NEW 16-23 Morimoto XB Evo Headlights are here!

Yep, $1500 or $1650 with the supercharger module. ($1600+) Plus sales tax if one doesn't source them from Hotshotoffroad. That's a decent chunk for a product that still needs fuse tap/ switch modifications from the user. Plus there's the issue of the superchargers making them non compliant for those who care about that aspect.

As I mentioned the oem led swap runs about $100 for the harness and 1200-1400 for oem led headlights. Completely plug and play and retains oem controls.

 

This sounds a lot like "we removed factory control of the lights that our previous lights had, didn't tell anyone and if you don't like it well that just sucks for you."
Quite off putting to be honest...with all the harnesses they send you're telling me they couldn't add one more small relay harness or add it as an upgrade??? I call that pretty weird...at the VERY LEAST update the website to inform people that they will NO LONGER BE ABLE TO TURN DRL OFF. Youd have to tap both the drl line and the parking light line and use a diode to have full functionality of the lights in oem configuration. For guys with auto mode they gain off functionality with tapping the parking light but still don't get option of have full bright drl in drl mode at night for example. They get full bright drl in day time in auto mode, still still not actually factory control. Letting customers know this via a "NOTE:....." on website atleast would have been nice..

 

Installed mine this past weekend along with the 4Banger LED Pods. A little upsetting that the DRL/Auto mode can't be used without experiencing hyper flash when using the directionals, but I guess I will just have to get used to turning on my headlights.

 

isnt that only when parked tho? drls have to be on while driving. on my manual truck drls are off with the handbrake pulled on first startup. turn on when released and stay on until truck is shut off.

 

The factory DRL & Morimoto Gen2 DRL has the same behavior with an auto when the parking brake is engaged if it's in auto headlights mode and it is not dark enough to trigger the full headlights. If it is dark enough the full headlights turn on when the truck is started regardless of handbrake position.

 

Hyper flash should never happen on any mode if everything is installed correctly. Is it both sides? Is this a factory halogen or LED truck?

 

A lot of complaints in here from folks not even purchasing these lights (or even really interested in them at all). I think you may forget here that anything non OEM is not going to be functioning 100% like OEM. If you want OEM functionality then go for the OEM LEDs, if you want better performance and much better visuals/design, go Morimoto XB Evo. It's really not a big deal to add a fuse tap to obtain a heated lens (something OEM doesn't even offer) while also being nearly the same cost as OEM LEDs and about 15 times easier to order versus from some random dealer you can't even call via phone. Andrew has explained there were A LOT of factors here to make them play nice with all models of the Tacoma, they're all wired very differently from the factory. Remember you need a very specific custom harness to even fit OEM LEDs to a factory halogen truck, and it differs per trim model...... Morimoto sends everything you need for EVERY 3rd gen Tacoma.

I had a halogen headlight truck from factory and I had zero interest in OEM LEDs because they don't look like anything special to me, it's all a matter of preference here and I don't think there's a single mod out there that doesn't have some drawbacks to it, just the name of the game here.

That being said, these headlights are some of the highest quality I've seen out of an aftermarket company, ever, far surpassing those of many OEM brands and you can't argue that they look baller.

 

Overall I'm happy with the lights despite it may not sound that way. Just losing some control over factory functions makes it feel extremely after market. The xb i had functioned 100% as factory did so i do think it's acceptable to expect the same. The way to fix this would require a relay, and a harness that gets both pos from drl mode, and pos from parking light mode using diodes on each leg into one pos output to trigger relay. This would give full oem function of the stalk. In your photos the fog and parking lights are on which tells me you're in parking light mode and half bright drl. So tapping just that line won't make drl mode function as oem. End of the world? No. But sure would have been nice to know since their other headlights DID funtion 100% like oem.

 

I just ordered the evo hybrid version lights. I haven’t seen anyone posting in here with these hybrids installed yet. Since they don’t have the light heaters, does anyone know if you retain factory control of DRL’s on the stalk?

 

Both sides. Hyper flash only happens when the factory DRL/Auto is selected. When this is off or selected and lights are on, the hyper flash does not present. It's only when DRL/Auto is on and headlights are not on. Sorry, I forgot to mention this is a factory halogen (SX model).

 

They use the same design for the fuse tap despite no heaters, so you cannot use the stalk to turn off the DRL.

 

Now that we've had several pages of discussion on it... Could someone correct my understanding of functionality (both Evo & OEM -- I might have something mistaken, heh), using only the hardware that comes in the box & recommended installation connections? Coming from a 2018 TRD:

OEM
Stalk OFF - All off
Stalk DRL - DRLs (corner L and side bulb) on, full brightness
Stalk Auto - Lows auto-on/off, DRLs on, dimmed
Stalk ON - Lows on, DRLs on, dimmed
Brights - Highs on, DRLs on, dimmed

XB Evo (use EFI #3 and not INJ)
Stalk OFF - DRLs on
Stalk DRL - DRLs on, half brightness
Stalk Auto - Lows auto-on/off, DRLs on, full
Stalk ON - Lows auto-on/off, DRLs on, full
Brights - Brights on, DRLs on, full

No option to have DRLs OFF, or DRLs on at full brightness w/o headlights with XB Evo/Hybrid while using the wiring and installation in the box, would have to do extra work to tap existing DRL wiring where it exists, or some other solution?

To be clear, I *think* I'm okay with that, positives outweigh it all for me, just want to be sure I don't need to grab some other hardware to end up with the results I'm expecting

 

What youre experiencing is correct and "normal" according to mori despite not telling any of their customers. Essentially if truck is on, drl is on. You don't get off control. For now I will be powering the tap line w a relay that is signalled from truck on (essentially the same as their tap harness add a fuse) and have a switch on it for if i want drl off but truck on, but to gain full oem function youd need a harness that takes the pos signal from both drl and parking light w diodes that have 1 output so it works in all modes and has drl be full bright in drl mode and off is still off.

The big takeaway here is if you want full bright drl, then drl is on if truck is on. Period. To change that requires custom wiring. Tapping the parking light line does not achieve this. Mori needs to atleast update their website to inform customers of this or this complaint will just perpetuate.

 

DRLs dim when the parking lights are on, so also dim with low and high beams. They’re full intensity when the parking lights are off and the stalk is either in DRL OFF or AUTO modes.

 

Roger that, appreciate it. Personally, I drive with DRLs on all the time anyway, so it's not a gripe for me (except perhaps the dimming on DRL-only and downgrade on side illumination from the Stage 2's I'm currently running, which I can deal with). I definitely understand the frustration, though.

 

Thanks! So for me, I currently drive around with DRLs on, or more accurately Parking Lights (but it's basically my DRL toggle), so running with the stalk "OFF" would achieve the same effect for me, driving with the XBs?

 

Exactly, so no signal from the truck (“off”), the DRL still gets its ignition switched source via the fuse tap. Then when you turn either parking or low beams on, or the truck does it via light sensor in “auto”, it’ll dim down.

 

Awesome, sounds like it'll be par for the course, for me at least! Might have to adjust the muscle memory, or just leave it in 'auto' all the time, but that's a small price to pay!

Appreciate the extra explanation on it!

 

I went back through the installation and everything was done correctly. I did move the fuse tap from EFI to the INJ fuse slot, but that did not change the hyper flash.

Lights on - no hyper flash
Parking lights only - hyper flash
DRL/Auto - hyper flash
Lights off - no hyper flash

This is a full halogen truck and I confirmed the harness I used has only 5 connectors on it with both sides exhibiting the same behavior.