OEM LED headlights conversion adapters for 14-20 halogen 4Runners!

I do have a 2020.

 

Then you should be able to turn off DRLs in the head unit, plug an add-a-fuse harness into the high-beam circuit, and have quad high-beam.

 

@mynameistory,
I installed the bi-LED headlights in my 2018 using a relay and switch to activate the LED high beams, similar to your setup.

Did you notice that the halogen high beam optics are different than the original headlight? I notice they have a distinct X shaped pattern. Not sure if it’s better, only different.

 

I had problems using Morimoto 3.0 bulbs but when I switched to Nighlight LEDs the light pattern was better / improved.

I guess TRD ORP housing that came with separate Led low beam and Halogen Highbeam was so much better changing the highbeam bulb to good LED over bi-LED housing came with on TRD Pro / Limited.




Video link -
https://youtu.be/vesGHtosIHk

 

Possible they changed it because it's only used for DRL on the biLED version. I have the low beam only LED headlamps on mine. I could compare them to my all halogen headlamps to see if they're different or not.

 

These are my high beam reflectors on my 2021 low beam only LED headlamps

 

Interesting, I had not thought to compare the two reflectors and had assumed that they remained the same across all models. I still have my old housings, maybe I can try plugging one in for a side-by-side comparison. Only if the harness is long enough, I'm not interested in pulling the bumper off and swapping housings again

 

Here’s some comparative photos I took of mine on a pizza box about one foot away. First is the new driver-side bi-LED headlight, high beam, with a 9011 halogen bulb. Second is the passenger-side old OEM halogen headlight, high beam with a 9011 bulb.

 

Interesting! I do remember that my old reflector DRLs had a pattern like the one you show, where it's almost an upside down copy of the low-beam. The hotspots overlap and the pattern is above the cutoff. Now you have me wondering if the new reflectors are adequate or useful as high-beams, as it seems they have a different pattern now.

 

The halogen high beams seem to light up the distance well but I noticed that they also illuminate and add to the lower foreground by overlapping the low beam pattern. I don’t remember this happening with the halogen-only headlights. It was as you described, where the hotspots overlapped and a lot more light above the cutoff into the distance. In fact there seemed to be too much high angle light to the right; highway road signs on the right would appear to be be lighted too much sometimes.

However, the halogen plus LED high beams together are pretty impressive to me.

 

@replica9000 any chance you could get a picture of your patterns against a wall or garage door etc. to confirm if your reflectors are "new" or "old"? DRL mode is probably adequate if it's dark enough and you're close to the wall.

Strange that Toyota would go through the bother of changing the reflector optics slightly, while retaining the same basic look. Especially when it seems like people's biggest complaint is that they're still halogen.

 

Good idea. Also note that in order to get those pics I blocked the low beam projector with my body so all that beam pattern was from the halogen high beam only.

 

These are my high beams

 

The plot thickens!

 

Hmmm… It seems the halogen High/LED Low versions use the same high beam reflector optics as the old Halogen High/Low models. The bi-LED halogen DRL seems to have been redesigned, maybe to optimize shining the dimmer light more downward for better visibility to oncoming drivers.

Someone else should verify this.

 

I assembled photos from you and replica and posted on TW in the headlight thread.

I think you're correct. I do remember my old DRL patterns being as you said, and now mine look like yours. I don't know why I didn't notice the difference before.

 

The lens assemblies are implanted in the headlights relatively easily. The seats are adopted by the manufacturers of tuning lenses to the original elements. It is also possible to implement the module in the reflector optics. The diffuser is now more correctly called just a protective cap, as in modern headlamps, it does not participate in the beam formation - the lens is responsible for this. So the biggest challenge is to disconnect the diffuser from the housing to do the work because modern optics are made non-disassembled. It turns out to be more complicated than installing the strip lights in the car, so first, understand the whole process.

 

Great thread Mynameistory. Very informative, with a lot of pictures and everything explained in detail. I wish I had found something similar when looking for tips and advice on how to change the car lights for my M3 E93. It took me a few good days to figure it out and make sure it was safe and long-lasting. The last thing I wanted was to re-do it in a few weeks or months. I found a few great tips in your thread, such as that you could isolate the shutter circuit from PWM with a custom relay and switch.

 

Thanks! Might need to update and rearrange some stuff now that we know that the reflectors have been redesigned.

 

Tory,
Here’s a way to get quad high beams without hammering the LED shutters with the DRL signal. This is for a pre-2020 model which previously had halogen low and high beams. Using the Bi-LED headlights (L: 81070-35610, R: 81140-35620).

Other parts I used: a waterproof relay to install on the driver side fender, a SPDT on-off-on switch from MESO, a fuse tap, and a bladed inline wire tap.

The theory of operation is to use the “H” signal input (i.e., the “DIM” output from MB ECU) of the DRL relay that controls the low/high beam switching, instead of that relay’s output which is either a high beam control or the DRL square wave.

Trying to filter out the DRL signal with a capacitor won’t do it.

You have to remove the lower dash panel to access front of the Main Body ECU. There are a few threads in the forum that explain how to do that. Then you tap the DIM output, the pink wire on connector 2D pin 24. See the schematic sketch for the other wired connections. I made some other drawing notes to myself for the wire colors I used, which you can ignore.

The DIM output signal from the Main Body ECU is +12V at all times except when it’s at 0V to enable the high beams. So the relay that controls the high beam shutters is powered by constant +12V, as it does in 21+ MYs. In the engine fuse box I used a fuse tap in the unpopulated Powered Running Board fuse location (PRB) to tap off constant 12V.

The switch selects:
Auto = Quad high beams with normal stalk HI/LO operation.
Off = Halogen high beams only with normal HI/LO stalk operation.
On = LED high beams always on, when LO beams are on. Clicking the stalk to HI also turns on the halogen high beams. The LED high beams are on regardless if stalk selects HI or LO. This is a little inconvenient if you wanted to run LED LO and LED only HI since you’d have to reach down to the switch to toggle the LED high beams on/off while driving, the stalk doesn’t turn them off.

Note that this places an additional load on the MB ECU’s DIM output, depending on the coil resistance of the relay used. I measured mine at about 75 ohms and it resulted in about an additional 160 mA load that the DIM output has to sink. That’s not much to be concerned about, but just a use-at-your-own-risk disclaimer since people have damaged some ECU output drivers by mis-wiring that caused momentary shorts to GND. Such as shorted LED bulbs installed in door puddle lights.

There may be other switch/relay configurations that can accomplish this, but I’ve been using this quad setup for several weeks and it’s working well. Here’s a sketch and photo to locate the 2D-24 DIM wire.

 

Nice work @ElectroBoy ! Thank you for the thorough write-up and pictures. I have not had a chance to dig into my truck for a bit, as I've shifted focus onto my project car for now. Dave Easa on Tacomaworld is prototyping a relay setup that should be able to work (locally) right at the headlight as a plug n play option. This will not allow for user-selectable operation though, as it does not include a switch. I will update this thread when I get a chance to test them.

 

For what it’s worth, here are pictures of the halogen DRL/HI reflectors on my 2014 and DRL Only reflector on my 2021 PRO with Bi-LEDs. You can see the ‘14 reflector has a “bend” in the reflector at position A where the ‘21 does not. And the center surface of the reflector on the ‘14 has sharper, more defined edges than the ‘21 at position B. These are most obvious differences I noticed. It also appears perhaps the ‘14 reflector has a slightly deeper dish to it, if that makes sense, than the ‘21. Could be others.

‘14 reflector


‘21 reflector

 

Appreciate you taking the time to check both! My old ones are buried in the garage. Excellent find! We will need to continue working on making sure the bi-LED shutters can be natively controlled for proper high-beam performance.

 

@mynameistory Thanks for putting this together! Where is a good place to monitor for some used 2022 headlights?

 

You can see them pop up on Facebook marketplace, or here on the classifieds. Sometimes you will see someone post about their new aftermarket headlights and you can DM them to ask if they're interested in selling their old ones. Most of the time they're happy to get a few hundred bucks for them.

 

Great advice! I've been searching the classifieds here, and it's been slim lately. Will add FB and DMing to the list!

 

Here are the prototype harnesses for plug n play headlight retrofit!





All of the connectors are OEM quality and plug directly into your existing wiring to interface with the new headlights. The relay prevents any power from reaching the high-beam projector shutters until the low-beams are activated. Really clever and simple solution from FBC! I spent more time picking which beer to drink than I did plugging them in.

 

Would be nice to have a harness for my 2021 bi-LED so I can run the 2nd highbeam with headlight stock vs a separate switch.

 

If you have a relay powering the 9005 bulbs, you could try using the shutter wire circuit as the trigger. Maybe ask Dave at FBC if he'd consider building a PnP harness that has a set of adapter plugs with a lead coming out for the relay. You'd only need one. And of course, no DRL mode for you.

 

Nice!

Is there one harness/relay for the passenger side and another harness/relay for the driver side?