2002 Toyota 4Runner Headlight Bulb Replacement

What do you all recommend ? Should I go OEM or should I go aftermarket ? I know the existing bulbs are about 2500K and many replacements are bright white at 3500K. Any help would be appreciated.

 

I just get the fairly cheap Sylvania ones at Autozone. They seem to last like 10 years and are the exact same intensity and color as OEM. I've probably changed my headlight bulbs no more than 3 times in 19 years and I run my lights 24/7 for safety.

 

Screw Sylvania, total ripoff.

At the risk of being flamed like I was on TacomaWorld, I've been running these for the last couple months and they've been great
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07HQFCPN7

The housing is adjustable so you can match factory beam angle. Just be prepared to cut the moisture cap on the backs of the headlights.

 

I probably have replaced the bulbs four times since I have I owned my 4Runner. This last time I switched to an LED H4 light. The design is a true 1-1 replacement with the 9003 light bulb. There must be others that are similar in functionality but I ended up buying these:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08D9BMFFW/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

How are they a ripoff? They work the same as OEM and I've got years and years of life out of them. Sure they ain't fancy or anything...but not sure I would call them a ripoff.

 

As a brand, the LEDs are like a 1500% markup

 

I'd be worried about the heatsink being inside the housing rather than out. But I'm sure its fine if you rarely use hi-beams

 

Could be for the high end ones. I see they do have some crazy prices.

I just get the cheapo old-school halogen 13.99 ones (I think they used to be 9.99 last time I got one which was years ago).

 

Yikes. See even those are 4x too much.

 

Well the light housing takes Halogens that are rated at 60 Watts. The LED's are rated at 19 watts. Admittedly the LED's may still burn up. So far 6-months has passed and they're still working fine. Hopefully I have not jinxed them and they'll continue to function.

 

Thermally, you can't compare the two. LEDs are extremely sensitive to heat.

 

Be it as it may, they're used on a daily basis and they continue to function. If they do fail, I will report back and you all will have a data point to compare and contrast.

 

Actually...I'm pretty sure it's the cheap-ass voltage rectifier/regulator/controller stuffed into these bulbs that is affected by the heat.

Can't find it now...but some guy was pissed that his LED's were "going bad". So he pulled them apart and the LEDs were just fine. The circuit driving it had gone kaput in all of them.

 

That happens often as well. One time I got a 20 pack of 10W 120V candelabra bulbs with the drivers that all failed after less than 500 hours. Luckily Paypal refunded me.

I've "fixed" a pair of side lamp bulbs I bought once (flickering due to overheat, no driver) by dremeling off one of the terminals and replacing it wish a resistor. Still working today.

Here's an example of how temp affects LED life. Keep in mind these are CREE, which are well fabricated, unlike the majority of LEDs out there. I'd drop each of these curves down by 10-20k hours for the cheapos.
This is also assuming open air, not an insulated housing like a 4runner lens, where heat will accumulate longer...though probably not pass the 65C mark.

Junction temp is obviously the most important variable here, which is highly influenced by the efficiency of the heatsink. A heatsink with flowing air (ie: outside the lens housing) will be substantially more efficient than one in a mostly insulated chamber. Junction temp is also directly affected by current drive, and cheap LEDs tend to be overdriven, almost never underdriven because Lumens sell, not lifespan (yet they still grossly lie about both).

 

I’m running some Amazon Hikari H4’s that run on high and low beam. They give off a super nice light. And they don’t flicker at all. You don’t need the resistor addition. You can hear the fan running when the engine is off on each of the bulbs but hey i guess its keeping them cool haha. You are gonna have to cut and modify the dust boot to get most of these aftermarket LED’s to fit. I’m running the superbrightled’s H4’s on my 1 gen Tacoma. Ive had them in there for about 5 years no problems at all.

 

I prefer to keep the vehicle original, so I got halogens. I got the cheapest sylvania silver stars I could find (go to Walmart, my autoparts store cost twice as much). Don't get ones with the blue tint, they give you a white light by filtering out the yellow wavelength, and that decreases the brightness and lifespan because it runs hotter.