Why LEDs should not be run in Halogen reflectors

What was it that was gonna cost $800?

 

Buy a set of Philips H9 bulbs, same as what your highbeams take. Use a set of small sidecutters to trim out the plastic tabs in the plug base, and the "top" metal locking tab, then ckean the bulb with isopropyl alchol. Massive upgrade. See the 3rd gen headlight upgrade thread for crash's test numbers.

 

This thread covers reflectors, like 2nd Gen. For your 3rd Gen, see the 3rd Gen thread. As mentioned the Philips H9 swap is the highest performing, or the Hella 2.0 Performance H9s if you want slightly whiter light. Silverstars are not as great as they seem. The best plug and play H11s are from Tungsram, with their Platinum, Nighthawk Xenon +120 or Megalight +130.
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/3rd-gen-hid-vs-led-vs-halogen-h11-projector-headlights.589465/

 

From the Headlight Revolution site...
GTR Ultra Series 2.0 - $220 x 3 (hi,lo,fog)
Anti-Flicker harness - $55 x 3

 

Keep preaching @crashburn80. We are all learning a lot. And every day there are millions of fools wandering the internet trying to figure out how to do something really ignorant with their headlights and to oncoming motorists. Maybe some will stumble on your threads and learn to be better.

 

Thank you very much!

 

GTR is owned by Headlight Revolution, their advertising to promote their own product brand is very misleading. Those are some horrible LEDs, one of the worst designs and lowest performers in that thread. See the review in post #2816 here.

Don't put replacement LEDs in your fogs, it will result in glare, which will not be good for oncoming drivers as well as reflect light back at you in fog and have a low performing pattern. You should replace the entire fog with an SAE LED assembly. Below is the SAE LED fog thread covering most the options, the best performers by far are the Diode Dynamics SS3s linked at the top.
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/the-led-sae-j583-fog-pod-fog-light-review.554813/

 

Good God! I'm glad for you, that you didn't waste your money.

 

Have you tried the Philips Nightguide Platinum? if so how they compare to the Megalights 130. I tried searching the original 3rd gen thread but couldnt find it

 

I'll bring this over to the 3rd Gen headlight thread, posted here. Lets continue halogen bulb conversations over there.

 

Thank you for posting this thread.

No one will care about this personal anecdote but I nevertheless think it is worth sharing since it illuminates (pun intended) the problem here.

I have a rare, genetic condition called Behcets Disease. My sister has it quite rough. She deals with stomach ulcers and the rest of the vicious symptoms associated with the disease. By contrast, the only issues I have are vision problems. My grandmother also displays poor vision. I have many floaters in my eyes, and I have poor night vision. I frequently bump into things around the house. I rarely go out for drinks anymore because it is hard for me to navigate the room without tripping, falling, missing handshakes - many embarrassing moments have unfolded in my lifetime. It is hard to explain to someone why I can't grab drinks after work but I won't moan and complain.

Driving at night is hard for me. When someone retrofits LED bulbs into OEM housing, I can always tell.

The glare from these lights can be so aggressive that, sometimes, I need to pull over, close my eyes, and wait until it's safe for me to drive again.

Frankly speaking, a big part of the reason why I am investing in steel bumpers and forced induction is so that I can be protected in the event of a collision and, crucially, find space on highways far away from other people - more precisely, far away from aggressive headlight glare. Last night is a great example. I did absolutely everything I could to get as far away from other people as possible; but some teenager in a ricer trailed me since I played the de facto role of "rabbit" on the road.

These days, we hear a lot about people's handicaps and personal problems. I don't mean to add to that monotony. I deal with my problems just like anyone else.

My point is simply that you all should reflect on the contents of this thread (pun not intended). There are people on the road, like myself, who aren't merely annoyed by aggressive headlight glare; they are impaired to a degree that driving can be unsafe.

I know that aftermarket LED headlights can sometimes get pricey; but please give the investment some thought.

 

Good post @redneck_adjacent .

 

Very informative read!

Thinking out loud here... this has me wondering if you could use something like the @Diode Dynamics TIR optics to simulate the filament of a halogen? Something like a frosted fiberoptic filament to direct the light into an omnidirectional pattern?

 

Still not going to be legal per the CFR/FMVSS108. Currently how to get DOT approval for halogen reflector headlights is by testing with the same type of bulb as a benchmark and pass the luminous intensity requirements over angle in the spec. For an LED, it must be tested as a fully integrated system. Heatsinks, primary optics, secondary optics, etc.

I do believe that the CFR should be updated to at least allow LED replacement bulbs to be tested in halogen reflector/projector housings and then there should be some sort of list of the approved assemblies with those specific bulbs. If they pass, then they pass. The reason there isn't one now is because it would be a PITA for the government to create such a list.

Another thing is that there are slim pickings on manufacturers/brands who actually produce good halogens anymore. As a testing lab engineer for lighting products, its very hard to find the benchmark bulbs to use anymore to compare these assemblies if one to blow or just degrade. It can take 30 lamps to find the one we're able to use based on external dimensions/tolerance, filament dimensions, or a tight lumen output within that tolerance as well. The quality just isn't what it used to be.

 

Alright I’m convinced. I’ve been reading this post as well as most of the related ones for the past hour, so I may have read over the answer to this question, but are the very expensive LED headlight bulbs that I bought and can’t return just a waste now? I want to upgrade my headlights both in performance and style, preferably with a blacked out housing assembly. Ideally it would be nice to have a use for the LEDs, perhaps in a new blacked out housing, even though I can see in the OP that may not increase performance.

 

What brand and model of LED bulb did you buy that cannot be returned?

 

I bought them awhile ago and it’s past the time I can return them.

 

Ah, that makes sense then.

As far as reputable LED manufacturers / sellers. the only ones I can personally recommend are Diode Dynamics and maybe Hikari. And to get a really well-made bulb, you're talking well over $100 a pair.

As you've probably already read, the only true way to improve the performance of 2nd gen Tacoma headlights is the Ultimate Headlight Upgrade with halogen bulbs. Everything else is a compromise and many options are either a performance downgrade or an invitation to get flashed by oncoming drivers constantly - sometimes both.