Gen 1 aftermarket headlight photos?

surely I am just missing it but is there a thread of photos of aftermarket headlights for the gen1? I don’t know squat about headlights but man are the aftermarket ones pricey. I would like to know what they look like before I buy some. I’m also trying to figure out which would be best for off road/overlanding but I think I can figure that out from reading the lighting forum.

 

What are you looking to achieve?

I replaced my headlights with "factory replacements" from Ebay. I also went with brighter, whiter, bulbs from autozone and they throw out plenty of light. Nothing like the HID's on my other vehicles but enough to be able to drive safely at highway speeds on my roads; I live outside the city and it's stupid dark where I live.

 

Unfortunately, just saying "Gen1" doesnt really mean anything as 1996 is Gen1 and the lights are different, very different, old school H4 square beams if I remember.

 

Good point but his profile only shows a 2003.

 

There isn't really aftermarket support for 01-04 if you're looking for projectors or something like that you have to go custom

 

Here's what I have but they aren't too different from stock as far as brightness goes

 

2001 regular cab

 

Anzo Headlights from Autoanything.com

 

Good ole rockauto CAPA lights

 

So I’m not seeing any sort of projectors in these photos. Are they just overkill? All of these look a lot like the stock headlights. Is that the best option?

 

Several people have done projectors. They are generally fairly expensive, however. Even if you do the retrofit yourself, it is still fairly expensive. If you want to throw several hundred, up to $1000 on headlights, go ahead with HIDs.

Just don't go throwing LEDs in your stock housings:

No one really makes high quality aftermarket light housings for our trucks, they are all more concerned with the "bro" look than actual function. The ones that claim they work with LED bulbs forget to specify "how well" they work with LEDs (i.e. not very well).

Personally, I found this thread extremely useful. It's amazing what you can accomplish with a new factory quality (either factor OEM or CAPA certified aftermarket) housing, good halogen bulbs, and this upgraded wiring harness. I've never felt like I have inadequate light when I'm on the road. If you still find yourself needing more light output than this, get a LED light bar or pods on the roof (but you can't generally use those on the road anyway).

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/proper-headlight-upgrade.407879/