I would have found that sooner. Thanks for posting that link.

 

Close, but not quite. Only the 16-20 TRD 3rd Gens can run the same bulbs in the low beam and fogs, non-TRD trucks like the SR5 take H16s in the fogs which are a low performance bulb with no upgrade options. For those you really want to replace the fog assembly, either with some used H11 TRD unit takeoffs, or go with an SAE LED assembly, current best are the SS3s. See this thread, and note the updated links at the top:
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/the-led-sae-j583-fog-pod-fog-light-review.554813/

For plug and play low beams, note GE is now sold under the Tungsram label, not GE anymore. The Tungsram Nighthawk Xenon +120 are the best, followed closely by the Megalight +130. Megalights are a little whiter, Xenons are a little brighter.

 

Thank you so much! I really appreciate it and I'm glad I asked!

So there are low beam AND high beam bulbs? Coming from a 98 Tacoma this is all new to me. Haha.

The truck has 68k miles so if I'm going to be replacing lights I should probably do them all while I'm at it. (One of my fogs went out, so it's got the ball rolling).

 

With a little creativity you can put a H11/H9 bulb into a H16 housing. The question really is your time worth it? The light output was better than the stock H16 bulb but not amazing. I was stuck in bfe for a week babysitting my father and was able to make a set fit. I tried 2 different sets of bulbs and then bought some DD S3 Pro’s.

 

Yes, separate high and low beam vs 1st and 2nd Gens dual filament combined bulbs. Personally I wouldn’t invest in the stock H16 fogs with a bulb replacement and would look to upgrade the assembly.

 

hey all, I just got a pair of these recently. am i sucker? very electric talk, please explain in layman's terms

 

Interesting read

https://www.caranddriver.com/featur...Tw19KLjhFKyVNbe69uzV49hwbCEMWH6KCq_zLnfbL-cRc

 

People will like their adaptive beam headlamps right up until they hit a deer. Think OEM lamps are expensive now? Wait until they have to be tied in and calibrated to a series of sensors. People with top-model Porsche/Audi money won't mind, most everyone else will, and as we see with the current array of aftermarket, there'll be plenty of cheap, poor performing replacements on the road. Unless NHTSA/DOT starts to get even more serious about IP theft and illegal/noncompliant lamps. JW Speaker has had an "adaptive" motorcycle headlamp (headlamp has multiple low beam emitters and optics that are turned on/off as the bike leans) and there's at least one chinese factory dumping their ripped off copy on Amazon for the past few years, with apparently not much being done about it.

The author makes a humorous point about dropping off his porsche and letting them copy and measure to become convinced, but unless we revert back to a sealed-beam type standard for headlamps at some point, there will be lots of different ways to meet this 'adaptive' standard, whatever it ends up being.

 

Yes. That is until the cost of them drops as technology evolves and improves. Remember, at one point having lights that turn on (or turn) to show the side area while you turn the steering wheel used to be a luxury item. Now the IIHS won't even give you the highest rating on headlights without it. LEDs used to be ridiculously expensive and now you're seeing them everywhere.

 

Soo what the best bulb replacement and best plug and play? Looking for the brightest

 

If you don't want to trim the tabs on an H9 bulb, then it is the Tungsram Nighthawk Xenon +120.

 

Huh? Not sure what you just got?

 

So, this thread pops up as one of the most active on the internet when researching LED lights. Even though I do not own a Taco, I do drive a Toyota van and Pickup. With the pickup, I was lucky in that it has the old 6054 sealed beams lights and I was able to swap them for Hella H4 lights with high output bulbs after building a custom ceramic wiring harness with two sets of relays in parallel for extra reliability. Extra heat and light without stuff melting. (except snow, it melts, LOL)

I tried the LED route and found them to be incredibly poor in several important aspects:

1. The poor CRI (color rendering index) and cool temp are very bad in snow, road signs, and contrast for the type of flora and fauna we have here in the Puget Sound region. Warmer color temps from halogen are better for seeing deer and contrasts in grass and evergreen branches.
2. Even the Morimotto 2stroke 3.0 LED bulbs are not even close to being warm enough to keep wet snow off of headlights. This is obvious by how they draw a fraction of the watts that halogen draws. Since LED is more energy efficient, there just isn't anywhere close to the amount of heat being delivered. When I contacts Morimotto about this, they were intentionally vague about how much heat will make it to the headlight lens and implied they never actually did any testing on how well they work in snow. They might be better, but still not good enough as seen in my testing. It takes a lot of heat to overcome cold air blowing over the headlights at 40+ MPH.

This image was taken after several miles in wet snow, not even snowing that hard. I ran halogen in one and LED in the other. What's interesting is that the halogen light at a bit over 50w just barely kept the headlight clear, and failed to keep snow off the edges of the light. Unless an LED light is putting out the exact same amount of heat, or more, it's not going to cut it in heavy, wet snow. But, to be fair, this is just one test in one type of headlight. Maybe results would be better in other headlights, but until we have 50+watt LED bulbs using that extra wattage for heat, I don't think they are ready for safe winter use in wet snow.

 

Welcome fellow PNWer! And good data post regarding the 2stroke 3.0s. I only had them for the projector lights in this thread, which then suffer from the sealed projector not allowing the heat into the rest of the assembly.

The H4 setup you describe and related H4 conversation is covered over here if you are interested, which is significantly superior to replacement LED bulbs:
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/the-ultimate-headlight-upgrade-h4-not-led-or-hid.398066/