2021 TRD Pro Headlight Dark Spot on Low Beams

I have only had mine for two days and the two little dark spots are a very minor to non-issue for me. However, I think it is bizarre how the low beam light field has such a distinct horizontal line of light to the bottom and darkness to the top. Not a fan and that may take a while to become comfortable with.

On a side note and off topic, I was surprised at how little heat I felt from the heated seats on the highest setting on a mild evening. My 2002 Volvo and 2016 Subaru would require me to turn down the heated seats after five minutes on the highest setting on the coldest of days! Does the heat need to be on for the heated seats to perform?

 

I don't think the 4 Runner seats get too hot. Mine get hot enough, but nothing crazy which I like. Here is a question...why are you running the heated seats in the middle of May??

 

Was outdoor dining with a little chill in the air. The vehicle is only two days old and I am checking it out!

 

I just got a 2021 4runner TRD PRO and hated the LED low bean headlight. At night, its really bright and you can see a big black spot in both left/right side when driving. Took it into the dealer and they said you will going see that in every 4runner LED headlight. :-(

 

it will take time to get used to it. It is what it is….

 

Has anyone had any resolve to the headlight issue?? 2022 TRD PRO has a dark spot much worse than any of the pics. It is not just annoying, I can't drive at night out in the county even with high beams it doesn't totally disappear. The median or center line is hardly visible and when I stop at a stop sign I can't see the crosswalk on the other side. It is completely black past a certain point and of course more on the left. My 2018 SR5 had no problem whatsoever. ugh buyers remorse

 

The cutoff on the led low beams is insanely sharp. The lack of bleed/transition bothers me too, more than the little dark spot near the top of the cutoff.

I have played around with my headlight adjustment. Raising them a bit helps soften the transition and reduce the intensity of that dark spot. It’s not perfect, but it did help.

It’s a balancing act though since going too high will result in annoying other drivers. But, I think mine came too low from the factory.

 

This is just my opinion, but those of you who are dissatisfied with the new oem LED headlights, need to drive some other cars. These headlights are, in my opinion, brighter, showing a better beam pattern, and easier on the eyes than our S8 or Cayenne, both with factory LED's.

I get the OCD thing (trust me), but I would hope aiming them appropriately or simply getting used to it would alleviate that enough.

And, wow jwslady, I have never seen such a tantrum thrower. Name start with a K ?

 

The 22 trd off road I purchased has the same spot when the low beams are on, I spent a few minutes for a few days looking for a defect in the drivers side headlamp assembly. I could find none.

Least I now know I am not going nuts LOL.

 

i agree in most part. Very good lights. The spots are dumb, but not something that bothers me very much. The cutoff though, it’s just too sharp.

 

A poor design IMO, very distracting to some for sure... Just a cheap fix to make up for the fact that these housings are non-adaptive or auto leveling. That little dark spot could have been much better designed with a cleaner dip. Instead, it literally just looks like a little dark spot that still has light bleed over it.

Having said that though, they're still miles better than the non-LED halogen housings! If people can't get over it, there are always other housings on the market that have a sharper cutoff. Which is good for anyone who currently has halogen housings and wants to upgrade. OEM LED housings can be had in the classifieds for a great price.

 

A sharper cutoff?!? Please no! Lol. The cutoff now is so stark, that oncoming traffic thinks you are flashing brights at them if the cutoff bounces into their vision momentarily. And there is almost no spillover above the cutoff, so if you are not in town with other outside lighting, anything not painted with light from the headlight will be in complete inky darkness.

In my opinion, the dark blob/spot within the lit beam area is a minor annoyance in comparison to the beam cutoff.

Aftermarket headlights are expensive, and if you read reviews, come with their own set of headaches.

 

It really is funny how we all view lights. I grew up in SoCal, and back in the "fast and the furious days", a sharp cutoff was the most desirable thing to have. Projector headlamps (which is what 5th Gen 4R's have) was the latest tech: to see a headlamp cutoff line bouncing along the freeway wall was the envy of all. That said, I can understand how it could be annoying, but be glad you don't drive a Honda S2000, those projectors have the sharpest cutoff of any headlight ever made; razor (i.e. 0.00000001 mm razor) sharp. Current year Acuras, as well as some Porsches have cutoff lines that are much sharper than the 4Runner. It could always be worse (or better, depending on how you look at it).

 

Halogen low beam headlights have had sharp straight ahead cutoffs and the upsloped angle on the right side for decades. When they were first allowed on US roads they were a marvel. Now that LEDs are brighter the cutoff region is more distinct but it meets the requirements. Low beams are always a compromise, to let you can see the road well enough to drive yet not blind oncoming traffic too much.

When a vehicle is ahead of you, oncoming or when you are following, you run the low beams. Otherwise you flip on the high beams. Are the high beams not satisfactory?

 

high beams are ok, just wish I didnt feel the need to use them going 40 mph on the back roads. Without them, even at lower speed, it feels like Im driving into a black hole.

The comment about fast and furious was funny. I had no idea sharp cutoffs were the “in” thing with the “hip youngsters”lol. I get it is cool tech compared to headlights from the olden days, but yeah, sometimes there can be too much of a good thing.

Not that Im complaining too hard. These arent terrible lights, and having to fill with high beams isn’t a tragedy.

 

Yup, having that sharp cutoff with no light bleed over definitely gives that nice crisp pattern. That's what most seem to be after even on HID and lighting forums... But there's no denying that along with the pros, there are also cons to that.

As you pointed out, that big contrast difference between what's lit up on the road under the cutoff, and how dark it is above it. It definitely makes things a bit harder to spot above the cutoff, but that's just how our eyes adjust and some people are more sensitive to that than others.

 

My seats get hot. I have to turn the switch down halfway to be comfortable, and that is in the winter.

 

Turned out the beams were not adjusted properly in the first especially the left... Made a huge difference.. There is still a cutoff but much further out and bearable..Thanks for the mostly constructive input.. And BTW I had LEDs in my 2018 and the cutoff was not there

 

I've been the lead detailer for a medium sized Toyota dealership for quite some time. I've done my share of new car preps and I've never once seen paint dots on the headlights of any Toyota product.

 

I get why some find the black spot and cutoff annoying, but I'd gladly take these LEDs over my stock halogens. Happy to trade you. My OEMs are the Worst. Headlights. Ever.

They're acceptable with H9s, but honestly I shouldn't have to trim the mount and hack them into my housings just to have headlights that aren't dangerously weak.

There are any number of things I'd improve about the 4R, but this is the only thing I'm pissed at Toyota about. A 2020 truck that MSRPs for almost 50K should not come with halogen headlights -- let alone halogens this craptastic. It wasn't hard to find decent LEDs in a lot of 20K econo boxes back in 2020 -- and even in 2019.

 

The reason these stupid dots annoy me so much is because I have to drive top and down 4 floors of my parking garage everyday. On the road I hardly notice them, but I basically just drive through my parking garage with my brights on so I don't have to see them. Just a bad design by Toyota, but I love my 4R.

 

Is it any better running the fogs along with the lows?

 

No it will not be better.

I have gotten used to it, so it does not bother me as much.

 

no, the fogs only light up about half way up the area lit by the low beam

 

New owner of a 2022 ORP and last night we went down to get ice cream and it was my first time truly driving in the dark with the new Rig and my wife pointed out that the headlights are casting a shadow. My daughter and her had drove it at night down to the store a few times and had noticed this but didn't tell me. It feels like this could be a safety issue if I am out driving between Nevada and Idaho on the tight two lane curves on State Highway 51 (SH-51) . The dark spot out in the distance could almost looks like a coyote or small animal or one of the multiple rocks in the road in the canyon outside of Duck Valley.

 

Two options. Buy new headlights or buy a different vehicle.

 

oh, and aftermarket headlights suck in there own way, and are as expensive!!!

i dont like the dark spot. inalso dont like the relatively sharp cutoff that leaves everything above black as…well, black as night.

I make generous use of the high beams when Im on those not quite country roads that are still too dark. That’s when the auto high beams can save me embarrasement if I forget to turn them off for oncoming traffic.

 

I am sure I will get used to a dark spot the size of a black dog out at 80 feet and your comment makes me at least think that the high beam thing might be useful after all...LOL

 

I get the reasoning behind that design. Makes sense. But it still annoying to look at. Prominence is the problem with this. If it could blend a bit more, instead of it being a glaring (pun) difference of contrast, it would be less distracting. Same goes for the sharp cutoff overall. This coukd be vision differences between people. Im willing to bet there are big differences in peoples dynamic range in vision. If you dont do well with seeing darks in high contrast areas, it will bug you

 

I politely disagree with this being something that helps oncoming traffic. This is wouldn't help anyone coming at me 99.99% of the time. If it would just so happen to put the dark spot on the oncoming driver it would only maybe a micro second. It isn't even that high on the road from what I watched last night... not even close to being at windshield height and is a black rectangle shadow the size of a black lab dog. I know that the left side headlight is aimed lower to help oncoming traffic and in my 42 years of driving I have never had a headlight cast this strange shaped shadow.