The ultimate headlight upgrade H4 (not LED or HID)

70 pages of stuff and in the end I still cannot determine which are the best/brightest bulbs for the following in a 3rd Gen Tacoma...
Headlights
Fog Lights
High Beams
Reverse Lights

Can anyone reply with the answer?

 

This is a 2nd Gen Forum

 

Thanks and sorry.. i saw "lighting" under forums. Missed that it was 2nd Gen

 

No Worries, Eric. Good info in that 3rd Gen. thread specifically for your ride.

 

So I looked through all the fuses and found nothing. Im clueless at this point.

 

Just a though, but it's a long shot, try disconnecting the battery for a spell & see if it comes back.

 

Well, I tried that and still the same.

 

The headlights should have nothing to with the cameras. You could unplug the standalone harness from the main harness to demonstrate. Curious coincidence though. Do the reverse lights work?

 

Good question. I will check. Also, it can be a possibility the the negative terminal makes contact when the positive terminal was connected. Could that maybe cause a short? And if so, I went through all the fuses and none of them popped.

 

Did your aftermarket camera have a inline fuse of any type?

 

Another good question. I believe it did. I will have to check....

 

Nope. No inline fuse. just plug in play.

 

Well at least you read all 70 pages, that's commitment!!

 

I figured out what happened. I started reading a lighting thread that was not in the 2nd Gen forum. Then, I think within that post there a link to this post which brought me here.

 

So, after brain rattling all afternoon, I gave in and went to my car audio guy and explained the problem. He checked the fuses, took out the radio, the whole 9 yards. Until his assistant noticed my driver side back up light flickering. He ask me if I had LED bulbs for the back up lights. I said yes. Well, he said that could be the problem. Either clean the LED connector or replace the bulb.

I felt relieved that it wasn't anything major. Plus he didn't charge me. (phew)

When I got home, I disassembled the driver side tail light. took out the bulb and examined it. Nothing dirty. All i needed to do was readjust the connectors. And popped it back in. Now there are no issues and both front and rear camera works.

All is good! Thanks guys for the advice and help!

 

These just came tonight. Gonna put one set in tomorrow after work. Had a tough time making up my mind with so many choices. Looking forward to more light and and reasonable life span.

 

I haven’t installed the harness

 

Should be an interesting comparison, the Nightbreakers will project further. You’ll definitely want the harness for those 100w Cool Blue lights.

 

Just ordered some 130/90 H4s. Was looking through wiring harness options and starting to get a bit crazy, then did the math and realized the amp draw at 90w is well below the amperage rating of 18/20awg wire at 13-14.5v

No disrespect to anyone that has opted to go with 12g wires, but it seems a bit overkill from a wiring standpoint.

Will update on results. Haven't checked the stock headlight fuse yet, may need to step it up to 10 or 12 amps if it isn't already.

 

The goal here isn't just to supply sufficient power to the bulbs, it is to increase voltage by reducing voltage drop so the bulbs burn brighter. The way to reduce voltage drop in DC is to draw power directly from the source and use heavier wire gauge (lower AWG) for a more efficient transfer from the source to the light. Note there has been confusion on this in the past for people familiar with AC as electrical surface tension increases with heavier gauge wire in AC but does not in DC, in DC heavier gauges perform better.

Stock headlight fuse is 10A per filament. 2x low, 2x high on a 2nd gen. Uncertain on a 1st gen.