The SAE J581 Aux High Beam Thread

I wouldn’t put 2 9” lights in front of the radiator in warm climates. That’s is some significant surface area obstruction for air flow.

 

Add a scoop?

I did go with a mishimoto-not-cold-case-with-the-slice aluminum radiator.

Really just need a fully custom aluminum front bumper with 9” cutouts as high as I can get

 

Lol! Slices seem to be all the rage. Vents, not scoops, you want low pressure zone of airflow over a vent to extract hot air/heat from the engine bay, which will increase cooling airflow through the radiator. A scoop will induce a high pressure zone into the engine bay, there by reducing cooling airflow through the radiator.

 

Remember those old school Hella Black Magic lights? Hella has launched LED pod/bar branded versions using reflector based optics. Doesn’t look like any SAE offerings. They are unique in using a top and bottom mount emitters firing into opposing inverted reflectors.

https://youtu.be/cptyt4JCu64

 

Looks like its a good method to end up with both a more efficient thermal path for the heat from the LEDs, as well as a more inexpensive way to effectively direct more light directly into the beam pattern, rather than wasting it by projecting it straight out of the cone of the reflector(s). Similar in effect to the PIAA/valeo/cibie cube lights, although smaller reflectors are less effective than larger ones. Also cheaper to manufacture than an efficient TIR optic array.

 

Hopefully this is the right place to ask -- I'm looking for some cheap (ahem, I mean "high-value") driving/aux high beam lights. LEDs are cool and all, but it seems that halogen lights remain a good value option, especially since everything else I have is halogen. Current setup is '04 Sequoia with Vosla 9012+120 in the fog position and PhilipsRacing +150 H4s and fairly recent, clear OEM Toyota headlight housings.

For most of my driving, the upgraded +150 low beam is fine (and a vast improvement over stock). But the high beams are terrible. A future (unfortunately, probably not this winter) project will be a relayed main headlight wiring harness and relayed fog harness and Osram 100/90w as the main H4. In the meantime (and to help my wife with the Christmas list), I'm thinking about adding some driving beams, with the shortlist looking like a Hella halogen product such as the 550FF or 770FF units. These things are cheap! Is there a better (value) halogen option out there?

If I do dip my toe into the LED world, is there anything under, say $200 all in, worth getting? I've seen the The Hella 350/JW Speaker TS1000 for under $200 (I think they're closing them out) a few times. I could swing *one* of those to mount in the grill. But I'm not sure if, a) a single is even legal (wired to high beams) and b) if the actual "light down the road" is going to outperform a solid halogen driving beam.

Thoughts, ideas, and suggestions appreciated!

 

You can get the diode dynamics SS3 sports in a driving pattern for sub $200

[edit] Im sure @memario1214 will have a sale coming up these holidays as well. Which will make them even more affordable.

 

The 700ff is a great value and you can swap to a 100w bulb if the 55w bulb isn't enough, even an H3 HID but you can't flash with HID. A bigger reflector is "generally" better. There are is another option if you don't mind going LED and if a light bar fits your style ok. DD Stage Series light bars are a great value to performance ratio. You can get 2 x 6" or 1 x 12" for less than $200 at full price or an 18" for $220. Check out rallylights.com too, there is a good selection of rally related stuff there.

 

You can see examples of Hella 700ff in this thread (page 3 or 4 iirc). You can also see multiple shots of my diode dynamics SS12 bar on page 14, as well as a DD SS3 Sport pod (the yellow pod with a clear spot lens). I don't have ss3 driving optic lenses to do a driving light comparison.

 

A couple points to consider.
A) The Philips Racing Vision +150s have excellent low beams, but the blue coating over the high beam filament kills high beam performance to be worse than stock.
B) Volsa 9012s +120s should not be run in the fog position with oncoming traffic

For ~$125 the Ultimate headlight upgrade will double your high beam output over standard stock, exceeding HID output, and further increase your low beam output over the Philips Racing Vision bulbs. To me this seems like the obvious place to start. The entire system is plug and play and easier to install than aux driving lights. Granted wattage is over the legal limit. I'd then focus on getting some higher performing compliant fogs with some selective yellow SS3s. If you still wanted to go the aux driving light route, there are many high value halogen options out there. Keep in mind with halogens, larger and deeper housings perform better, all other things being equal. Street legal assemblies will come with 55w bulbs, but those are easily upgradable to higher efficiency performance bulbs for further improved performance or high power bulbs sometimes requiring additional wiring upgrades.

You can mount a single or dual SAE J581 bar(s) for your high beams and be street legal as long as it is a compliant product. Diode Dynamics and Rigid both sell such bars, though Diode Dynamics are more competitively priced. The Hella/JW bar though is ECE only IIRC, so not technically legal in the US as an aux high beam if that matters in your decision making. For somewhat of an apples/oranges point of comparison that Hella bar is 1500 lumens in output. A 55w H3 bulb is about 1500 lumens and a 100w H3 bulb is about 2400 lumens, then multiply both by 2 for having 2 lamps. Projection effectiveness obviously has a lot to do with the quality of the lamp, some are better than others, so lumen output doesn't necessarily translate to Cd, which determine how far the light is projected. But in terms of budget value for performance, it is very difficult to out perform halogens.

 

First of all, thank you so much for the long response!

I'm definitely noticing that.

Interesting. I thought you recommended those -- specifically the +120 -- in the foglight thread:

I've been careful with them as I think fogs are troublesome in most cases -- they're rarely used (dark, lonely, solo roads); I'm pretty sure I have a package of somewhat generic +30s or +50s I can downgrade to while I plan a more appropriate upgrade.

Yes, that indeed was the *ultimate* plan (those Osram 100/90s are still the way to go, yes?) and why I went with existing harness-safe Philips as a stopgap.

For some reason, I actually enjoy building my own harnesses and have done a number of them over the years in my Audis, VWs, and Vanagons. It's good to know I can buy a high quality unit (I'm wondering if Rallylights or Headlight services have done a Gen1 Sequoia harness), but then what would I do with this huge box of relays, wires, switches, and other electrical fab bits I've been sitting on since the last upgrade ;-)

Again, I'm mildly confused. I thought I'd read from Stern, and maybe here, that fog lights are a nice to have but not actually that useful in everyday day situations. His point about reflected glare is meaningful to me as someone who traverses our passes in the winter and doesn't want to make it any worse for fellow drivers. So while I did throw in those +120s because it was easy, I didn't think an actual fog-unit upgrade was worth putting near the top of my priority list. I'll put the downgrade in before winter -- don't wanna be a dick.

Anyway, that's why I was moving in the direction of: 1)Philips +150 and Vosla +120 (done), then 2)driving, 3)ultimate headlight, and then (maybe) 4)fog unit upgrade.

However it sounds like I should have just gone straight to ultimate headlight. Oops.

That's what I thought. For some reason I have (and I'm sure many share) this feeling that LEDs are magical and will be brighter for the same lumens. But of course that's not automatically the case. Especially in the value zone. With that said, I had no idea how affordable some of the quality LED options had become. I'm going to have to give this some thought for the old Christmas list ;-). Thanks everyone.

 

I'm sure Mike from HS would do one and I believe it's a standard H4 negative switched harness. One very small point to consider, the relay signal voltage is 9V so if your Sequoia has DRL off 6V for the high beam filament (as my 2002 Tundra does) then a harness will effectively disable the DRL capability.

I'm working on some sort of fancy harness for myself and one other using GEP and Omron micro relays but haven't yet decided how I'll do the DRL. I have a Sequoia stalk and might try to tap into the "Auto" if I can get it installed cleanly.

Just random background noise. TLDR: First gen Tundra/Sequioa is (or at least my 2002 is) a straightforward negative switched H4 harness, just heed the info on DRL as mentioned above and note that only applies to using the high beam filament for DRL.

 

Great info, thank you.

That's what I thought -- I haven't actually got out the meter to check (and will do so before building/buying anything).

That all sounds cool . I'm reasonably solid at basic wiring/harness construction, but fancy is not really in my wheelhouse. I personally don't care too much about losing DRL, but if you made me choose, I guess I'd rather have 'em -- in some form -- than not.

Thanks again!

 

As to the Volsa +120s, I was painting glare caps on the bulbs, so they would not expose the light source to oncoming traffic just like the stock bulbs. Turns out the high temp paint may off gas and coat the reflector reducing performance. There are specific bulb coatings that can be used to properly achieve the same result without the off gassing. That suggestion was not meant to be used without the bulb glare cap. But this was also before there were viable LED fog upgrades, LED assemblies in that era were high color temp with low lens temperature, making them basically ineffective for the worst weather conditions, so I continued to experiment with what I could find to make the highest performance fogs available. That is no longer the case, now there are ultra high performance selective yellow fogs that vastly outperform halogen upgrades with more ideal and performant selective yellow color temps producing higher intensity output while also producing less glare to oncoming drivers and run hot enough to boil water. I held out on halogens because at the time LEDs could not match the halogen functionality, but the offerings from Diode Dynamics have made halogens obsolete.

Foglights are not useful in everyday situations at all, in fact they are very rarely useful. Fogs should almost never be run, except for in the very worst driving conditions where it is difficult to even see the roadway and you need them at low speed to find the fog line on the shoulder. Almost everyone uses them incorrectly and they are usually promoted incorrectly. But as a local Seattleite you'd understand, I was heading out on unlit windy highway 2 late at night in the 'bomb cyclone' event past Skykomish and it was a complete monsoon where you couldn't see a damn thing. On the narrow 2 lane undivided highway with no lights, highway traffic going east was 30mph at best in 55mph territory because you couldn't see the roadway in the slightest, it was a drive where you follow the white fog line and the narrow bridge crossings were sketchy as F. But then click on the selective yellow Max fogs, and all the visibility issues were immediately eliminated. I went from struggling to find the road and stay in my lane to being able to clearly see everything, it was a game changer on some level I can not adequately put into words. I've run DD fogs on my Gladiator for nearly a year and never had an adequate use need, including very regular winter pass crossings on 2.

So yeah, in the past year I never actually needed my fogs as they are not useful everyday, and as an informed driver I therefore never used them. But last weekend conditions were a train wreck, and the SS3 Max in selective yellow allowed me to safely and confidently navigate what would otherwise be very sketchy conditions, because I had the right tool for the job. And while I hadn't used that tool in the previous year, on that drive the tool was invaluable.

 

I use my DD SS-Sports on my 2020 Tacoma (with stock headlights) more than I thought I would. I just live north of you in the suburbs of Vancouver BC. We have had some very extreme wet weather days recently. However, in the city my fogs are really not required as you can still see the road due to all the street lighting.

What I have found, on those very dark dreary mornings before the sun comes up, is I tend to use the fogs as more of a defensive driving tool than the intended use of what you described above driving through Skykomish. I'm hoping that I stick out to pedestrians and other rush hour traffic so I don't get hit.

I have a daily 1/2 hour commute each way. Very dark and dreary mornings. Especially now through to spring. I drive like I'm going to get hit. We have seen crazy growth in our region fueled by overseas immigration. The suburbs are a launching point for recent immigrants so we see a onslaught of newly licensed drivers. What I'm hoping is the DD SS Sports make me more visible to others. I don't see anything like my fogs on other vehicles so another reason to hopefully stand out from the crowd.

I'm still looking forward to the day when I'm going down a mountain pass and things are as thick as pea soup and the entry level DD SS Sports do their intended job. In the interim, they are more of a defensive driving tool for me.

 

Oh, I totally missed that part about the caps. Better late than never

This is gold, thank you. It exactly those situations (2 and 97/Blewett pass) that I have the biggest issues. Not every drive of course, but probably at least once each winter and it scares the crap out of me. I think some selective yellows DDs just moved up to the top of the Christmas list!

 

@crashnburn80

Unveiled tomorrow, can’t wait to see your test results!!

 

I absolutely agree with this. Contrary to this point however, in our Subaru I have noticed less eye strain and better visibility to potential critters off the sides of the road using the SS3 Pro Fog Selective Yellow in clear weather conditions as well as inclimate weather. Granted I believe one of the major factors is the fog light mounting level (roughly 14-16" off the ground on the Subaru) is low enough that I have minimal drop in aiming which allows for more outward projection than if I had them on my Tacoma (probably 28"ish off the ground, though I haven't measured) that would require more drop angle when aiming which would decrease outward projection and increase foreground to a certain extent. With less drop comes less foreground, especially when the beam pattern is as horizontally tight like the SS3's, though less tight on the Pros. Where I notice the most improvement in clear weather with the SS3's on our Subaru is black top, especially fresh black top that can have some pretty bad glare and it seems to just soak up the light making it seem like your lights aren't even on sometimes, even when the roads are dry. Also they help when it's dusty, which in Iowa it's currently harvest season which creates a ton of dust and scatters all sorts of critters including deer.

I'm not trying to start a debate or derail this thread from aux high beams to fog lights. These are just my personal findings with the selective yellow fog lights on our Subaru and food for thought, if they were on my Tacoma I likely wouldn't find the need to use them often. Is this the right use of fog lights? Technically no. But in the real world those are my observations and when it comes to opinions, they are like....well you know how the saying goes. lol

 

Here's what I got from the live session by Paul.

SS5 pods:

5x5 or roughly 5.5x5.5 square. Pin fins.

3x3 is probably the largest single piece optic that can be precisely cast.

4pin DT connector

Sport 40 watts each

Pro 90 watts each (highest in class)

White and selective yellow. So far patterns I see are pure spot, pure driving, combo 6 flood 3 driving. Not sure what else is available yet.

Yellow only amber backlight

White lights have selectable RGBW LEDs on the board for backlights. Cycle power to change, leave it on for a second to save that color. Cycle again to reset all to white.

Crosslink technology, threaded inserts in pods. Allows linear or curved mounting to sequential pods. Two up to eight pods linkable.

Crosslinks also have threaded inserts to mount accessories like rubber bumpers (weight of the lights will be heavy!) and even C1 lights.

Wiring harnesses to link (n) number of lights (4pin)

Many applications incoming. Universal bar end mounts as well as specific apps.

Sport pods starting at $220 each.

Pros at $350-$400 each

p̶r̶o̶ SPORT spot has 400,000 candela, almost mile range (¼ lux at nearly 1 mile)

Pro 8 pod bar would be like 720 watts? 55 amps 6-8 gauge wires required

SS5 Shipping in January- new facility being built

SS3 backlights coming online. Still keeping standard non-backlight as well.

Backup light kits, red backlights with harness/taps to use with 1-0-1 switch. SSC1, SSC2, SS3 kits coming online.

Elite fog lights. OEM quality. Amber backlight. Double factory and wider. 3x next performance lead.

 

Ok, so 8 of those will look a bit ridiculous above the windshield of my civic, but i'll still get better mpg's than my 4runner on a daily basis, so it's a small sacrifice to be able to see...

That's a fantastic update Mynameistory!