BEST 2nd Gen Headlights?

Hey all,

I recently made the mistake of buying Anzo headlight assemblies. The light beam is trash and super messy. Luckily the shop I bought them from is willing to take them back.

Does anyone have any suggestions where to get Smoked OEM ( Left & Right )??

Someone had posted a link a while ago but it no longer works.

Any help is appreciated!

Thank you!

 

Retrofits

 

Those look great.
Plan is to retrofit OEM Pair. Know where to get OEM at reasonable price?

 

I pay $450 for new oem ones

 

How do you control the colors?

That's so tempting...

 

I agree, retrofits are the way to go. Light out put on even just the MINI h1's with 5000k bulbs is just about as good as my 32 inch led light bar. Except it doesn't blind the shit out of everybody. I'd say if you have time (mine took about 10 hours between school and work to build) then do it yourself! I built mine for about 450 total, but they aren't perfect i.e paint on the inside, and the lenses aren't perfectly clear. However, if you have the funds get them professionally built forsure.

 

Here's my set, mini h1s with rgb halos

 

The links were fixed. Aftermarket is trash, OEM is the way to go.

@Kidwidataco can tell you how the light output compared with his LED headlights, plus LED light bar plus LED pod fogs, plus LED ditch lights all on simultaneously against just my headlights alone. His 7 light sources with no pattern cut offs were able to just squeeze out my 2 headlights.
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/the-ultimate-headlight-upgrade-h4-not-led-or-hid.398066/

 

Yaaaaaa, but now my retrofits alone are brighter, (unproven for now). Plus they are cheap led lights. But yes, even going back to my crappy halogen bulbs after throwing away my LEDs was so much better than led bulbs. Basically, I'd highly recommend @crashnburn80 light mod if your on a budget or dont want to go tearing headlights apart. If not, go retro

 

@hyper15125

 

I put a pair in from:
https://www.headlightsdepot.com/2005-2011-toyota-tacoma-sport-black-headlights-set-pair.html
About $130 and added Perde bulbs $30. I sealed all seams with silicon and the vents are factory types not cheap rubber tubes. Easy to adjust and the low beams have a pretty clean top cutoff pattern. High beams are great. OEM may be better but they cost a ton and still look stock. Up to you. I put in new 4157NA blinker/DRL and 2827 side marker bulbs and all very bright/sharp again.
Remember if you go the LED way on blinker bulbs the flash rate goes crazy and resistors are needed that get hot.

 

PRO OEM headlights + Ultimate H4 headlight upgrade

 

Retros will certainly be brighter. They key is to use an actual retrofitter for a quality build with good parts (or DIY), not an off the shelf aftermarket low quality halogen based projector headlight.

 

Exactly. I enjoyed building my pair and I can live with the few defects caused my me and old headlights though

 

I recently completed the full projector retrofit on mine. I used Depo brand headlights in black which has the internal panels already blacked out, aside from the reflector bowls of course. I painted those during the retrofit.

The quality of the Depo is good, especially for $80 for the pair. The only area I notice discrepancies with the non OEM lights is where the grille sits into the the tabs on the headlights, and the passenger side headlight seems to sit farther back than the driver. The difference are very minor and overall very livable considering the low cost.

And the projectors (and halo's I opted for as well) are fantastic and produce better light than my wife brand new Flex, so now I'm spoiled on light output.

 

Have you had any issues with the Depo reflectors?

 

I did a retrofit on my OEM headlights. RX350 EU projectors with clear lens swap, Osram Nightbreaker Laser bulbs, Hella Gen III ballasts, Turbine shrouds and Profile switchback halos (white not hooked up at this time). My running lights and blinkers are Sylvania Silverstar 3357A bulbs (neochrome look, a slightly deeper amber color and higher wattage making them brighter). I had the H4 Philips Racing Vision bulbs before and those are absolutely fantastic! Truth is I had most of the retrofitting parts for almost 2 years for my Tacoma. But it was the last personal vehicle to get retrofitted as it had the best factory output. We have 3 cars and one motorcycle, all of which are retrofitted!!!

The wall is about 80-100 feet away and this is the low beam. The light spread is very nice! The only thing I think is lacking on these projectors is a good hotspot, otherwise they are almost unbeatable for width.


Low beam on/running lights on. I have the projector shroud and headlight trim painted in a metallic black, but you can't really tell it's metallic unless you get really close.



Low beam/blinker on. The halo turns on with blinker/DRL function and DRL brightens.



DRL on. I actually prefer the look of the amber over white. Everyone does white running lights and I feel like it's a bit over played now.



DRL in a little darker lighting. You can see just how bright those DRL bulbs are. Very noticeable without being blinding, a safety win win for sure! I have the same bulbs in the rear blinkers as well.

 

Well, no, but with the full retrofit I'm not really using the reflectors, at least not as reflectors. I painted all the interior reflectors surfaces flat black. They've been great for housing the projectors and adjusting the aim. So, the overall quality of Depo hedalights get a big thumbs up from me, but Reflector quality and beam pattern as well as quality of sealing the lens I cant really speak to. I used Retrofit Source's new butyl rubber sealer when closing the headlights back up.

 

I did a retrofit on mine years ago. They've been great. no bulbs burning out. Light is good. The only thing bothering me now is the old lenses and moisture that gets in the passenger side that doesn't seem to go away. I'm debating going back to a smoked oem w/ the regular bulb upgraded as outlined by @crashnburn80 Check his thread for the utimate headlight upgrade for oem headlight part numbers.

 

nothing is better than OEM. its the bulbs you want to change.