Street legal LED low beam bulbs

Replacing the whole assembly is too expensive for me at this point and I read mixed information about replacing the bulbs only. Some articles say that if your vehicle comes with halogen low beam bulbs, then replacing them with LED bulbs is never street legal. Other articles say that with the right color and brightness, replacing halogen for LED bulbs is street legal. So has anyone had any problems with the law for replacing their low beam halogen bulbs w led bulbs? Thanks!

 

There is a thread on this forum about how LED bulbs work in the normal housings, mind you, they are much better in projectors.
It has to do with how good they can duplicate the halogen bulb in all types of measurements, width of the led chip, positioning, height, etc. Form what I have seen, the ones from Diode Dynamics seem to be kinda the best halogen copy to date, at least in that video. I haven't tried personally yet.

 

Don’t do it. Search and you will find volumes written about how bad performing LEDs are in our halogen housings. And there’s so much glare they are really annoying to oncoming traffic. If you can’t afford real LED housings try this well documented H11 to H9 halogen bulb conversion. It’s inexpensive and you get much better light. Try converting one bulb and compare them driving around at night. See post 8 for a link to the low beam bulb instructions.
https://www.4runners.com/threads/9005-to-9011hir-high-beam-mod.11708/

 

Thanks. I feel like led bulb manufacturers spend so much on sponsoring articles and youtube videos that from just doing online research you end up believing that all you need to do is unplug halogen and plug in led and be on your way

 

Here’s a good article about LED bulbs, if you can get by all the ads.
https://jalopnik.com/why-most-led-headlight-upgrades-dont-really-work-an-ex-1843070472

There’s a guy on the Tacoma forum who’s done extensive testing and has written a big thread about headlights and the results:
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/3rd-gen-hid-vs-led-vs-halogen-h11-projector-headlights.589465/

Look at his post#2 and 3 for recommendations.
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...11-projector-headlights.589465/#post-19689309

 

Right. It would be awesome if it was true. I used to believe it myself. But it's just not. The only drop-in LED I've seen that actually improved visibility for the driver of the vehicle, and didn't create unsafe glare for other drivers on the road, was on reflector based fog lights. Because fogs are so low to the ground, and by design illuminate mostly just the ground and only for a short distance in front of the car, the high output of the LED translated into improved visibility without causing problems.

But actual headlights have a much tougher job to do, and it's been proven that aftermarket LEDs just don't work with them. There may be a unicorn out there where the positioning of the LED chips miraculously works well with a particular projector or reflector despite being in a completely different position than the halogen filament the headlight was designed for, but that would be a one in a million.

Someday maybe the technology will advance to the point where LED chips will be the same size and in the exact position of halogen filaments. But that doesn't seem to be likely any time soon.

EDIT: BTW, I found a satisfactory solution by going to H9s in the low beams and upgrading to the Toyota OEM High Performance LED Fog Lights. It's a solid combo.

IMO, and according to IIHS tests, the stock high beams project extremely well straight ahead, being weak only off to the sides. That problem would be fixed by the LED fogs -- if only the truck would let you run the fogs and high beams at the same time.

 

Agreed. People are reporting great results with the OEM LED Fogs, the conversion H11 to H9 lows, and the high beam conversion 9005 to 9011.

 

@dcgarcia5
I think I read some reports on the tacos and camrys that do the H9s in the low beams of super hot/melted housings. Not sure about the 4runners.
How is the wiring putting up with it especially in the summer months ?
Also, isnt the lifespan of the H9 much shorter than the H11?

 

Here's a good read
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/3rd-gen-hid-vs-led-vs-halogen-h11-projector-headlights.589465/

 

It’s ok to poke the dead horse. I’m new here as well and reading as much as I can. Technologies change, led bulbs are getting better and better and one of them will eventually be good enough. cheers

 

I like the Lasfit LED 4Runner specific ones. Just watch out because they have a couple listings on their website. The 4Runner specific ones with the replacement caps with fans are the ones that I have.

They might not be technically correct as far as the halogen bulb focusing projector stuff goes, but the stock bulbs were awful. I may try different halogen bulbs in the future, but these specific LED ones that I have just plain perform better than stock to my eyes.

 

I have the Lasfit LEDs as well. They make much more light than stock, but, I have no idea about the legality of them. No one has flashed their headlights at me for what that's worth.

 

It’s good you’re doing research and getting informed. But it really is dead horse time. Melted housings are an urban myth, the bulbs do not get that hot to melt the 4R plastic housings.

There is no issue concerning the wiring for increased current for H9s. Here’s a quick way to look at it with some estimates.
The OEM lowbeam H11 is rated 55W. If your engine is off, the battery supplies about 12V. 55/12=4.6A.
The H9 is a 65W bulb. 65/12=5.4A. So you’re drawing 0.8A more. Only 17% more than the OEM bulb.
If the headlight power wires are 14AWG stranded, they are rated for 24A (according to some other references I’ve seen 32A).
Of course Toyota derates everything very conservatively for safety so the insulation doesn’t melt, taking into consideration the temperature rise of the wire during operation, the aging of the wire, the ambient temperature under the hood in a bundle of other wires, current of the circuit under the worst cases, etc.
With all those worst cases and with derating for a huge margin of safety, Toyota fused each headlight for 10A.

So don’t worry about another 0.8 A.

As for the shortened lifespan, maybe it’s shorter, but so what? I haven’t noticed it, my bulbs have been in use almost 2 years. The bulbs cost about $15 each. Buy another set, modify them and keep them in your tool kit in the truck as a spare.

BTW, LED headlights are great. In housings designed for them. But not in the 4R halogen housings.

 

^thx
actually, the more i read about it, the more sense it makes to do the halogen upgrade and not the led

 

I’m well familiar with all of crashnburn’s work on TacomaWorld. And I’m in agreement regarding LED’s in Halligan housings... BUT, the Philips LED fogs available on Amazon are legit, so long as you don’t use them with oncoming traffic. Incredible upgrade over stock H16’s in our 4runners. They put down a ton of light right in front of the truck and to the sides. Awesome off-road performance.

I never run them in traffic. Just on country roads and off road. There is some glare, but still retains a pretty significant cut-off thst you can see clearly on a wall or garage door.

I’m totally in the camp that says no drop in LED’s for low beam use.

 

Can you provide a link to them? Thanks.

 

Or get the Toyota OEM LED High Performance Fog Lights and run them whenever, not worrying about glare or being legal or warranty issues. The whole units (inc housing) are $130 straight from Toyota or cheaper online. Here's one source I found by googling the part number. $104:

https://www.oempartsource.com/oem-p...sATMoOcbnpKrRW2yo7MTKjOEt-p5PQaBoCHwsQAvD_BwE

 

The OEM LED fogs...

 

Also a great option. I really wish I knew which one was brighter. I’ve not seen the OEM ones in action yet, but hard to believe they’ed outperform the Philips (aside from the drawback I mentioned).

 

The TRD OR Tacoma oem LED fogs are wide angle. The Tacoma SR5 led fogs are not. They are more front facing.

Does anyone know if the 4runner oem led fogs are wide angle like the TRD OR Tacoma or are they more front facing?

 

I haven’t seen the Philips but I’d say that the H16 aftermarket GTR Ultra LEDs that I ran in the fogs of my last car were brighter than the Toyota OEM LED fogs. However, the Toyota ones seem brighter than the Sylvania Zeno LEDs that I tried before the GTRs, which unlike Philip’s and Sylvania, with mainstream reputations to protect, are not known for being cautious with output. So my hunch is the Philips also wouldn’t be as bright as the GTRs.

Regardless, the Toyota OEM ones are more than good enough and I like that they are designed to be safe and compliant with proper cutoff etc. Plus no issue with the law or warranty.

 

I’m not aware of this difference. I can tell you that the OEM ones I posted above, and that were installed by my dealer, put out a ton of light to the sides, and also a lot out front. I can’t see anyone finding them lacking, though I’ve noted elsewhere on the forum that the light is a bit dimmer in a strip that runs between the sides and straight ahead. Say, at the 2 o’clock position. My guess is that each unit has one lens for the side and one for straight ahead, and the output trails off a bit where the two beams meet.