The ultimate headlight upgrade H4 (not LED or HID)

If you have a constant +12v at the left connector and are grounding to the chassis then yes.

 

Howdy folks, I’m hoping to get some opinions here. I’m thinking about upgrading my headlights before winter and I want to run the upgraded harness and high output bulbs, although I am definitely not willing to drop the money on some oem housings. What I am considering is getting some cheap Amazon headlights and applying some sealant and a protective coating to the lenses.

I would like to replicate the look of the pro headlights with the light smoke look. What I’m having trouble deciding is wether it would be better to get some headlights that are already smoked, and then apply a clear lense protector, or get a clear headlight and apply a smoked film to it. My main concern in either case is that I don’t want the smoke effect to be too dark, and a film can be removed if necessary. Here are the smoked headlights I’m looking at, though the photos look like they just have the headlights photoshopped in, so they aren’t very useful haha.
Also, here are the headlights I have currently. The light output is really bad, even with higher output halogen bulbs. I was considering trying the upgraded harness on these housings, but I think that might be a bad idea. These projectors are just garbage (big surprise lol).


Thanks in advance for any input. I can already anticipate people saying to save up for oem housings, and while that is good advice, im definitely not gunna go that route. I would just rather make a cheap part last as long as possible, for the sake of experimenting as well as saving money. Thanks y'all!

 

I will of course say OEM assemblies are the best and the preferred route. But if that is completely not an option, you might look at a brand like Depo that offers the assemblies with blacked out interior trim. There are no aftermarket assemblies that I am aware of that replicate the exact look of the smoked chrome on the TRD units. Note that the TRD slights use a smoked chrome reflector, so the outer lens of the lamp remains clear so all the light can pass though. You do not want to put a smoked film on a headlamp as you propose as that will significantly reduce output. I'd advise against all stick-on films in general on headlights, as even the clear ones reduce focus and output, and sometimes removal of the film can cause as much damage as the film was trying to protect against in the first place.

Yes, those Spyder style headlights will be awful no matter what you put in them, the projectors are garbage so best to abandon those.

Curious, what are those center pods on your truck?

 

@Quinnbob read the above, then re-read it.
Just do the math, how many (trash) Spyder housing sets does it cost to buy 1 set of OEM ?.... it's not a hard equation.... just sayin.
Cheers !

 

Ah I didn’t realize that it’s the reflector that’s tinted on the pro lights, not the lense. That does change things for sure. Ya maybe I’ll look at just doing a set of black housing headlights. Thanks! And those fog lights are just some $30 Amazon specials but they work fairly well for my use

 

That’s a good point but here is my retort haha. If a new set of oem lights are $500 (I might be able to find cheaper if I look harder, but that’s what I found), and a set of cheapos is under $150, I could buy 3 sets of cheapos for less than 1 set of oems.

Now if oem lights can last 10 years, then I would only have to get the cheapos to last a little over 3 years each time for them to be the better option. And coincidentally the lights I have on there now are just over 3 years old now, and they’re honestly still just fine as far as moisture and lense quality go, so I could keep using them even longer. So my logic is that if I can make a set of cheapos last this long while actually having good light output I feel like that’s a win.

But ya, different strokes for different folks and whatnot lol

 

LOL for sure!
and if Ifs and Buts were candy and nuts, we'd all have a Merry Christmas...

@Quinnbob I fully support your choice to run whatever you choose, best of luck with that Spyder look...

 

Spent a few hours reading this thread the other night. First off, MANY thanks to @crashnburn80 for this wealth of information!
If I understand this correctly, I can install the Phillips GT +200 bulbs in the stock headlights of my '13 TRD OR without the new wiring harness, but the Osram 100/90w Superbrights would require the wiring harness....and the only advantage the Osram Superbrights offer is enhanced high beam performance?

 

Yes, you have it correct. The +200 bulbs are really good on low beam. I run them.

 

Thanks or the reply!
I spend a lot of time offroad at low speed, illuminating the road immediately in front of me is my highest priority. Sounds like the Phillips bulbs and the DD SS3 fog lights should be a HUGE upgrade from my stock configuration.

 

Never heard of LBRST and those Amazon pics are trash.

The point of projectors is an HID with ballast. I have never seen a good halogen projector.

DEPO is not that much more than what you listed, and is at least a known brand.

Smoke is having black internal parts instead of chrome. Not film on the lens that is illegal and reduces output.

 

I bought a USC Spray Max 2k clear with plans to use it on my new set of Tacoma lens'. I was having my sienna hood repainted so I went ahead and had them clear coated instead

Paid $35
sell for $25 shipped - Venmo

 

Not the Tacoma yet but I had both the new hid and the original prepped and sprayed clearcoated for my Sienna. Turned out nice

 

so you're telling me
$1300 alpharex
with 4 LED projectors in each housing

is not good

 

Yes. They are actually some of the worst. The beam pattern is terrible as documented numerous places. The hot spot is way to low in the pattern. It isn't possible to aim them correctly. You just end up with a bunch of foreground light and loss of distance light. The foreground looks impressive, but the light is not useful there, it constricts your pupils reducing your ability to see distance at night, combined with the lack of distance light in the pattern only makes it worse. OEM lights are specifically designed to minimize foreground light, and instead focus on distance light. AlphaRex literally has it backward because they are horrible cheap Chinese projectors.

If that wasn't bad enough, on top of that they have no uplight, or reduced light above the cut off. All OEM lights have uplight. Without uplight and super sharp projector cut offs, you are literally blinded by your own light. You can only see what the low beam illuminates and nothing beyond it in areas without ambient light. This greatly restricts your vision, and that combined with blowout in foreground light and loss of distance light and your already reduced night vision add up to make for a pathetically awful headlight. AlphaRex isn't even a manufacturer, they are reselling you cheap Chinese headlights that they white label and import then sell to US consumers that don't know better at huge markups.

You can see a demonstration of AlphaRex here, and note the patterns "hot spot" (if you can call it that) is way low in the beam pattern. It's more of a flood light with a cut off than a headlight, it isn't a legitimate product or "brand" (aka white label cheap Chinese importer) at all.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kItoEHPgn98&t=930s

The 2nd Gen Toyota OEM assemblies on the other hand are outstanding headlights. Everything covered in this thread is how to keep those outstanding light qualities and boost their performance to the next level, which doesn't blow out the pattern with foreground light, significantly increases the distance projection and maintains uplight so you can see beyond the low beam.

 

Are you saying there's no good options for HID, whether from an individual seller, DIY, or company?

I only say this because although I do have headlight harness and brighter bulbs,
it is still not as good as my last vehicle




In that case, it did take mods.

-remove burnt 3" bi-xenon OEM projector, replace with Bosch/AL Gen2/3 'E46' (I believe also 3") that can cheaply be sourced from many newer vehicles that come with it including Aston Martin, Jeep Grand Cherokee, Audi R8, Audi B8, Fiat, and more
gen2 has visible horizontal line in the middle, gen3 has a bunch of dots speckled on it
-upgrade cheap regular D1S bulb to Osram CBI or competitor
-paint cutoff shield black for crisper cutoff
-swap in TRS/TheRetrofitSource clear lens
-use non-AFS/corner swiveling version

that setup was amazing
I know on HIDplanet there are certain other projectors held in high regard as sought-after to retrofit, I believe:
-S2000
-Acura gem eyes
-Prius LED
-Acura TL

I just typed in Tacoma in search bar of HIDplanet to see what people are doing and surprisingly, it appears not one person on their has retrofitted a 2nd gen

If Audi had good parts ~2001-2012, then after that must be even better
but would be much more difficult to retrofit in terms of LED, power use monitoring for bulb out warning
and newer year means less reliable
1. lots more parts in LED, including fans, control modules
2. no repair serviceability; headlight is integrated. Tiny part fails in a year, $1000, throw it out

 

No. Not at all. I'm saying cheap Chinese garbage lighting products paraded around by white label importers like they are something uniquely special (because they are trying to sell at a big markup) and having uneducated vendors echo the white label importers message because they don't know better doesn't change the fact that they are actually just cheap Chinese crap lighting products that do not have a legitimate beam pattern and are a major downgrade from stock.

Higher performance is certainly achievable with a good quality HID retrofit. Notice that in all your examples, OEM HID projectors are used from reputable manufactures and not the trash Chinese retrofit kits pushed by brands like TRS/Morimoto, the worst being those designated for halogen bulbs but sold as HID kits. Using an OEM HID projector will give you OEM grade results assuming it is installed properly. Most importantly in using an OEM HID projector, you will have the proper uplight for HID, the correct hotspot placement, the correct foreground light and it will use an actual HID designation capsule. From there you can upgrade your HID bulbs to the highest performing HIDs available from German made Osram or Philips. Chinese Morimoto HIDs don't hold a candle to the real thing. Even better is to use an OEM HID ballast. Startup time is night and day by comparison.

You can see OEM RX350 HID retros tested in a 3rd Gen retro in post #5502 of the 3rd Gen thread, utilizing Morimoto components and comparing to the best HID bulbs and OEM ballasts. No doubt the RX350 retros (or other OEM retros) outperform 2nd Gen halogens. But it is also far more complex and expensive. Part of the beauty of this upgrade is the simplicity and low cost for the results, it applies the engineering KISS principle.

It's also worth noting, that if you haven't already the halogen upgrade can be further boosted with the voltage booster mod. It requires an AGM battery. Thread is here.

If pursuing an HID route (using OEM HID projectors of course) the best HID bulbs in order are:
1) Osram Night Breaker Laser Xenarc +200 Next Gen
2) Philips Xtreme Vision Gen2 +150
3) Osram Night Breaker Laser Xenarc +200

 

I know its not the right thread but its still in line with this little tangent. What are your thoughts on the Morimoto m-led

 

Poor.

Morimoto has been doing decent at improving their lighting products. Their lights have decent hotspot where it is supposed to be, good pattern distribution and don't blow out the foreground light. They are light years ahead of the pathetic AlphaRex Chinese imports. But what they still are missing is uplight, like AlphaRex and the rest of the aftermarket projector imports. I'd not recommend any headlight without uplight, as it is vision limiting and hazardous without ambient light and not equivalent to OEM. They like to promote the m-led as similar to the RX350 projector, it is not. The OEM RX350 are vastly superior with proper OEM optics.

 

Before I went the HID retrofit route I'd max out the halogens for low beam effectiveness and add a pair of driving lights to boost the high beam. Might be just me but it seems like a much simpler path to getting more light out there.