1996 Taco, what should I do about my headlights?

Again, I would generally just avoid buying your car parts off Amazon. As with headlights, there aren't many, if any, good viable options for GOOD quality lights/housings for our trucks. The manufacturers are FAR more concerned about what looks cool vs. performance and reliability.

Switching to LED turn signals also require a new LED specific flasher relay. Those are usually $15-$20 and can be readily found at most auto parts stores.

IMO, you'd be better off getting some individual bulbs from a place like superbightLEDs and sticking with OEM housings + the flasher relay.

 

Appreciate the feedback bro. I'm not looking for those "sick" lights, just some brighter ones. Check out the links I placed above. The lights are just done for, i cleaned and even got a new bulb and they are way too dim for me, especially where I live there's a lot of dark roads with minimal lights. The only "sick" lights I was thinking of doing are the taillights above, just cause they add style to what I want my final build to be.

 

Yeah, that should be plug and play. Even if the harness wires aren't as advertised it's pretty likely that they are bigger than the OEM ones and you're not putting strain of using bigger bulbs on the factory headlight switch with the relay harness. It should be pre-wired to adapt the factory H6054 sealed beam pinout to the H4 pinout. they use the same plug but have different pinouts.

FWIW I used this harness from Octane, 9 years later I believe both relays have been replaced. I think I may have had to swap a couple pins where they connect to the harness since H4 and bulbs and the factory H6054 are different as I mentioned above\

$50 Octane Lighting H4 100w Ceramic Fused PnP Heavy Duty Automotive Wiring Harness Headlight Foglight Booster Relay 12v

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00BMN30HY?ie=UTF8#customerReviews

 

a 95-97 with sealed beams has no "OEM housing" when the bulb burns out you replace the whole thing, glass, reflector, and all. There is no bulb to replace like a 98+ Tacoma has. a H4 housing with a glass lens is an appropriate upgrade and gives you a wide variety of bulb choices.

 

yeah i was confused at what he was saying lol

 

on the 98+ trucks there's a plastic headlight housing that can get foggy/yellow after years of heat and UV exposure. If they're not cracked polishing it and coating it with clear is better than buying an aftermarket replacement. No such problem on the 97 and older Tacomas with glass sealed beam housings.

That said the sealed beams have an inferior power and beam pattern compared to a 5x7 H4 housing as I showed in my previous posts

 

Loved seeing your truck in TFL!

 

alrighty, i think I am going to buy those housings, the bulbs and a relay ground harness.

 

If you want "style" with your tail lights, you are most likely going to compromise on function and reliability. As I (and crashnburn + many others) have said, most of these aftermarket manufacturers don't bother to do a lot of R&D and just design something that looks cool and will sell units. I'm not really saying don't do it, but as I said in one of my other posts here, I would at least steer clear of Amazon for your car parts. Go to a car parts retailer, or even a Toyota or truck specialist.

Could they be brighter? Of course. Always. But a common misconception is that brighter = better. But what really matters is WHERE the light goes. And that will only come with high quality lights (most likely not found on Amazon). Too many chances for counterfeit, Amazon doesn't really seem to care what they sell you.

Here's a few pics to illustrate what I mean.

This is from my old (original OEM) housings with "restored" fogged over lenses. Notice you can see my gutters illuminated. In other words, the "restoration/polishing" kits did absolutely squat and my light beam is very badly scattered. These are low beams, btw...


Now this is after replacing both housings with ~$45 (ea) CAPA certified housings from Rock Auto (next best thing to the $100+ factory OEM), and I swapped in the same exact bulb as the above pic:


Notice that now you can barely even see the sign on my garage door. So same exact light output, but now it's only being directed where it is supposed to (the ground, not the sky). Same total output but only in one direction means that light is brighter. The bulbs are nothing fancy, just some ~$25 Sylvanias. This is the setup I drive on dark rural mountain roads on a daily basis. City driving you really don't even need headlights to see the road anyway, lol.

So for me at least, when the stock lights still illuminate deer from plenty far away, the cost to get something significantly "better" (i.e. brighter) than stock (like HID retrofit) is simply not worth the cost. As said earlier, since you have the sealed beams you have a few more options available because the housings are a more "universal" fit with more aftermarket support, but I still generally don't trust most of the manufacturers to build something beyond what looks "cool" *especially* the stuff you see on Amazon.

Definitely do yourself a favor and shop specialist retailers, not Amazon.

 

EDIT:

The part I was talking about oem housings and leds was referring to the tail lights, NOT headlights.

 

I'm referring to the tail lights and turn signals in that post, not your sealed beam headlights, which I talk about in another post.

 

I have a '95 2.7 L and I went with the E-code Hella housings and some Phillips bulbs. still the same wattage as stock but it does put out more light and was only about $125. Every aftermarket option that I've seen is really tacky and doesn't suit the truck at all. In my personal opinion, you should go the route that I went, but instead upgrade the wiring and get higher wattage bulbs. It should be more than enough for you and the truck will still look nice.

 

what relay harness did you get?

 

I didn't get one since I just used stock wattage bulbs (55/65 I believe). I've seen a website that sells the harness for first gen Tacomas that can support high wattage halogen bulbs though. I think it costs around $100.

 

Damn the truck is as old as I am. Keep it as close to stock looking as you can, it will look way better, like when it comes to new wheels also either the stock ones or steelies will always look best! Get rid of the chrome a bit if you want with some of those aftermarket headlights but dont do some projector retrofits. It just doesn't flow right with old trucks i dont think.

But congrats on the truck i am jealous id love a nice "low milage" 1st gen!

 

mind sending some links of everything you got? everywhere im seeing says that if im gonna get the hellas im gonna need an H4 relay or is that only with 100/80W bulbs????

 

Yeah man she's a beauty. Gonna keep it pretty simple. Definitely gonna stick to the chrome. Shes also gold plated on all decals.

 

$100 HELLA 003427811 Hlmp Kit 190X132Mm H4 12V Ece, Multi

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001G72VIK?ie=UTF8&th=1
They were $100 when I purchased them last year.

$29 PHILIPS X-treme Vision +130% Headlight Bulbs (Pack of 2) (H4 60/55W)

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00NMEEOV2?ie=UTF8

Like I said before, it's better than stock (maybe 20%?), but if you were considering an HID retrofit before, then this wouldn't do it for you. You could pass on the bulbs I got and find upgraded wiring and get something higher wattage. I got these bulbs as a temporary fix to hold me over until I do the upgraded wiring. But too much is going on with my truck so it got delayed.

Also, it might be worth noting that Hella sells these housings as DOT or E-code. I was living in South Korea at the time so I purchased E-code, as they have pretty strict inspections that more closely adhere to the EU. Not sure where you live but if you live somewhere with strict regulations, then you might wanna get the DOT housings. However, I've seen people on here post that they prefer the way E-code spreads to light.

 

I'd scoop up those housings right now if I were you. It looks like the price has dropped almost 20%.

 

Waste of money