Looking for a headlamp upgrade

My 2 statements are not mutually exclusive.

Having a little light to the side of the vehicle shouldn't cost a thousand dollars. Sorry man.. that's ridiculous. Of course I'm not going to duct tape a 12v light to the side of my bumper but you can clearly imagine $6 doing the job... so there's bound to be a solution somewhere between a shaitty $6 light and $1000 headlight upgrade. I'll check into fog lights.. thank you.

 

I had fogs with 16w bulbs (plastic), so I replaced with 55w housing(glass) and use European h11 bulbs.
Then I went with oem LED for small amount. They are a bit better than OEM 55w for side lighting.
But there are way brighter fogs on the market

 

I wish a bambi would come with a reflective tape on the arse. Recently I had a close call..

 

For the best bang for your buck, get the Philips H9s. It's the best $20 I've spent on my truck. The regular old halogens are the best pairing for your stock projectors. Yes, everyone likes to talk about HIDs and LEDs. That long thread mentioned above talks specifics about why halogens bulb replacements are best if you aren't making any other changes to the lens housing.

 

Done

 

Nailed it!

 

https://www.danielsternlighting.com/tech/bulbs/Hid/HID.html

 

I tried an LED and H9 conversion. I ended up staying with these Amazon LEDs over the H9. H9 did look better than stock, but not as bright as these

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07TQLGGBR?ie=UTF8

 

Yea, the main thing to consider is that LEDs are two directional in their output. Your tacoma has an omni-directional lens housing that is designed for a halogen bulb. The LEDs may seem to appear to throw more light, but the intensity of effectiveness of the halogen will be more efficient.

I've said more than I should have considering I only know enough to be dangerous. I love my h9 halogens. More power to ya if you love your LEDs.

 

Before I ended up with the current LED, I tried several others. And you are correct. Some of them did look brighter, but did nothing to illuminate the road. The specific one I posted had the best results for me, compared to all the other LEDs and the H9 recommended throughout the forums.

I debated for a long time in posting the bulbs I'm using because I knew I'd get the feedback that everyone's giving in the forum. So much so, that I gave in and tried the H9 for a few months. While still better than OEM and most of the LEDs I tried, the H9 wasn't as good. Maybe if I had used a warmer color it would've been better? Either way, in my case, the Auxito LED turned out to be a better choice over the H9 halogen.

 

this will set you back close to 1K but is probably the ultimate solution.

 

As far as the H9 bulbs, I see that most are using Phillips but does it matter? Can I just use what I find at the store?

 

Ended up with NAPA bulbs.