The ultimate headlight upgrade H4 (not LED or HID)

I did this upgrade and it was great. However, my left side headlight has more scatter than the right and the cut-off is not well defined on the left than on the right. Is this because of the bulb? Godspeed.

 

I had the same problem Doc. But it was just me. My eyes were all confused trying to adjust the lights for a long time. I just couldn't get them right. And I thought the same thing as you. Next day I pulled up to a building at night and the horizons were perfect. So in my case it was just me. I could even see a "Z" shaped image against the building(it's lite and goes a little above the horizon). My problem was I was too far away from the wall when trying to adjust. And the wall was white. Pull up to a different wall and see if it changes for you(like it did for me). I thought I was nuts or something

 

If the bulb is seated and clamped correctly there should be no additional scatter and the clean cutoff lines should match up.

Did you replace the headlight housings or just the bulbs? How far are you from the wall, 20-25'? You may try wedgemoose's suggestion, reflective white walls like a white steel garage door will make it difficult to align.

 

Thanks for responding guys. Wedgemoose mentioned exactly my problem.

Crashnburn80, I just did the harness and bulbs upgrade and not the headlight assembly. I was testing mine on my white garage door at 20 feet distance. I'll find a white concrete wall next time. Godspeed.

 

Nice to see a proper upgrade. I'm getting tired of seeing all the ass-hats with LED's and HID's incorrectly installed......it's annoying/blinding as hell when they're coming towards you or behind you.

 

@crashnburn80 or others - Looking for ideas. Where did you guys mount the 2 relays and the fuse holder of the harness? I saw the post #135 by @klavender1 using plexiglass, but looking for other ideas.

 

Mine was kind of tough Subway. don't know if you want to do it or not. But I took my battery out and found a nice spot to the right of it(looking from the front of the vehicle). Drilled a hole and had a real hard reach to get a nut on the other side of the bolt. But here is where they ended up(pic). It's a perfect location for wire length and to be hidden and out of the way. But again a little tricky to get the nut and bolt tightened up. But you can get your hand up to where the nut ends up being if you really try and stretch for arm. Or you could use a self tapper instead?

 

I've hard mounted mine in previous Toyota trucks, but the last 2 I did not. I tucked the relay with the extra bit of wire in-between the battery and fender. It fits snugly with the wiring and doesn't rattle around. Was never an issue on my 1st gen Tacoma, and I don't anticipate it being an issue on this one either. Wedgemoose has the cleanest mount I've seen so far.

 

Mine was almost at the same place where Wedgemoose placed his but inside the opening to the right of the pic Wedgemoose posted and a little bit towards the radiator mount. There was a small thru hole that accommodated a 10 mm 2-inch bolt and nut I used for mounting. Wdgemoose, how come the light plug in your picture still looks stock (brown)? Godspeed.

 

Did I miss a hole!!!!!! I searched and searched and couldn't find anything!! I found one I could of used but it was too far away from the battery so I couldn't connect the wire(too short).


And I did the relay mounting first before plugging in the new light socket. Good eyes. And Good catch. any way you could get a pic? to help other and I'm curious. If not, that's OK.

 

Wedgemoose,
On my truck, a 2013, there was a hole along the radiator mounting bracket battery side. I will try to take a pic but I always get home from work late (I work 60 miles from home). Godspeed.

 

Done!!! Test drove it and there is definitely a significant change in light output IMO. Did an eyeball "headlight aim" check against my closed garage door and it appears to be same "cut-off line" as my OEM lights. BTW, the bulbs that I removed and replaced were OEM originals (10 years old.)

@wedgemoose - your relay location looks nice and appears solid and @Doc Jr 8156 I couldn't find the phantom hole that you described. Plus I'm tired of scraped knuckles trying to get into these small spaces with drills, wrenches, etc.

So I went with @crashnburn80 's method of neatly stuffing the extra length wiring and relays into the space between the battery and fender well and zip-tying into place. I mounted the fuse holder onto the inner fender with hi strength double stick mounting tape. It's mounted little higher for easy access, in case I need to change a fuse.

Another great mod!

Thanks TW!

 

I just drilled 2 little holes and used self tapping screws. I mounted the relay about 5" away from the battery ground closer to the cab.

 

Crash Definitely had the right idea. I asked him about mounting the relays after it was already too late. Just sitting there is fine(especially being zip tied). I wasted too much time doing my mount. I would recommend Crashnburns(and your) method. But yes another "great mod". It's been a couple months for me now and don't know how I lived without this before!!

 

I was not able to take a pic last night but I will try again tonight.

 

@Subway4X4 do you have any pictures of output on your 2005? So far I have only seen the newer 2nd gens

 

Not sure if you can see the differences between the two bulbs in pics. I can definitely tell the significant difference in-person.

Truck headlights were 17 feet from garage door:
First pic is Low Beam, OEM Osram 55W
Second is Low Beam, Osram Hyper 65W



Osram Hyper 70W High Beams (I forgot to take the OEM pics)

 

Garage doors or walls do not provide the best test pics, but you can clearly see the first pic has smaller focused areas of light where as that second picture is more of a continuous flood. And those are the lower powered 70/65w bulbs.

 

@Subway4X4 looks good.. now to decide between the 70/65 or the 85/80.. I work in Boston about 6 months out of the year so I dont want to be blinding people from behind!

 

You won't with either option. The cut off is maintained like stock. Does a stock halogen car blind you from behind? No, because the beam cut off keeps the light angled down to the road and below the horizon. The reason to choose the 70/65w is longevity. My 85/80w last about 12-15mo. The 70/65w will last much longer, though put out less light.