H9 in H11 headlight sockets?

Get a chance yet to see if they’re much brighter?

 

yeah last night i popped em on and off a bunch. they are significantly brighter than stock! it was during the day that i put them in, but popped em on when i had the passenger 9011 in and the factory driver and you could just tell but looking at the bulbs in the housing that the 9011's are way brighter. great pattern as well, i dont think i need to make any adjustments. very happy with the fog/lo/hi combo i installed.

i also want to note for anyone planning on the 9011 install. you do NOT need to trim the plastic tab on the interior of the bulb socket like you have to do with the H9, JUST the top center tab on the outside of the socket. the connector will plug and play, at least it did for my 2012 TE.

 

Yep. I have the H9/9011 combo in my headlights now, fantastic upgrade for cheap and retains all of the performance benefits of proper halogen (focus and throw, as well as the ability to clear snow and condensation).

 

Which 9011's did you all go with?

 

philips. got em on Amazon.

 

Did the Philips 9011 upgrade today. I ended up using the orings off the old bulbs and the new bulbs, which took out a small movement they had. Hope that doesn't cause any issues. This mod was simpler than the H9's! Can't wait to try these out. Highly recommend doing this.

 

How hard is it removing/installing the low beam bulbs? I've been pondering the H9 swap. The headlights on my 4R are its least desirable feature.

 

3 minutes per side with a file and a small pair of wire snippers. File for the tab on the light that has to be trimmed down slightly and snippers for the little tab inside the bulb socket that needs to be removed.

 

You got more finesse than me then! Cause I couldn't get Philips H9s in my 2020 without trimming both the big center metal tab AND one of the others. Maybe I was just incompetent, but I didn't have that issue on the Subaru I was running H9s on.

PS, as others have noted the micro cutter or similar snips take off the plastic tab in the connector with zero trouble. It's like literally a half a second to do it. No Dremel needed. I also use them to trim the metal tabs, though I did snap one of my micro cutters in half once while doing it... So this last time I used mini pliers to just bend the extra piece of metal tab back and forth until it broke off. Took 5 seconds. So I've never needed to use a Dremel or a file.

Sorry I didn't take pics.

PPS, the cutters and the micro pliers came in a set for $15 at Home Depot.

 

Just for those who may not be aware, Toyota now sells their OEM LED High Performance Fog Lights in case you want to go OEM / DOT Compliant LED instead of swapping bulbs on your halogen fogs. They cost $140, or $240 installed. They're the fogs that Toyota introduced a year or two ago on the TRD Pro. They've also been putting them on some SR5s. My dealer had a SR5 with these and the TRD wheels from the factory, listed as options on the window sticker.

I had my dealer put these fogs in for me on my 2020 Limited. Coulda easily done it myself but was happier to have them responsible if they didn't work or something (also I wasn't sure about aiming issues).

They work well. Bright light very, very deep to the sides left and right, but low down where it's supposed to be.

Here's a review on them: https://trail4runner.com/2019/03/11/oem-led-4runner-fog-light-upgrade/

 

Yeah, what @2016 4Runner SR5 said. Super easy mod with a pair of snips. I didn't use a file, but that'll work too.

 

Thanks. I was actually wanting to know what you need to do to remove the oem bulb from the base in the headlight housing. Can you just reach in and grab it, or do you have to remove something to access it?

 

Pull off the rubber dust cap, grab the bulb base and give it a 1/4 turn. Should pop right out. 12 seconds max.

 

Yep, super easy.

Battery might make it a little tighter on the drivers side, but i kept it in place.

 

I still worry about the heat with the H11-H9 mod. The H9 temps are high and in an enclosed space, unlike the high beam.

 

I wouldn't worry about it too much. If there was a single incident of them melting a headlight housing or causing electrical issues, we'd absolutely hear about it on this forum or the other one.

 

Melting has been reported with this mod in other Toyotas. For instance, Post 11 here, about a Camry.

I'm sticking with the H11s for now and just going with Silverstar Ultras. I'm hoping the 2021 LEDs will be (a) a genuine improvement and (b) plug and play.

 

I'm really inclined to think that Camry incident is a one-off and maybe not even related to running H9s. As nimby says above, a zillion people have done this and you can't find reports of problems. The advocates for each of the various lighting solutions are so zealous (it's practically a holy war around here ) that you'd be sure to hear about it. The aftermarket drop-in LED boosters, or the HID boosters, or the Morimoto full-retrofit boosters would be crowing about it if they had any evidence that the H9 conversion caused problems.

Like Red_5, I'm really, really REALLY hoping that the 2021 OEM LEDs will be a big improvement and easy to swap into earlier 4Rs. I put the OEM LED fog lights in my 2020 4R and they're good. So hoping for the same from Toyota's new LED headlights.

 

Good info and thanks for the post.

This is literally the only case I've read about. I don't want to discount that persons issue, but it was in a different vehicle with a different headlight housing. Perhaps a smaller headlight housing built up enough heat to cause his issue? I'm not sure.

 

Perhaps. Like I said, I'm going to wait to see if the OEM LEDs are plug-and-play. If not, I'll worry more about the H11/H9 question.

 

Hey guys, looking for some feedback. I'm attempting to do the H11 -> H9 conversion. I trimmed 3mm off the big metal tab on the H9, and when test fitting it back into the lamp assembly, the H9 bulb seems to have some play and it doesn't fit as snug as the original H11. I noticed the modified H9 bulb also didn't turn back into the 3-tab socket as nicely as the H11. Is this your experience too? I'm worried when driving on wash-board gravel/rough roads the bulb may work itself loose. I don't know if it makes any difference, but I trimmed the metal tab with a side-cutter, so the cut isn't as clean as I hoped it to be (it has rough edges).

 

My H9's fit just as snug as the H11's. Did you line up both bulbs side by side to see exactly where you needed to trim the metal tab?

 

Hi nimby, thank you - yes, I lined up the H9 to the H11 to estimate the 2 cuts on the metal tab. I used side cutters to make the cuts, and now I think the cut edges are "rough" and probably making it difficult for the bulb to properly align/fit like the H11. I think a Dremel is needed to clean up and smooth the edges for the fit to work. I will try again on the weekend when I have access to a Dremel.

 

Hope you figure it out. I just used some micro cutters to cut the tabs. It was clean and easy.



Is it possible that you bent the metal tab slightly towards the actual bulb while cutting? This might make it a little looser when trying to fit it onto the headlight housing.

 

Looking at the linked post about the Camry headlight issue:
“I modified mine from h11 to h9 and my drivers side socket melted and now I am left with paying for a new female socket and of course the mechanic.”

Only one socket melted? This sounds like operator error, he probably didn’t make a good connection when he installed the connector back on the bulb. A bad connection could be due to a loose fitting connector, a partially broken wire at the crimp, debris in the socket, a connector pin not pushed all the way on. It acts like a resistor and creates a point of heat. In time this could melt some plastic.

The OEM H11 55 Watt bulb is drawing about 4.6A, (i.e., 55W/12V). The 65 Watt H9 bulb draws about 5.4A, an additional 0.8 Amps flowing through the wires and connector pins. The 14 AWG wiring is rated for at least 24A. The additional 0.8A is not going to melt any wiring or properly installed connectors.

 

Good points!

 

I have been using the modified H11s in my truck for about a year with no issues. After trying LEDs with no luck, I love the idea of an inexpensive fix for the 4runner headlight woes. I also modified and installed yellow Hella H11 for fogs. I was aware of the possible "wire melting" so I added a harness or extender between the OEM wiring and the light bulbs.

 

Thank you nimby. I got access to a Dremel today and trimmed more of the metal tab. Now the H9 bulb installs and fits snug just like the H11!

@ElectroBoy - I didn't know you are on this forum too Thanks again for your advice!

 

Glad it worked out!

 

Anyone have any thoughts as to whether there is any advantage or disadvantage to doing the 9011 swap at the same time as the H9?