Led or hid pointless with out proper projector??

Hi TW,

I have a 2016 trd sport.. I've been looking to switch out my low beam stock halogen bulbs for obvious reasons. I was considering putting in hid or led bulbs but was informed it's pointless because these projectors are designed specifically for halogen bulbs.. and will infact decrease the "throw" of the light.. when replaced with led, hid etc.

Is this true? Are there any specific led or hid bulbs that work better than others due to design of placement?

I guess opening up the headlight and replacing the projector with the proper one would be an option but it gets pricey!! What have you all done?

I'm a stickler for functionality.. so I don't want to put a expensive hid or led kit only to have less "throw"..

Thanks in advance

 

I have halogen projectors in my Subaru, and replaced those with HID. The light output is immensely better than stock while retaining a good cutoff line. LEDs are garbage and lack the hot spot to throw light farther down the road, so maybe that's where your informant was confused.

I know this isn't exactly what you're looking for, but I'm just getting at HIDs in halogen projectors while not the perfect solution, work very well.

 

Hmm. Isn't the throw of the light all over the place? I heard hid in oem projector blinds oncoming traffic etc.. what hid bulbs do you have?

 

While not as good as an HID projector with an HID bulb, you will see a significant lighting improvement running quality HIDs in your 3rd gen projectors. I would strongly advocate HIDs over LEDs. LEDs are directional which will lead to beam hotspots vs HIDs which are omi-directional, being closer in similarity to halogens omi-directional light source.

No, that is for reflectors (1st-2nd gen). Completely different. Your 3rd gen projectors will have clean cut offs and not blind oncoming drivers, unlike reflectors with HIDs.

 

You can see a comparison in my video here if LED n halogen. Some people feel the throw is fine with LED.

 

I'm no expert on lighting.. but ive heard l.e.d. in stock oem housing does nothing but change the color of the light and decrease "throw"..from a functional standpoint I'd rather get a higher output halogen bulb

P.s. keep up the videos!

 

^^^^What he said.

I'm running the Xenon Depot HIDs with the upgraded Phillips bulb at 4300k.

Bear in mind this is in my Subaru, but you get the idea. Here's LED vs HID. You can see how it lacks a hot spot for throwing light down the road.



Here's OEM vs HID.

 

Nice job on making a product review video. As an engineer I am a proponent of killing misinformation. Your video shows how bad of a product these are in fog lights. Look at 3:13 in the video, turning on the fogs actually projects light *above* the headlight cut-off horizon, meaning it is blinding oncoming drivers and actually reducing visibility in fog and defeating its primary purpose. The primary purpose of fogs is to have a cut-off *below* the factory headlights for better visibility in poor weather. The LEDs bulb style used in the fogs are a very dated design that should be well known to be unacceptable by now. Facing the truck at 3:20, commenting on brightness is a example at misunderstanding lighting optics, the fogs clearly produce glare in the oncoming video, while the projectors maintain the clean cut-off.
See this thread for further explanation and example pics:
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/why-leds-should-not-be-run-in-halogen-reflectors.454371/

Compare fog cut-offs to a high powered halogen upgrade that maintains factory cut-offs below the headlight line while being 2x brighter than stock.
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/the-ultimate-foglight-upgrade-not-led-or-hid.435419/

Also, if deciding to upgrade to LED in your projector, anything sub $100, with cooling fans is likely going to be trash. You get what you pay for. Look for passive cooling with no fans or cooling systems to fail. LED manufactures for whatever reason also have the habit of overstating their product output based on theoretical vs actuals which are vastly different. See an example here:
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/why-leds-should-not-be-run-in-halogen-reflectors.454371/

 

So, from what I have been seeing HIDs will not be a crisp white light as seen in the LEDs. Is that true or are there HID replacement bulbs out there that will give that whiter light rather then a yellow tint?

I have a 2017 OR and am looking to replace my OEM Hals..........but this is a very confusing topic to me for some reason.

Thanks.

 

The HIDs in that pic are 4300k, which isn't too white, but gives you the most useable light. I believe 5500k is a pure white like the LED in that picture if that's the look you're going for.

 

Thanks. I would just like to have something better than my OEM hals......but I do like the pure white. So are there any particular models of HIDs in 5500k.....that are safe as replacements for my 2017 Tacoma OR?

 

I would strongly recommend going 4300k. From inside the truck, it still has a fairly white look (more so than OEM) but the light output is amazing. High beams barely make a difference now.

I have the xenon Depot with the upgraded Phillips 4300k. Ran me about $200 and well worth it