MARYLAND TACOMAS

Anybody need a set of stock fogs for a 12-15 Tacoma?

 

Hahahaha nahhhh sure don't!

 

I have the DD pros and to me they are overkill. Compared to the sports, the sports are still bright as hell.

 

Morning Maryland

 

Morning MD

 

I'd have to agree. I've got the pros and they definitely overpower my headlights, even after upgrading those. I do like them a lot but if I was to buy a new set it would be the sports. I can't imagine how bright the Max are.

 

ive been wanting to upgrade to the pros from my sports for a while

one of you should trade me

 

They are great offroad or on my drive home, since the spread is wider than my headlights, I can usually see deer and hogs crossing the road giving me enough time to slow down. I followed a coworker into the parking lot one morning and he was amazed they were “street legal”.

 

100%. They're perfect for what they are and I don't intend to ever get rid of them. I've definitely seen quite a few deer that I don't think I would have without them. I was just surprised when I initially installed how much they overpowered the headlights.

 

If you like people honking at you and flashing their high beams I’d upgrade haha. Down in SC no one cares lol

 

With my head lights and pro fogs, my roof light bar is honestly pointless lol. I forget it’s even up there when I pull into camp when it’s pitch black.

 

do you guys think the big-brand LEDs are measurably worth the cost? If a light is 200-500% the price of a cheaper light but produces only, say, 15% more (and better) light and longevity; what other benefits can you think of?

 

To me the benefit is not buying junk that doesn't have the quality, longevity, or customer service of a big-brand. Diode is running a sale right now on their Amazon store. There's no question they aren't cheap lights, but you get what you pay for.

 

Are you talking about just replacing the bulbs in yours or the entire housing?
If just the bulbs, there are threads here somewhere saying the there are some H9 bulbs that are much better than any LEDs you can put in since the housing is made for those and not LEDs. I’m guessing the concept will stay the same for the gen2 as the gen3s.
if you like the LEDs for the white light they have compared to the yellowish/dull normal, these are somewhat recommended. If they fit your truck- https://www.amazon.com/UltraFocus-H11-Equivalent-Performance-Replacement/dp/B077BT6M6Z?th=1

Here is a thread I saw while looking for the one I was thinking about https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/the-ultimate-headlight-upgrade-h4-not-led-or-hid.398066/

 

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/the-led-sae-j583-fog-pod-fog-light-review.554813/

See post #2721 for DD SS3 review

 

Wondering if I should go yellow or stay white

 

I get that. My life is made up of competing demands for re$ources, and because I'm a big fat nerd I build a formula to measure absolute - well...subjective i mean - value of mods. I think I'm of the opinion I'd rather risk having to buy 3 sets over, say, 10 years at 1/3rd the price of one that might last for 10 years - because there's a chance I won't have to buy three sets over that timeframe. Of course maybe my age/experience plays into it - to see essentially the same parts doing +/- the same work going for sometimes 10x the cost of others...I just dunno.

My formula is this: Criticality / Cost x Hours per year in active use / Cargo impact = Absolute value score.

Criticality: If I did not have this part, or it was not working, how many times out of 100 would not-having that piece prove critical (threat to or loss of property/life/limb, etc). I divide that score by the whole dollar cost, which then is multiplied by the number of hours per year I'd have that part switched-on, or actively using it. For something like a winch: If I am overlanding/camping 10 days per year I might be actively engaged in winching 2 full hours. Then I assign a storage/weight penalty of 1-10. For a LED pod it'd be like 1 or 2, tops, as they are generally on a bumper, out of the way, very little weight or sq foot taken-up. When finish I x by 100 to make the scores readable. Here's part of a slide i built for a discussion I lead at Renezvous in the Ozarks last year. The branding is for a page/site/service I've been struggling to find time to get off the ground.



Looking at the LED bars on the right side. On a scale of 1-100, 1 = worst value and 100 being the best, a 1400 LED bar scores a Seven; a $120 bar is a 78. The question this formula drives is this: Is the $1400 light bar going to produce $1280 worth of additional performance, when I think I might be actively needing/using the bar 28 hours per year (in this instance, for example). I'm not factoring in just driving around in the daylight with the bar switched on - but talking "holy shit I need this bar lit up!" situations. On the slide I guessed not-having a LED light bar would or could be catastrophic in 10 situations out of 100 possible situations where I absolutely need one. (For example, maybe there's a 10 percent chance my truck's headlamps fail and I must travel at night. Or maybe visibility is so terrible and I have someone injured with me meaning I cannot wait it out without terrible risk to their life/limbs, etc.).

The formula is not an end-all decision matrix - but it helps me built a 1-N priority list for competing resources - helps me get past coolness-from-having something. The best part could be all of us would likely have different scores. For people who do tons of night-driving LED/Light bars, etc, are much much more valuable.

Thanks! Was speaking of just the bars and pods. I have LED bulbs in my tacoma - they are fine, but the beam pattern is jacked. I'll likely go back to hallogen soon-enough.

Thank you!

 

I would say yes because I know it’s good quality and will last, so I don’t have to worry about leaving them running on long drives. I knew it was worth the money when I unboxed them and felt how sturdy they are. Like @RedDeadTaco said, the fact that the beams are so wide is really nice because it helps see a much wider field of view than with just the headlights on.

They’re so helpful that I have them set to auto with the headlights and i just run them whenever it’s dark or inclement weather.

 

I completely understand about that. That’s a great train and thought process. I like ensuring I get the best thing I can at the cheapest price. I actually bought cheap LEDs and sometimes they work and sometimes they don’t… I need to check and see if maybe wiring is pinched or a relay is bad. I’m just lazy and have not felt like it.

 

You've clearly put a lot of time and effort into this and I applaud you for that. I would never have gone that far with these type of purchases. My logic is more "do I want this? can I justify the cost to my wife?". In my current situation I'd rather pay up and get exactly what I want that I know is quality and will work when I need it to work.