The ultimate headlight upgrade H4 (not LED or HID)

Whelp my idea was just to get a stock harness capable bulb that would be better without having to go the route of another 100+ bucks for the harness

 

Yah I’d go that route then if you’re not looking for the lighting gains that a harness and higher output bulbs are going to give you.

 

Yes the GE Xenons are the best all round stock wattage upgrade over stock. Check out the lux chart in the original post. You’ll see the Philips Racing Vision +150 have higher low beam intensity for a stock wattage bulb but you do lose some high beam performance with the Philips over stock due to the high beam filament being coated.

The IPF Fatboys are also compatible with the stock wiring but are higher wattage (80w) on low beam and will offer the best low beam performance available (Hypers excluded) without a harness. They are pricey though and bulb life isn’t specified.

 

Yeah im looking for just a good stock upgrade, looks like the GE NH Xenons are the ticket. Thanks man!

 

They were used on the very rare SR package and the Pro's only.

 

Note the bulbs are available in 9003 and H4. While the same in appearance the H4 has higher legal max output specs than 9003. I’ve been meaning to test and compare, but haven’t yet.

 

That would be an interesting comparison. I know H4 is typically specd for motorcycles but surprised to hear that they have a different legal max output.

EDIT- also, what are we looking at as far as lifetime on a bulb like this?

 

H4 is typically European whereas 9003 is DOT. I could see H4 spec for a motorcycle as they only have one light instead of two.

I believe the Xenon H11 is 150 hours, which is pretty short compared to the high wattage Osrams at 200 hours. I get one year out of my 200 hour bulbs. But I haven’t seen the life specs on the GE H4/9003.

 

Gotcha gotcha.

Eff it ill give em a try, definitely keeping the working OEMs wrapped up as spares in the truck.

 

Driving the wife's Subaru at night really makes me realize how great this upgrade is, my trucks night visibility is far superior.

Would love to hookup the subaru, anyone know of an upgraded universal harness for h7's? Found this but I doubt its quality https://www.theretrofitsource.com/wiring/relay-harnesses/hd-relay-h7.html

 

So as of right now, what is the best high wattage replacement bulb while using the upgraded harness?

 

pretty interesting site for recommendations https://www.bulbfacts.com/

 

The Morimoto harnesses are designed for 35w HID draw, using likely smaller than stock wiring. What you want in a harness for halogens, is one designed for high current draw with large heavy gauge wires to reduce resistance and improve improve voltage to the light source which increases halogen performance.

Best high wattage is the 85/80w Osram Hypers, which are no longer available
Second best low beam is the IPF Fatboy Superlow 60/80w, they are absurdly expensive and offer no high beam performance improvement over stock
Third best low beam is the Osram 100/90w Superbrights, readily available and relatively inexpensive with a long bulb life for high wattage and have a very high power high beam

Some good info and some inaccurate info.

 

Thanks!

 

I took your advice on these. Easiest upgrade I've ever experienced. It's exactly what I was looking for. I'll post pics in the https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/what-have-you-done-to-your-3rd-gen-today.399305/page-7223 Thread.

 

Glad you like them. You might also share in the 3rd Gen headlight thread.
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/3rd-gen-hid-vs-led-vs-halogen-h11-projector-headlights.589465/

 

Would be interesting to compare these trucks to find common issue. Seems that we all had similar issue which is probably somewhere in the truck wiring.
I hooked up my harness to my wife's RAV4, since it uses the same headlights, and it worked just as it was supposed to.
My truck had two previous owners so I don't know what all has been done to it. When I installed fog lights I noticed some extra wires that looked like they didn't belong there (spliced in). I'll have to trace those down and see where they go.

 

posting a review of my factory original lights for comparison. Still running them.

Not good.
Drove on a trail at night and couldn't see anything

 

I just got back from a 3,500 mile round trip to Colorado with the Ultimate Headlight Upgrade plus a set of KC G4 clear fog lights. (Everything in my truck came from recommendations from our very own @crashnburn80!) Way too much of the trip was done after dark and those parts usually occurred when I was tired too. That said, I can't tell you how much I enjoyed having this much usable light on the ground in front of me and none of it bothering oncoming drivers. (I never got flashed even once.) If you have any doubts about the validity of this mod, put them aside and just do it!

Another interesting observation. Although the headlights in a Tacoma have a great cutoff line for a standard halogen (non-projector) type housing, the cutoff isn't quite as sharp as a true projector. I believe this helps in not getting flashed because oncoming drivers don't see that hard cutoff bouncing up and down and confuse it with getting flashed themselves. For those of you wondering why I'd mention this, this cutoff and the light distribution underneath it is what allows us to make this upgrade and put more light on the ground (with higher wattage bulbs) and not bother oncoming drivers. Without a good cutoff pattern, higher wattage bulbs would just bother oncoming drivers. (Like the idiot in Iowa in a Dodge pickup with drop in LED bulbs that came up behind me pissing everybody off.)

 

Glad the lights aided safe travels in a very long drive! And also glad that there were no bulbs out this time requiring parking lot shenanigans in the dark with the clip falling off!