3rd gen factory installed LED’s versus aftermarket

Hello,

I’m about to make a purchase, and I was wondering if the $485 LED option is just the factory replacing the regular bulb with an LED one, or is there more to it like the entire projector assembly is replaced?

I would have to cross state lines to get a truck with a factory installed LED light, and I don’t want to do that if it means I can just buy a $20 bulb off Amazon and have the same thing.

Would y’all say it’s worth the 300 mile trip and paperwork/headache with the DMV to get the car registered in my home state?


Any thoughts?

 

In order to get $500ish LED option you have to get the tech package and premium blah blah which is another few grand I believe.

I do recommend the headlights though.

 

Oh I know. But do the optional LED’s just come with a different bulb? Or it the housing different too

 

Housing is different. It is completely sealed and LED’s cannot be replaced

 

Darn. That’s interesting. Would you say that this makes the conventional headlights a little bit of a better setup then? Just Incase they need to be replaced; they can be done so easily.

Since the daytime running LED’s come standard with all off roads, is there an aesthetic difference between the two?

 

So I just purchased my new 2021 MGM the only option the truck had was the LED headlights and that's all I wanted as well. So if you talk with a good dealer they can find them believe me.

The factory headlights are WORTH IT 100 PERCENT!!!! they look amazing and are incredibly bright!

If you do bulbs it wont be the same I did that to my 2011 F-150 and the end result was horrible.

Let me know where you are located might be able to refer you.

 

the led oem lights are a sealed unit that used a chip instead of a bulb which are 100000000000000 percent better than any aftermarket led bulb

 

Yes in deed they are. I cant get over how bright they are!!!

 

To kind of speak to this. My wifes lexus has LED tail lights, its a sealed unit like the new tacoma headlights. One of her tail lights went out and I have to buy a whole new tail light assembly for $300... if it was a standard housing with a led bulb, It would cost me about $20 to fix.

For that reason it self, I always recommend getting the halogen housings and just upgrading the bulbs to either HID or LED. If your tacomas headlight goes out after warranty is up, your on the hook for a whole new assembly instead of just a bulb. Its like the TV/VCR combos back in the day.. if one part fails, but the rest of it still works, its all junk now.


EDIT: new headlight assembly is like $1000 from toyota if im looking at the right part.
https://parts.toyota.com/p/Toyota_2020_Tacoma/Headlight-Right/78942145/8111004290.html

 

Sorry, but you're dead wrong. The 3rd gen LED housing is completely different than the halogen one - for some very, very good reasons. The same goes for any other vehicle out there. If it were as simple as slapping an LED (or HID) bulb in an existing housing, don't you think every manufacturer would have done it by now? They don't, and here's why:

Why LEDs should not be run in Halogen reflectors | Tacoma World

 

Im making a point against getting the OEM led housing for the simple fact that if the bulb goes out, you have to spend 1000$ to replace it. With the halogens you can put a new bulb in. And also, that thread if for reflector housing.... 3rd gen doenst have a reflector housing, we have projector housings that you can put these bulbs into just fine. Most LEDs are clockable to give you the correct beam pattern.

 

There are no "bulbs" in the factory LED housing. There are numerous LED chips. That means if one goes out, you're not out of lighting. On a related note, the expected working life of an OEM LED is thousands of hours. That means the likelihood of one going out for most folks is very, very low. The expected life of most aftermarket drop in LED bulbs is fairly low. (Much lower than OEM.) The actual life is even lower due to much poorer manufacturing methods than OEM. Clocking a drop in LED bulb does not correct the beam pattern as was shown (and proven) in the link I attached.

The only point I'll agree with you on is that with 3rd gen projector halogen housings, some of the better drop in LED bulbs (as in only the Hikari Ultras) actually do perform decently. This, except that the cost is significantly higher than a simple H9 (halogen) swap.

 

I am aware of how the factory led headlight work. There are multiple chips, one goes out and your right your not out of light but you got a headlight thats not working, looks bad doesnt produce as much light as it should. But, lets say the led board fails like on my wifes lexus, the whole tail light is now junk. I see lots of new suburbans with those god awful 3 foot long tower tail lights with 2 or 3 chips out, looks like trash when its not working how it should. As for the working life of a LED, nothing is 100% perfect, you may have your headlights work for the rest of their life, or just like many things, you might get a premature failure resulting a huge bill. The working life of the AC compressor on my truck should of been more than 15k miles, but mine failed at 15k miles.

I was actually just about to quote you on the hikari lights from the other thread where you said it would be a upgrade to someone with a 3rd gen. (still cant get over their packaging)