Missing my 2018 Halogen Headlights

2014-2020 4runner headlights are the same. it would be a partial plug and play. you have to plug swap for the low beams and figure out how to wire for high beams.

 

I would expect it to be plug-n-play. I had to swap my 2020 connectors from the halogens to the LEDs, so the halogen housings now have the 21+ connectors on them. I don't have a vehicle to test them on, but I would expect it to work given that the LEDs work on mine.

 

partial plug and play. the low beam can work with plug swap but you need to consider that 22+ 4Rs do high beams completely different which requires isolating the shutter wire and then rewiring the DRLs to behave as high beams.

if the OP isn't worried about high beams - then it does become a plug and play deal with the simple plug swap and shutter wire iso.

 

Thanks for the detail, very helpful. Isn't it dependent on his trim level though? Maybe he noted in somewhere in this thread, but I didn't see it. Am i incorrect that if he doesn't have a pro or limited with the bi-led housings, the halogens housings would work like they did in pre-21 models?

I bought the low beam only led housings for this very reason when I did the upgrade.

 

Wow, that is a ton of juicy info. I'm still reading. The shear number of iterations yota went through is telling

 

Now I am wondering if there are there any mods to turn the halogen DRL into something useful when high-beam's are activated? Will do some searches

 

I have the same thoughts. The transition between light and dark on low beams was horrible on mine. However, 90 percent of that problem was remedied by readjusting the cutoff to be higher.
The color temp is not ideal, but the light output is great. I’m lucky with my 21 because it has halogen high beams, and it really feels like a relief to the eyes when I see its warm light.

 

You're not weird. I made the upgrade from halogen to OEM LED and I miss the warm color temperature as well. It's easier on the driver's eyes (especially on long drives) as well as being kinder to incoming traffic during the bumps that swing the headlights up into their eyesight. The LED headlights certainly are more performant (about twice the hotspot intensity), so they are indeed miles better than the 14-20 halogens.

If you move forward with this, an H9 halogen bulb upgrade may be a welcome one (though as others have suggested, be wary of the wattage increase that halogen bulbs require over LED. It's possible that the wiring and current control may not be up to the task for newer trucks). It's the kind of thing that makes upgrading halogen to LED easy, but I'm not sure of the swap in reverse.

Your DRL circuit has two 9005 bulbs that are run in series to give them +6V each, which dims them. They are also completely unconnected from your high-beam circuit (unlike older trucks that used the 9005 bulbs for double-duty and dimmed them with pulse-width modulation +12V for DRL mode), so you will need to do some creative thinking to retain your high-beams. You may be able to retain control of one or the other, but not both simultaneously.

I would try talking to Dave at FBC about your idea. He makes excellent wiring adapters with OEM connectors and is creative at finding solutions to unique problems like yours. He was the one I contacted about creating harnesses with here, and that product has taken off in a big way. Check out the original thread here, it may contain some useful information for you: https://www.4runners.com/threads/oe...on-adapters-for-14-20-halogen-4runners.25899/

One last thing- I do not recommend fiddling with aftermarket housings, "drop-in" LED or HID bulb kits, or other goofy solutions. At a minimum, quality and reliability are extremely suspect. Optical performance and compliance are nearly always out the window entirely.

 

5th gen models with the non reflective bulb housings work perfectly with drop in HIDs. Awesome upgrade!

 

@McSpazatron are your '21 highbeams on the inner portion of the headlight? And are they the projector-style halogen's? I can't remember what my '18s were but the high-beams were fantastic.

@mynameistory thank you for the input. I completely agree as far as avoiding aftermarket hacks. I will read up on that thread and see what Dave has cooking up. Reading your post gives me hope!

One thing I went ahead and did, was order a set of the diode dyanmics ss3's in (yellow). After watching a number of videos on these, I am thinking my bone to pick is with the color and pattern of the stock lights. The SS3s have very good reviews so I'll find out soon (Just hope they don't blind oncoming traffic).

Super stoked to have the community back!

 

The yellow SS3’s do “warm up” the low beam pattern. I think you’ll like them. They will likely be bothersome to oncoming traffic. Just have to be selective when using them. Not an ideal situation. But we’re trying to get ahead of where we started from, and I find it to be an acceptable compromise

 

Properly aimed, SS3 lamps do not pose a glare issue to oncoming traffic. That's what's great about using lighting that meets SAE criteria for street-legal use. But you have to remember that fog lights are meant for their namesake: fog. They're not meant for anything other than driving slowly in inclement weather. The light is too close to your truck to be useful for anything other than that. Maybe some low speed cornering.

 

2021 was a unique year. TRD pros and limited trucks got bi-LED projectors (LED low and high-beam) with the halogen reflector altered for DRL use only. 2022 forward, all trucks switched to this headlight.

TRD off-road and SR5 trucks for 2021 only got low-beam LED projectors with unchanged halogen reflectors (they are both DRL and high-beam).

The changes are outlined here:
https://www.4runners.com/threads/oe...for-14-20-halogen-4runners.25899/#post-349525

 

Sweet! I knew the 21’s headlights were special, but I didn’t realize my led/halogen combo was a unicorn!

Not sure how the bi-leds perform in 4runners, but my parents got a new highlander with bi-leds. The high beam is a bit underwhelming. Low intensity, and the problems that come with LED color temperature.

 

Underwhelming is an understatement when it comes to 4R bi-led high beam. it's really a system that just unwraps the LED hot spot with a shutter but does not increase lumens of the LED in any way. sounds like your parent's highlander may utilize the same system.

 

Correct. That's why I elected to get the bi-LED headlights and still activate the halogen reflectors alongside them. That's what the quad-beam FBC connectors allow.

 

Saddens me that our convention has gone from 'turning on our bright lights', to 'unmasking the top half'. My age is showing

 

It might, that’s exactly what it looks like to the eye. Pretty weak. Why not just put the shutter on a reostat so you can at least dial in the light distance. I really did get a unicorn.

 

Well, I am back in this thread. Received and installed the diode dynamics SS3 PRO kit in yellow. They are incredibly bright in a good way, however I do have to turn them off when there is oncoming traffic. Quite the tease, and only make me want to persue what I got out of the 2018 headlights even more. The SS3s seem to improve the stock headlight situation for me both with regards to color and cutoff blend / scatter.

I find the stock cutoff to be so sudden it feels unnatrual. My pupils are adjusted for sunlight brightness, yet what is out of sight above the cutoff, is pitch black w/o the SS3s.

/rant

Time for me to re-read the breadth of info and links above that you all have shared.

Fingers crossed!

 

Responded to your PM.

I know what you mean about the abrupt cutoff- there is a calculated amount of light designed to occur above the cutoff, but it is really only enough to illuminate reflective road signs without dazzling you. Old school reflectors (besides being more effective than projectors, lumen for lumen) have a much more gradual cutoff that I myself prefer as well. I miss my 2012 Tacoma for this reason.

Switching to halogen projectors won't really improve things in the direction you're going for, except for the warmer color. Intensity will be way down. Even with H9 bulbs, they're only about half as bright as the factory LED at the hotspot.

Additionally, softening the cutoff through the use of your fog lights is not advised. They're meant to be aimed at the foreground, like this:



Their wide and low pattern serves to illuminate the edges of the road under the inclement weather, so as not to reflect fog or snow back into your eyes. Outside of that scenario, they're really only useful as a low-speed cornering lights. Using them at highway speeds is counterproductive and unsafe. They're also meant to be used safely with oncoming traffic, so yours are definitely aimed too high.

I'm not sure if there are any ready solutions for your preferences. Maybe a grill and headlight swap with an early 5th Gen (2010-2013) that has reflector headlights?

 

I mainly use my OEM fogs on certain roads at night that have frequent deer crossing.

 

Making progress - see below thread.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/iso-downgrade-harness-2023-leds-to-2018-halogen.822477/

Will keep this thread updated w/ any findings along the way.

Thank you again! @mynameistory @JETSPD1477

 

I'll watch here too, just in case I miss something.

I have "nice" quality H9 connectors which are a match to OEM on my Tacoma in case that's of any help. Not sure what the halogen T4R uses as far as female terminals and/or if it'd be compatible for a clean replacement of an H11. You'd still need to trim the metal tab or have gumby fingers to get it in without trimming.

 

Thanks for the guidance Dave. Looking forward to finding out soon!