3rd Gen LED and HID Lighting upgrades Discussion (POLL)

I definitely agree that testing is good, but with an understanding of lighting optics design it is pretty easy to see where designs are flawed. The 55w version no doubt will put out higher lumens (if it really is 55w) but the light is going to be disproportionately less focused compared to the 30w design. A less focused pattern means that a greater percentage of that light is going to be closer to the vehicle, whereas the 30w design will have a greater percentage of its output projected away from the vehicle, comparatively. You want to shift the pattern away from the vehicle as much as possible as near field light reduces the ability to see distance at night, which is the primary purpose of the headlight. The 30w design may be better than the Hikaris.

 

Here is a pretty good example and comparison of the 55W SNGL LED Lights. In the photo collage, you'll see 55W HID as well as the Hikari Phillips bulbs.

DISCLAIMER: These photos are not my own nor were they used in a Tacoma. These are from a guy in Maryland in his 2017 Chevy Malibu Premier which does use projector headlights for low beam. ​

 

Thanks. I'll take a look at those. I suppose color matching doesn't really matter for the HB since when they are activated, the LB and Fogs turn off.

 

Actually, in the 3rd Gen Tacoma, the DRL's are always lite even when the LB's are on and when the HB's come on the LB's and DRL's are still lite. Check it for yourself, I promise lol only the fog lights go off with HB's. At least in my 17 TRD Sport that is the case. SR5 is probably different.

 

Ill have to verify that on the SR5.

I did pick up the 7440 from XD as well in clear. Let's hope its close to the Philips 4300 HID.

 

Yeah, sorry. The SR5 has the DRL's on the left side and uses the 7440 bulbs so yeah they may go off. I still think that the LB projector stays on though when the HB's come on.

If you got the 7440 W3X16D XTREME LED BULBS its definitely going to be higher than 4300K. Much closer to the 6000k range. The other one they offer which is the 7440 W21 PHILIPS ULTINON are definitely 6000K

 

Now that winter is just around the corner, I’m thinking of swapping out my LED low beams to HIDs mainly for heating off the snow from the headlights. I’ll probably choose XenonDepot’s kit w/ Philips bulbs. Seems to be a popular choice.

 

Nice looking ride my friend!

 

Thanks! Here's a better resolution version:

 

Ahhh there we go! That's a badass picture man. Your photography website is sick as well (sorry i stocked you for a second lol).

My fiance has a photography business on the side. I sent her the link to your website to check it out. I do Drone and Videography on the side as well. You've got some GREAT shots man.

 

yup, youre right. LB stay lite with the HB. Just added the H9 LED 5500K to my XD order. Hopefully i can post up some pics next week.

 

I appreciate the kind words, my friend.

 

Hope you like that H9 LED Kit - definitely let us all see some pics when you get everything installed. We're always eager to see our lights in action!

~Robert

 

Lot of good information but feel there should be more discussion about the difference between an LED and HID projector. That's probably the biggest reason aftermarket LED swaps often don't work out nearly as well as HIDs. Same can be said for halogen vs HID projectors but the difference is far less with those because both light sources are bulbs. A halogen projector will work well with an HID bulb, not so with an LED. You need a significantly different projector to properly project an LED source. The whole lets put LED chips on the sides of a stick to mimic a bulb is garbage and why you see such inconsistent performance from aftermarket LED "bulbs". I agree LEDs are the future of lighting, it's the superior light source technology but in the case of the Tacoma which comes with halogen projectors HIDs will win every time. LEDs are a non-starter short of a complete retrofit.

 

I realize those are not your photos or comparison but it is difficult to judge much of anything in the photo other than color temperature. To effectively see how the pattern does you need to be ~25' from the wall, as the further away you are from the light source the more apparent the pattern quality is. Just as an example, if something was off by 5 degrees, you wouldn't notice much at 2' distance, and headlights are obviously not used at such short range. At 25' distance that 5 degrees becomes very noticeable, which is why when aiming headlights, they are done so at a 25' distance. It also helps to have the lights side-by-side in the same photo to eliminate variances in the cameras settings and focus for the photograph. It does look like the SNGLs have better hot spot definition than the Hikari's, but it could also be the camera.

 

Very well stated. I've mentioned this numerous times in these LED threads, but people remain convinced that LEDs work even though from a very basic fundamental optics design standpoint they don't. You can see my post here:
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...s-discussion-poll.573318/page-2#post-18949693

I've got the digital spectrometry equipment to measure and compare HID output vs LEDs and have done so in 3rd Gen projectors. HIDs are vastly superior in the OEM projector housing, there is no comparison at all.

 

They Rock! I have the driving /wide angle combo in amber. Never had anyone flash me.

 

Installed some led reverse lights tonight from xenondepot Xtreme 921. The design made sense to me on how it would reflect back to the reflector/housing. I like the color- matches the Phillips vision 194 white license plate lights I have installed. Not comparing the output to other leds but just comparing to the stock it looks to put out the same output and seems to utilize the reflector as well as stock does. I’ll have to doublecheck tomorrow but light distribution looked good with no hotspots

 

Thanks for the review of these. Just ordered a pair for low beams. You’re country road shots are what sold me.

 

Cool Chad. You won't be disappointed. Just remember, some of us raised our headlights because the cutoff from LEDs, and HIDs is a lot more pronounced compared to the OEM Halogens. Just a couple inches at 30 feet from a wall makes a huge difference at a couple hundred feet on the road. Do it a little bit at a time until your happy or start to get flashed from oncoming traffic.