The ultimate headlight upgrade H4 (not LED or HID)

Those are not sold by Osram on Amazon. They are sold by "Extreme Bulbs". Looks to be legit though. Note that Amazon has *horrible* packaging for bulbs. Zero care is placed for the product, like they may place your bulbs in an empty box to rattle and bounce around, or shove them in an envelope where they get squashed. I'd easily pay an extra couple bucks to have them packaged properly.

 

still running upgraded harness, double wattage bulbs, and better battery terminals/wires

better than stock,
worse than my previous car that was older and less than half the price

How long before you give in, get a spare set of DEPO lights for $100, and take a big hole saw to the back of them to shove in some projectors?
Last projector retrofit I did on a vehicle was as follows:
-Bosch/AL E46 Gen2 projectors (horizontal lines)
-TRS clear lens retrofit
-genuine Osram CBI bulbs
-painted cutoff shield
-3" bi-xenon
-better high beam H7 bulbs
-auto leveling, non manual control
-non cornering assist/swivel version with all that extra plastic bracket shit

best lights I've ever had
modern cars with their LED's are probably even better
and they crash just as often to end up parted out for cheap at junkyards to be a donor source.

The Bosch projectors were like $60 a pair and commonly used on the following models:
-Aston Martin
-Audi R8
-Lambo Aventador
-Audi B8 A4/S4
-Fiat
-Jeep Grand Cherokee
-BMW
and more
Why?
Because they're good.
Gen 3 is the same design put with polka dots all over the lens and not a horizontal strip in the middle. Used on even more cars.

I'm sure there's DIY's on HIDplanet on how to do it.

I think it's much easier to follow this DIY putting a higher wattage bulb, housing/lens, and harness
then lie to everyone claiming it's good when it's not
as opposed to drilling a holesaw to the back of a headlight.
I would know. I did the mod. It was easy. And it's not that good.

projector retrofit probably requires learning what a wire is.
Upgraded harness comes with instructions a toddler or monkey can follow.

Not sure why something not that good has 209 pages
if things like this were the answer, HIDplanet would not exist, and people would not go through the effort of retrofitting projectors.
Obviously it costs more if you buy it pre-made by someone else like AlphaRex

Projectors look sick.
An upgraded bulb and harness looks stock.
Rest Of World landcruiser and whatnot probably use halogen because it's cheaper to manufacture, not better.
The highest quality cars $100k or more where buys expect perfection, do not come with halogen.



Anyone I take for a drive with this set up to show is not that impressed
I've seen trucks including 5th gen T4R, upgraded, with way more light

 

Running the 65w bulbs with the harness alone my light performance was better than my neighbors bmw with the fancy laser lights. I’ll give it they appear brighter, but the distance is meh on his car

But I am also known it have a hard time with whiter/bluer lights. Especially in rain

 

Laser lights? Not all cars have laser, so I will just assume he has an i8 or something.
I didn't know they are blue.
Normally high end vehicle lights are more of a white shade, with vehicles only emitting blue when the owner has performed low quality fuckery modifications

I think my bulbs are 100w Flosser. Still hard to see in rain. Was easier with my last car. The CBI HID D1S bulbs for it were like $180 alone.
I've probably driven hundreds of cars and can't say the Taco upgraded is at the top of the list regarding light performance

I may need to aim mine a bit higher. A buddy's T4R with stock aim goes into people's rearview. Maybe because he didn't adjust it after lift, but the lift didn't change things too much. His last vehicle did the same.
I kind of want that. For it to go into their rearview, so they see the truck and don't do dumb shit.
This area has a reputation of people not driving very well and it would probably help reduce that creating more safety
that won't make it any brighter though

 

its more white. but slight very slight blue tint. my eyesight at night is trash though. wont deny that. runs in the family.

 

re post about laser
thats an interesting topic
in the US it is not legal. Standard DOT. Europe uses ECE. Part of it is angled cutoff instead of leveled. They shine at their road signs differently.
ECE also allows laser. Forward moving technology.
Shit that will strobe people to let them know you're there or make them more visible to you, and will cut out sections of your beam onto other cars to not shine them, and so on.
Supposedly some vehicles with that/laser come with the option physically on the vehicle/hardware but simply disabled by coding the software, under the expectation that one day if it becomes legal, the dealership can turn the feature on for the owner.
So many of such vehicles, in the US, you can look under the hood and see warning signs for the laser and not to make direct eye contact with it, even if it may or may not be on.

THAT would probably be too crazy to retrofit because I'm sure it relies on sensors like a front camera to determine what's going on in front of the vehicle and where to shine light
given that some vehicles can have lots of that
-radar
-camera
-night vision

IDK if you've driven his i8 and seen if it feels good re: visibility driving, or if the comparison is from the outside looking in
granted they are low to the ground so that may not be helping light things up and see

this reminds me
You know what else is low to the ground, fast, and needs good light to not die?
Race cars doing LeMans. At night. In the rain. Sleep-deprived.
None of them using halogen
Or are they?
Maybe LED bulbs in reflector bowls?
in race cars preserving energy from the engine is important, so they might choose less hungry electrical consumers



another thing about the Taco headlight size,
is that unlike a regular car that might only fit 1 projector
the Taco can probably fit 2, 3, 4, etc.
how to utilize all of them without being blinding is another question

 

driven it when he wanted me to listen to something it was doing. definitely puts light out. but the distance just kinda sucked. retros i've been in cars with perform well. its just way more of a pain if the ballast or bulb lets go when your on a trip. hence why my buddy sold his retros. the ballast died and he couldnt remedy it till he got home a week later. if i did a retro i'd be going with a halogen color light for sure though.. i just can do rain in the 4300k and up lights

 

You seem to have some pretty significant disconnects. For starters you are not running OEM assemblies, cheap aftermarket will cause a significant loss in output and will not provide the results promoted in this thread. You are also not running the recommended bulbs. A battery upgrade will not help output, you need to run the voltage booster with an AGM battery for any improvement. So you really haven't followed this thread at all.

Modern cars with LEDs can possibly be better, but they can also be way worse and usually are. Not even the outstanding 3rd Gen OEM LED headlights that are given the highest possible rating by IIHS can match this mod, and many OEM LED options don't either.

Again, there are no lies here as this entire thread is objectively measured data based. If you try to take shortcuts, your results will not match this thread. Simple as that.

Yes, you can achieve higher output with HID in a proper OEM grade retrofit. That isn't plug and play, has additional complications of ballasts, custom builds ect. Fine for some, but others may prefer to keep things in line with the KISS principle. And nobody that is serious about headlights references AlphaRex, those products are a complete joke for amateurs that don't know better.

This upgrade isn't about 'looking sick' like projectors. It is about function first over form, so yes it looks like stock. If you want looks over function, this mod isn't for you.

 

AFAIK I'm running a bulb pretty similar to the top recommendation

not sure what "voltage booster" means. Seeing no mention of that word on page 1. Currently running upgraded harness.
IDK why anyone would switch away from the OEM battery the dealer sells for the truck. It's big, with lots of amps.

H1 projector retrofit will probably offer better performance for a couple bucks more

 

The Narva are not bad, but they are not the better recommended Osrams, though difference is relatively small.

But if you are not running OEM headlight assemblies, all bets are off. This is like saying you are running a high precision rifle round (your bulb) but putting it into a musket (aftermarket headlights) instead of a rifle (OEM headlights) and then complaining about accuracy and distance projection. You are using completely the wrong tool. Some aftermarket might be better than others, but nothing will match OEM performance.

An upgraded battery will not help your output at all. Running an AGM and boosting your voltage to meet required AGM charging requirements exponentially boosts halogen output, significantly increasing the power of this mod. This requires an AGM. Covered here:
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/the-northstar-agm-battery-voltage-booster-upgrade.604478/

Oww, hard pass on the H1 retros. Those are all cheap garbage sold to those that don't know better as a quick hack solution, forcing you into forever using cheap poor china halogen based HIDs. If doing a retro use a legitimate bulb base like D2S, then you can run the worlds most advanced German HIDs by Philips and Osram that make the chinese garbage by Morimoto look like kids toys.

 

So I’m running Tungsram nighthawk xenon right now. Got em for $6 back in the day. Since I got the harness in too, I’m thinking I should order up some Osram 100w. I am curious if I’ll notice a big difference. My scangauge shows 14.4 avg so I’m good on power.

 

Checkout the output chart in the original post. Yes, you'll notice a difference, especially with the ultra high power high beam.

 

I am happy to report that Little Sue, my 2012 Prerunner now has the complete to the letter Crash&Burn Headlight upgrade Mod. So Ryland, if you are reading this, I do expect a Tee shirt and window sticker! Actually got to get her out tonight pre-calibration. Very surprised at how sharp the line is from where the light is and where it is not. I look forward to calibration, but even as is there is a very noticeable improvement over OEM stock. I think the thing I like most at this point is the fact that it is such an improvement, but not over the top. As in causing unsafe on coming driving conditions. I will report back and take better representation photos of the output once everything is said and done.

Forgive the format of the photos, it was hard to concentrate on what I was doing with my wife Angie screaming, WE ARE GOING TO DIE! WE ARE GOING TO DIE!

FYI, the top pic is high beam and the bottom low.

 

I ordered the bulbs off Amazon for $9 each. Hopefully they aren't the Chinese version ones... but It's gonna take about 2-3 weeks before I receive it since it's shipping from the UK. Can't wait to do the install. I'll include before and after light output pics when I'm done.

 

Not the best pics but looks solid. The reach the high beams is on point and the low beams provide excellent beam saturation.

Shipping from the UK I'd expect them to be German. Headlight Services appears to have them domestically if wanting them sooner.

 

Yeah, I kinda crapped up by not taking the time for before and after pics. Ryland's wright up has a few comparisons that offer good references. The whole install was enjoyable. I would sagest having a can of spray electrical contact cleaner and tube of dielectric grease on hand. I have a habit of cleaning any contact point I disconnect when servicing or modding. That and where applicable adding just a touch of dielectric grease to contact points. I used it ultra sparingly on the bulb connections as I did not know how good of an idea it was in higher heat Halogen bulb applications.

I think they are back in stock at Crash&Burn's link, and they are offering a 25% discount through or until March. https://www.powerbulbs.com/us/product/osram-super-bright-premium-h4 Hold the phone,,, I just saw where they say they are not shipping to the US right now. FYI

As to the Amazon Osrams, and how to tell a counterfeit anything from OEM. Here I am completely at a loss after what I saw with the Amazon sparkplug thing. The boxes and even the plug bodies were indistinguishable one from the other yet one was OEM and the other unknown counterfeit.

However, I would suggest actually reaching out to Osram and have them run the serial numbers, etc to confirm their legitimacy. This way you will have peace of mind with your purchase.

 

What about this little peach? Relay through Australia or something?

 

LOL, I just saw and posted the same thing! Sorry if I caused undue hope, a little crazy around here right now, and thanks for the info.

 

Thanks @crashnburn80 for this thread!

FYI - I ordered the Headlight Services ground switched harness for my 99 Tacoma, and Mike has now switched to Pickers relays (as he notes on his website).


I also picked up TYC CAPA cert headlamp assys (to replace my original yellow and hazy units), and Osram 100/90W Super Brights. Working on completing the installation and taking constant exposure condition pics to show the brightness differences.

And does anyone know the reason for Powerbulbs.com not currently shipping to US, and how much longer it might last? I found this post that shows the same condition back on Jul 30 of this year, so I suppose its already been 5 months.

 

Interesting on the relay change. I know he is a stickler for quality, I'm curious if that has something to do with possible supply chain issues on the Bosch units.

I'd strongly recommend OEM assemblies. Aftermarket (even CAPA) can vary significantly, see post #2541 for an example of TYC aftermarket vs OEM.

Powerbulbs stopped shipping to the USA part way thought covid. Unsure. Domestic BulbsAmerica also sells the Superbrights, though are currently out of stock:
https://www.bulbamerica.com/product...super-bright-premium-off-road-automotive-bulb

Headlight Services also sells the SuperBrights as well though at a higher price point. But last I heard I believe they had stock domestically.