LED Lighting Conversion

You are so outta control!

 

HA, although I was joking, it would appear that I was correct in you pissing of the locals by blinding them! I was just wrong with what you were blinding them with.

Glad to see things working well for you (minus the blinding fogs). Thanks for sharing you experiences so that we can all learn from it...both the better light output from the LEDs in the various locations, and the fact that brighter bulbs in fog housings can be a problem for oncoming drivers. It confirms what @crashnburn80 mentioned a few pages back when he was talking about fogs such as Baja Design.



For those of you who want to run HBs + Fogs at the same time in a 3rd gen (ONLY when NO oncoming traffic is near), then check out this diagram that someone recently posted. Luckily it sounds fairly easy to do (although nowhere as easy as it was for the 2nd gens who only needed a 1 inch wire going between to relays inside the ECU). All we need is a couple wires and an extra relay to accomplish it for a 3rd gen.

Fog's on with High's thread

 

LOL

He still has a long way to catch up to @mesojdm , but he's definitely well on way!!

 

I didn't have the best testing spot due to an adjacent street light, but I think it still told a story. The rocks are about 100 yards from my truck which can been seen with HB only. For this test I first took shots using my current setup: Hylux HID for low beams and HIKARIs in the high beams. Then I swapped the HID and LED around to see which performed better.

HID Lows:



HID Lows + LED Highs



LED Lows:



LED Lows + HID Highs:



To my surprise I believe the HIKARIs out performed the HID in every regard. The cuttoff seemed much sharper with the LEDs in the low beam slot and brighter. The LEDs in high beams really out performed the HIDs at long range. I also found the HIKARIs to be a whiter light, despite both being rated 6K. Given both systems cost the same, if I were doing it again I'd go all HIKARIs and avoid the hassles of HID all together. Since I have the HIDs, I'm going to swap them back to the low beams and the LEDs back to the high beams. For me, that seems like the most useful configuration.

 

I also ordered these things:

$40 MICTUNING RGB LED Rock Lights with Upgraded APP Bluetooth Controller, Timing Function, Music Mode - 4 Pods Multicolor Neon LED Light Kit

https://www.amazon.com/MICTUNING-Upgraded-Bluetooth-Controller-Function/dp/B01FWXT11I

With a 3rd gen switch: http://www.ch4x4.com/product/ch4x4-toyota-push-switch-tacoma-3rd-gen-rock-lights-symbol/

Needed this like a hole in the head, but I’m pretty sure I’ll love it once installed.

 

Good deal. I just installed my Hikaris in low beams Sunday. Now I think I will go with the same for high beams. I really don't want HIDs if I get equal performance with Hikaris. Did you also go the $90 Amazon route for yours. One question is do you also have the 2 vertical lines on the lens with the Hikari bulbs in high beam like in lows.

 

I did order the HIKARIs off Amazon, cheapest place to get them, and I didn’t notice a vertical line from the LEDs in either position. Probably need to do a wall test to see that clearly. I would suspect the line would be less apparent in a reflector housing than projector, but I’m far from a lighting expert.

 

Damn nice write up and comparison! Thanks a lot. It seems every time I begin to second guess the HIDs a review like this comes along and reinforces the new Hikari's. Great job

 

Brett,
Great Great story! I enjoyed it. Thanks for sharing. I especially liked the the fiance' part. I'm super big on marriage. Here's to that!

Couple questions. Why the Rav instead of the Taco? Did you flash back at them? I would, I do.

What about instead of the crazy bright Hikari's in the Fogs we consider something along the same color temp but less wattage? Something that can provide the fill light that the halogen has without all that throw? And what ever happened to those switchback dual color fogs? What were they called and did anyone ever buy those?

Personally I'm willing to take the chance with as bright an LED for the money in my fogs. I would certainly not be the only one in my neck of the woods.

Anyway, thanks again. Glad to have you back.
Rob

Oh yea, I almost forgot.......

 

Can you show the box you received?

Here’s mine, but the manual mentions the Cree...and is labeled as Old Version

 

Same box and same old version manual.

 

Thx. Just wanted to make sure I got what I was supposed to. The reviews on Amazon had two different photos.

I put them in my high beams and they work very well.

 

Going to order another pair for high beams. Now trying to find signal bulbs that match my Baja amber fog lights. Hope to just get a standard bulb to avoid hyperflash.

 

YES!! I have been waiting to see a comparison with these new Hikari's vs HID. I'm super glad that you also tried them both out in the LBs and the HBs...it helped re-enforce your findings. From yours and @Jazzy_McLovely's pictures, I can see the differences and how the Hikari's seem to have a better throw without any weird/random dark spots. From what you guys see in person, do the Hikari's put out a fairly even light output?

Man, I so don't need them until I move off of this island this summer, but now I want these Hikaris more than ever! lol​

Of course, the best bet is to get LED fogs that are specifically designed for fogs like the Morimotos...but they are expensive! I wonder if someone has found a bulb that has the cutoff built into it that will fit our fog housing? Either way, there are plenty of other LEDs that might not have good throw, but they would provide great flood lighting (especially in the fogs). I'd imagine @Parker315 and a few others could let us know if any of his LEDs fall into that latter category.
I like the idea of the switchbacks in the fogs, but I'd be afraid of my wife freaking out when she accidently changes it. Knowing my luck, it'd happen while I'm travelling too.

 

​

Keep in mind I’m one opinion with only one HID setup for comparison, and I’m a rookie when it comes to lighting. Other HID setups, in particular ones with a full projector swap, will likely outperform any LED. That being said, for a plug and play job the newer HIKARIs are impressive. I saw no dark spots or weird lines, and after pulling into my parking garage this morning I can definitely confirm the cutoff is super crisp. I might take more photos today at lunch, or just let you take my word for it. Before I said each system was the same price, but when factoring in a relay harness these HIDs were about $120. From what I have observed, you can save $30 and get better results with LED.

 

Dude!!! Great post and comparison. This shows exactly what I've been trying to reiterate about the HID and LED's. Some of the new LED lighting that's out now is very comparable to HID lighting! Fantastic job on this and thank you so much for sharing. You are showing the new Hikari lights correct? Not the old Cree LED's??

NEW Hikari

OLD Hikari

What's up Rob!!!

We took her Rav4 instead simply because I didn't want to put that many miles on my brand new Tacoma yet lol. Also I don't have a bed cover yet so all our luggage would have been exposed.

She doesn't have the Hikari's in her Rav4 she has the LC6 series Lasfit's. Honestly IMO (@ToyoDrew mentioned me in an earlier topic on this subject) I think that the very best Fog light setup would have to be the Morimoto LED fog projectors. Those seem like they would provide even great visibility and they wouldn't blind on coming drivers. They also look badass cause they have a tinted look. However they aren't cheap at all.

I am not sure what happen to those switchback LED's I mentioned before. I don't think anyone has gotten a pair of those. Here is the LINK again.


Oh yea, I almost forgot....... here is your PIC LMAO

 

Yes, I'm using the new HIKARIs, you can see Lumileds name right above the LEDs.

Here are the pictures from the garage. I basically just wanted to compare low beams, but just to show how much more intensity the HIKARIs have I flipped them on over the low beams.

LED Low Beam:



HID Low Beam:



HID Low/LED High:



I think it's pretty easy to see that the LEDs are crisp, bright, and fully saturated in the low beam projectors. The HIDs in the projector are still nice, but with a slight blue hue, less intensity, and a blurry cut-off. With the LED high beams on they completely overpower the HIDs. Again, this is just my observations with one set of HIDs and one set of LEDs. I will note that neither the HIDs or LEDs are set vertical in the housing. In fact, I'd say the LEDs are at maybe a 45° angle.

 

Nice!! Yeah you can tell a big difference. I have yet to find a LED bulb that sits perfectly vertical or horizontal in the housing and I have tried 5 different ones with all the tests I've done. So far the Hikari's are the best

 

Jesus, you are all crazy, or rich, or both! Nice move though. I am so close to jumping off the fence.

 

Actually, I started looking at the Morimoto XB's for the fogs after @Parker315 Brett's story about the fogs on his trip. I want to run my fogs and I want them to be the best they can be on the road. There's no way I can afford the Bajas like @mrproduxn and when I think about it, I was ready to invest $90 for the Hikaries. Maybe I can sell the OEM fogs off and recoup some of the cost.

So now I am up to $350 not counting the rest of the LEDs for all the other sockets.

Then I still have to wonder about those blacked out headlights from Oemassive. If I am going the blacked out look then I need to keep those in consideration. Although I still don't know what the deal is with those. I should just contact them and ask once and for all what the heck they mean with their description.