Tired of head lamp bulb replacing

Hi Gang, I have a 2011 Tacoma and I ALWAYS drive with my headlamps on because the Daytime driving lamps are a joke. Therefore I'm CONSTANTLY replacing a blown out headlamp bulb every few months. I know that there are a lot of LED replacement bulbs on the market. Does anyone have a suggestion for a bulb that does not require any or at least a minimal about of alteration to the existing wiring, etc. I'm not looking to spend a lot for the replacements either. Hopefully a little over $100 for the set. Thanks in advance.

 

Please don't run LEDs in your reflector housing.

 

x2

 

x3

Dont be that asshole blinding everyone with LED headlings.

As far as the DRL's MAYBE some leds in there to deal with burning the housings.

 

Couldn't you just upgrade the DRL's? LED's in halogen housings are never ideal. I got a set of LED DRL's from a vendor on here named Jumpers LED's. Bright enough to light the road up amber when just the DRL's are on.They are considerably brighter and were about $60. Lots cheaper than replacing headlights every few months.
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Replacing bulbs every few months? That doesn't sound right. Are these off-brand bulbs?

 

I thought that too, can usually get at least a year out of a bulb when on all the time depending on how much its driven I suppose.

 

Get brand-name, standard/oem bulbs on Rock Auto or somewhere similar. They are like $5 each. Philips for example will work very well, and will last much longer than three months.

If you are buying "performance" bulbs, claiming to be brighter or bluer, then that is your problem. Such bulbs have drastically shorter lifetimes. You want standard headlamp bulbs. They produce better illumination too.

You could replace them 200 times before you've spent enough to buy a proper LED or HID retrofit.

Please do not run cheap LEDs. x4

 

Great post. OP, what bulbs have you been using, the ones that only last a few months? I only use my headlights at night or in bad weather, but they are the original bulbs from 2005.

BTW Ray, welcome to TW!

 

Thanks gang for the responses. I'm buying replacement SYLVANIA bulbs at an Auto Zone store. On the back of the single bulb packaging the manufacturer advises how long they will last. I believe that is around 150 hrs. They cost me around $15 a bulb. Today I bought a replacement pair at the suggestion of the counter person. He showed me that the bulbs have a ONE Year warranty. They cost about $40. Hopefully they will solve my issue. I'll let you know.

Thanks again !!

 

Any sign of fried terminals at the headlight connector? Like melted plastic?

 

sounds like cheap bulbs. A good set of phillips bulbs will last you 3-4 years.

 

3 to 4 years sounds hood, off brands will kill the light every few months

 

Dunno about Sylvania bulbs in general, but Sylvania Silverstars have been heavily hyped as brighter than standard bulbs -- and they have developed quite a reputation for having notoriously short life.
Curious, what are the $40 bulbs that the parts guy recommended? Hopefully they will be better suited for you.

 

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/the-ultimate-headlight-upgrade-h4-not-led-or-hid.398066/

 

While this is a great performance upgrade, the bulbs recommended in this thread have a shorter lifespan than OEM equivalent bulbs. Doesn't really fix the problem.

Agree that LED drop-in headlight bulbs should not be used x5, and changing over to quality LED DRL bulbs makes sense for OP's use case.

 

I can almost guarantee youre seeing bulb failures because you’re plugging 4157 NA or NAL bulbs in when the Toyota spec calls out 4157 NAK bulbs.

The NAK’s use krypton gas inside the bulb housing to keep the elements from cooking themselves. LED’s won’t work well with the Toyota lighting circuit and the other NA incandescents will burn up in a few weeks.

If you search for 4157 NAK or krypton bulbs on here you’ll see what I’m talking about. Just go grab a set of them from the Toyota dealership. I run my DRL’s daily and I haven’t had to replace my krypton bulbs for 2 years now.

 

Apparently 4157s are for DRLs, not headlamps. The OP is experiencing short life with his headlamp bulbs, which are H4 halogens.

 

Ah that’s my bad lol. I thought dude was talking about DRL’s. Thanks for the correction.