The ultimate headlight upgrade H4 (not LED or HID)

Probably so he could install some Alpharex or TacomaBeast headlights.

 

I know he went aftermarket. Not sure what brand, but most likely from eBay. Good for me though.

 

Hey Crash!, thanks for the posting!

do you happen to know if the 2012 Tacoma has TRD Pro Tail Lights too?

 

Welcome to the forum. The 2nd Gen Pro tail lights were not any different than the standard LED tail lights that came on the other trims. I believe the 2009-2015 all had the same LED tails.

 

So looks like the headlights were the only difference. Thanks again for getting back so quickly.

 

Speaking in terms of differences in just lighting, that is correct.

 

@crashnburn80 I really liked the change in my Tacoma after using the Phillips bulbs you recommended. Is there anything similar for a 2017 F150 that you know of? Not sure if you
have come across any good upgrades for those trucks. The Phillips were a huge improvement for my Tacoma.

 

I'm pretty sure @toledoupsguy will chime in here to help you.

 

If I'm seeing it correctly, the 2017s take H11s for low beam. So you could do the same Philips standard H9 swap as recommended on 3rd Gen for maximum performance, they are rated nominally at 65w but actually pull 75w. Unfortunately that generation F150 headlight is pretty bad, IIHS gives them the worst possible rating, so upgraded bulbs will only get you so much. But an H9 swap should be a substantial improvement.

 

Dang, yeah they’re pretty weak. Seem brighter than my stock Tacoma headlights were though. I have some DD fog replacements on the way to help a bit.

Do you think the extra wattage from the H9 will harm anything?

 

No, the H9s will not harm anything.

 

I’m about to recreate the ultimate headlight upgrade on the Honda beater we bought recently. It runs H4 bulbs…..

 

Genuinely curious. Has anyone compared holly retrobrights sealed beams vs e code h4s running 100w bulbs?
My mr2 will probably get retrobrites because less wiring, but my 95 taco seriously needs an upgrad and I’ve got the h4 conversion lights from the mr2 to use (they’re the other good ones. Can’t think of the name off hand but it starts with a C)

 

Thats been on a wish list to get too, but nowhere near there at this time. This is interesting though, see Virgil's post #9:
https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/holley-retrobright-headlamps-good-bad-or-ugly.478539/

However I have also heard first hand from another highly knowledgable individual that has personally tested them, that the Retrobrights were decent. Pretty different accounts. So it may depend on the assembly used on the Retrobrights as they are available in several different configurations.

I'd be surprised if they beat out a quality H4 setup with upgraded bulbs. As for not wanting to run a harness/wiring, consider just running the Philips Racing Vision +200s instead. Plug and play and a big improvement over stock. They do have reduced output high beam due to the blue coating over the high beam filament, if that is important the Tungsram Platinum +120s would be a better choice though the low beam won't be as strong as the Philips.

 

I have been curious about the Retrobrights for my MR2 as well. I currently have the Hella ECE housings with Tungsram H4’s. It’s better than the sealed beams that were in there before, but still not great. From what I’ve seen, the Hella SAE housing’s have a better beam pattern. I haven’t tried it out, so I don’t have personal experience.

https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/5x7-sealed-beam-conversion.467123/

I don’t drive my MR2 at night on long drives much so I haven’t dedicated a whole lot of time to upgrading lighting any further. One of the challenges is how low the lights are too. If you’re anything like me, I don’t care for the styling of most LED 5x7’s on the MR2. They just look out of place with the multiple projectors or some other styles.

 

I want the oem esk look. Too modern will clash with the old school fogs

October my headlight assemblies show up. The old ones were rotted bad. So no lights currently lol

 

Anything’s an ultimate upgrade right now lol

 

The E-code or ECE Hella units have a strong low beam, but the high beam is supposedly misaligned with the low beam, so it is aimed too high if the low beams are aimed correctly. This isn’t an issue on the SAE units.

 

Are you going with the Retrobrights? If so, I'm very curious what your thoughts are when you get them!

 

I have a set here I picked up from a. Friend. We’re going to try them when the assemblies get here