The ultimate headlight upgrade H4 (not LED or HID)

So I purchased the wiring harness and upgraded to the bulbs you recommended back in 2019.
I've got the itch again to make the color temperature the same with all my lights. I also lime the blacked out housing look with Hex Halos.
Up to this point I've just used amber lights for everything else so OCD doesn't kick in.
I'm adding 4Runner mirrors with LED switchback turn signals that have the bright white color temp.
Reading over some of the post again and seeing that if one wanted to go with a projector, that the RX350 is what's recommended but I mostly see writeups for the 2nd Gens and above.
Is the RX 350 an option for the 1st Gen?
Does it work well, anyone done it?
I tried locating any comparison between your Ultimate Headlight Upgrade vs the RX350's but couldn't find anything.
Am I still just better off running what I have?
Am I taking full benefits of the Ultimate Headlight Upgrade without the updated battery and charger?
Any help would be great!

 

Switchback turn signals in the mirrors? Any way to just run them as amber?

The RX350 is widely regarded as one of the best performing projectors, especially for its smaller foot print. You'll notice in retrofitting a lot of what is easy or common is also complete garbage. Mini H1 which is a common go-to for retrofitters is a complete joke. It is a halogen Chinese projector advertised as HID (thought its not, it is halogen) and then you must run halogen based HIDs (which there are none that are legitimate) and you go down this terrible path of crap products compounding on more crap so you end up with a dumpster of garbage.

RX350 review is posted in #5502. They are 3rd Gen retros, but the retro output is the same regardless of the assembly.

2nd Gen Ultimate Headlight Upgrade vs RX350 running advanced Philips +150 D2S bulbs


Yeah, not even close. The halogen measurements do not account for higher voltage from an HD harness or the possible gain from a voltage booster, but the combined advantage would be around 18%, or roughly 2042 lux. Still way below 2975 lux of the RX350s running the most advanced Philips +150 D2S bulbs at the time (greatly boosting performance over standard bulbs). Osram has since released an even higher performing D2S Night breaker laser Next Gen. "Next Gen" being the key differentiator over the older bulbs.

Also unfortunately for 1st Gen, the headlights are not as good as 2nd Gen. Remember that larger reflectors are more efficient and performant than smaller ones all other things being equal, and 2nd Gen has larger assemblies. Most my post reference 2nd Gen output as those are my test assemblies.

1st Gen (2003) vs 2nd Gen (2015) running Osram Night Breaker +200s


You can see that 2nd Gen has about 18.7% higher output running the same bulbs compared to 1st Gen.

Also note that 6000k LED signals are still not going to match ~4300k HIDs.

 

First, thank you @crashnburn80 for the response.

I understand what you are saying about the size of the headlights when it comes to having a halogen bulb installed reflecting off the housing to project light. When it come to running a projector, I don't understand how that's relevant. The projector is what focuses the light, not the housing correct?

I wasn't to sure about what bulb options there were so that I could get the color temps to be close. I also have not seen a picture head on with a projector and the HID bulbs mentioned and and LED light bar or from inside the truck with HID's and an LED light bar.

I may end up just having to upgrade the battery and see if there's a way to have the mirrors run amber only. Would suck to get the mirrors and not be able to though.

 

My point in mentioning the assembly sizes and bulbs was merely that the comparison data and numbers presented in this thread are from the 2nd Gen assemblies, which perform better than 1st Gen. So the comparison between 2nd Gen vs RX350 will have an even greater delta when looking at 1st Gen vs RX350. It doesn't matter for the retrofit, just the baseline of where you are at now.

Unfortunately I did not capture a picture of the RX350 projector assemblies running with bulbs on when I had them. But the color temps are measured and reported in the data posts.

Here is an image demonstrating the color temp difference, pulled off the internet. OEM LEDs are 6000k, HID is naturally 4300k. (Ignore the 8000k nonsense).



The highest performing HIDs are going to be in the mid-4000k range, as that is the natural color state, the Original Osram +200 and the Philips +150 are 4500 and 4600k respectively. You can see the exact color temps in the posts I linked. It is possible to color shift HID to get higher color temps, but performance goes down the further away you get from the natural 4300k color temp. As such the color shifted HIDs are 'styling bulbs'. No reputable brands make a 6000k HID bulb that I am aware of to match LED, those will primarily be Chinese aftermarket. So not only will you incur output loss from color shifting, the quality will be greatly reduced as well resulting in even further losses of output and likely bulb life.

Based specifically on what you are looking for in going HID, you might consider Philips Xenon WhiteVision Gen2. It's a 5000k bulb (not 6000k) but from one of the best manufactures and Philips claims it is a +120. Its not a true performance bulb, but it will likely do better than other 5000k bulbs moving you closer to the 6000k look while minimizing the negative effects on output.
https://www.powerbulbs.com/us/product/philips-xenon-whitevision-gen2-d2s-single

What is the function of the white light on the 4runner mirrors, and which mirrors are you looking at? Signals would obviously be amber.

 

I am assuming because you recommended these HID's, I shouldn't put LED's in the RX350's.

Another reason I started looking into retrofitting again was because I installed Morimoto Headlights and Grille on my F150. It is 100 times better than stock. I did read you were not impressed with the ones made for the Tacoma.



Before I thought to catch up on this thread and read the last 40 pages, this is what I was looking at...
https://www.morimotohid.com/morimoto-m-led-2-projectors?quantity=1

The white light on the mirror I guess acts like a parking light and switches to amber when the turn signal is hit.
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/revier-3rd-gen-4runner-mirror-on-first-gen-tacoma.696904/

This is what she's looks like currently. The Osram Super Bright 100/90w 2900 lumen H4s and upgraded wiring harness. No battery upgrade as of yet.



I'm putting a TRD Grille in with lighted Toyota letters and putting the SS3 fogs on. I may change out the bumper and have not decided on if I'll keep the LED light bar.

 

Correct, you shouldn't put LEDs in there. No offense intended here at all (so really please don't take it that way), but I don't think I have ever heard such a blasphemous suggestion.

The OEM Toyota RX350 projectors are a halo product, the exceptional performance benchmark in the sky that nothing can touch. HID projectors require omnidirectional output from HID bulbs to work properly. No pnp LED comes remotely close to HID output and none provide anything even remotely comparable to the omnidirectional output of HID, which is required for an HID projector. The best LEDs fire emitters to the two sides illuminating a small portion of the projector area. They will have a small fraction of the output of HID, the illumination will be garbage because they don't illuminate omnidirectionally like HID lighting only a small fraction of the projector, and the focus will be trash because they don't accurately replicate an HID bulb. It will be a dumpster fire with terrible output, but good thing you spent high end top dollar on the best OEM halo HID projectors available so you could to drive them into the ground with trash LED lighting products. Just no. So much no.

/End rant. Again, no offense intended here. But you definitely want to stick to HIDs in an HID projector.

If you really wanted 6000k with HID, you'd be so much better off going with a poor quality Chinese 6000k HID bulb. Yeah, it will be crap compared to the real German performance HIDs, but it will be 100x better than putting PnP LEDs in such a nice HID projector.

Right. Because the Ford F150 has absolutely terrible LED headlights, whereas the Tacoma has incredible headlights. So while those Morimotos seem like an upgrade on the Ford, they are a downgrade on the Toyota, because Toyota's headlight lighting products are vastly superior over the F150 and Morimoto. And the OEM Toyota LED 4runner headlights are significantly higher performing than even the outstanding Tacoma LEDs. Morimoto simply does not compare to OEM Toyota, even thought it might seems like an upgrade on lower quality brands. Even so, the Morimotos lack uplight, it isn't a correct headlight pattern. The F150 is a difficult platform due to lack of good options, but if the model year is in the correct range Diode Dynamics makes replacement LED assemblies that do include compliant uplight unlike Morimoto. They are pricey though.

M-LED do not have uplight. They are not a legitimate headlight projector, just another import with higher than average output. It's unfortunate because with engineered uplight it would appear to be a decent product. But definitely not recommended, the RX350 will be better.

It's note clear to me what the white function is there. Running lights should be amber, signals should be amber. So the white light is for? If going that route I'd consider only hooking up the signal light. But honestly this seems like a solution in search of a problem. You are talking about changing the entire light setup on your truck for some mirrors which don't use the correct light output as a running light.

 

No offense taken.
I'm asking you because you seem the to the Guru on Tacoma lighting and lighting in general. Ive even seen you trying to educate the people who make and sell these items.
Still trying to decide what I want to do. I do need to call TRS to see if X5-R 2.0 SWITCHBACK LED shroud will work with the RX350.
I'll also check with them on the right ballast.
Thank you for all the help.

 

On the ballast, I'd not recommend the Denso units I used in the RX350 post because they lack waterproofing. In their original application they are protected from the elements, in a retrofit they are not. You can waterproof them, but instead I'd look for another OEM ballast that is waterproofed as OEM. Lots of other options out there.

 

Gentlemen, I'm hoping someone can shed some light on my confusion.

It seems like some of these high-output bulbs people here are selecting are not DOT-approved (ie osram 100/90w).

If I want to upgrade a to a top of the line bulb that IS DOT-approved is the wiring harness upgrade needed? I'm not opposed to reading things on my own. I couldn't manage to find information that summarized this particular aspect.


Other questions I didn't seem to find when searching, links or nudges in the right direction would be appreciated.
1. DRL (2nd gen bulb upgrade?)
2. Reverse light upgrade (2nd. gen)

Thank you all in advance

 

@crashnburn80 this is your area.

 

The max legal nominal wattage is 60/55w for this bulb base. 60w high beam, 55w low beam. The bulb recommendations for legal wattage bulbs are covered in the stock wattage bulb section of the original post. To summarize, you have a couple options:
-Philips Racing Vision +200 H4, this bulb has the best stock wattage low beam, however the high beam output is reduced due to a blue coating over the high beam filament
-Tungsram Platinum, Tungsram Xenon +120 or Tungsram Megalight +120 9003/H4, in that order. These bulbs have improved low beam over stock and no blue coating over the high beam filament. The low beam from the Racing Visions is a fair amount better than these options, but these do not reduce high beam output.

The wiring harness is not required for stock wattage bulbs. It will provide a small performance improvement to the stock wattage bulb though. Another way to boost performance is boost the alternator voltage, which requires an AGM battery. This will provide a greater voltage increases than just the harness. (The voltage booster is not a replacement for the harness when using high wattage bulbs).
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/the-northstar-agm-battery-voltage-booster-upgrade.604478/

1) DRL I would leave as a stock incandescent. Bulbs dim over time, so just putting in a fresh set can make them brighter. For those bulbs they are available in an "NA" and "A" designation. "NA" means natural amber, or amber glass. "A" means amber, which is clear glass painted amber. The NA bulbs will have a richer amber color, and A bulbs tend to have the paint/coating flake off over time making them appear lighter in color.
2) Reverse light halogen upgrade covered here: https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/gy6-35-hir-921-reverse-light-upgrade-vs-high-power-leds.474996/

 

top notch brother thank you

 

There are people who have run higher wattage and/or otherwise non-approved bulbs (ex: HIR) in their headlights across multiple vehicles for multiple decades, and have never had anyone question them in about it any way.

I think that proper aiming and beam pattern are key to doing this. And a bulb that is designed for the light it's being put in goes a long way towards that.

 

4 months and today the driver's side has hyperflash going to check out warranty as they state 1 year warranty. Will up date.

 

@crashnburn80

I think you showed the light output data for Led Projector Headlight Bulbs found on Amazon. I believe it was this one. I can't seem to find it again.

 

Hyper flash on passenger side now. Sent email about warranty and replyed sending replacement out. After I sent out 1st. they responded that they will send out both replacements and I will send 2nd back to them.
Keep you posted.

 

The design on these is so stupid it's not even worth wasting the time to test.

Regardless of the type of lightsource, time and time again test data here (and elsewhere on the web, rip hidplanet fwiw) shows that larger lamps, with larger optics work better than smaller lamps.

At best these are a very tiny "high beam" lamp. Why would a high beam projector thats an inch in diameter have a snowballs chance at working better than a large 6-7" diameter reflector with a nearly unobstructed 360* view of the high beam filament?

These type of H4/9003 insert projectors have a few major issues.

- Most (not all, but most) H4/9003 type lamps use a built in glare shield, so assuming this lamp can even fit in the reflector, where does the front facing aspheric lens point? Right into the backside of the only nominally reflective surface of the glare cap. So, no highbeam.

-H4/9003 bulbs offset the lowbeam filament below and offset to one side of the high beam filament. The basic idea of the reflector design is to more optimally focus the high beam filament- the low beam filament is offset, by a small amount, shifting the beam patterns "hotspot." H4/9003 low beam filaments are also positioned under a small cutoff shield. This limits the performance potential of the low beam filament, because it's directly blocking 40% or more the light emmitted by the filament- however this shield is also precisely positioned to create the low beam horizontal cutoff. The filament plscement and glare shield work together to create the beam pattern.

The projector bulb simply has a too large, flat plate to form a correct horizontal cutoff. Additionally, the emission pattern of the "low beam" LED emitter won't be able to light up the portions of the reflector that form the entire low beam.

Don't. Waste. Your. Money.

 

Are the light output numbers provided by the seller? If so, I highly doubt they're anything close to real / actual. Can't find them anymore? I'm going to go way out on a limb and postulate that it's because they were junk. Bulbs like this are common gimmicks designed more to impress the uneducated than to actually improve your lighting. I wouldn't waste @crashnburn80's time - unless you want to provide him a bulb to test.

 

No, for all the reasons @Toy_Runner mentioned, there is nothing remotely redeeming about those products. I have run many LED tests in the 3rd Gen OEM halogen projectors (maybe what you were thinking of?), and in halogen projectors even the very best LEDs are easily beat by performance halogens.

 

Well warrenty works got the new replacements for the DRL/turnsignals in to day and installed. Lets see if they last longer than 4 months this time.