DRL bulb ?

Glass is a great insulator.
That also means that when it gets hot, it stays hot.

 

Not difficult, but not cheap.
An aluminum "Doghouse" resistor can be mounted to the radiator support, and has a built-in heat sink, but for continuous service, I would AT LEAST double the wattage requirement, and 7 ohm 50+ watt doghouse resistors are not cheap.

 

http://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/1879363-6/1879363-6-ND/2367181

10 ohm, 75w, $10.

 

Replace the lamp with an LED and tap the resistor in parallel with the LED.
That'll present a "normal" draw on the stock flasher.

Alternatively, you could run a 1-ohm 25 watt resistor in series with the stock lamp.
It'll knock the wattage down a hair, but should still provide enough draw for the flasher module.

 

My 2007 only has 2 wires going to the DRL bulb and only uses the high (28 watts) filament. One of my lenses just started showing signs of getting too hot. As soon I get a chance, I plan on putting a 1 or 2 Ohm 5 watt resistor in line with the bulb. The plan is to get the bulb power down to about 23 watts. I'll check the bulb temperature before and after and post the results.

 

14v @ 28w = 2 amps
14v @ 2amps = stock bulb is 7 ohms.

Adding a 1 ohm resistor gives you (14/8*7) 12.25 volts across the lamp and 1.75v across the resistor.
1.75v @ 1 ohm = 1.75 amps
1.75 amps @ 1.75 volts = 3 watts
12.25v @ 7 ohms = 1.75 amps (redundancy check)
1.75 amps @ 12.25v = 21.43 watts

Should do the trick on the wattage and still be bright enough.
I'd go with a 10w resistor though. 3 watts continuous is still a fair amount of heat. If sticking with a 5w, I'd definitely go with an aluminum-cased "doghouse" and mount it to the radiator support.

 

Found time to do my driver's side DRL tonight. It's a little more than I needed, but I found 2 50W 1 Ohm resistors on Amazon (

$11 uxcell 50W 15 Ohm Screw Tap Mounted Aluminum Housed Wirewound Resistors 2 Pcs

http://www.amazon.com/Amico-Mounted-Aluminum-Wirewound-Resistors/dp/B00899WARU) @ $7.59 for both.

I measured the power consumed by the bulb and the temperature (via IR thermometer) both with and without the resistor. While you can tell that the passenger side DRL is slightly brighter in the photo below, I was not able to tell any difference when standing in front of the truck.

Without Resistor:

• 13.9V @ 2.16A = 30W
• Bulb Temperature: 380 F
• Temperature Measured through front lens: 140 F

With Resistor:

• The current dropped to 1.95A (24.5W)
• Bulb Temperature: 300 F
• Temperature Measured from through front lens: 125 F

Hopefully this is enough to keep the lens from melting.

 

80 degree drop, I would imagine it would do the trick.
Good job!

 

I added a resistor to the stock bulb like mentioned in the above posts. I used a 1.5 ohm. Looks and seems like it will work pretty well. Didn't measure temp difference from before and after, but you could feel the difference easily. Maybe this will keep my new housings from melting again. Thanks for the ideas guys!

 

http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/2nd-gen-tacoma-marketplace/176932-jumpers-leds.html

I have done my entire truck inside and out through him, just need to replace my tail light flashers and front side markers and everything will be LED. The DTRL switchback kit is awesome

 

Heads up, be careful where you mount those. They can get VERY Hot. My friend had them with his HID's he installed in his Mercedes and tucked them in with the wiring. They ended up melting some of the wires after only a day or so of use.

 

Same would go for any resistor.
The doghouse resistors are just more efficient at shedding heat than the ceramic resistors, but any of them will get hot. 25 watts is 25 watts.

But it's a good warning... NEVER bundle a heat-producing item into a wiring harness. Hang it in free air, or for the doghouse resistors, screw them to the radiator support.

 

I am in Canada and the DTRL re standard.

My 09 drivers side signal/DTRL bulb has blown twice now (within a week for first one and then the replacement today lasted all of 60 seconds) and I have the crack and melt issues. There are some burn marks on the light base as others have stated.

I therefore don't have a front turn signal now as well as the DTRL on drivers side. I will keep my headlights on. When I signal to turn left, I get the fast signal rate.

Question: Is there any harm in just leaving the blown bulb in and living with it?

 

Anyone have any luck (or even know if this is possible) with wiring the resistors between the 2 wires for the REAR turn signals, when only the front signals are LEDs. I don't know if it matters where the resistors are, but I'd imagine it'd be better to wire them in the back (if possible) because they're only on when the signals are on and not all the time when the DTRLs are on. 2013 FWIW...