The ultimate headlight upgrade H4 (not LED or HID)

One of the best stock wattage low beam bulbs, I run them in the Girlfriend's truck. Though high beam output suffers due to the blue coating over the high beam filament.

 

Wanting only the best high wattage bulb performance, I have ordered a handful of differing high wattage bulbs from several different manufactures to determine what is scientifically the highest performing option after the loss of the 85/80w German Osrams.

 

Taking suggestions for high powered H4s to test in case I overlooked any.

So far:
Osram Hyper 85/80w (Germany) - Discontinued
Osram SuperBright 100/90w (Germany)
ARB IPF X4 60/80w (Japan)
Nokya clear 100/90w (Korea - the non-evil one)
Philips Rally 100/90w (Germany)
Xencn More Bright 85/80w (China) - By TW request

What I am looking for is brands of exceptional quality. The highest performing bulb is going to be combination precision bulb in addition to high wattage, like the Hypers. Usually cheap cost is a identifier of a non-precision bulb, I'm not likely to include any other Chinese bulbs. Other considerations, Hella, GE, Bosch, later 2 not available in north American markets. Cost is not a factor. Not looking to exceed 90w for low beam as bulb life tanks.

 

Comparing filament axial precision on a stock wattage Osram bulb (Toyota OEM) where filaments are perfectly aligned on the axis which is important for beam precision and distance projection



Compared to ARB’s IPF x4 that cost $85/pr, which have misaligned filaments. For an insane $85/pr I expect Space X precision. Going to contact ARB to see if this is a fluke.

 

Added a link in the OP to this high level article by Philips covering how stock wattage high precision performance headlight bulbs work:
https://www.philips.co.uk/p-m-au/au...e-articles/article/improve-your-lights-easily

Also emailed ARBs Tech center with photos and am waiting for the response.

 

I have the GE Megalight 130's , and I agree about GEs packaging . I guess I need to do some adjusting because Im not that impressed . My low beams are brighter than my high beams . When I click the high beams on , I see an actual blue tint on the road and what I guess I could describe as a washed out light , not helpful at all. As soon I quit working so much I plan on trying to get these suckers straightened out . This topic is extremely helpful but for someone who is a tad bit older , it can make your head hurt.

 

No adjusting should be needed. The issue is that the high beam filament on the Megalight 130s is coated, like a Silverstar and the coating significantly reduces output to lower than stock levels. Philips Xtreme and Osram Nightbreaker have the same issue. That is why I recommend the Megalight +120 instead of the +130 which does not have a coating over the high beam filament for maximum high beam performance.

 

So the lumen output is greater doing the conversion, instead of doing projector/LED conversion?

Any updated input for my 98 tacoma 6cyl? Trying to figure this out, which route to go projector vs harness/housing upgrade, which ones to get and all. Any help much appreciated.

 

My statement there is not accurate. Lumen output will exceed LEDs, it will not exceed HIDs.

There really is no good way to run LED headlights unless you have an entire headlight housing built around the LED design, similar to what TRS is doing for their new 3rd Gen headlights due out later this year. Drop in replacement bulbs attempt to mimic a halogen filament, but do not produce omi-directional light and cannot produce a light source as small or precise as a halogen filament, so they don't actually achieve it. Side effects are then "loss of throw" of the beam and usually a shift in the beam to more foreground light while losing distance light which reduces you ability to see distance at night. Unfortunately this greater concentration of light immediately in front of the driver usually makes them think this must be an improvement, without realizing what they lost. This is important because while you may switch to a halogen projector to control glare from the LED, you still have these fundamental design flaws and shortcomings of trying to use an LED in a halogen assembly.

If you are going through the effort and expense to switch to a projector, you would be much better off switching to an HID projector. (Halogen and HID projectors are optimized for their respective light source). An HID projector will be properly designed to utilize an HID light source and HIDs will be brighter than halogen or LED. Drawbacks of the HID are complexity, you need ballasts to run the bulbs and the ballasts will emit EMI which may cause other interference issues if not well shielded. Since the H4 combines high and low into one bulb and the HID does not have multiple filaments like a halogen, you get some sort of sliding shield inside the housing to mimic high/low or lose your high beams all together.

The nice thing about the halogen upgrade is that it uses the existing lighting system and optics in the way it is designed to be used without trying to reinvent it into something it is not. You get 2x the output in a very simple reliable system and everything operates like stock. If your stock housings are in good condition it is also very inexpensive by comparison (around $120) vs a projector retrofit.

 

Ok, thanks for the feedback.

Talked to the guys at the retrofit source, very helpful. Thanks to Jimmy and Andrew for answering all my questions. Think I'm going to go HID's! Need to get new housings anyway. Can just get the cheap ones, because will have to crack'em open and reseal anyway. I'll clear coat and wax the front, so hopefully not get the yellowing/fading down the road.

Here's a helpful thread: https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/1st-gen-retrofit-walkthrough-morimoto-mini-h1.213080/

After careful consideration, going to go with the D2S, good light patter and availability of replacement bulbs.

 

There are dedicated products to prevent yellowing and oxidation on headlight lenses, like this from Meguiar's:

$14 Meguiar's G17804 Keep Clear Headlight Coating - 4 Oz Spray

https://www.amazon.com/Meguiars-G17804-Clear-Headlight-Coating/dp/B01M4RVVX6

 

cool thanks!

 

Still needs more data processing to better visualize the results, but posted:
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/the-led-sae-j583-fog-pod-fog-review.554813/

 

Thanks for putting so much work into this recommendation! Does the wiring harness you mention above work with 3rd gens?

 

For 3rd gen you need to follow this thread, as it uses H11 instead of H4:
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/the-ultimate-foglight-upgrade-h11-not-led-or-hid.435419/

Same results, 2x the output. However you can get a good bump in output by using a modified H9 to take your output from 1250 lumens to 2100 lumens though bulb life will be shorter. Make sure you read over the update 1/2 way down that thread which covers the modifications necissary. Using the harness to increase voltage plus the H9 will will push output further to ~2x the output.

 

I purchased some used 3rd gen assemblies for an upcoming headlight project. Unfortunately one of the assemblies was worse off than described in the ad and appeared to have been impacted in some sort of accident. It had a very heavy scuff across the lens, gouging the plastic to the point there was plastic transfer into the lens from whatever hit it.



Pictures do not really do justice in this case, these were some non-trivial groves in the plastic. While I knew I could certainly reduce the appearance of the damage, I was unsure to what extent I could get it to look like it never happened.

I used Philips Headlight Restoration kit provided by Steve from @XenonDepot. As I'm sure many are aware, I am a big fan of Philips brand products as they are high quality and very thoughtfully engineered. And I am a stickler for detail. The kit consisted of 3 different grades of sandpaper, and various buffing/polishing compounds. The lowest grit sand paper, 600 grit, was designated as only necessary for severe use cases. This was definitely severe and likely well beyond the intended design use of the product. The 600 was then followed by by 1500 and finally 2000 grit after which a polishing compound is applied and then finished off with a protective sealing compound.

Part way through the wet standing



End Result: What plastic gouging impact scuff???


Now I did apply the procedure twice on this kit, because I am detail obsessed and the damage was pretty bad. While the Philips kit did an outstanding job of clearing up the headlight, I did not feel their final level of clear polish was on par with clear plastic polish of Meguiars. So I went over the headlight with

$8 Meguiar's PlastX Clear Plastic Polish, Fast & Easy Plastic Restorer for Headlights, Taillights, Soft Top Windows, and More, Remove Scratches, Cloudiness, Yellowing, and Oxidation, 10 oz.

Mequiars PlastX after finishing with the Philips kit to really give it that like new finish. While the Mequiars product provides great transparency to lenses, it could never have completed what the Philips kit accomplished, it was just a nice addition to push the restoration the final 5-10% of the way across the finish line to looking like new.

The Philips box also contains one of my favorite quality phrases, "Made in the USA".



Whenever you 'restore' a headlight assembly that involves sanding, you are sanding off the UV stabilizing coating of the polycarbonate lens. Polycarbonate is extremely susceptible to UV and will rapidly degrade and cloud/yellow under exposure. This is why many people who 'restore' their headlights have them result in being far worse off a few months later. It is very important that if you sand your headlights removing the UV protection, that you reapply a UV stabilizer coating to the headlight assembly to prevent UV breakdown. Philips includes such a coating in their kit, as do many. This is a maintenance item and not a permanent solution. What sets Philips apart is the longevity of their coating, an outstanding service life of 2 years.

If you are trying to restore badly damaged headlights, Philips headlight restoration kit followed by Mequiars PlastX seems like a great way to go.

 

https://www.powerbulbs.com/us/product/osram-night-breaker-laser-next-generation-h4-twin

@crashnburn80 have you seen these yet? Just got an email about them.

 

Just ordered a set off Power Bulbs with discount was 32.00 bucks.

 

Thanks for the tag! I had not seen the Osram +150s yet. Philips came out with their +150 a while ago with their racing vision bulbs. The Racing vision bulbs have a life of 200hrs, I’m curious how the competing Osrams compare.

 

I'm going to order the H11's as well