The ultimate headlight upgrade H4 (not LED or HID)

You can get them from Bulb America, price seems like they are the China Osrams, but others have ordered and confirmed they are the German ones.
https://www.bulbamerica.com/product...super-bright-premium-off-road-automotive-bulb

 

The Osrams require the harness upgrade, yes?

was looking for the Phillips bulbs that don’t require upgrade.

Planning to do the harness and osram upgrade in spring time.

 

Ah, yes, the high power Osrams require the harness.

 

I’m not aware of a North America distributor, but you can get them out of the UK off eBay.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/PHILIPS-Ra...ulb-PH-12342RGTS2-H4-12V-60-55W-/274592047093

 

Amazon and Ebay.

 

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...-not-led-or-hid.398066/page-197#post-25815856

 

Those 4157's are great bulbs. If you want another option that is a little more stylized (neochrome) when off and equally as bright and/or potentially brighter look into the Sylvania Silverstar 3357A. I've had them in multiple vehicles and one set I swapped from one car to another has gone over 10 years before I sold the car. I normally don't suggest anything with the Silverstar name on it, but these things have been amazing!

Sylvania 3357A/3457A ST SilverStar 29-Watt High Performance Signal Light

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000AME5GI?ie=UTF8

In this picture is the above bulbs with Profile halos behind the shrouds of the projector. They have a nice deep amber (not dark though) which I prefer as well. I have them in both the front and the rear and when the signals are on I can see the light on the ground in my side mirrors from the rear bulbs.

 

So if my headlight housings are trashed, is my best bet to get some oem housings and put these German bulbs in them? Are there still not any good complete housing/LED replacements for a 2nd gen?

 

In short, that’s correct, but you’ll want to also get the harness for the best results. You can’t use the highest performance bulbs without the upgraded harness.

 

It really depends on how trashed they are. If it's just surface fading (yellowing) then you can restore them. If you can see what looks like fine cracks or lines, then your better off getting new housings.

I will suggest if you are going to restore them, I would use Spraymax 2K Clear Glamour (NOT Rustoleum 2X). It is a true automotive 2 part clear coat like what is used for clear coat on cars. This is a PERMANANT coating, it will not fade again. The kits you buy (like 3m, Meguairs, etc) is simply a coating that is like a sealant with added UV protection that will need to be redone at some point depending on your environment. Same with ceramic coatings, they will last longer than the kits (broadly speaking) but will eventually need redone. Maybe 6mo or maybe 2 years, too many factors to accurately say. But with the Spraymax 2K will last at least as long as your vehicle clear coat or longer since it is applied thicker than what your paints clear coat is.

If you choose to restore them, feel free to ask for details. I've done plenty with all of them still on the road, one set almost 5 yrs old now.

 

I used a kit with a spray coating that got cloudy again in about a year or two, didn’t know about Spraymax 2k. I then just used a polishing kit without a spray this time last year and now it’s cloudy again. One of the housings got water in it somehow during a big storm a month ago and burned out the bulb. It was a pretty intense storm to be fair. It rained about 2” in a couple hours, but I was just parked at the time and not driving anywhere.

I figured they’re toast and I could get a fancy new led setup like you can for old Jeeps ($90 for DOT approved complete replacement housings with zigzag beams for my XJ so incoming traffic doesn’t get blinded), but I guess I was wrong. Any ideas about the water getting inside it?

 

If water got into the housing, the reflectors are probably toast. Headlights have a mpisture drain, usually some sort of vent with a down-turned rubbed fitting to prevent falling water from draining right into the housing. Sounds like the housing is cracked somewhere, or somehow water was able to run right down some part of the fender and flood right into the vent.

 

When your headlight housings get old and crusty enough from the sun's UV rays, hairline cracks can develop just about anywhere and let water in. That's just another reason you should really consider new OEM housings and the Ultimate Headlight Upgrade. Trust me, having done it to my (former) 2014 Tacoma, I can assure you that it's well worth it.

As for the LED units out there, I would not recommend them.

 

I agree with @Too Stroked. The LED housings available for the Tacoma aren't worth the money for the output. Now if you want it just for the style, go for it. But the Alpharex (which is pretty much the same as all the headlights you see on aliexpress) and Morimoto. The Philips Racing Vision and Osram Nightbreaker Laser H4 bulbs are equally as bright and arguably a better beam pattern.

It's all personal preference. Style vs function. Aftermarket headlights don't need to meet OEM fit and finish standards so quality is meh on most of them, even the Morimoto. One thing that Morimoto dropped the ball on with the 2nd gen headlights is the C-Light is not a switchback....REALLY!? For $1000 they leave out switchbacks that are available on EVERY other Morimoto headlight and is part of what draws people to aftermarket head lights. I was very surprised they left out that detail. If you go with new OEM headlights, I'd suggest using a ceramic coating or quality sealant periodically to help protect them from UV and such.

 

Thanks for the tip on the LED’s! I’m not too concerned about style, I’m more of a function over form kinda guy. My main goal here is to see the moose before I hit them when I’m driving through the mountains.

My truck is 16 years old anyway. I plan on coating it with Monstaliner when it’s available again to hide the oxidation and Rocky Mountain pinstripes. I googled Alpharex and Morimoto and all I have to say is WOW. $1,000 for some headlights? Yeah, hard pass. I can buy an ARB air locker for that much. I’m honestly surprised there isn’t a cheaper option. The $90 LED lights for XJ’s are actually pretty good.

 

Go with new OEM housings, the Ultimate Headlight Upgrade and a pair of Diode Dynamics SS3 Sport or Pro fogs and you'll have more forward lighting than you'll know what to do with - all at a decent price.

 

The reason for the massive price difference is that the ones on your Jeep fits many vehicles so its a standardized design and the components used in them are very common and cheap since they are produced at much higher quantities. To make a vehicle specific light assembly takes a lot more research and development to make sure fit is correct, connector location/type, overall internal design and of course customized tooling which happens to be the most expensive part.

There is always the option to get aftermarket housings and retrofit a better projector in it. But that can be some tedious work depending on the route you go and can be fairly expensive, but far less than $1000 if you DIY it. I'm not going to go deep into that unless more info is wanted, lots of potential info and questions.

 

Brothers & Sisters, I offer this information regarding this how-to out of respect and gratitude for the original author Crash&burn 80. If you happen to be component and material gathering for this mod, please find what I hope is helpful information.

So, I don't know how else to say it, except frankly, this guy doesn't miss a thing, and I mean this in the most literal sense. I say this because as most would when entering into such an effort, I devoted considerable time to research trying to improve on pricing or actual components involved.

Here I say "DONT WAST YOUR TIME", this guy means what he says, and he has sound research to back up every consideration of this build.

If you read carefully and just buy and take in what he says you will complete the task successfully with the confidence of no room for improvement in much better time than if questioned. Really every single concern and question I had and read others ask while making ready to perform the mod was already available in the how-to he offered.

I have to say, Ryland, Brother you have God-given patience as we have exchanged at least 8 - 10 PMs with me asking and receiving caring non-condescending replies with information that as I said was already in the instructional article.

You know in this day and age there are very few people whom we can take straight at their word without question. Most are leary as in many experiences when we have it ends up at the least as a delayed effort and many times costly.

Understand that it is in good faith that I go to the trouble of offing this information in hopes that it might save others the added effort that I experience through my feeling the need to verify the application or pricing of the items C&B calls out.

What a contribution, Thank you, Ryland

 

I trust Crash&burn 80 100%. His advice has saved me a lot of mistakes and unnecessary parts being purchased for our truck. This light setup is legit and I have bad night vision so it lets me see clearly.
Thanks to Crash&burn 80

 

Well said. I agree 100% with you. After equipping my truck with the ultimate headlight mod, DD max fogs and the upgraded reverse light bulbs, the lighting on my truck is the best I’ve ever experienced. I couldn’t imagine adding more lighting to the front for normal road conditions as the high beams with the UHLM is just insane, the reflection from signs is enough to give some temporary light blindness. Simply incredible. Everything he has said is right on the money and even after trying to play devils advocate with what he states, i always end up agreeing with what he has said and proven. A very patient and helpful guy is an understatement.