Just did an H9 swap

Well it's not dark yet so I can't post after pics, and I didn't take any before, but I just swapped the H11's in my low beams and fogs with Wagner H9's. How many of you have done this? Taking a trip to camp this weekend and want to be able to see, however I'm a bit curious as to whether or not I'll be melting my foglight housings along the way. I'll be a long way from home and I'd truly rather not set my new truck on fire if it can be avoided. See lots of input on the low beam swap, not much on the fogs. Send pics if you have them.

 

Hello and Welcome.

Most people swap with LED bulbs, HIDs or full aftermarket replacements. Not sure how the H9 will hold up.

 

That's exactly why I started the thread, my friend

 

It will be fine. I had a hid kit that went out one night, so I pulled out the H9s from the high beam socks and put them in the low beam sockets. Worked fine and no issues with heat. Output was slightly improved, but nothing compared to my retrofit.

 

I do have h9 on my low beams (almost a year)... it is an improvement over the stock h11.. I used hella.. I almost don’t use my lights because I mostly drive during the day..

I wouldn’t recommend the h9 on the dogs because the bulb does not have the tip covered so it produces a lot of glare.. which in the case of the projector lights.. the projector cuts the glare so you don’t blind people...

The only drawback is that the bulb life is shorter than the h11 because it burns hotter... I’m not electrician/mechanic... is what I’ve read.... but in my case I don’t use mine that much so I don’t care because the improvement is significant...

Let me know if the h9 on the fogs produces too much glare... if it does not, I might do it...

 

No noticeable glare in the fogs. Massive amounts of daylight to my right and left, I swear it shines behind the truck. Well worth the $40.

 

One thing I'll say for sure to all of you doing swaps, if you have a spare high beam bulb and a factory foglight, 30 seconds with a utility knife, a torch, and a pair of pliers and another 30 seconds to swap the bulb is all you need. Still hoping I don't melt the factory light though. That would suck.

 

The heat increase on the H9 over the H11 is minimal. Unless you are running your fogs 24/7 I doubt there will be any issues.

 

Won't be 24/7, but driving up north this weekend it might be 3 or 4 if it's foggy, and if it's gonna happen, that would be the time. I am confident that I'll be OK though, I can still put my hand on them.

 

H9 is definitely an upgrade. For only $105 though, here is the morimoto H11 vs our factory bulbs.

 

Do you have pics of the morimoto vs stock out somewhere you can see the sweep? Bright is good but not so much if I can't see critters off to the side or a big hotspot out ahead.

 

Unfortunately I didn't get comparison pics. This is my wife's Mazda car. I actually have tuned Lexus rx350 projectors in my truck.... The width of the H11 kit is for sure an upgrade. You can kinda tell in the pic how the halogen fades off a lot quicker going outward. Look at the difference in hotspot of each. The distance is much better.

 

There is a road, no simple highway
Between the dawn and the dark of night
And if you go, you will find deer in the fields to the left and the right.
That field is full of heavy cover and they'll jump out when they're right in front of you.

It's a weird stretch of road, always foggy. High beams and long throw don't really help much, although I may consider the LED high beams in the future. I make this trip pretty often, basically I leave home at 7:30 PM after i get home from work, eat, and pack. It's dark before I get to the 100 miles of Interstate, 40 miles of busy 2 lane (140 miles of low beams and oncoming traffic), and the next 60 miles follows along waterways on desolate and foggy roads heading up into the mountains. I need my low beams and fogs, probably going to wind up with a 30" LED bar and debating between putting another LED bar in my hood scoop, getting ditch lights, or both. Other planned lighting upgrades are going to be 30w halogen reverse lights and a cargo lamp of some sort. I cannot figure out for the life of me how a truck that's optioned so well from the factory doesn't come standard with a cargo light. Every other truck on the market has a cargo light and intermittent wipers on their base model except the Tacoma, and mine is a TRD Sport. I really don't think I should have to buy the Limited or the Pro to get $10 worth of wiring and 2 light bulbs to light up the truck bed. Being my only legitimate gripe about the truck, I'll find a way to get by LOL.

 

Made it home. H9 swap left me quite satisfied, next lighting mod is definitely gonna give me lows when the highs are on, followed shortly by halogen reverse lights. A cargo light will come with a custom built chase rack. Cali Raised will likely get a bunch of my money, too.

 

I am a little confused. What is the difference between H9 and H11? Do they both fit in the same socket, i.e.: low beams? Thanks!

 

It just modifying high beam bulbs to fit into the low beam socket. They run brighter/hotter and don't last as long since high beams aren't supposed to used as low beams.

 

H9 is a 65w bulb that can be modified to work in place of the 55w H11. (Youtube has several videos that will show you how). I put them in my low beams and fogs. The factory hi beam is already an H9. The reflectors are different on the bulbs but on 3rd gen projectors and on foglights it doesn't cause a glare. $40 alternative to more expensive HID/LED upgrades.