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Thread: LED headlight bulb replacements

  1. #1

    LED headlight bulb replacements

    I saw this on pirate the other day. Its pretty interesting. The price is in line with a cheap HID. I suspect the same glare issues would be present with leds in halogen lenses, but its pretty damn cool. I've seen some Chinese ones in the past where they just used some the same set up as the LED turn signals with a christmas tree of low powered SMD leds. Those were obviously not going to give out acceptable amounts of light. These are using high power LED's. fleabay shows there are a few more making these too. Some have active fans on the heatsinks so I dont think they are a good idea in our dirty environment.

    http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/light...y-99-99-a.html


  2. #2
    Eh, spend the 300 on the retrofit source drop in projectors. You won't be disappointed.
    2005 Lexus LX470 - Stock for now...

    1998 Toyota 4Runner SR5 V6 4x4 + a bunch of goodies. Lifted, Locked, Illuminated and Armored. Winner,"Best Offroad Truck" - 2010 Pismo Jamboree. It's been upside down and still drives me to work.

  3. #3
    too much money for too little improvement IMO, but you know I'm cheap with my money I would of course run them with a smile on my face if I got them plug and play them for~$100. The 80/100 bulbs I bought solved my 96 light output problems for $14 each while still using the appropriate lens for halogen. My truck needed a upgraded harness since the stock one was all hacked up anyhow so in my case it made sence, but would be a ~$60 total investment for someone else. Led's will be nice some day for the low amp draw and a burn life longer then the vehicle.

    I researched more and this style above seems to have a extremely hard cut off that looks good on a garage aiming test, but lacks any upward spill to illuminate overhead highway signs at a distance. While it sounds like theres a chance it would not be irritating to oncoming traffic, no overhead sign illumination seems like a pretty big draw back for a road driven truck. There are double LED styles out there but they use a small fan for active cooling. I really think cheap little brushless heatsink fans would not live long in the dust/water we have in our engine bays.


    not the above LED bulbs but a similar style and output. The review is less then positive for quite a few valid points.
    http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showt...061#post831061

    Double donger meant for motorcycles and they are $170 proud of them so thats a little crazy for Chinese junk. Also these are the fan cooled style, but possibly better compatibility with halogen reflectors.
    http://www.parts4powertoys.com/en/pr...details/17--25


    Edit:
    As suspected the double donger style is generic Chinese available for $120 on fleabay. There is nothing I hate more then re-sellers of Chinese junk asking huge mark ups. Looks like the second LED is activated on high beams so low beam profile is still suspect.
    http://youtu.be/kJgAhMzy5vo

    http://www.ebay.com/itm/2PCS-H10-180...1746d5&vxp=mtr
    Last edited by troyboy162; 10-24-2013 at 04:38 AM.

  4. #4
    I need to properly aim my projectors, they are too low (a limit of the housing and possibly of my install).

    When we were out doing that first part of the whole bernardino run, I really didn't bother with my lightforce lights, I just switched between low and high beam on my projectors. The amount of light is just insane, and really shows up the stock lights for just how horrible they are, even in 99+ form.
    2005 Lexus LX470 - Stock for now...

    1998 Toyota 4Runner SR5 V6 4x4 + a bunch of goodies. Lifted, Locked, Illuminated and Armored. Winner,"Best Offroad Truck" - 2010 Pismo Jamboree. It's been upside down and still drives me to work.

  5. #5
    Sean, I was really impressed with your retrofit at Pismo. Thanks a lot by the way.

    I'd like to do the same one day.

  6. #6
    I should do a write up on it one of these days.

    I am curious about the LED's. I really like the 7" sealed beam LED's I have seen on Jeeps. I was thinking about a set of those for my VW.
    2005 Lexus LX470 - Stock for now...

    1998 Toyota 4Runner SR5 V6 4x4 + a bunch of goodies. Lifted, Locked, Illuminated and Armored. Winner,"Best Offroad Truck" - 2010 Pismo Jamboree. It's been upside down and still drives me to work.

  7. #7
    definitely do a write up with pictures of the cutting part.

  8. #8
    The only "cutting" you have to do is remove the bulb shroud after peeling the glass lenses out of the housings, and grinding down two locating nubs on the inside of the housing. From there, you drop in the projector with all the washers and locating rings, and tighten down. SUPER easy!
    2005 Lexus LX470 - Stock for now...

    1998 Toyota 4Runner SR5 V6 4x4 + a bunch of goodies. Lifted, Locked, Illuminated and Armored. Winner,"Best Offroad Truck" - 2010 Pismo Jamboree. It's been upside down and still drives me to work.

  9. #9
    The humvees have gone to those multi LED headlights. I haven't driven with them yet though but they seem brighter when I see them pass by. the standard humvee headlights were nothing too special though so a increase wouldn't have been hard. I'm looking forward to LED's becoming the norm, but its sure not happening fast.

    The last how to I read for the projectors had quite a bit of cutting and drilling but that was for 99+ housings. Seemed that getting it right would pretty important to have them aim well. You should definitely post up if you found a easy way to do it.

  10. #10
    I will do my own thread some day, but here is this short bit just to clear up some stuff.

    You need to use 99+ housings. They are identical to the 96-98 except the glass is clear. IT IS VERY IMPORTANT!

    Since both of my headlights were broken, I had no problem replacing them with some TYC OEM-alikes. They were 40 each from Amazon, I have seen them even cheaper since, and there are always the other horrible knock off brands, but I don't recommend.

    I used this guide:
    http://www.toyota-4runner.org/3rd-ge...eadlights.html

    and this kit:
    http://www.theretrofitsource.com/pro...roducts_id=227

    I have yet to find a better source of HID's in terms of quality and customer support than TRS. Highly recommended from many of my friends.

    If you don't feel like clicking links, basically you are buying some drop in projectors that lock into the bulb socket in the housing. You will have to remove the glass from the housing, which isn't that difficult. Afterwards, you remove the bulb shield in the housing and grind down the two small nubs. Everything else just screws together. Once everything is super tight, clean the projector lens (I managed to not clean one of mine very well, so I will have to take it apart some day) and reinstall the glass. Wiring is super simple, and the factory fuse box even has a clip on the side for the new fuse holder.

    On mine, even with the adjusters maxed out, they are still too low due to the significant rake of the truck. I plan on stacking some washers behind the housings to help with this, sometime real soon. When I do that I might just take them all the way apart to fix some minor annoyances.
    2005 Lexus LX470 - Stock for now...

    1998 Toyota 4Runner SR5 V6 4x4 + a bunch of goodies. Lifted, Locked, Illuminated and Armored. Winner,"Best Offroad Truck" - 2010 Pismo Jamboree. It's been upside down and still drives me to work.

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