Projector beam bulb replacement

I recently replaced the stock halogen bulbs in my projector beam headlights with xenon pro LEDs. I feel like the new lights are much worse and don’t shine as far, although it’s a much brighter bulb. Is this what happens with the projector beams? I’m not sure if this is a common issue or not, or if you’re just not supposed to swap the bulbs. The high-beams work very well, and i suspect that is because those are reflectors, not projectors. Thanks

 

There's a large thread on LED and HID replacements. But a few key takeaways to remember is that your headlight housings are optimized for the filament of that halogen bulb. That means both size and placement. Any deviance from that is going to result in excessive glare and improper light throw. No aftermarket LED bulb can perfectly replicate the filament placement and size of a halogen, but some do much better than others. And no, it's not limited to projector housings. If anything, projectors allow you to get away with more glare than a standard reflector housing would.

 

I saw that thread and read a bunch of it. Are there any bulbs that are basically universally recommended for the projectors? The Xenon’s cost me a small fortune so I wouldn’t be opposed to returning them

 

Going off what @crashnburn80 says in his posts, if you’re going to go with drop in LEDs, you need to get the Hikari Ultra H11 Eye of Megatron or the Morimoto H11 2stroke 3.0.

Hikari UltraFocus H11 H8 H9 LED Bulbs,18000LM,32W Prime ZES LED Equivalent to 120W Ordinary LED,High Performance LED Kit,Halogen Upgrade Replacement,Canbus Ready,6000K, H16 Foglight https://a.co/d/bW2xQ7q

Morimoto LED Bulb, H11 2Stroke 3.0, Universal Upgrade for Forward Lighting & Fog Lights, Compatible with Daytime Running Lights, Pure White Plug and Play Replacement, Adjustable Collar (1x LED1523) https://a.co/d/30YSB6n

 

There are a couple of recommendations in the thread. I believe one is from Morimoto. Personally, I use the Headlight Revolution S-V.4 and love them. They were not tested in that thread, at least last I saw. But the chip position is pretty spot on with a halogen bulb...or at least as far as LEDs go. Take Headlight Revolution's reviews with a grain of salt though. They are owned by a larger company that also owns other headlight companies so they're in the game of selling bulbs. I'd consult the LED thread for the test results.

Also remember: your eye is more sensitive to scotopic light at night, which is more of a white/blue color. This is part of why LEDs will appear brighter despite the LUX readings being lower than a halogen. Assuming your light throw is correct that is. If your light throw is not correct, you'll have excessive glare to onconing vehicles and you'll also produce more foreground light giving the illusion that your lights are a lot brighter when the lighting distance is actually garbage.

 

Just do the H9's, high beam lamp in your low. Super easy install. Just pull, green adapter out of low beam plug. Plug in new h9, and install. Huge improvement. Get German made Phillips lamp.

 

The takeaway of that thread is use Philips H9 instead of H11 and ether cut the tab out of the lamp or pop the inner cap out of the plug

 

+1 for Hikari Ultra LED bulbs (white box). They’re so good i bought 3 sets for my Tacoma & 3 sets for my sisters Tacoma. 4 years later & all still perfectly working.

 

I agree, my Uncle has them in his 2016 and he likes them. When i have driven his at night a few times I was impressed and I think my Diode Dynamics performed just as well.

 

Another thing to make sure of is that your LEDs are lined up correctly in the housing. That will also distort the light throw.

I briefly mentioned scotopic light earlier. I'll add that LEDs start having more scotopic light content than halogens around color temp 3800K and above. The increased sensitivity to scotopic light means you need less light output for the same perceived light output. Most LEDs operate around 5500K. Just to illustrate that LUX readings aren't the end-all-be-all.

 

Please read: https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/3rd-gen-hid-vs-led-vs-halogen-h11-projector-headlights.589465/