The ultimate foglight upgrade H11 (not LED or HID)

I’ve got you covered:
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/the-h10-to-9011-hir-foglight-upgrade-better-than-led.528143/

 

Nice article, I've been wanting to upgrade my lights for some time. Is there a direct bulb replacement that is better than stock without having to upgrade the harness? I'm wanting better than standard, but not to cross towards the blue light without having to use LED. Thank you in advance for whatever you can suggest.

 

Welcome to the Forum!

Nokya makes a 75w clear H11 bulb you could run without a harness. Otherwise high precision stock wattage bulbs like Philips Xtreme or Osram night breakers in the highest +1xx rating will be best. For comparison H4s are currently at +130 in those bulbs.

Note the harness increases bulb output by supplying higher voltage, so it has more purpose than just supporting the high power bulbs.

 

Hey all. Read through the thread here and its great.. OP your detailed testing is enough to make the case over going with a LED replacement, but at some point as the newbie I am getting lost in the data points. A question I am still wrestling with is... On a 3rd Gen I understand the harness will increase the voltage to the light creating additional brightness, but can a straight replacement with the OPTILUX bulbs alone result in at least some measured gain without the harness and decreasing the chance of melting to connections?

My biggest fear is decreasing the quality or creating present damage.. I don't care how good something looks if its going to create other issues.
I guess that is now my area of concern is ordering 2 harnesses but not fully understanding the potential from the increase of that output that can also potentially overheat and melt the plug or housing..


I ordered a 5 pack of H11 from Ebay and if I go down this path will send them all to Rally so they can have a few extra for the next TW member.

Thanks for the thread and walking us with questions through the process..

Im sure I missed it but for the Xenon the Hella vs the OPTILUX.. both I assume are comparable.
OPTILUX H11 12V Extreme Xenon Blue Bulb, pair
OPTILUX HL88411 H11 12V 55W Extreme Xenon XY Yellow Bulb, pair

 

you will have limited gain if any gain.... esp with coated bulbs.... trust me the harness is worth it....

 

All things the same a non-coated bulb will outperform a coated one. Also, after my experience with Optilux, I'm not sure that I would buy any more of their products. Mine might have been a fluke using high wattage H13s but it was pretty bad, the H11s may be better. You can see my experience here:
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...4-not-led-or-hid.398066/page-41#post-16638724

If you are staying with a 55w for the fog, the harness will certainly make an improvement, but it won't be nearly as big as higher wattage plus a harness. If you want a more significant bump in output from your fogs you might consider a laminex coating in addition to a higher wattage bulb (like I mention below), I wouldn't use laminex with the 90w bulbs due to the heat.

But! For those interested in stock color/max performance, there is a new bulb coming out I hope to try out next month that is a glare capped H9, meaning it would be suitable for the fog light housing (because it has a cap) and run would run at a lower temperature.

For the 3rd Gen I'd actually advise an H9 plus harness in the projector. I'll compare the new glare capped H9s with the high powered H11s to see how the numbers compare once I get them. The H9 is a high efficiency bulb, so it will have better distance projection in the headlight assembly vs the heavier wound coil filament of the high wattage H11. You won't need the harness to run the H9s for the headlights, but the higher voltage will make them brighter.

 

Had another after dark crossing of the pass in a snow storm where the front of the truck froze up, but the headlights and fog lights stayed clear. Put down about 40 miles on the 4wd in conditions where you couldn't exactly tell where the edges of the roadway was. The lighting upgrades really prove their value in these conditions.

On another note, it looks like my passenger side fog seal failed and I have some condensation in the lens. I suspect the high heat might have baked a seal, but not certain. I think the upcoming capped H9 lights will run cooler to avoid that issue.

 

Hey crashnburn80, do you recommend the capped H9 in the 2nd gen tacos? (2013). Waiting on my harness, but wanted to get your thoughts on any safer/brighter ideas for the dogs. Condensation is a reality for me here in the South.
Thanks in advance

 

Welcome to TW!

The capped H9s are not out yet, but I suspect they will be better (brighter) with a more precise filament for improved beam and also run cooler. I’ll test them out as soon as they are released. PM me your shipping info and I’ll send you a new set of the Flossers to try out in the mean time.

 

Thanks man, I really appreciate that. If you could, would you mind telling me how to send a PM through TW?

 

PM sent. Check your Inbox in the upper right of the screen.

 

New-ish to the forums(joined after getting my 15 TRD Sport, but never came back), great post, I am looking to upgrade both my headlights and fog's, but not gonna go too crazy just yet. Everything on that avenue is stock right now so Just looking for a good recommendation for upgrading my bulbs to get the best bang for my buck and light output without the harness just yet(I'm sure down the line I'll get into doing it). Suggestions for good brand and bulbs for now? Also, back in the day on my ole truck I found putting yellow fog lights in helped in that department to cut through bad weather or fog and not give glare, but with the new HID's and LED's and such out, is this still true?

 

Welcome back.

There are a series of stock wattage bulb recommendations in the end of the headlight upgrade thread:
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/the-ultimate-headlight-upgrade-h4-not-led-or-hid.398066/

But in short H11 versions of Philips Xtreme or Osram nightbreakers in the highest + rating possible are going to be the best bet. Such as +120 or +130. Avoid fully coated bulbs which reduce output. When the newer glare capped H9 bulb is available later this month supposedly, you’d be able to run that on the stock wiring and it will outperform the plus rated H11s.

Yellow fogs work because the longer light wavelength of the lower color temperature refracts less, causing you to illuminate though poor weather conditions vs reflect off of them. While the light source of LEDs/HIDs may be different, the higher color temperatures with shorter wavelengths are still prone to refraction.

Placing a yellow lens on a light source is a filter, you are only letting yellow light through. In a halogen bulb, it is in the lower temperature scale with lots of yellow light. While you are reducing output with a filter by removing whiter light, the majority of the light source will make it through. In an LED the best ones are around 5000k, many less expensive ones even higher, very heavy white or even blue light source, which has very little yellow light. Placing a filter that only lets yellow light through when you have little yellow light to begin with will cause you to pay a much higher tax on your light output. It certainly can be done and will work, but output will suffer.

 

To Piggyback on @cwallachy 's question: It doesn't look like you have any yellow/amber recommendations for a H11 bulb in the fog position, is that right? I would like to try some drop-in replacements first to see how I like those, but am not opposed to going your "Ultimate" route with the harness and all, but a lower temp (yellow/amber) light is preferred.

Work has been slow today so I scanned this entire thread, and got excited when you mentioned the Opilux Extreme Yellows, but it looks like they aren't all they were cracked up to be. The idea of filters or covers kinda worries me. I have some for my ditch lights, but they don't seem to work very well.

Any help is appreciated. This whole thread (and your Ultimate Headlight Thread, which I'll get to eventually) are impressive to say the least. You're making TacomaWorld a better place.

 

I know I'll get poo for this vid probably, but I am so out of the loop with lighting nowadays I don't even know what I'm looking at anymore... I liked the idea of the second LED bulb, was doing a search for the H11's but noticed that H9's are being sold right now, did I miss something in the translation cause @crashnburn80 had talked about them being on sale the end of this month or so....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDB04IKauTg

 

Curious how long those 90watt bulbs last. Im my previous experiences it was much less than a standard bulb.

 

There are a few H11 yellow fog bulbs out there, such as:
-PIAA Solar Yellow
-Nokya Hyper Yellow
-Sylvania Fog Vision <-Interesting not fully coated, but just yellow band around the filament

But no higher wattage bulbs.

When you say filters concern you, a yellow bulb has a yellow filter, the filter is just on the bulb instead of the lens. All filters reduce output. Note my comment in the previous post about how yellow filters are much more detrimental to LEDs than they are to halogens, as LEDs do not have much long wave length yellow light to being with, so there is less to pass through the filter which results greater reduction to the light output for LEDs than it does to halogens. Likely the experience with your ditch lights.

LEDs in a halogen reflector is a terrible idea. You will lose beam control, projection distance and blind oncoming drivers due to the loss of the cut off. Review this thread:
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/why-leds-should-not-be-run-in-halogen-reflectors.454371/

The H9 I was talking about was an H9 halogen bulb with an H11 glare cap, so it can be used in a reflector low beam/fog assembly.

I posted this June 4th of 2016. Still have the original bulbs in there, so I cannot say yet on what the life span is. But high wattage bulbs do have shorter life rating than standard wattage, though an H11 is a long life bulb to begin with. Keep in mind, you should not run the fogs all the time, they should be run when you need them. Increased foreground light by your fogs reduces your eyes ability to see distance at night.

 

That makes perfect sense about my ditch lights. I think I'll grab the Nokyas and give those ago. Thanks!

 

Think I'll wait for the H9 halogen's then, I watched that video and was like, "wouldn't those just blind everyone including myself if the weather was bad?"

So to recap probably want the H9 halogen bulb with an H11 glare cap for the fogs and then the Phillips H11 +130's for headlights ya? REALLY appreciate your help btw!