Dope 3rd gen headlights under $1000?

If you decide you're unhappy with the ones you've bought I highly recommend buying the oem led's and the ss3 max's for that matter. I had the same mindset as you wanting an upgrade without the upgraded price.

Once they were installed I realized I should have done this sooner. They're worth the money and I mean absolutely worth it.

 

You will develop other interests in your life. Save your money. You'll need it then. Somebody queue that informative thread here by the lighting engineer educating about focused down-range light versus wasted diffused light. I bought some relatively inexpensive (compared to options discussed here) bulbs (or whatever TF you call them) from Europe recommended in that thread. They burn the eyes out of the undead at a half mile using the stock lenses. Purportedly close to Audi lighting quality. I don't know about that, but they're good enough for the girls I go with.

With the money I saved I bought a boat...whole new world out there outside these trucks.

 

You didn’t have to write a book buddy. We know Alpharex is made in china and we also know distance matters when you look at lights. I’ve used high end brands such as KC, Baja and JW speaker. I’ve put that experience into consideration. Like I said, the Alpharex works out just fine for me.

 

Not all information in this world can be distilled into a single sentence. Sometimes in order to properly convey a point someone will have to string several
sentences together to form what we call a paragraph. This is what crashnburn has done here in an effort to clearly explain to you why your headlights are garbage

 

I bought mine off of Ebay and with tax, they ended up just a hair over $400. I have a 2019 TRD Sport, so it has DRL running lights. My purpose in replacing my headlights was not because I didn't like the halogen, but I just HATED the CHROME around the lights and housing! But still, I didn't want to put out the money and then have to mess with replacing the headlights. Then, I came upon some "found" money, and decided to use it to buy replacement headlights. The ones I found, have a much nicer LED DRL running light, and it transforms into amber SEQUENTIAL turn signals automatically when you use signals or emergency flashers. I honestly could care less about the sequential part, because my sole thing was getting rid of the chrome. The ones I bought, have black surround with clear lenses, as some states have laws against smoked or blacked out lenses. Also, I just liked the way it looked. They are completely plug and play; just unplug the old headlights and plug in these new ones. Simple as that. I highly suggest you watch a few videos on Youtube that show the complete detail on how to replace headlights. I can do it now, in probably about 45 minutes since I have now done it once, but it took me, about 2 hours to do it, and I was taking my time, making sure not to make any mistakes. The main problem is ONE DANG BOLT, on the side and under the fender flares. A real pain in the butt to get to! Anyway, I know some people here have issues with the lights I bought, but I have to say that after using them for about 6 months now, I am totally happy with them. They worked right out of the box, and they were aimed correctly after installation, unlike with some other lights out there. Here is a direct link to the exact lights I bought...
https://www.ebay.com/itm/133378578896

 

Thanks for saying that! If you look at my profile pic, I have a pic of mine with these headlights installed. Makes a WORLD of difference in the look!

 

I decided to post a link to a video I made, of my 2019 TRD Sport with the new headlights that I referenced above. I know its my opinion, but I think they greatly enhanced the look of the truck! Here is the link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G_pV7vT-xqQ

 

WTF. The member you’re disrespecting has done more for testing of lighting products and posting his results here than anyone else combined.

Most of the crap discount products just throw glare down the road that “works just fine for me” but blinds on coming traffic.

The number one function of headlights isn’t to make your truck look good, it’s to provide safe and effective lighting for all on the road.

 

Buys junk, sees facts, defends junk.

Sounds about right.

 

Wow they’re like $340 right now with free shipping. You’re saying they’re pretty good? Now everyone on this thread has me worried about light output with cheap headlights lol.

 

why are changing headlights out for “looks” even a consideration? Seems silly

invest the money where it will work for you. You won’t get the money back on something that really gives no benefit and depreciates.

i paid $20 for H11 to H9 upgrade (plug and play stock setup) and they have more benefit because they throw light farther and kickass on the trails. Just saying…

 

They get them for free or heavily discounted to say that. If you'll notice on YouTube, a lot of people post videos about the same stuff around the same time. It's all marketing, man. You have to be a little bit more cautious about what you see.

The stock highbeam bulbs are already the best you can get so that's a huge doubt from me

 

Worst thing you can do for headlight performance is replace highly engineered OEM assemblies, with super cheap China aftermarket with exceptionally poor optics vastly reducing headlight performance. Second worst thing you can do is put replacement LEDs which have poor optics into an assembly that already has compromised optics, creating a short range flood light with no distance projection which is the exact opposite of how a headlight is supposed to work. Definitely not recommended.

 

The best option (backed by actual data, not just "it looks brighter to me") to get better light output from the stock halogen assemblies is a $20 set of Philips H9 bulbs, not the $80 PIAAs, not the $50-200 drop in LED options, it's the $10/bulb Philips H9.

They're garbage. There is actual data to back this up by someone who knows what they're doing. They're cheaply made and poorly engineered. It's not just how bright the forground light is or is not. It's the quality of the LED assembly, the equalty of the plastics, UV resistance, everything. OEM assemblies are built to a standard, these are built to look good for a week. Do you want to deal with assemblies that blow LEDs six months after installation? Once one LED fails (and they will) the assemblies have to come out. I know you want to get the $340 option because they look cool, but they're not quality products. This isn't a "don't buy 5100s because they're not Kings, or don't buy OEM TRD wheels because they're not Volk". This is a don't buy these products because they're low quality and perform poorly.

If you can surpass the light output with a $20 pair of H9 bulbs, how good are they?

Preach. How quickly do you think those junk assemblies will turn yellow and blow LEDs? My friend bought a set of E-code replica headlights from Skandix via FCP Euro for his Volvo. I warned him about aftermarket parts and said just go get OEM Volvo stuff. He cheaped out and had wiring gremlins we took weeks to run down.

 

They're not, though. Like, empirically, factually, observably, scientifically not.

 

The people who are able to read crash's comments and write up and still deny reality are beyond help. Let's just allow them to continue to blind the rest of us in peace

 

Probably because they got the crap lights for free or at deep discount to hype them up. And they only cost 13 billion of some foreign denomination

 

The thing is that @crashnburn80 doesn’t even have a Tacoma anymore, let alone a 3G. He has no horse in the race outside of a desire to get the information out for the best performing unit. In the case of these trucks it’s the OEM setup. If it was Joe Blow’s headlight emporium, LLC, he’d say as much. It’s about as much of a neutral party as you can get. Last I checked he was removing OEM LED from his Jeep due to poor performance.

 

I don't think you read my comment properly. We're saying the same thing

 

I totally did. I’m agreeing 100% with you. I was just adding for the unwashed masses that he doesn’t own a 3G and does these tests for factual data. My apologies if I wasn’t clear.