Brighter Headlights?!

There’s not a set number of turns. The best way to aim is to set your truck 24’ from a vertical surface. Measure from the ground to the center of your headlight. Subtract 2” from that distance and that should be your top beam height on the vertical surface.

2” drop at 24’.

That’ll keep most flashers at bay. Works for me and I’m up 8” over stock ride height.

 

Ok so here it is. Taken between 6:45pm and 7:30pm no street lights, flat road, very dark area.

Too get the same through you have in your pic I’d have to flip on the high beams or turn on the light bar.

 

Good comparisons. You can definitely tell LEDs are brighter close up but HIDs have the further throw. I still want to get either ditch lights or a light bar for off-road use as well since the HIDs have a very distinct cut off compared to halogen or LED.

 

none at all, took 1 minute to do.

 

OK Mahn.... did these today. Thanks for your guidance and direction Parker.
Obviously much more light over stock.... there is now discussion there. Now I have to do the Highs... Can't have any yellow halogen light on there now !

The amber directionals are over the top !

But.... do you think the Fogs are brighter than Low Beam or is it because of the
lens ? Fogs are the ballz, but I was thinking the Low Beams would be brighter still with the Fogs backing them up ?

 

The fogs will add a very noticeable difference believe it or not. They light up everything in close vesenity to the truck. About 10 yards forward and 5 or 10 yards to the left and right. You will see a big difference in pheriphial lighting.

You don’t have to go with the S2 AuxBeam for the fogs. If you like the f-16 you have in the lows you can put those same bulbs in your fogs and even the high beams. And oh yeah, the fogs are brighter then the low beams projector light output. You can also adjust the pitch of the headlights with a small 8mm screw on the back of the housing.

 

I have a set of the Xtreme +100's that I'm waiting to put in. I haven't upgraded a bulb since my blue headlight days (stupid stupid stupid, but hey, it looked cool!) so I'm interested to see what, if any gains I'll see. Everything I've read about HID on these trucks is that the bounce issue is real. I had a full retrofit setup in my C5 that was phenomenal except there was so much slop in the pop-up system that they would shake/dazzle over bumps. I ultimately sold them at a loss.

I'm trying the Vosla HIR2 bulbs in that system and am excited to see the results. /OT

 

Oh Yes ! I am very much aware of the benefits of the S2's in the Fog position.
But....
Nope, fact is I'm not as impressed with the F16's or again, is it just the lens ?

What about putting the S2's in the Low Beam slot as well as the Fogs ?
More Brighter ?

 

Maybe!! I’m not sure, I have only used the S2’s in the Fogs. They are very bright though.

It could be because of the lense though.

 

The Xtreme +100s should be a nice upgrade, though not the latest and greatest version of the +130s. But you really start to get diminishing returns in the upper end of those bulbs. In other words there will be much more noticeable difference comparing stock to +100 vs comparing +100 to +130.

I'm quite curious on the Volsa HIR2 results, they should be outstanding.

 

The fogs appear brighter because there is no longer any beam control. The optics are FUBARed by the LED, so you have massive scatter and glare which many people perceive as brighter.

I posted this earlier, but I'll post it again:
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/why-leds-should-not-be-run-in-halogen-reflectors.454371/

 

Thanks for this direction.... so much information gets buried way.
I'm glad you brought this to my attention.

 

For fogs? Is your truck an 05-11? (What it looks like in your profile pic).

 

Old truck in pic, wrecked hitting a deer.... (I miss him )

Just updated to '17 TRD 4X4. This is the truck I want to brighten up all the way around.

Fogs, Lows and Highs.

 

People have different definitions of 'brightest' as confusing as that sounds. Some actually just want whiter thinking it is higher performing when it is not necessarily, others may want less light more concentrated vs more light widely distributed. Keep in mind the TRD H11 1200 lumen fogs are a headlight grade bulb in a fog, they quite bright for a fog.

Brightest option for H11 TRD fogs maintaining cut offs, 2000+ lumens:
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/the-ultimate-h11-foglight-upgrade-not-led-or-hid.435419/
Lower color temperature of halogen will also provide superior poor weather visibility as the longer wave lengths will not refract of the rain/snow/fog like the short wave lengths of LED. Warmer lens temperatures also prevent lens icing in snow conditions.

Another option:
Rigid SAE LED fog pod retrofits with with Rigid adapter plates will provide 1700 raw LED lumens, using the 2/3 estimate of raw=actual lumens places output around the H11 fog stock output. However the beam pattern is far more concentrated and forward facing that the wide throw of stock, so the light will appear brighter though the output range is less. Light color temperature is 5500k which is much higher than ideal for poor weather conditions.

A cost-effective favorite is also the Morimoto LED fogs, which maintain the fog beam cut off. However they are rated at 1200 raw led lumens, which is less than the 1200 actual lumens from the OEM H11 TRD fogs. But again the beam will be more concentrated, so while they put out less light it is in a more concentrated area making that specific area brighter, while not throwing as wide as the OEM pattern.

If you'd like an exhaustive LED foglight overview for all options that maintain SAE cut offs, follow me. I'll have it posted in a few weeks.

For low beam headlights, look for a high quality 55w HID kit using quality German bulbs (Philips or Osram) in the low 4000k color temp, most often available in 4200k or 4300k. While everyone likes to claim universal light source compatibility with the projectors, they are designed for an omni-directional light source like halogen or HID. LED will have poor distance beam performance due to the reflector optics incompatibility with the directional LED light source. The 55w HIDs will be brighter than halogen, and the ~4200k-4300k will provide greatest output numbers while also utilizing the best spectrum for night vision.

For high beams a good quality non-coated H9 halogen bulb is going to be best. Combine it with a britebox to keep high and low on at the same time. HIDs will have "warm up time" which can be hazardous when switching to high beam as you will momentarily be left without lights, and eliminate the possibility of using your high beams to flash. Switching to LED provides incorrect reflector optics and will not illuminate the portion of the reflector that is responsible for distance illumination, the primary purpose of a high beam.

 

I'll have to agree. I have the S2's in my fog housings right now. I was high beamed last night by a police officer. I think it's time to pull them out.

 

Thanks Mahn.... Consider yourself "Followed" Look forward to your overview.

I notice a lot of these before and after pictures that get posted shine on say a garage door and most are blown out.
Seems they are too bright (light scattered ? ) and all the details of what you are trying to see get lost....

I understand color temp having learned how to drive in snow country. High beams in a storm are not your friend. Guess that's why "fog lights" used to be yellow ? I consider these "fogs" really an auxiliary driving light and they do work great for that.

 

YIKES ! Yes, you might say that ! I don't need that kind of attention !

Having said that though, mine shine pretty low and out to the sides a lot.
I'm wondering if you have them oriented in the bulb holder correctly ?

 

Not sure if you ever saw this or not... The last pic is from @rlx02

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/brighter-headlights.528449/page-5#post-16945661

 

Thanks Parker...