Best Headlights 3rd Gen (morimoto/alpharexx, neither??)

My only experiences are with OEM assemblies. OEM halogen with H11, H9 and LED bulbs and then OEM LED.
This comment links to the headlight thread from crashnburn who does full-on instrument testing with different bulbs and lamp assemblies. It’s A LOT to wade through, but it’s what most people use for research and cite when they say x is better than y.

The first link in this comment is the dedicated xb evo thread. As mentioned here earlier, a user by the name yoshi(something?) is the engineer who designed those lamps and has lots of comments in the evo thread talking about them.
These units have a lot of cool functionality (lens heaters and superchargers) but because of that require a few more steps to install than some other LED units

 

https://www.tacomaworld.com/search/20911353/?q=alpharex&t=post&o=date&c[title_only]=1&c[node]=186

It took me a few minutes to decide going with OEM.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/2020-tacoma-oem-led-headlight-megathread.657299/

 

Yep. Oem for me (after conversion).

 

I was in the same boat as you. I was leaning towards the OEM's but ended up with the Morimoto XB EVO's w/superchargers. Im not a light expert but I will say that they are quit impressive.

 

I'm willing to bet the new morimoto's are s fine contender based on Yoshi I's discussions and inputs in the 3rd gen headlight upgrade/test thread.

If you have the OEM lamps and are looking for reliability, congratulations! You have an excellent quality lamp that will perform very well for many many years to come!

It's a halogen lamp. Halogens make for excellent lamps, which is why they're still being made in [current year].

The factory installs a long life H11, which meets your requirements. It will probably last for several years, depending on how much you run your lamps when you don't need to.

It being based around an H11 for the lowbeam, it makes for an excellent candidate to upgrade to the H9 bulb in the lowbeams. Which is the same bulb the high beam takes. So, in the grandscheme of things, switching to the H9 means you have one less type of spare part to be worried about keeping handy. It also nets you a very measurable and visible upgrade in lighting performance. From crashnburn80's testing, you get exacrly the same light gradient from the hotspot out to each left/right periphery, to the foreground, just significantly brighter.

Note- the human eye perceives light logarithmically- a big measurable intensity increase doesn't "look" like a big improvement. But you get a significant increase in low beam illumination distance without a significant impact on your close/foreground illumination level.

All for the cost of $22/every year or two, depending on how much you use your headlamps.

If you never want to worry about replacing bulbs, go OEM LED, or morimoto's new lamp. I get the draw of projector based designs.

Don't waste your money on alpha rexx, or even less of your money finding the actual manufacturer on alibaba.

Alpha rexx aren't headlamps, they're headlight shaped toys. Crash has tested them. They're junk. People like them because they flashbang everything within 100' of the bumper. But that's because their beam pattern is basically inverted for what you need in a headlamp. The highest intensity zone is low down in the beam pattern, and decreases as you get closer to where the hotspot should be.

This means you don't have to waste money on fog lamps. But it also means you're going to see way, way less out ahead of you as you're trucking down the highway at 55mph at night. At that speed, you don't need or want to see the things 100' from you, because by the time you see it, you're hitting it. You need to see thing 4-500 feet ahead of you, which alpha rexx won't let you do.

They're literally garbage, no matter how reliable or cheap they are.

 

So for the supercharger tho, isn't that not street legal? and if not, is there a way to turn it on/off? as in a switch of some sorts? or are you just blinding everyone (i'm not against) LMAO, but those look gorgeous, also would like to ask how long you've had them?

 

The morimoto lamps have a removable driver to change between the dot compliant output and the superchsrged/offroad output. Its mounted to the bottom of the lamp, not something you can swap quickly or set up t switch back and forth without a whole mess of wiring.

 

(post 19 of this thread)

The morimoto xb evo supercharger's are not street legal. Good question about full-time vs a switch. I believe they're full time once installed.

https://hotshotoffroad.com/collecti...eadlights-16-23-tacoma?variant=46359933190363

There's a lot more info on them here...
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/new-16-23-morimoto-xb-evo-headlights-are-here.848777/


A couple of key features over the oem led's is the 5 year warranty and the ability to melt frost/ice. The oem leds are 1 year warranty and won't get hot enough to melt ice. The SS3 pro and max fog lights will and that's why many run that combo.

 

I do agree that in most cases, you get what you pay for. That we agree on. However, throwing money at something doesn't automatically make it the best. And as far as reliability being the first thing, I can also agree that it is important, especially after going through what I had to go through, in the installation of these headlights! But, the only way I can see to test "reliability", is for people to buy and use them. I have done that, and now I am at the four year mark and the headlights are doing just fine. I haven't had to replace any of the bulbs or whatever one calls them, either. So to me, they are reliable.

 

See here? This is why I always spend a lot of time searching around. I mean, $1500 for a set of headlights? From the link I provided in my response above, I could get FIVE sets of headlights like I got, for the price of one set of these Morimoto! I mean, DANG!

 

I have neither but I love my retrofit and bhlm headlights from @no vtec 4me paired with some morimoto's xb amber fogs.

 

And you could get 15-30 pairs of used OEM replacements on Marketplace for the price of a set of Morimoto's. You don't have to keep justifying that your ebay headlights were a good deal and work just fine - most of us believe you. To this point, and to the point you've made, people don't have to buy a $1500 set of headlights to find something reliable and performs well. Its 'nearly' always just a front (claiming you want high performance/reliability) for wanting headlights with a more aggressive DRL. I wish people were honest with themselves; it'd save them alot of time asking for other peoples' opinions, when their mind is clearly already made up.

 

5 sets of your eBay headlights to equal one stock halogen bulb performance

 

Exactly!!! Why I posted here!! Anecdotal experience, in those 4yrs of owning them any issues? Any contacts w support and how was customer service? Really think the Morimotos are gonna be the new headlight especially w the 5yr warranty (warranties are my lifeline) Popped a tire last week, paid $300 for replacement warranty covered $280 of it, only paid mount/balance pretty much LOL, so trust me the 5yr warranty is a huge PLUS

 

Really loving the sound of the morimotos right now, would honestly couple them with their own XB fog lights, just debating between whether I want amber or white, I like the amber DRL etc and will be using it (on my black truck) so works well might do normal on fogs still deciding, thanks!

 

I have seen a few videos where non oem fail, also, over time they have been yellowing much worse than the non oem.
Personally I would not risk it.

I went with OEM... it was a non question deciding my options

 

You're asking someone who has $250 ebay lights, not Morimotos.

That being said, just buy the Morimotos; we all knew from Post 1 that you wanted them the most. They're obviously good lights, have a warranty, and will make you happy - but they're never going to be the "reliability" winner when OEM is in the equation.

 

Maybe a dumb (or lazy) question, but while we're on the subject what is the benefit of the new Morimoto XB Evo over OEM when the pricing is about on par with each other?

ETA: I did some more digging to fill in the blanks of my question and this is what I'm understanding...

Morimoto's have some "features" added like changing how the daytime running looks and a startup light show. Also they have some heating ability to melt snow and ice (I live in New England and haven't ever had a need for this though). They come with a wiring adapter for non OEM LED and seem to have very good fit and finish for aftermarket.

The OEM are the best fit and finish and best reliability/longevity, but also require a separate wiring harness that needs to be found from a cottage industry type source.

All things said and done they should cost the exact same withing $100 either way.

Do those in the know agree with this?

 

I live in NY, so I'm ngl I can say the heated lamps is a beneficial feature, Since having the truck I frequently go up to maine (6-7hr ride) and whenever it snows up there my lights, TSS logo and all freeze over and give me all sorts of warning lights due to the ice blocking the sensor etc, including freezing over the lights, has this ever caused much of an issue as far as seeing, no however I could imagine in worse weather or continuous cold weather the heated lamp as a plus, honestly think end of the day morimotos are looking more and more like the move for me!