3rd Gen HID vs LED vs Halogen H11 projector headlights

Yes, those are the ones I'm using. But the electrodes under one of the plugins is where the problem is, not the plastic. The MAIN housing that holds everything together. The outside finger of plastic that holds the electrodes in on each side and then you slid that yellow cap over everything in the center. One side of the plugin is too loose to hold the bulb tightly on one of its legs and thus arcs. The only way to tighten that connection would be to replace the entire plugin unit. Unless there is a way to repair it...

 

They are called terminals, or in the case of female terminals, sockets.
You de-pin ( https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/headlight-connectors-one-pair.721712/ ) then replace the plastic and while you have the terminals exposed you can squeeze them with needlenose and test-fit a bulb.
95% chance they are fine but at this point if they are destroyed, cracked, etc you could cut, strip and crimp new terminals. I can supply terminals if that's what you desire, though I would have to hunt for them and you'd need a crimping tool.

 

Hello there looking to get rid of my cheap LEDs are the lights posted from a few years ago still relevant or are there bettter ones now? Thanks

 

Pretty sure the current recommendation for headlights is Phillips h9s (~$20) in the low beams or oem led housings ($1k-1.4k) and that both are a marked improvement over any LED bulb in a halogen housing

 

Yep, or the Tungsram Platinums if wanting a plug and play H11, but the Philips H9s are slightly higher performing.

 

How about these? GE Megalight Ultra +130 H11 Still top pick?

 

GE sold off its automotive lighting division to Tungsram a while back. Same product, new owner. Same performance.

 

GE/Tungsram performance goes:
Platinums> Xenon +120> Megalight +130

The Platinums are the top pick for H11.

 

If memory serves me (and it's getting worse in my advanced age) the SR / SR5 used H16 assemblies 2016+, the pre-2020 TRD trucks used "wide angle" aka H11 lamps. It's an easy way to save money, likely similar to how some of the trucks were de-contented with the remove of bed pockets, no cubby left of the steering wheel, etc.

My wife had a 2016 Mazda CX-5 that had absolutely horrid halogen projectors with a laser sharp cutoff with effectively no uplight that drove me batty. Any time you'd go slightly uphill your light output went down to zero.

What's your take on lamp longevity? Obviously an OEM has to have some level of expected hours on an LED assembly which the average aftermarket unit likely will not be able to match. Is DD the type of company that would factor that into their product? Ultimately without having access to their internal documents its' guessing at best, but I'm curious what the general feel is on those units.

 

Correct, plus all 2016+ Canadian trucks are H16 regardless of trim.

Uplight is absolutely necessary, and so heavily overlooked in aftermarket. Way to many IG types showing off their razor sharp cut offs thinking it looks cool, not realizing they are showing why their headlights are actually poor.

The units are not even out yet, so difficult to say. As far as aftermarket composite lamps go; the Elite series headlights have an 8 year warranty, made/assembled in the USA. Morimoto has a 5 year warranty made/assembled in Taiwan. Most all other brands are a 2 year warranty made in China, sometimes with exclusions like exterior lens fading not being covered. Reputable LEDs should have a 50,000 hour lifespan, which is basically vehicle lifetime, it then comes down to all the supporting electronics to last that long.

I’m not a fan of relying on warranties, you can buy some garbage products with a good warranty, and then be highly inconvenienced dealing with the warranty process. Having some of the most expensive aftermarket assemblies, made/assembled in the USA (the only aftermarket company to make composite headlights in the USA) with the best aftermarket composite headlamp warranty on the market sounds like a promising direction for quality.

 

My 2020 OR Canadian truck was H11, now thanks to you, H9

 

H11 referencing fogs. All 3rd Gens used H11 low beams, except OEM LED.

 

Yes low beam, forgot which thread I was in.

 

You’re in the right headlight thread, it was just a slightly off topic fog question/answer.

 

I know it isn't a Tacoma, but tis officially the season for LED headlight failure due to snow.

 

Colorado MgCl2 crap covered halogen stock headlights and KC G4 fogs:

 

Is there a performance benefit to running yellow fogs or is it just for looks?

 

Selective Yellow cuts through (for, rain, snow, sand/dust) better than full spectrum white light and way better than 6000K+ typical LED automotive lighting
the higher the color temperature the shorter the wavelength the more it scatters and reflects back at you

 

@crashnburn80 what are composite headlights just made of composite material? I’m also very dumb so excuse this if it’s a silly question

 

A bit of optical physics, I like it. Also explains why say at noon sky is blue but a sunset it is yellow to red. I digress.