3rd Gen HID vs LED vs Halogen H11 projector headlights

I'm waiting to see if anyone decides to put their AlphaRex headlights up on the altar of data gathering. I have a distinct feeling that they're mostly show and no go.

 

When they first started (like, super early on) they were like Carmax. They are a large dealer network at this point.

 

Would be interesting to compare for sure, the product does not look promising though.

 

There is much more in the industrial commercial sector, like GEAE (GE Aircraft Engines) and many more.

 

What the heck is a monrooney sticker? Do you mean the window sticker? It mentions nothing about the headlights or similar upgrade.

 

Whoa there is a lot of speculation here. Did I buy a used truck is that what someone here is saying and pay a stupid price for it? If you want to look them up here is the dealership. https://www.autonationtoyotaarapahoe.com/ They sell lots of new and used vehicles.

 

BTW, welcome to the forum from Eastern North Carolina!
Don't let your feathers get ruffled.
You were just lucky enough to start out on a hot topic, ie LED headlights.

 

OEM LED Headlight distance test

Headlights ran for ~30 minutes for stable temp readings.

German Philips H9 vs OEM LED in 42' test


OEM LED vs German Philips H9 swap


The OEM LED is the highest intensity street legal option tested yet. While the Philips H9s are about 10% lower in peak intensity than the OEM LED, keep in mind the Philips halogens will fade by 30% over the course of their lifetime, meaning in the later stages of the bulb life the LEDs will be substantially brighter.

Compared to Morimotos, the OEM has higher peak intensity at 42'. However, the Morimotos do have a slight edge on color temperature, but not enough of a difference to be a factor in the decision making.


Compared to stock the OEM assemblies are a substantial upgrade, nearing double peak intensity output.


High beam testing still to come soon.

Based on the additional low beam distance test, the OEM LED headlights appear to be the best performing off the shelf low beam headlight on the market for the Tacoma. If you do not need to worry about icing in snow environments, these look like a solid buy as an outstanding performing headlight. For environments where regular snow is a concern, a halogen upgrade would be more appropriate.

 

Last paragraph, which lights are you referring to when you say “these” ?

 

OEM LED. I'll edit for clarification.

 

Thanks! And thanks for all your data. I wound up going with Morimoto XBs this weekend and I’m enjoying them quite a bit. I would have gone for the OEM LEDs, but the harness adapter for SR5 models and the price difference made me pass.

 

Very interesting. I never knew they sold new vehicles too.

 

I took the truck out for a short night drive and also took a couple of pictures for what they're worth. Low beam Led's seemed nice and bright to me.
I noticed the cut off seemed clean to me and I could clearly see objects at 300 ft. I will talk to the dealer today to find out who put non-stock bulbs in my truck. Picture at 18 ft.
I'm just curious why these Led's https://sbxparts.com/contents/en-us/p1701_H11-V10P-PerfectFit-LED-headlight-bulb-kit.html aren't street legal? 50 ft distance on uneven driveway. The truck is sloping nose downward due to higher driveway behind.

 

First post I read as a new member and owner...WOW, I am going to like this forum. Thank you.

 

LEDs can be very bright, but they are usually not bright in the correct location. They typically shift the light intensity to foreground light which looks very impressive from the driver seat and people naturally favor foreground light, but that limits distance projection and night distance vision, it isn't how headlights are supposed to work. This makes it so that at highway speed at night it is possible to overdrive your headlights, meaning by the time an object is visible you will no longer have time to stop to avoid hitting it. This isn't noticeable in lighted urban areas or at slow speeds. There is a lot more that goes into headlights than just being bright. Scroll through post #3 for many examples, nearly every tested LED fails to match the low performance stock halogen bulb at a distance of 42'.

As mentioned before, you can put any light source in there and the cut off will be clean. It has nothing to do with the LEDs, that is how projectors work due to the internal light shield that forces a cut off.

All replacement LEDs in headlights are not legal, it has nothing to do with that specific LED bulb.

 

Welcome! Enjoy! All the info is kept up to date in the first 3 posts on the thread, save the recent testing of the OEM LED headlights on the last few pages, which will be moved to post 3 as soon as testing is complete.

 

Any info on the output of the Morimoto M LED 2.0? I'm trying to decide between going with the XBs or doing a retrofit with the M LED 2.0s.

 

So I did talk to the manager at the dealership where I purchased my Taco and he said they 'upgrade' all the truck lights to led's since they put out about 30% more light in his words. I talked to him about that based on what I have learned on this thread (far field illumination, near field fucusing issues, heat on lens not melting ice, etc.) and he said he hadn't thought about those issues much. Maybe he will now? It has been an education in vehicle lighting for me so thanks to the forum members who commented on this.

 

Interesting that they are willing to sell trucks with non-DOT approved lighting, as they aren't legal for road use. I would notify Toyota Corporate about this.