LED vs. HID Headlights

Hey Everyone,

I've gone to this site many times for advice when it comes to my Tacoma and figured I'd join the community.

Anyways I've been doing some minor mods to my truck over the time i've had it and I'm finally getting around to giving the lights some attention. I have heard good things about both HID and LED headlights and am having a bit trouble coming to a conclusion as to what to get. I'd appreciate any advice, thanks.

A side question: I have recently installed 6000k HID fog lights and they are border line overpoweringly bright. I have angled them down a bit to avoid blinding people. Do you think this is enough or is there more i should/could do?

 

LEDs have good intensity immediately in front of the vehicle but limited throw. An HID projector retrofit is your best bet.

 

If you're looking to buy some jumper LEDs, I have some for sale, had them for a week and I'm going to go a different direction. I also have amber fogs I will be selling, pm me if you want

 

ok i have to jump in on this discussion/bump it.... i have a 2015 tacoma and i just did the DRL upgrade, and well.... now my lights look like crap b/c the DRL is LED and the other halogen bulbs look yellow compared... so is there something that is simple to upgrade? like the new halogen bulbs that show white vs that awefull yellow? dont know if i need to do a HID upgrade to do that? or LED upgrade... nothing on this form is making sense when i read it b/c people are saying yeah you need 6000k HID, and truly i have no clue anymore what this all means.. sorry newb questions...

 

If the HID/LED is in a housing designed specifically for them, they will work as well as a halogen light, or better. If they are stuck in a halogen housing (or LED in HID housing, etc), they will perform worse. No two ways around this fact. If you want LED headlights, you have to buy a housing for LED bulbs. Good luck finding those, those are extremely rare. The easier method is to do a HID retrofit. Still expensive though, it will run you over $300 (less with the group buy) + labor of retrofitting.

(number)K is a measure of the color temperature of the bulb. OEMs use 4300K bulbs, because that's what the human eye sees best. Halogen bulbs all put out 4300K by nature. Some are tinted blue, but the tint reduces light output, and you won't see the road as well. To counter this higher wattage bulbs are generally used, but those then have reduced lifespan. White LEDs are generally in the 5500K range. HIDs can generally be bought at 4300K, 5000K, 6000K, 8000K, or 10,000K. 8000K is straight up blue, and 10,000K is basically purple, both of which are completely useless for illuminating things at night. 6000K is what I consider marginal for adequate lighting. 5000K or 4300K would be the best, 5000K if you want the white look.

There is a HID sticky at the top of this subforum if you want more details.