3rd Gen HID vs LED vs Halogen H11 projector headlights

The first place I saw them was in their SEMA teaser, at about 1:20.

https://youtu.be/yuAXJ0xooYw

Couldn't find much written info except for that excerpt by BTS on Facebook, which is what I copy/pasted. They don't have much application for modern trucks, and lack of heat will make them a non-starter for some folks. I've got an old project Volkswagen that they'd be perfect for though. It spends 100% of its time in the garage not running, so I've got other things ahead of headlights to worry about . I also looked around at other 7" series lights like KC Gravity etc. But most or all others are 5000K+, and I really like that retro 3000K.

 

So I just did the H11 fog light swap. The original H16 fogs were poor performing. I did put H9 bulbs in however. What specifically does the glare cap do on the H11 vs the non-capped H9?

I also felt I needed to adjust the projection angle of the fogs by about a foot or so higher. Now the fog lights illuminate much more of the immediate road and shoulder area than the factory beam adjustment. The newly adjusted fog beam cut off is still well below the low beam cut off. Fog light visibility was significantly increased however I have yet to test them in any serious fog—we’ll see what happens then.

 

The "glare cap" is designed to reduce glare when the light housing does not have a built in glare cap. The OEM Tacoma fog lights (H16 and H11) do NOT have built in glare caps. If an H9 is used in either housing you will have a lot more glare (ie oncoming traffic distraction). I tested it myself just to see and there is a considerable amount of glare with the H9 in comparison to an H11, I didn't take any pictures though. Essentially the reason the H9 causes glare in this type of housing is because there is nothing blocking light coming from the filament in a directly forward direction. Whereas the H11 will block that with the painted on glare cap.

I haven't seen a direct output comparison of the OEM H16 fog light housing with an H11 bulb compared to the OEM H11 fog light housing using the same bulb. But the OEM H11 is known as the wide angle fog light, so I would assume it is overall a higher performing fog light if the bulb choice was equal.

In this picture from left to right is an H11 (glare cap circled in red), H9 (arrow to tab that requires trimming) and H9 with the tab trimmed for use with an H11 plug.



This picture (courtesy of Crash from his "ultimate fog light test") is a Tacoma H11 Fog light (left) and Subaru Outback Fog light (right). The yellow arrow indicates the built in glare glare cap I am referring to.

 

Great reply, thanks!

To summarize; glare capped fog bulb is designed as a courtesy to reduce glare for oncoming traffic?

 

To my knowledge that is the main and only purpose. Some people have tried using specific high temp glass paint to make their own glare cap, but I don't know how successful it has been. Nor do I think it's worth the price and effort, at least for an H9 compared to high performance H11's that come within a few percent of the H9 performacne.

 

I am VERY curious how the 5x7 will stack up in performance compared to Hella ECE with a good bulb for my MR2!! I don't care for the busy style of most LED housings. It really looks out of place on many vehicles that use sealed beams and especially on cars with pop up headlights it makes draws your focus on what is out of place. Maybe I'm just getting old though. haha

 

+ to add - do not just drop in H11 halogen bulbs. They'll fit. They'll melt the housing. Ask me how I know

I'd recommend pods, and the Cali Raised bracket to get there. I have the knock off bracket on mine. Learn from two mistakes - get the cali raised fog bracket, not the Amazon special. Worth the extra 30-40$ or whatever it was.

I would have but mine was time restraint - wanted it in the next couple days, cali raised was a week or so out. Should have waited and gotten it.

 

Good call on the H11 in the H16 housing. I have seen that reported before, but I don't think it's widely known.

As for the bracket you speak of is useful if you use Rigid SAE Fog pods. But it is not needed for Diode Dynamics SS3's as they can be ordered with vehicle specific mounts. @anthonynoriega

 

Ahhh that's right - fair point. Yes - I put in pod lights.

Won't lie ... they're harbor freight .... BUT my headlights are amber so do the trick in the fog, the fogs + ditch lights are used for off road/snow, not for on road + fog.

 

@joncure Yes, and it helps reduce glare coming back to the driver that’s reflected off of snow, rain, and fog. I ran h9’s in my fogs for half a season. While the light output was fantastic to the sides, the excessive glare made them blinding and unusable in rain, fog, and snow. I currently have tungsram platinum h11’s in my fogs and in today’s blowing flurries on my way to work they were great, with great light to the sides and little upward glare. H9’s in the fogs looked like using high beams in terms of glare and reflection off of precipitation.

 

Good point, thanks. I have my old H11’s standing by.

 

You can get them on power bulbs

 

I just purchased a 2022 TRD Sport and am trying to figure out what to do with the headlights.

I have a new set of Diode Dynamics SL1 H11’s just sitting in a drawer. Are these worth using? If I stick with H11 halogen just use H11 Tungsram Platinum ?

Sorry I know this keeps being discussed but only read 20 of the 200 pages

 

A glare capped bulb is a requirement for the housing to prevent glare to oncoming drivers, but to also maintain pattern cut off for your fogs to actually work in fog rather than acting as an ineffective high beam.

I've tried using the high temp paint route. It was pointed out that the paint will off gas, coat the reflector and reduce the performance. You need proper high temp bulb glare cap coating material. I've found it, but it is not cheap at all. I also experimented with the Subi fogs using glare caps, but the pattern wasn't as wide as desired.

Wince. Fine for off road/show. But for snow you want real fogs. If you experience Diode Dynamics SS3 performance fogs, you'd kick yourself for holding out with he HF lights. The HF lights are general flood work lights (not even classified as an automotive pattern) vs the DD Fogs are a highly engineered light for the very specific purpose of poor weather driving. I cannot emphasize enough how vastly superior these are for the fog light pattern.

^This.

The Diode Dynamics SL1 is a poor performing product, it fails to even match the performance of the stock H11 bulb. It does produce misleading foreground light, which people often think means the product is better, even though that actually makes it worse. Full SL1 review posted here.

SL1 vs Tungsram Platinum

 

Exactly my use. I have off road ditch lights and fogs. My headlights are Amber for the winters and that does wonders in the snow, I only use the pods for off road use. I might actually have to cap them for inspection since they don't meet DOT

 

How long do the H11 hot bulbs last? I remember using Silverstars and never getting 6 months out of them

 

prob a year

 

Most of the high performance H11's are rated for about 250 hours mean failure time. The one exception is the

$40 philips H11 crystalvision ultra upgraded bright white headlight bulb, 2 pack

philips H11 racingvision +150 (pretty sure thats the one off the top of my head) which is rated for 400 hours.

 

I think the

$40 Philips H11 CrystalVision Ultra Upgraded Bright White Headlight Bulb, 2 Pack

Philips H11 +100 is also a 400 hour bulb. It’s a good performer (outstanding in the 2nd gen reflector bowls, but also a nice upgrade in 3rd gen projectors).

 

Depends on the bulb, but ~1-2 years for the best performance halogens. Silver stars have terrible life and ended up getting sued in a class action suit over it. Silver stars are more of a cosmetic bulb, not a true performance one. Their focus tends to be on whiter light in the 4000k+ range. In terms of a halogen that means filtering low color temp light to make output whiter, and filters remove light which reduces output. If you want the best performance in a halogen, it won’t be 4000k+. Filters also make the bulb run hotter, which can negatively affect bulb life.