What have you done to your Tacoma today? 1st Gen Edition

+1 to this:

My work was very crude back when I first installed it and my tools limited. I hit mine with the flame of a map gas torch and then poked at it with 1.5 foot long breaker bar to bend mine and didn't go through so you will probably be good.




I however DO NOT recommend this method.

You will love the radio though, with a properly tuned setup I have always been told I am the clearest sounding in the group.

Untitled by Michael Halat, on Flickr

You can even attach the paranoid switch panel to it if you are feeling froggy one day.

 

Can I just throw in some LED bulbs into my headlights? It is super easy? I just got new lights and they're not too bright. Any input would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

 

No

 

Only if you want to blind oncoming drivers.

 

Why?

 

But would they work?

 

Not well

 

Why do you say that?

 

Cause they aren't meant to

 

If you DAF about other drivers. Yeah, it can be done.

The basic problem is the reflector in the headlight housing. It is designed specifically for an omnidirectional halogen bulb filament which is located in a very exact location within the housing. when you put an LED bulb in there, the emitter is not in the correct position and will cause light scatter. This is what is blinding to other drivers.

 

There has been a lot written about this topic.

There are other better options if you are serious about having better headlights. This is a 2nd gen thread but it applies to our trucks as well.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/the-ultimate-headlight-upgrade-h4-not-led-or-hid.398066/

 

Here is another thread worth reading:

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/why-leds-should-not-be-run-in-halogen-reflectors.454371/

 

@crashnburn80 has covered this extensively in the threads that @Digiratus posted. LED's just aren't made for this application and your usable light down the road will be WORSE than stock (along with blinding other drivers).

Just. Don't. Do. It.

 

They will turn on yes, output will be worse than stock, you'll lose distance projection and likely have excessive scatter and glare blinding other drivers while not being able to see as well yourself either.

Are your new assemblies aftermarket? Do they look like stock? Any off the shelf unique looking aftermarket headlight is going to be a major downgrade from stock since aftermarket companies selling those types of lamps are not putting money into high quality precision optics. The cheap chinese optics used lack focus, which reduces output intensity and distance projection. Putting an LED bulb in only compounds the problem and makes it significantly worse since LEDs also lack focus and shift the pattern away from distance projection.

OEM headlights are the best and highest performing off the shelf assembly available. Part numbers available in the 1st post of my 2003 build thread. For bulbs, the best performing 9003/H4 low beam bulbs are the Philips Racing Vision +200 for stock wattage. If you want serious lighting power, an HD harness with the Osram Superbrights will deliver. That is what I run on my 1st Gen. As pointed out the 2nd Gen headlight thread uses the same 9003/H4 base, only difference is ground switched wiring on 1st Gen requiring a different harness if choosing to go with the high power bulbs, but that is covered in the 1st post of the thread. Output numbers will obviously vary slightly as well being the 2nd Gen has larger lamps.

To boost performance even further, you can run an AGM with a voltage booster, and since voltage boosts halogen output exponentially to the power of 3.4, all lights including headlights get a nice output bump. I also run that setup on my 1st Gen. A nice side benefit is the voltage increase breathes a little more life into the 20 year old power window motors.

Lots of headlight improvement options, but replacement LEDs are not one of them.

 

My LED’s seem on par with the halogens and haven’t had anybody flash their lights at me since I adjusted them but idk

 

Thanks for the great write-up! I'll look into all that!

 

Same, but I have shielded ones which have a cutoff. Everyone here assumes that LED are all the same but it's not the case. Can't be any more obnoxious than some of the projector setups I have been around in these trucks.

 

My leds with the cut off thingy fried my ham

 

I prefer my ham smoked

 

I prefer my ham laminated