3rd Gen HID vs LED vs Halogen H11 projector headlights

All snow is not equal. It needs to be warm enough and the snow wet enough to have the right conditions for snow to stick to the front of a vehicle. I've experienced this in other vehicles with LED headlights and had complete headlight blackout from snow where I've had to exit the vehicle on a remote highway multiple times to clear the headlamps. Very much not ideal.

 

Would be cool if they installed heating vents outside of the headlight similar to how they use to do wipers/sprayers.

 

The common method in the industry is to use coil resistance heat wires applied to the inside of the lens. Much like a rear window defroster in a car. These are commonly available in standardized assemblies like 7” round, but I’m not aware of any in vehicle specific assemblies with the feature. Would certainly be ideal for someone to make them for trucks that are often used in snow environments.

 

Apologies about polluting a Tacoma specific thread with a question about another brand.
My van uses H11 bulbs both in high and low beams. How can I tell if I can safely run H9 bulbs in it?
Reflector housing ( not that it matters). I am assuming it comes down to wire gauge?

Thank you.

 

H11s have a glare cap, whereas H9s, which were intended to be a high beam bulb, do not. So if it is a reflector lamp that does not have a built in glare cap, please do not use H9s.

All halogen lamp systems will see pe4formance improvements feom using a relay harness to bypass the OEM harness with a shorter, more direct run to the battery, and heavier gauge wire. But the wattage draw difference between an H11 and an H9 is nominally 10watts, which should be well within what good condition oem wiring should handle.

 

Reflectors do have built in glare caps.
Thank you.

 

What I have done is fill a 1 litre spray bottle (like one would use to spray plants) with the “coldest” rated windshield fluid and use that to clean the headlights, taillights & radar thingy as necessary. Fits in the rear door cup holder.

Here in the BC Interior, we can get -50 Chocula (-58 Frankenberry) rated fluid….works great.

 

Good idea.,down here in the Fraser Valley the snow is typically thick and wet, sticks to everything so not sure how the LED headlight would clear it, but also the times we do get snow isn't very often, i am still on the fence about upgrading my headlight units to full LED

 

This was the main downside from replacing my stock units on my '16 with the morimoto LEDs. We can get lots of snow in the winter and there's been a few times where, as you mentioned, I've had to pull off and wipe the lenses. Not as bad when going slow up/down the mountain due to slower speeds and trees keeping the wind down, but the highway is a different story when you can visibly see the light fading in front of you. It may be a dumb question, but do you know of any manufacturers implementing these coils or something similar aftermarket or would the Toyota LEDs solve that problem?

 

I can't comment on factory Toyota, but Morimoto showcased a new set of assemblies with a heating element at this year's SEMA show.

 

Somewhat of a tangent, but wanted to make sure people knew the headlights are on sale again. Genuine Toyota Parts and Accessories: Official Online Store Lewis Toyota is at least one place.

Now back to your regularly scheduled lighting thread...

 

Toyota OEM LEDs will suffer the same outcome, no forward heat and failure to clear snow. The only one I am aware of is the one mentioned.

Pretty excited to see these. TBD on heating performance. All other manufacture heated headlights and tails apply heating elements directly to the lens, the Morimotos as you can see do not. This means better optical transparency for more efficient light output, but also less efficient heat transfer which reduces heating efficiency and effectiveness for clearing snow.

 

ive seen a few times posted on facebook they are working on a gen 3 headlight for 3rd gen tacomas. wonder if that would wver come true. brighter and ability to melt off snow better.

edit: next gen tacoma headlight was actually shown at sema too

 

Anyone know if @Diode Dynamics will make a 3rd gen headlight any time soon ?

 

Question for ya before I pull the trigger on these: I have the Diode Dynamics Elite fog lights. Will they work with the adapter we need for the LED conversion?

 

They can be made to for sure. Are you looking to run the backlight with the DRL and/or parking lights?

 

I'd be happy with either, but I'd prefer it with the DRL if its not a huge PIA. Are there any modifications necessary to get the backlights to work?

 

Just DRL is pretty straight forward. Hit up @daveeasa He should have some kits ready to go

 

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...ight-oem-led-headlights.817754/#post-29328887

 

Possibly the wrong thread, but does anyone know the part numbers for the OEM black housing Halogen headlights? Assuming they exist.