Replacement for KC Daylighters

I'm looking to replace the pair of halogen Daylighters on my 4Runner with some LED lights. I really like the performance and the pattern of the Daylighters, so I'm looking mainly at spread and driving pattern lights. I'd like to have them come on with my high beams like my Daylighters do, both on and off road, at speeds up to 80 mph. I'm not super concerned with SAE compliance, but I do need a light that's not so bright that when I dim my high beams, I'm left blind because my low beams aren't bright enough.


From the specs on the KC website, I see that I'd need three Gravity Titans (two in spot, one in driving or wide-40) to match the candela of the Daylighters, for a total of more than $1200. I also see that I could get a pair of 6" slimlites for around $380 that put out more than 1,000,000 cd and a lot more lumens, but I'm concerned that they'd be too much. Finally, I see that the 20" Flex Era bar in spot would put out a comparable number of candela, and even more lumens than the Slimlites, at around $1000. I understand that the Gravity Titans are the most efficient option, but any of the options would draw less current than the halogen Daylighters so I'm not overly concerned. I also understand that the Gravity Titans are the highest performance with the best control of the beam and probably provide the most usable light.


What would you all recommend to supplement my high beams? How do the three options compare in terms of real-world use? I'd really like input from someone who's used all three.

@Robert@KCHiLites @crashnburn80

 

Hello @Yossarian

First of all, thank you for being a member of the KC family. I can help you with this question with some options below.

Option 1: Replacing the halogen inserts with the LED Pro6 insert (this is the best way to upgrade your Daylighters) - Gravity LED G6 Optical Insert Single. With this, you would not need to rewire anything, increase your visibility, and lower your AMP draw.

Option 2: KC Slimlite, the new version has a Hi low function, which makes it great for both on and off-road use- you will need to rewire as they use a different wiring harness - SlimLite® 6” LED - Master Kit - Pair


Option 3: I saved the best for last. This is my favorite light we offer and one of the most used lights. The FLEX ERA® 4 - 2-Light Master LED Light Pod Kit. This light on the bumper with the combo beam offers some of the best all-around light with a great amber back light that can be used as a marker light.


Here is a promo code that you can use to save some money on the upgrade of your light setup - KCTWFG

 

Thank you for the reply @Robert@KCHiLites!

Where would the increase in visibility come from? Per both the data on your website and the testing performed by @crashnburn80 on this forum, the halogen Daylighters outperform the Pro6s by a healthy margin. Yes, the Pro6 ekes out a few more lumens, at much lower current draw, but the Daylighters have almost triple the lux and 17 amps is hardly taxing my alternator.

I see that the high setting is significantly more lux and lumens than the halogen Daylighters, the Pro6 or the Gravity Titan. If they're tied to my high beams, and I dim my high beams, will I be left blind until my eyes adjust? Is there a chance they'll be too much light? Also, I understand from both the testing performed and the nature of the technology, the Gravity lights will have better control of the light than a light with an open bucket reflector. Will an open bucket provide enough focus and enough down road light for use at highway speeds, without flooding the foreground with light? Will the Slimlites have significantly more hood splash than the halogen Daylighters when mounted by the A pillars?

At first glance, the FE4 seems to offer the same lumen figure as a Slimlite but at only 1/3 of the lux for double the price. In addition the Slimlite has a cover to convert it to a driving beam or change from white to yellow, whereas the FE4 has to be disassembled to swap beam patterns. Since I'm looking for a light to supplement my high beams, I don't think the FE4 really makes sense.

Would a pair of Gravity Titans be a good candidate to replace the halogen Daylighters I have now? Will I feel like I've downgraded since they have a lower lux figure and less distance?

 

What is your current setup for your headlamps, specifically low beams? You're right you could have a period of reduced vision switching your aux lights and high beams off abruptly at speed.

This could be potentially more of a concern if you are going with a lamp that uses smaller reflectors/more emitters as close distance/flood illumination from the open bucket reflectors could be higher in intensity than something like the pro6/gravity titans which use fewer emitters and have larger/deeper reflectors that capture and direct more of the light from each emitter.

It sounds like you are overall happy with the performance of your halogen lamps? You just want to see what your options are?

It's been a minute since I looked over crash's testing of the halogen daylighters vs the LED, but the LED may very well have a wider overall beam pattern, so even with reduced maximum intensity, they are capable of providing better illumination in the mid distance range than the halogen daylighters.

Numbers chasing may also be kind of misleading. The human eye operate logarithmically as far as intensity. If the beam pattern and dispersion are similar, the lamp that produces 1 mil cd intensity is only visually twice as bright as the one producing 250k cd intensity.

Very generally speaking, larger reflectors/optics are going to outperform smaller ones. This is why I was originally interested in a pair of cibie LED super oscars, years ago when the market was basically based around light bars with small optics and large numbers of LEDs. For that reason alone, I would look at the pro6 or gravity titan line vs the FE4 or other small pod lamp if chasing max performance (although tech has come a long way in the last decade, so even small lamps are capable of outperforming larger lamps with designs that are 10 years old).

 

Currently I have stock 4Runner LED lows and highs. Don't really see that changing any time soon either, I'm pretty happy with them.

That's what I figure, especially given that they'll be mounted by my A pillars until I get a bumper.

Yep, that's correct. I wouldn't mind more long range output, as long as I'm not left blind when I turn them off. In addition I like that the KC (and Baja) LED lights match the color temp of my headlights, and the availability of selective yellow filters is very appealing too.

I remember seeing beam pattern shots on the wall for both lights, but I don't recall of they were at the same distance. The Daylighters are very similar to the Diode Dynamics driving pattern, the Gravity Pro6s (and I assume Titans) are taller I believe. That makes sense though. I wouldn't mind a wider and taller pattern I think though. I wish KC published beam pattern pictures consistently, it would make it much easier to compare.

Ahhh that's true, hadn't thought of that. I wonder how that translates to more foreground and mid range light. I'd really like the Slimlites to make sense, partially because I'm limited to two lights total currently, as well as them being significantly cheaper than a pair of Gravity Titans.

That makes sense to me. I've been looking at cd/$ and cd/lm figures. Not terribly concerned with current draw. If money was no object, I'd get three Titans and mount them to a steel bumper. One Wide-40, two spot. More cd than a pair of Daylighters, so the brightest part of the pattern would be brighter, significantly more lumens, so the pattern as a whole is probably brighter or bigger or both. But that's almost $1300 in lights. The Slimlites are significantly cheaper, and do put out more CD. Since they'll only be about twice as bright I don't think they'll leave me blind when I turn them off. Though will they put more light in the foreground and mid range than I want? I have often wished I had a wider pattern on windy roads, and I think the Slimlites would deliver that. Am I talking myself into them because they're cool? I don't know.

 

The more light you flood the foreground with, the more light you need to make up for it at distance.

Instead of one wide40 and two spots, consider two wide 40s and a single spot. You can aim the wide 40s on either side of the spot very slightly cross-eyed, which will help increase center/straight ahead intensity, while also letting each lamp "look into" the opposite side turn, which could be helpful on twisty roads (to some extent). Thats basically how I had my cibies aimed on my 4runner, as my commute at the time had some long sweeping turns in open fields. Not a ton of cross-aim, I think I settled somewhere like 1-1/2" of cross-aim at the center of each lamps hotspot compared to its mounting position width at 25'.

The gravity pro 6's are nothing to sneeze at either. From crash's thread they have similar width and a taller beam pattern, so they'll cover more area if you're driving up and down hills.

Honestly, the combination of a single spot pro6 with two driving pro6's is going to be very good. The wide 40 may not be a desireable choice in the pro6, given what you're already working with. Or two driving pro6's and a single slimlite 6" in the center. The driving beams should give you good mid-distance lighting, with some infill by the slimlite 6" 's spill light, while still giving you a visually noticeable bump in center beam intensity.

 

While there’s more to each of these lights than just the specs, recommending the best option really depends on what type of driving you do and what area you’re trying to light up.

What @Toy_Runner said is correct—if you’re going with the Pro6, the better setup would be 1 spot and 2 wide-40 lights. This combination will give you a much cleaner beam pattern, with a nice balance of wide spread light and some extended range.

That said, for the money, it’s hard to beat the Flex Era 4 in a combo beam. You’ll get more range and spread out of a single FE4 than you would from three Pro6 lights. In my eight years here, I haven’t met a single person who regretted running this light in any position.

If you’re after a more classic, timeless look, the Titan is also a fantastic option—delivering strong performance while keeping that iconic round-light style.

If you have any follow-up questions or want a more hands-on conversation about your setup, feel free to give me a call.

 

That makes sense. Hopefully I'll be able to get you on the phone this week. Currently the 4Runner has stock low beams and SS3 Pro fogs that are great. It's our family roadtrip vehicle all over AZ and the west, it's my wife's daily, and we'll do some wheeling, typically not more than 50 mph on dirt, no crazy crawling. I'll probably do the anytime fog mod if I get lights with more punch than the Daylighters, just so I have more width to the overall pattern.

Looks like the light purchase will be sooner than anticipated and the bumper purchase further out, so whatever we get will be mounted at the A pillars where the Daylighters are. So if I'm restricted to two Titans or Pro6 lights in that location, and I'm not concerned with SAE compliance, only with effectiveness, would driving/spread or Wide-40 be a better option? From the YouTube videos you've posted, spot would be too tight to be the only light.

I looked at the FE4, and from the beam shots and specs it does look quite nice. How does it compare to a Slimlite? On paper the Slimlite appears to be more powerful, but is it too much to have tied to high beams, leaving me blind when I go back to lows? Or does the Slimlite have too much foreground light and not enough throw? I ask since the covers to switch the beam pattern of the Slimlites as well as the yellow covers are pretty appealing.

The styling of the Pro6 and Titan are definitely by favorite, but getting something that matches or exceeds the performance of the halogen Daylighters, can be mounted to the A pillars and provides good value are more important than styling.


Here's the best picture I have of the 4Runner from the front (crawling Costco).

To further complicate matters, my wife has informed me she'd like a roof light bar in the next year or so, so ideally whatever I get now will work well with that. Hoping I can mount a Gravity light bar of some flavor, otherwise I'll probably end up with a Flex Era bar.

Hopefully this week I'll have a free moment to call, work's been running me ragged.