The SAE J581 Aux High Beam Thread

The vertical hot spot is dead-on level with the center of the lights themselves. It looks a bit low because there’s a 3” height difference between the aiming point of the headlights (43” off the ground) and the center of the Cibies (40” off the ground).

 

Did we revisit this? I'm interested to see the intensity measurements. Also not sure if the maximum intensity for SAE compliance was discussed in the thread yet.

Edit: never mind, it was just a few posts after the question. My bad!

 

https://ultra-vision.com.au/product/raptor-90w-20inch-led-light-bar/

Not an SAE light, but do any of yall have any experience with this Australian company? They offer most of their lights in 5700k or 4000k. Seem like pretty decent offroad lights. Main reason im curious is for that nice 4000k in the light bars.

 

I’ve not seen anything on them, but 4000k would be incredibly awesome in a light bar. The lights do look like Baja knock offs at about 2/3rd the price.

 

Apparently they are designed and built in Australia. Havent done much research except a bit of youtube. Maybe not the best focus but if they offer that 4000k in light bar, it would be great offroad.

 

Side plates and overall dimensioning looks identical to the "Extreme LED" brand of light bars.

https://extremeledlightbars.com/x6s-slim-series-amber-white-20-single-row-led-light-bar-harness-kit

If the optics are identical, I remember being very unimpressed with the pattern of light (and this was even before I started really paying attention to the particulars). I bought it because it fit my roof rack but returned it immediately- mostly because the hood glare was heinous. They might work all right as a grill bar, but I think the reflector bowls are too shallow to serve as anything other than a general flood light.

 

Well damn, thats unfortunate. I dont understand why 4000k isnt more popular in the offroad community.

 

Agreed. Would love to see @Diode Dynamics retool their bars with new optics and 4000K emitters.

 

I'm getting ready to add some additional high beam power to my new 4Runner and have limited options because of the new sensors in the lower grill area. There is however a just about perfect location for a pair of good sized round driving lights. Rago Fabrications even makes a perfect bracket kit to add them. So, my plan is to add some classic Cibie Oscar driving beams that I had in my basement stash on that bracket. Here's what's going to light up the night:



I'll try to post up some pics when I get everything installed. Having had these lights on a previous vehicle, I'm quite sure these classic beauties will do the trick.

 

I'm curious about the aesthetics given how "modern" or "angular" or "je ne sais quoi" the front of the current gen T4R looks.

 

If they're tucked in the grill it will be a non issue. Now that I think about it, my worries would include air flow to the radiator after the TSS sensor and those monsters!

 

Here's a link to the Rago Fab site and the brackets I've ordered. It also happens to have a great pic of a 4Runner with 3 large, round LED lights behind the grill. I'm only planning on running two Oscars back there, so I think I'll be fine. I should also note that the pic does use a 2019 4Runner which doesn't have the sensors in the center like mine though. They would negate the use of a center mounted light.

 

I think it's marketing and poor consumer education. Many people that are not lighting nerds like use "prefer" 5000k or 6000k because they "think" it's brighter or better because the number is higher. Many people who modify their vehicles (even though they may be very mechanically intelligent) don't think about light color/pattern or how it affects real word visibility oncoming traffic. They also generally are generally trusting in a brand based on their buddies or influence due to brand popularity.

I have linked crash's other posts to many other forums or social media lighting questions. Whether they look at it is up to them, I know for many it is a lot of information and can easily overwhelm many. Most just want a quick answer rather than educate themselves. lol

 

Agreed 100%. I guess at the end of the day its all about the $$. 6000k has that "cool" factor and it sells. I showed a coworker the h9 bulb swap who has a 3rd gen taco. He was running cheap led bulbs and wanted more light. It was very obvious the h9 was brighter with a hotspot that put the led bulb to shame. He didnt want it because of the yellow. I just shook my head lol.

 

Even when you give them quick answers they still want to blow hundreds of dollars on LED bulbs with flashy marketing and computer fans.

I will agree it's very bizarre seeing everyone pump each other up to buy junk that works poorly. It's easy to do though, I remember being impressed by LED bulbs when I first got them. Taking them out meant admitting I was wrong, which is tough for some folks to do.

 

I think it is also the perception of what looks modern. People correlate 6000k with factory LEDs found on new vehicles and seem to feel that it makes their vehicle look newer or that low color temp lights 'look old'. Of course these perceptions are all from what the vehicle looks like from the exterior and not the driving experience perspective.

Buyer's bias is real. And in the case of replacement LEDs you also typically have a shift to foreground light, which people are also biased toward (usually what causes that initial first positive impression). Add admitting you were wrong if you initially said they were great and that is a lot to overcome for many.

 

I like 6000k on the road at night. I find the H9's lull me to sleep. I think I'm more prone to nodding off behind the wheel than most though. I specifically bought MT to address that, I found myself falling asleep in the prius on the 9 mile commute home at 5:30/6pm and that didn't seem too safe.

 

As most of you know, my recently departed (and much loved) 2014 Tacoma TRD Sport had every lighting upgrade suggested by our very own @crashnburn80, plus a few more like the Diode Dynamics 30" Stage (all driving pattern) LED bar. Quite honestly, that truck had by far the best forward lighting of any vehicle I've ever owned - and that's a lot of vehicles that all had upgraded lighting.

I knew when I bought my new 4Runner that I was in for a bit of a shock with the stock forward lighting. Unfortunately, "shock" doesn't come close to describing reality. The LED low beams were unimpressive and had way too sharp of a cutoff with virtually zero uplight. The high beams were, well let's just say I had to get out of the truck to verify that they were even functioning. The factory fog lights were pathetic too - just to round everything out.

The second day I owned the 4Runner, I swapped out the factory fogs for the Diode Dynamics SS3 Max selective yellow fogs out of the Tacoma. Yup, now we're talking! Much, much better. The LED low beams were a bigger problem though because there is literally nothing you can do to upgrade them. Fortunately, the SS3's pretty much make up for the low beam short comings, plus some. That left the high beams. After consultation with the master, I installed a set of HIR bulbs in the high beams. Better? Yes. Awesome? Unfortunately not. In the words of Captain Kirk, "More power Scotty!"

That leads us to this thread and adding more power to the high beams. As I mentioned earlier, I had the Ultimate Headlight Upgrade (with the NLA Osram Hyper bulbs) plus the DD LED bar for high beams on the last truck. Why not swap the LED bar over to the 4Runner you say? Great question and I'm glad you asked. Unfortunately, Toyota started installing certain safety system sensors in the center of the lower grill in late 2020. So even though one can still mount a 30" LED bar down there quite easily, probably 30% of the light will be blocked by the new solid center section of the grill with the sensor.

There was another option though. The very same Rago Fabrications bracket set that allows one to mount an LED bar down there also allows you to mount round auxiliary lights on either side of the infernal sensor. This led me to go down into my basement stash to see what I might have to brighten up the night sky a bit. As I mentioned in an earlier post, I stumbled upon a set of original Cibie Oscar driving lights with 100 watt halogen bulbs. They came off of my 1976 Corolla SR5 Liftback that I sold in 1993. Better yet, they were still almost perfect!

Today - while it was pouring rain outside - my son and I tore into installing the Rago brackets and the Oscars. The bumper cover absolutely needs to come off and it's a bit of a pain - especially with the new sensors. With 2 people, it takes about 20 minutes to carefully remove everything that needs to come out. Next, the Rago brackets need to be assembled and installed. Truth be told, you need to install the upright brackets, then assemble at the horizontal cross members, then play around with way too many slotted adjustments. It's not a terrible design, but I would suggest that it's got a few too many degrees of freedom built into it. You also have to partially reinstall the bumper cover once or twice to make sure your lights are centered where you want them. Here's what it looked like before the final tidying up and shielding of the wiring:



About 2 hours later, my son had to leave and we decided to put the project on hold with only the final wiring of the relay (triggered by the high beams) and aiming left to do. Here's what it looks like from the outside:



Hopefully the rain will stop in a few days and we can finish up the wiring and get these monsters aimed. I have high hopes for these bad boys and will post pics up as soon as I can.

 

^^ awesome.

 

Thanks! I'm hoping to be able to provide paint removal services shortly.