Idiot's FAQs about upgrading stock headlights

I can't find a single thread/page about the lifespan of the GE's and I am hesitant to sink money into a bulb that will last 1 or 2 years...

 

Yeah, the lifespan remains to be seen. But at a cost was less than $30 and 2 minutes of my time, I don't care if I have to swap them out periodically. I've actually ordered a second pair to store in my truck toolbox in case I'm on the road when they fail.

edit; sorry, I guess the cost was more like $45/pair, but still not bad.

 

Where did you buy them? Can't find them on Amazon or the usual suspects' sites.

 

https://www.powerbulbs.com/us/product/ge-megalight-ultra-h11-twin

and there's a 20% off coupon for this month, making them ~$35 shipped.

 

Wondering if there is any chance the LED headlight assembly from the new 2020's will fit our 3rd gen trucks. If the assembly fits, it will probably require some wiring modifications to make it work.

 

Any idea if these fit 2nd gens?

 

In the big light thread/sticky, I think I read where the GE's have about 75 hours of life. Stock bulbs have maybe 2,000?

 

Yikes! That's not going to cut it for me.

 

GE 130’s are supposed to have 150hr life. Hella H9’s around 250hrs i do believe.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/3rd-gen-hid-vs-led-vs-halogen-h11-projector-headlights.589465/

 

Any of the bright halogen bulbs will last roughly a year to 2. 40-80 bucks depending yearly to see, seems like a no brainer

 

I stand corrected. Still 150 vs. 2,000 is a big difference.

 

You want to weigh in @crashnburn80

 

That is correct. The Hella H9’s run around $9 a bulb and are significantly better than stock. I am thinking of doing those in my lows and highs and keeping my stock bulbs behind the rear seats. 250hrs should last me quite a while.

 

You’re also blinding other drivers with your stock housings. Looks like you have halogen reflectors which are not designed for LED’s.

OP, I would suggest some HID’s. The LED’s in our projectors do great, but they have no “throw”. They’re bright where the shine, but they don’t cast out very far making it essentially worthless IMO. I have been running DDM Tuning HID’s in my truck for a while now and they’re amazing. I have 4500k which is essentially the brightest on the spectrum, it’s pure white and lights up very nicely.

DDM Tuning Plus 35W Premium HID kit, Slim AC Ballasts w / Hi-Output Bulbs, H11, 4500K https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01CJ70TOS/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_PdWBCb91WVE00

 

OP, here is a snapshot of my lights. This is off my dash cam so it’s a little blurry because it gets bumpy on the road I live on. Just to give you an idea of how they light up.

 

Perhaps you're right! Haha. When it gets darker outside I'll takes some pictures. I dont think I used the correct words to describe what I was trying to say. I guess all I was saying is that, there is a huge difference between the stock halogen bulbs and these LEDs i installed. I'm getting way more distance and alot more illumination while I'm driving. Even with the stock housing, they are working fantastically.

 

So what I'm concluding so far is:

1. The lumen output of HIDs is superior to halogens.

2. Though LEDs generally have poor cutoff and directional illumination, they may make up for it in higher lumen output, putting them potentially on par with HIDs, or maybe ahead if used in projectors.

3. Halogens lose in lumen output and in longevity, but generate heat if you need to melt snow/ice off your housing.

4. LEDs with poor/moderate cutoff may cause glare for other drivers in reflectors but this should be mitigated in projectors.

Am I missing any takeaways?

 

If you are willing to trade superior lighting for a fairly short life, the easiest route are the GE's.

 

HID’s will provide best lighting out of all your options is all you need to know. LED’s can be on par but they can’t match the superior output of HID’s. You can’t really go wrong with either, but LED’s will last longer by far if you’re looking for a bulb that you don’t have to touch for a long time. In my experience of HID’s, I’ve had to replace the bulb in the 1.5 year to 2.5 year mark (crappy low end from Xentec). I have my lights on a lot though. Different manufacturers offer different warranty and specs for how long bulbs will last along with other components like ballasts and such.

 

All the info you want to know is in this thread:
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/3rd-gen-hid-vs-led-vs-halogen-h11-projector-headlights.589465/

Those are horrible. Not only do you have massive losses in distance projection, you are also blinding everyone with glare. The reason street signs are lit up so far away is because you have lost beam control and effectively are running high beams everywhere you go with your glare, even while on low beam. Compound that with LED short wavelength light is hyper reflective off of street signs because short wavelength light scatters and you have tricked yourself into thinking you upgraded your lights when you have significantly downgraded them and are posing a danger to oncoming drivers. LEDs in a 3rd Gen projector just fail in distance projection because the projector cleans up the glare, in the 2nd gen and earlier reflectors they scatter light everywhere while also failing to project. See this thread:
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/why-leds-should-not-be-run-in-halogen-reflectors.454371/

Non-existent, blinding everyone.

150 hours, which should last ~9 months based on my usage of 200hrs a year.

As mentioned this is due to loss of focus and loss of pattern. You are blinding everyone with your excessive glare.

There is no focus with an LED in a halogen housing. You are correct they lack required omni-directional output.

The specs are way over inflated by cheap Chinese manufactures hoping you will buy into the hype, they are nowhere close to that. Add loss of focus and distance projection, non-uniform beam pattern, and they fall way short of even meeting the performance of a basic stock bulb at distance.

OP can use a simple jumper harness to make H9s plug and play as demonstrated by @Tacosrus in post #359 here:
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...ector-headlights.589465/page-18#post-19898987

Tacomas do not have Pulse Width Modulation, so you don't need to buy a PWM module.

Those are H11s, 2nd Gens take H4s, but the Osram Laser +150s are available in an H4. However, tested in the H11 base the GE +130s significantly outperform the Osram Laser +150s, as in no comparison. I think the +150s have too much blue coating.

GEs are 150hrs, stock H11s are around 1000 hours.

Done.

Check out the Hella Osram Hyper H9s discussed in the sticky thread, they are +30 and a good improvement over the standard H9.

Exactly.

You are correct. It is the complete lack of focus with excessive scatter.

It is all in this thread with lots of detail and science based facts rather than opinions and speculation.
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/3rd-gen-hid-vs-led-vs-halogen-h11-projector-headlights.589465/

1) Yes HIDs are brighter. There are no HIDs for a halogen housing made by real reputable lighting manufactures, like Philips/Osram/GE ect, they are all Chinese aftermarket. To use an OEM grade HIDs you need to use D2S bulbs and do a proper retrofit.
2) No. Not at all, this is completely wrong. The advertised LED output is nowhere near actual output. And you cannot make up for poor quality projection characteristics by making the light source brighter, it doesn't work that way. LEDs are the lowest performing option, they fail to focus, fail to project fail to provide the proper beam pattern, they shift the light source closer to the vehicle further reducing distance vision. Again, all this is covered in high detail in this thread:
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/3rd-gen-hid-vs-led-vs-halogen-h11-projector-headlights.589465/
3) Not quiet true, many halogens are actually brighter than many LEDs. Don't be fooled by the absurd claims the LED manufactures are selling you on. And the LEDs that are brighter cannot compete with the light projection compared to the halogens because they are the wrong light source for the housing. So even if they are brighter they cannot project it over distance, meaning when measuring the light output at distance, the halogens are brighter. HIDs do not have this problem and will be brightest over all. Halogens are a spectrum of trading off increased output against bulb life.
4) LEDs will cause glare in reflectors like 3rd Gen fogs, but not the projector headlights due to the projector light shield. See this thread covering why LEDs should not be run in a halogen reflector:
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/why-leds-should-not-be-run-in-halogen-reflectors.454371/

Correct on all accounts.

HIDs will certainly provide the most light output, but most and best are not necessarily the same. Since quality OEM HIDs are not available for halogen assemblies there is a wide array of what you might actually get. The XD HIDs for example are actually overdriven by the ballast to increase output. If you get one of their lower performing bulbs, this makes up for the low bulb performance, if you get a higher performing rebased Philips bulb, this makes for exceptionally bright output, over spec of the 3200 lumen HID output. This reduces bulb life below HID spec, but also causes such a ultra high contrast cut off that you are somewhat blinded by your own light, not allowing you to see past the cut off. Your kit may actually have lower than spec output bulbs that the manufacture then tried to compensate for overdriving the ballast causing bulbs to fail early.

To clarify LEDs are not on par with HID. They cannot match the lumen output, and they are not a small omni-directional light source like the HID capsule, which is far closer to matching the halogen bulb design the light assembly was designed for.