Proper headlight upgrade

Last summer I upgraded to Hella E-code housings with some better bulbs and have been happy overall. However recently I am now having an issue where my low beams don't work, but my high beams do. The issue is somewhere similar to this post, where it's an issue with the wiring/plug shown in the post: https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/low-beam-headlight-issue-only-brights-work.526896/

If I upgraded to the harness recommended here, would it bypass that circuitry and get my lights working or would I still need to correct the issue at hand? I hate to sound lazy by not addressing the issue the right way, but before this happened I've been considering upgrading to this harness anyway.. sorry if this is off topic but there's already a few post related to my issue, didn't want to start another. thanks for any input.

 

I would like to do this to my 03. Trying to find links to exactly what I will need... Can anybody help with that?

 

Read the first page, then click the link to crashnburns thread. He has the most up to date links. You should just need the ground switched heavier gauge harness and high wattage bulbs of your choosing.

 

This harness for 1st Gen (listed under 4runner)
http://www.headlightservices.com/4runner3.html

These bulbs:
https://www.powerbulbs.com/us/product/osram-super-bright-premium-h4

 

Did the crashnburn80 upgrade two years ago. Easy to do and still a huge improvement over the stock setup.

 

Thanks for the info. My only question now is about my housings. Been reading that the housing makes a huge affect on the light output. Ive tried cleaning and polishing them but cant get them perfect. Should get new ones before doing this mod? Heres a pic of them...

Also, any way of knowing if my current ones are oem? Bought the truck from a person who had changed a lot of stuff out. Thanks.

 

Those are not OEM. The OEM units do not have black behind the lens. Changing out to OEM will be an improvement over aftermarket, but doesn’t have to be done at the same time.

Edit: ^This statement is inaccurate. See my following post.

 

Damn those look terrible. I’d get a new set, you can probably find some oem at a car-part.com. They lenses shouldn’t yellow like that, getting hazy is typical with age but easy to fix.

 

I was about to ask the same question, thanks!

 

Definitely not tryin' to start a debate, just my 2 cents - maybe his aren't OEM but they sure look a lot like mine which are OEM with black around the edges behind the lens.

 

Went back and looked at the new OEM headlights I put on my 03, and you are correct. It was quite a while ago, but my memory served me incorrectly in this case. The OEM lights do have the internal black surrounds.

 

Yeah, I have some aftermarket ones that I tried very briefly that have a wider section of black around them. They absolutely sucked for throwing light. Maybe a set something like those is what was stuck in your memory.

 

More likely thinking of 2nd Gen, where popular lights like Depo have that look but OEM don’t.

 

Have you tried cleaning them with bug spray? Any bug spray that has deet should cleanup any of that yellow haze on the headlight. It's not as long lasting as say that 3M sanding kit but if it helps at all then yours are probably salvageable.

 

So I've been going through all of these threads and I am getting lost in all of the information. I have a 2003 Double cab and my headlights run during the day time. What harness do I need? Also, for those that have done this mod, what bulb do you recommend? Thanks!

 

If you have daytime running lights as headlights, this mod may not be compatible with your truck. I’d contact headlight services to see if there is a harness wiring solution, otherwise you will first need to disable the DRL function. DRLs run off low voltage for reduced headlight output, which causes the relay on the harness to rapidly flip on/off resulting in loud buzzing and relay failure.

 

Well that sucks!

 

So if I disabled the DRL would I then be able to do the mod?

 

It does. DRL headlights are not friendly to halogen headlight upgrades. Even with just using a performance bulb, performance bulbs have much shorter life, so with the DRL running them all the time the bulbs last far shorter than they would otherwise. I believe there is a way to disable them though on 1st Gen.

 

Yes.