The ultimate headlight upgrade H4 (not LED or HID)

What is the consensus on this upgrade if one has aftermarket housings (Depo or something comparable)? Do we think there might be any heat issues there?

 

Did you adjust the headlight aim point or just replace the bulbs (and harness, etc.)?

 

It's funny you ask this. I just changed the bulb (and harness, etc.). Like the OP I have the Baja suspension and my tires are an 1" taller than stock. So I call it a fake 3" lift. Probably more like 2.5". I say it's funny because a month ago I was behind a real low to the ground car. And he was chucking my the bird like I had my high beams on. I even asked another member here about it to see if I had a problem. But I think it was just because his car was so low(and he was a jerk to chuck a truck with two grown men in it the bird). But I've had this truck for almost three Years now and never a problem. Never flashed or never a mirror adjusted when I was behind somebody. The lift has been in about six months now and same thing so far. And the last three days with this upgrade I have been testing extensively. Pulling up real close to people, driving back roads where a car would flash you if I was too bright, etc, etc. And the tests I did with my friend in my truck and me in his, was legit. I tried to make myself find something wrong with these lights. But could not. It's one of those perfect type things to me. The lights don't look crazy brighter but light up the road ten times better. And I'm in MA. You know what they call Mass drivers. If there was a problem these Ma-Holes would let me know about it. In other words I have a higher than stock truck and I still don't have to adjust my lights down with this mod. But if it changes I will let you guys know.

 

I doubt there would be a heat issue unless they very low quality. However, unless your lights are CAPA certified (only the highest quality aftermarket lights carry that certification, and they cost much more than those without) your beam pattern may not be as clean as OEM lights. In low quality lights a poor beam pattern could lead to more lights in the eyes of oncoming drivers and getting flashed with the higher powered lights.

They don't look crazy brighter to others because the light beam pattern is clean and focused below the horizon, so it stays out of their eyes. If the lights appear super bright to others that are above the headlight horizon, there is likely a scatter issue.

In the simplified diagram below the persons head is above the headlight horizon, so while the lights are brighter they do not appear that much brighter to others because the light is not directed at them. So the increased light output appears better to the driver because the light is staying where it belongs and not significantly brighter to others because it is not directed at them.



Scatter looks something like this, where the horizon is not clean and light escapes above the horizon line. This appears brighter to others, even though the light source may not actually be any brighter, because it is getting directed at their eyes. This is what happens when you put HIDs in a halogen reflector. Looking at it by others it appears brighter because light is escaping the horizon line and blinding them.




Edit: TW did not appear to like the spaces in my technical drawings, so I inserted them as images.

 

Thanks! I think this one goes down in ink on my upgrade list. Very cool.

 

Same here DoorDing. My only concern is heat output. I don't want things to melt and give me more headaches.

 

TRUTH

 

I joined the club. Love both the look and the light output.
Thanks OP

 

I'm going to do this within the next 2 weeks. Just to check you can do this mod with the stock headlight housings and be fine right?

 

Absolutely. The Pro lights are for looks only. And they do look good.

 

Yep, what he said. The Pro headlights are purely cosmetic over the stock ones.

 

I just picked up my first Tacoma a few weeks ago...a 2011. I've always had older Toyota trucks that came with 200mm sealed beams and swapped Cibie housings into them. I typically run 12~10 gauge wiring through relays, etc. and have been using 130/100W bulbs for fifteen years in the US. I've never once had anyone flash their lights at me when I had my low beams on.

I'm not as confident in the stock headlamps to have a sharp enough horizontal cut-off to stay out of oncoming eyes, however I still have a box of 130/100W bulbs and I'd like to bypass the factory wiring in the near future. The headlights on my Tacoma have strange diagonal cracks in them, so I'm not worried about melting them. They're due for replacement anyway. If I think they're scattering too much light I'll pick up some 100/80W bulbs or something.

Although I'm willing to be the sacrificial lamp, has anyone else run 130W bulbs in stock housings? If the housings hold up to these, they'll hold up to anything.

 

I've done the same with swapping the 200mm for E-code Hella H4s housings. I cannot comment on the 2005-2011 cut off, but the 2012-2015 cut off is very clean. One of the drawbacks of a 130/100w bulb will be a significantly shorter life at the benifit of greater light output. I'd be curious in the lumen rating vs hour rating for comparison.

 

There's a very significant drop-off in lab hours with the higher wattages. Here are the specs from Federal Mogul's Wagner line:

9003:
Power - 60/55 watts
CP - 120/72
Lab hours - 150/320

H4:
Power - 60/55 watts | 100/80 watts | 130/100 watts
CP - 138/83 | 217/125 | 282/217
Lab hours - 150/300 | 75/150 | 50/75

Two notes: the 9003 and H4 design specs really are different.

Also, I almost never replaced my bulbs for a period of several years because I did so little night driving. The amount of time spent driving at night and the vibrations on your regular commutes will have a great impact on bulb life of course. If I were in an off-road environment, I'd probably run lower wattage bulbs for vibration resistance and since I'm normally moving slower and require fewer lumens to feel safe.

Disclaimer: I'm not a fan of using candlepower for comparisons between manufacturers because there's no telling what test conditions were used - lamp housing, etc., however these were all tested against each other in the same conditions so we can use these to compare these four bulbs from the same manufacturer. They measured mean spherical candlepower at design voltage, so the candlepower ratings will increase at 13.2~14.4V and the lab hours will be reduced.

Reference (you can geek out on this book for hours):

http://www.fme-cat.com/digipubZ/Wagner-Lighting-Spec-Guide/52AAA586CC974209F9170E0273E14C04/Wagner Lighting Spec Guide - digipubZ.pdf

 

The stock wattage bulb life seems quite short. In the link I listed earlier it was significantly longer (granted it was not H4). Although maybe the referenced bulbs are not derated 'long life' halogens as in the earlier link, which is what OEM suppliers use. Regardless the 130/100s life is extremely short for daily driving. I'f you used your headlights at least 1 hour a day (easy in the winter), you'd be replacing the bulbs about every 2 months. If you go that route let us know how your lenses hold up.

 

I've been running the Osram 70/65W - CP64205 - bulbs with a BriteBox that I bought from @YotaDan at Wheeler's Off-Road years ago and couldn't be happier. I live in a very rural area and animal strikes are a common thing here. Using the improved bulbs alongside the BriteBox allows me to see everything in the ditches and far ahead when the high beams are active as it fires the low beams simultaneously. It also keeps the bumper mounted driving lights on too.

 

How has that affected your bulb life? Seems like running 135w through those bulbs would cause them to get really hot. In the 85w/80w versions that would be 165w.

 

I'm not a habitual user of the high beams, but I do when on rural and county roads if there is no traffic. With that said I have to swap them out due to failure about every 14 - 15 months on average. I simply bought two pair of bulbs to start with and when I have a failure I replace the pair and immediately order a new pair so I always have a fresh backup waiting.

 

Stuck the 130/100 watters in last night and they seemingly burn as bright as they did in my old rig with its 10-gauge wiring. I think I'll just stick to the factory wiring, knowing they'd be a tad brighter with less voltage drop (with larger wiring)...which will only prolong their life while they still light up the road very, very well. No on-coming drivers flashed their lights and when I'm parked behind a short car at a traffic light, my lights cut off below their rear and side view mirrors, so I think the cutoff is adequate. It's actually much more pronounced to my eye now that the brighter light shows up on objects better.

Used an infrared thermometer to scan all around the back, top and front of the headlamp assemblies with a 60/55 on one side and the 130/100 on the other. The higher wattage side was consistently ~20 deg F warmer, with the plug on the back of the bulb only reaching 108 F. No telling how warm they are on the inside, but I don't think they'll even begin to melt. I've only ever heard of that happening with plastic assemblies, so I'm not sure if it was a valid concern to begin with or not.

This photo only exposes the headlamps, which is why everything else is pitch black. The passenger's side is both brighter and has a higher color temperature, which no ridiculous coatings.

 

I've actually had this on my to-do list, but need to pick up the thermometer first. Was that test using low beams only? Did you test the high beams? You will risk blowing the 10amp fuses on any sustained use of the high beams. 130w/12.4v=10.5amps. Which also means the wiring is not up par for that wattage.