1st gen replacement headlights

Howdy fellas

I’d like to replace my headlights they’re old and not strong enough especially at night. I’ve seen people retro fit halos, but I don’t really like how that looks are there any other options and has anyone done anything different?

Pictures appreciated!

 

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/proper-headlight-upgrade.407879/

 

The first step is that if your current lights are yellowed/faded just replace them. That will get a lot of light output back immediately with no other upgrades. THEN consider the proper headlight upgrade or other options.

Do NOT bother getting LED replacements that just replace the bulb. I have yet to see any that are designed well enough to not have massively incorrect cutoffs and creating dark spots that make it dangerous at night.

 

Rock Auto CAPA cert headlight housing and do the wiring harness and bulb upgrade.

It’s probably the best thing you can do beside retrofits. Why don’t you like the look of retrofits?

 

Just don't use square shrouds. Even when the projectors are level the shroud might not be as you can see below and you end up with Forest Whitiker headlights. These were the only shrouds I had available with drl and I was on a time crunch.

 

A better question is why DO you like the look of retrofits.

Retrofits always remind me of dilated pupils. Or putting a round peg in a square hole. Just doesn't look right on a 20 year old truck, IMO.

The CAPA housings are definitely the way to go. I love mine.

I guess what's "best" depends on your use. I honestly don't think HIDs are all they are cracked up to be, and they cost a lot for what they actually give back in benefit (for me at least). I've never not been able to see plenty far ahead at night with my lights (non faded housings, of course). Sure, HIDs are brighter, but if you're in the city, you don't need brighter lights (you barely need any lights, lol). The only place where you really need significantly brighter lights is off-road. And even then, you need a completely different beam pattern than what is legal to use on the road. Off road you want the light as high as possible to project farther and to minimize shadows. In that case it makes much more sense to just spend that $500-1000 on a light bar and some LED pods.

In the end, you might loose some bro points for not having HIDs, but I think a lightbar is easily worth twice as many bro points as HIDs.

 

Guess I like the round shroud look in side the headlights like the original HID equip vehicles. They have better light output and more ways to customize it.

HIDs you can run on the streets, light bars you can’t, legally anyways.

 

That's actually my point. I'm saying that anything you can (legally) run on the street is going to have basically zero advantage offroad because of DOT restrictions in the light beam pattern.

Even the "proper headlight upgrade" isn't DOT legal, because it is so much brighter. You kinda get a pass because the cut off beam doesn't change so you aren't any more likely to blind other drivers. IMO, if you need anything brighter than what the proper upgrade gets you, you need something that isn't going to be street legal anyway.

For most people, super bright lights aren't really that much of an advantage on the street either, since most of us either drive in the city where street lights illuminate everything, or stock halogen lights already project more than enough light (like on curvy mountain roads). In both cases, having super bright lights is superfluous.

The main advantage for super bright lights is in places like the middle of Nevada/Utah on Hwy 50: straight dark roads with nothing except cows for miles. Projecting light farther down the road is obviously a benefit, but all you really "need" is enough light to see something within your stopping distance/reaction time. I'm not doing a buck-forty on those roads so my halogen lights are actually "good enough".

Since my focus is off-road, if I'm going to spend $500-1000 on lights, I'm not going to limit myself with road legal lights, or even "kinda legal" lights.

 

I agree 100% with this. I replaced my original, faded, yellowed headlights and that alone probably would have doubled light output because the new lens was so clear. I bought TYC lights off Amazon and they came with Osram bulbs. I had already bought

$32 PHILIPS X-treme Vision +130% Headlight Bulbs (Pack of 2) (H4 60/55W)

these Philips bulbs so that's what I used. The bulbs that came with the TYC's probably would have been fine and a huge upgrade over the 20 yr old original bulbs and housing assemblies.

Light output at night is way better than what it was. I'd start with replacing just the housings and see if that gets you the brightness you want.

 

headlight styles have changed througout the "1st Gen" range so what you might see in a picture might not be avalible for your truck.

 

ditto...just replace with TYC bulbs on Amazon and keep it close to stock. They're cheap, like $32 each and it really makes your truck look cleaner and more well kept. They're plenty bright for night driving and easily installed. Those other retrofits look just plain weird, sorry

 

I don't care how retros look compared to how they perform. It's night and day and I'll never settle for anything less. At night nobody can see what your headlights look like anyways. I'd rather have the clean white light over dim yellow. Even if one HID bulb goes out I'm still brighter than most halogen setups. And that's without running fogs at the same time.

 

If your headlights are badly hazed, a simple replacement and stock wattage performance bulb can be a huge improvement. You can see my post testing replacing stock badly hazed headlights on a 1st Gen with new CAPA Depo headlights and stock wattage performance bulbs, it made a massive difference. We didn't use a harness or high wattage. See comparisons posted later in the headlight thread here. If going with stock wattage performance bulbs, Philips Racing Vision +150 provide the best low beam, but reduced high beam performance. GE Xenon +120 provide the best stock wattage upgrade without reducing high beam performance, but their low beam is not as strong as the Philips.

 

@crashnburn80 I was hoping you'd chime in!

 

I’m going to order some smoked headlights to go with the smoked in the back I used carid.com for mine. Got a lot of options there

 

Nobody's opting for smoked if they are looking for performance in a headlight.

 

hey @crashnburn80 , can you post the link for the Phillips bulbs on Amazon. I have a 2003 tacoma, will these fit??? Thanks!!!

 

Somebody explain to me how H4 headlamp bulbs can be sold as a "refurbished" product?
https://www.amazon.com/Philips-RacingVision-Headlight-12342RVS2-Refurbished/dp/B07Q785PF3/ref=sr_1_8

Especially when they're cheaper NEW?

$36 Philips RacingVision H4 Headlight Bulbs (Twin) 12342RVS2 Xtreme Vision Upgrade

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01LYNVQBC/ref=dp_cr_wdg_tit_nw_ls

 

Simply getting new clear housing it a good start, then getting new high quality bulbs will get you pretty close without a retrofit.

 

@4xdog beat me to it above.

LOL! Definitely not refurbished. My guess is open box/lightly used return.