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Headlight bulb out... what replacement bulb kicks @ss?

Discussion in '2nd Gen. Tacomas (2005-2015)' started by Apex1, Feb 7, 2019.

  1. Feb 7, 2019 at 5:22 PM
    #21
    TXpro4X4

    TXpro4X4 Fuck Cancer!

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    There's was legit!
    I would never my self because I can see fine. But no scatter.

    It was very bright though.
     
  2. Feb 7, 2019 at 5:48 PM
    #22
    WYJH22

    WYJH22 Well-Known Member

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    Go with the Osram night breaker laser ones. Just got them in the H1 and they are freaking brights!
     
  3. Feb 7, 2019 at 6:18 PM
    #23
    Apex1

    Apex1 [OP] Well-Known Member

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  4. Feb 7, 2019 at 7:09 PM
    #24
    crashnburn80

    crashnburn80 Vehicle Design Engineer

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  5. Feb 7, 2019 at 7:56 PM
    #25
    TacomaSport86

    TacomaSport86 2010 Tacoma/2016 4Runner Pro

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    Same here
     
  6. Feb 8, 2019 at 3:21 AM
    #26
    Apex1

    Apex1 [OP] Well-Known Member

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    Got it, so it’s basically a premium but stock wattage bulb like the night breaker, or it’s a high wattage “off road” bulb, but then the extra draw will need a harness.

    Have you ever tested the high wattage bulb with the stock harness vs a premium bulb?

    By the way, thanks for the info a walking me through this.
     
  7. Feb 8, 2019 at 6:36 AM
    #27
    crashnburn80

    crashnburn80 Vehicle Design Engineer

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    Yes, it is a high efficiency +xxx style bulb or a higher wattage bulb.

    The Osram Supers I listed earlier are a mid-wattage 75w +30 bulb. They are about the highest power you’d want on stock wiring and they are higher efficiency making them excellent performers.

    The GE bulbs I listed earlier are the best performing stock wattage high efficiency bulbs, they outperform the Nightbreaker series.

    To go to a true high wattage bulb requires higher power availability, you don’t want to run them without a harness. Even if you didn’t blow the fuses trying to run one on the stock wiring the bulbs will get inadequate voltage from the stock wiring and as a result be running much dimmer than they should be. You also run the risk of melting your headlight connectors as high powered bulbs get very hot, and aftermarket harnesses use ceramic connectors to handle the heat.
     
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  8. Feb 9, 2019 at 3:45 AM
    #28
    Apex1

    Apex1 [OP] Well-Known Member

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  9. Feb 9, 2019 at 6:51 AM
    #29
    Apex1

    Apex1 [OP] Well-Known Member

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    A little off topic, but related...

    I wanted a mod to leave my fog lights on when the high beams were on. I found one that used a relay jumper on tw. I noticed this mod has the side effect of leaving the low beam circuit on when using high beams. I have not tested whether this is benificial or not.

    So more generally, on an h4 bulb what is the benifits or drawbacks to running the low and high beam circuits at the same time?
     
  10. Feb 9, 2019 at 8:57 AM
    #30
    crashnburn80

    crashnburn80 Vehicle Design Engineer

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    Unsure what version of the mod you did, but mine did not have that behavior. Low and high on at the same time is going to make your bulb very hot and greatly reduce bulb life.
     
  11. Feb 9, 2019 at 12:52 PM
    #31
    Apex1

    Apex1 [OP] Well-Known Member

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    The mod I saw was this one.

    https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/diy-fog-lights-on-with-high-beams-brights-free.214484/

    I really just wanted the fogs to go on with the high beams but this mod leaves the low beam on too. I am sure there are drawbacks, but may be an easy way to increase high beam output and still use the stock equipment.

    I for one don’t get to drive with the high beams that often. That’s why I went with the Phillips racing vision bulb.
     
  12. Feb 9, 2019 at 5:24 PM
    #32
    CorrosiveTendency

    CorrosiveTendency When up to your nose in shit, keep your mouth shut

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    Even with my bad eyes, just regular old Sylvania Silverstars are plenty bright. I rarely even use the high beams.
     
  13. Feb 9, 2019 at 7:14 PM
    #33
    08TacoTrD

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    That's what I use too. I do use the high beams though.
     
  14. Feb 9, 2019 at 7:26 PM
    #34
    crashnburn80

    crashnburn80 Vehicle Design Engineer

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    Here is the one I did. This keeps headlight function like stock, high and low are desperate like stock, and makes the fog switch independent of the headlights so you can run the fogs without the headlights on.

    https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...no-splicing-no-bending-100-reversible.309407/
     
  15. Feb 9, 2019 at 7:52 PM
    #35
    Apex1

    Apex1 [OP] Well-Known Member

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    Ahhh...

    That is a good one if you want to have the fogs on without the headlights.

    I don’t need that. Also drove tonight with the mod I copied and the light output in high beam is impressive. All of the short wide coverage plus the distance. Not sure what kind of damage I am doing, but I am sure the bulb life is going down. Good thing I don’t care about that.
     
  16. Feb 10, 2019 at 4:24 AM
    #36
    Too Stroked

    Too Stroked Well-Known Member

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    I think you're going to find that rather than burning out a headlight bulb, running both filaments at once (in one bulb) will cause the bulb to explode due to excess heat. Be forewarned.
     
  17. Feb 10, 2019 at 9:54 AM
    #37
    SpeedwayBlues

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    Yeah, no doubt they're a business, that's what they do. But seriously, check out their videos on YouTube. Not saying you'll be won over, but they impressed me. They do talk about these concepts:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DeaDrH0gXZk

    I'm with you as far as caring about scatter, I put HID bulbs in my Mustang's stock headlights back in '09 when the kits were getting popular. I didn't know any better, most people didn't. Even though the low beams didn't glare anyone (there were caps covering the bulb), the focus sucked. And when I put the high beams on, the lights went up in the trees. Needless to say, I went back to halogen until I found Saleen headlights on eBay made for HID. And my driving lights did glare people pretty bad. Once I realized it, I changed them back to halogen.
     
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  18. Feb 10, 2019 at 10:17 AM
    #38
    Too Stroked

    Too Stroked Well-Known Member

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    Yea, my son showed me that video before he shelled out $180.00 on a pair of their "very best" LED bulbs for his xB. I tried to explain to him that when somebody's in the business of selling something, they're going to "prove" that their thing is the best thing out there - science be damned. And that's pretty much what that video does. I'll take @crashnburn80 's unbiased scientific results any day over that stuff.

    Oh, and those $180.00 bulbs? Not all that impressive for exactly the reasons @crashnburn80 noted.
     
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  19. Feb 10, 2019 at 4:35 PM
    #39
    crashnburn80

    crashnburn80 Vehicle Design Engineer

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    Yeah I've seen the videos, even their videos show the products don't work, if you know what to look for. Look at 24:30 in that video. It demonstrates their recommended bulbs shifting the hot spot downward in the beam pattern exactly as I measured in the other thread. Which translates to loss of distance projection. The changes seem small, but at greater distance they are magnified and the projection ends up effectively just point the hot spot at the ground rather than up focusing on distance distance projection. He also tells you how important it is to replicate the halogen light and gives some pointers, but completely glosses over that it is not an omni-directional light source, there is far more to lighting that just having the chips in the approximate X&Y position. The side firing LEDs are not going to light the top of the housing. Meaning further reducing performance projection and leading to odd dark spots in the beam pattern. The videos are somewhat well intended, and do help against picking the worst LEDs, but they are really only telling half the story.
     
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  20. Feb 10, 2019 at 5:27 PM
    #40
    SpeedwayBlues

    SpeedwayBlues Well-Known Member

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    Honestly, you bring up a good point, I never thought about them only being side firing. And what if the bulb doesn't lock into your specific housing with the chips facing side to side, you could have some crazy diagonal pattern.

    @Too Stroked - did you notice any scattering on them?
     
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