LED Lighting Conversion

Well, there you have it. As I said, brighter is brighter. Just now we have a better approximation number to use.

Thanks @crashnburn80

 

Wow, what an amazing place TW is! Just bought an ‘18 TRDOR DCLB yesterday, freakin’ sweet there’s a forum with so many people who love the truck. I’ve already installed morimoto XBs for the fogs, and I’m running Auxbeam T1 H11s for LBs and HBs. Will switch to xenon depots later if I don’t like the fans.

But I’m wondering, I haven’t been able to find much of anything on TW about converting the tail lights?? Any thoughts on LED tail light conversions?

I’d also like some more solid amber light strips for the mirrors but that can wait a little further down the road..

Thanks for any info y’all!!

 

Well you can start here with backup lights. https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/the-921-led-reverse-light-bulb-study.490137/

I did try the Philips Gy6 30 watt but wasn't comfortable with how loose they fit even after doing the curvy bend thingy to them.

 

Welcome to the forum! Sounds like you're off to a great start.

Keep an eye out here (make sure you subscribe)

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/ultimate-led-turn-signals.486423/page-235

These are going to drop very soon!

 

anyone here have putco low beams? Tdot performance is having a sale and id liek to upgrade my lights to LED. How do you know which ones to choose?

 

would you say the Xenon Depot match the stock drl?

 

Putco LEDs are new to my ears. If they have a H11 kit though, that's all you need. Compare specs and prices to Xenon Depot who by the way are in Canada. So shipping might be way less.

XenonDepot.com
1584 Parent Avenue
Windsor, Ontario, N8X 4J7
Canada

http://www.xenondepot.com/contact-us-s/42.htm

 

They match perfectly I think.

 

h11 is the colour?

 

No, H11 is the connection type for our truck, and the socket style. All bulbs are basically the same in the sense that they all have a driver, wiring, the main mother board assembly, and then the shaft that the diodes are mounted to. How an LED bulb fits the vehicle is dependent upon the socket of the headlight assembly and the wiring connection. Tacoma's use an H11 bulb in the fogs, low beam, and high beam. Nothing else will work.

The color temp is measured in Kelvins. In the case of the Xenon Depot bulbs, they are rated at 5500k.

Here is a link to help understand how Kelvins relate to some light sources you are likely more familiar with. It's easier to understand how these LED automotive bulbs are rated if you know how the term Kelvin is used in everyday life.

http://www.westinghouselighting.com/color-temperature.aspx

The Hikari bulbs for example that were super popular, and still are, are rated at 6000k. The difference between 5500k and 6000k is hardly discernible to the naked eye unless you look at these bulbs all the time and have a really trained eye. I certainly can't tell the difference. Now, brightness is measure in wattage. All modern bulbs seem to be around the same wattage. What matters as I am learning is how stable that wattage is after the bulbs have been on for a while and how others claim to remain constant but might really not. Again, the Xenon Depot have the specs to back up their claims as well as the professional opinions of other members.

 

Got my XD LED H11 installed in my low beams. After reading things on here, install was a breeze. Thanks all!

Here are a few pics. The only thing odd was, as has been pointed out, the location of the bulb made it difficult to fully fan out the heat sinks. Hope fully I did it correctly.

 

There is good tail light mods in this thread. The thread actually has 2 different mods that are popular right now. The page I linked to in the thread kind explains the differences, but you'll want to go through most of the thread to see what LEDs everyone is using with their tail light mods.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...ghts-used-as-brake-and-signals.471450/page-26

Best of all, they ars cheap mods as long as you're willing to cut a few wires.

 

I'm still planning to do a better picture comparison of the OEM vs Hikari vs XD, I promise! Lol. I've been busy going through everything in the house since the packers come in the morning. Don't want them packing junk that we don't need or use anymore...can't risk busting the weight limit (definitely don't want to pay for that)!!

Then it's a few weeks of cleaning and living lightly before we finally head to the hotel. I should be able to get my pics then...

 

Funny thing is, I make a mean pizza (I make them on the grill and pile them high with toppings).

As for carving wood...well, let's just say I'm better at carving a trail than wood. Lol

 

Great job, looks perfect! Space is tight so this as good as it gets.

 

Wow, talk about being down to the wire. I bet ya'll are excited! And goin' a little crazy. Definitely must be weird.

Good luck with everything, hope it's a flawless move.

 

Hello all, in know everyone is stoked on these super bright and kind of expensive Xenon Depot and Hikari bulbs, but I wanted to post up my good experience with a much less expensive but very effective bulb called the Beamtech I found that got good reviews on Amazon. Here is the link:
BEAMTECH H11 LED Headlight Bulb, 50W 6500K 8000Lumens Extremely Brigh H8 H9 CSP Chips Conversion Kit

$43 BEAMTECH H11 Fog Light Bulb H8 H9 Fog Replacement

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06XHDYTGL/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_yfNrBb28FPHYD
I don’t really need the brightest headlights on the planet, I was fine with the brightness of the OEM halogens, but it really did bother me the yellowish color not matching the daytime running lights. So I figured I would try these Beamtechs, at $36.99 it wasn’t too much to risk. I liked that they don’t have a fan on them just a heat sink, like the Xenon Depot but more simple design, same CSP technology, waterproof and no moving parts to break, no ballast or anything to secure, literally just plug and play. They were installed in probably 5 minutes. They work great! They are a perfect color match to the daytime running, they claim 6500 but I think they look more like 5500. They are really bright too! I would estimate somewhere in the realm of 20-40% brighter. The cutoff and pattern seems great. They even show the little light boxes above the beam pattern. They are also adjustable with a hex wrench if you want to but I didn’t find that I needed it. Bottom line, if you don’t want to spend a lot to get a good look and a little bit brighter these get the job done well.

Now to do something about those hideous fog lights!!

 

Excellent review and post. Thanks for sharing. I think there are lots of alternatives out there and this thread was designed to bring light (pardon the pun) to them all. New models are hitting the market constantly and for some of us, myself included, it's impossible to keep up. Did you contact the manufacturer about the warranty? That's the only thing I don't see on Amazon.

@crashnburn80 could add these to his list of bulbs for his comprehensive test he's got in the works.

You know you can put the same bulbs in your fog light housings. Then you could save even more money. Possibly add some amber film (Lamin-X) and turn them into yellow.

 

Which reminds me... @crashnburn80 what ever happened to the hikari science experiment???

 

They have a 1 year replacement warranty.

Also, I just found a really good review on these that tested them at 49% brighter than OEM halogen in a reflector housing.

http://bulbfacts.com/led-kits/reviews/beamtech-led-kit-review.html