Best Upgrade for Headlights

Count me in as frustrated with my low beams. Tried stock, then

$26 HELLA H71071262 Optilux XB Series H11 Xenon White Halogen Bulbs, 12V, 55W, 2 Pack

these Hellas, nice color, but low brightness, sending them back. Ordering

$23 Philips Automotive Lighting H11 Vision Upgrade Headlight Bulb with up to 30% More Vision, 2 Pack,12362PRB2, white

Philips as boring and unsexy as they are. Appreciate a very good discission on the topic gentlemen, saved me from making further mistakes. Very happy with my LED fogs, but sounds like LEDs are not ready for low beams just yet.

Drives me crazy when someone passes me on the highway and dwarfs my low beams into nothing. Wish I had that kinda light...

Seems like some are happy with H9 instead of H11, is that plug and play? Any issues?

 

Try the Philips +100 instead of the +30. I think the +100 is a 400 hour bulb.

 

I replaced my H11 lows with H9s and really like them. LED swap did not work for me but the H9s do. Have not had any incoming traffic flash me. You do have some trimming to do on the H9 socket and the seat but but it is a quick and easy DIY.

 

The 200°+ temps on the back of the bulb scare me with this mod. I know people do it and don’t seem to have problems. We’d hear about it if they did. But man that’s hot in there. Especially in an enclosed space like our 4runners have.

 

H9 mod requires trimming of the bulb base as well as the medal tabs.

 

HIDs are perfect in the 4runner don't try LEDS in our stock headlight housings

 

Honestly after wasting a whole bunch of money before, I went with Morimoto XB. Hard on the wallet but worth it. Too bad the fitment is not perfect around the fender, but thats the OCD talking.

SS3 for fogs. Not too expensive and much better lighting.

 

Eh, about 80% happy. The Low Beams are designed to be placed inside the assembly, behind the dust cover. It literally can only go one way, so you might find yourself spending more time than intended to trying fit it all in. Also, they have to be locked in at a certain angle or the beam will be rotated at 90 degrees.

The light output is much better (see brighter) than stock halogen, but once again the assemblies are not designed for LED or HID, so the pattern is not as clean as it would be with proper projectors.

As far as quality....I had the driver side low beam go out within 1 year and was able to get a replacement at no charge. Then last month I had the passenger side go out. Once again, Headlight Revolution replaced that bulb.

I am not sure what all would be required, but I would be more prone to suggest you look at the '21 LED assemblies or the Morimotos; but those will require quite a bit more dough.

 

I'm not sure I'll ever understand why, but there's a shop in that has customers who are ripping out their brand new 2021 LED assemblies for Morimoto units. The shop then swaps on pigtails that will allow them to plug into older trucks. I believe they're charging $1000 shipped, which is a great price compared to buying new (or new Morimoto).

Whatever you do, I still recommend you stay far away from drop-in LED headlight bulbs (as they have poor optics and focus). Also, do not recommend AlphaRex replacement units whatsoever (as they are cheap, rebranded Alibaba junk with poor optics and quality control).

 

HID kits certainly have better focus than LED chips, as they can actually shrink the gas capsule to the size of a halogen filament (unlike LED chips which still cannot properly replicate that minute thickness).

However, they still present problems of their own. Because they're several times brighter than halogen, the light that is projected above the cutoff (some call this uplight or squirrel spotters, and its purpose is to illuminate reflective street signs) is also too bright. This is called "glare" and irritates other drivers, who will sometimes flash at you even if your lights are properly aimed. This leads people to believe that cranking their lights lower will help, which completely ruins the point of the headlights (which is to reach hundreds of feet in the distance, not dazzle your eyes 30 feet in front of your truck).

Besides the glare issue, many HID kits are cheaply and poorly assembled (no reputable company makes an HID bulb with a halogen base, they are all cheaply mashed together from different parts). And the ballasts are often cheap junk that fail frequently.

H9 halogen bulbs are nearly double the output from factory, retain proper optics in the halogen projectors, and cost $12 each. There's a reason people use them, and it's because they're the best bang for the buck.

 

Do you know what the difference in operating temperatures are between the stock H11 bulbs vs the H9 at the bulb, metal housing, and backing plates? I'm curious to know if a comparison has been completed for this.

 

I do not, offhand. I suppose anyone with a laser thermometer could check (not me though, I'll be busy for the next few days/weeks with our second son arriving). The H9 pulls 65 watts compared to the H11 at 55W, so I expect it's not a large change. I've been running them for about 2 years now with nothing out of the ordinary noticed.

 

If you need help on properly adjusting HIDs let me know. I have zero issues or flashing with my HIDs

 

The excess glare has nothing to do with headlight aiming procedure, which does not change based on bulb type. And I've been flashed before in a stock height truck with standard halogen bulbs. That's a subjective measuring tool.

 

Someone measured the temps awhile back for comparison on TW. If I remember correctly the H11 was around 170-180°F on the bulb base. The base of the H9 was well up over 200°. Near boiling is too hot for me to confidently run them in our enclosed low beam housings. But many people are doing it and have good luck.

 

Well excuse me Tory (girls name by the way) you do not have proper cut off shields to run any aftermarket lighting unless it’s designed for it.

 

I pass those bright light bastards all the time and just laugh!!!

 

Even the military has installed them in their humV’s but there not allowed to drive on public roads anymore...

 

I tried H9’s at one point and happen to open the hood to check the oil probably and I definitely smelled a hot electrical burning smell so I yanked them. That was on my 2016. Been running Morimoto HID in my 2019 and they have worked well for me.

 

Real Toyotas have cameras for mirrors. Seeing how you can’t use them anyways when a trailer trash light modder rides your ass...

 

Just offering my help it sounds like you don't have experience properly running HIDs in our vehicles

 

Spot on HIDs for the win

 

Can you describe how the aiming procedure is different than stock?

 

What matters more is the grade/design of the road. If you have horse and buggy trails they threw asphalt over, with hills, like here. The light beam hits you, doesn’t matter how you aim them.. Just do your best.. My wife’s name is Tori..lol

 

I totally understand how you have 5000 posts now.

 

Very similar I wanted to be sure you knew the drill as it appeared to me that you have little knowledge of automotive lighting systems.

My HIDs are incredible a huge upgrade over any halogen bulb. I posted a photo of them here somewhere a year or so ago.

An absolute must do upgrade to any 4runner.

 

I do not have intimate knowledge of automotive lighting systems and don't pretend to. But I do listen to those that do, like vehicle engineers who use qualitative data to evaluate lighting systems.

If you review my premise I am not disagreeing that HID kits are brighter than halogen bulbs. The data shows that they are. The data also shows that the glare above the cutoff is several times brighter than halogen bulbs, which is irritating to other drivers. A true HID projector assembly provides brightness without illegal amounts of glare, but only a few bother with the task of a true projector retrofit.

Anecdotally, I would tend to steer away from specialty kits simply because they're a mishmash of parts that are not easy to replace. What happens if you're on a trip and your Chineseum ballasts burn out, or the cheaply glued base drops the bulb into the housing? You can't replace them at any auto parts store like you can with a halogen bulb.

 

Zero amount of illegal glare with the HIDs. You do need to know how to adjust them properly. I don't think you are there yet kid

 

Lol you got me there, buckaroo. No match for an old ranch hand like you. Giddy up!

P.S. If there were zero amount of glare, you wouldn't even be able to tell the lights were turned on unless you were staring directly into the beam pattern. Scatter exists in all light assemblies, even laser beams. Yeehaw indeed.