New owner in need of some lighting guidance

Hey guys. I recently bought a 2020 SR5 premium. I’m pretty unfamiliar with the lighting and the bulbs, but I noticed pretty quickly that they suck! Can anyone give me recommendations for best and brightest bang for your buck bulb for the low beams? My visibility is crap with them. Also, if there are recommendations for the High beams and fog lights too I’m open to upgrading those as well if anyone has some wisdom on that. And what’s the deal with no LED’s on this new of a vehicle??

 

Welcome Onboard.

The factory LED's on the newer 2022/2023 not super bright/aimed either.
Your best bet is to get aftermarket LED bulbs from Amazon - Auxitos Fanless 9005 and H11 (used those on my 2018 Highlander) < $50
Don't waste money on those super expensive ones

 

Thanks!

would you recommend getting those for all of the lights? Fog and high beams too?

 

I'm going to respectfully disagree with most of this advice. Yes, the OEM halogen assemblies are pretty pathetic. That I will agree with. That said, they use an H11 bulb which can be fairly easily swapped with an H9 and dramatically increase light output. Do a little searching for "H9 Swap" for details.

As for swapping LED "bulbs" in - particularly cheap eBay and Amazon versions - please, just say no. Not only are they not actually brighter, but almost all of them produce copious amounts of glare to annoy oncoming drivers. The trick to most of these bulbs seeming "brighter" is that they just dump most of the light output directly in front of the vehicle. (Oh, and don't fall for the trick of somebody taking a picture facing the vehicle purporting to show / prove LEDs are brighter. More glare is not the same thing as better lighting, but it sure looks impressive in certain pictures.) Although this gives the impression of more light, it does so at the expense of distance lighting. If you're just crawling along trails at night, this is fine. If you're actually driving down dark roads at 65 MPH, this can be disastrous. Here's a more complete explanation:

Why Most LED Headlight Upgrades Don't Really Work: An Expert Explains (jalopnik.com)

If you want my 2 cents, the first thing I'd do is the H9 swap. If that doesn't work, grab yourself a used set of used factory / OEM LED assemblies. With some minor wiring harness changes (plug and play adaptors are available), you'll have dramatically better lighting. Plenty of people sell their OEM housings to install inferior aftermarket lights that "look cool." Don't get me started on how they truly perform and how long they (don't) last.

 

Probably the single most comprehensive review of all fog lights in existence:
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/the-led-sae-j583-fog-pod-fog-light-review.554813/

 

Sorry, I forgot to address your question on fogs. No matter which factory fogs you have, your options to improve performance are limited. Basically, you're far better off replacing the whole unit on each side. The attached link will lead you to the be all and end all study of what's available out there.

The LED SAE J583 Fog Pod & Fog Light Review | Tacoma World

If you want my 2 cents on fogs based on personal experience, the absolute ultimate is the Diode Dynamics SS3 Max. (I currently run them.) Other excellent choices that cost a lot less are the Diode Dynamics SS3 Sport and Elite series or the new Morimoto 4Banger HXB.

As for high beams, I skipped the whole replacement / upgraded bulb thing and added a set of Diode Dynamics SS5 spot beams behind the grill. They totally blow away anything you could do with just a bulb swap.

 

Thank you guys!! All this info has really helped and I think I know how to move forward. But for know until I get new housing I’m going to adjust my position of the light, I think my lift isn’t the best for light positioning, and buy some H9’s until then. I have a bull bar picked out as well but I’m wanting to get my light bar first to see if I want one with or without a light on it

 

Yes, lifting a vehicle will affect headlight aiming and thus headlight performance. Modern headlights with a sharp cutoff actually make aiming somewhat easier to do because you can clearly see where they are when parked facing a vertical wall. That said, the fact that your headlights are now sitting higher than they were designed to be can be problematic. Case in point, if you lifted your vehicle 2", your cutoff is now 2" higher and that may be enough to shine directly into the mirror of the person in front of you. This is a problem. Aiming them down to avoid this situation can sometimes lead to a decrease in distance lighting. This is also a problem. Generally speaking, with some trial and error, you can find a decent compromise though.

 

Off topic, you buy your 4runner at M and M?

 

I did buy it there, fairly recently.

 

Pretty sure I saw it on Craigslist not too long ago. I looked at an OBS Ford pickup there not too long ago. They wanted too much and wouldn't budge on the price. They have some vehicles tho.

 

Yeah they have a pretty good inventory. Their prices are fair, not great or bad. But they had just dropped the price 1000 and yeah, they wouldn’t budge on any price after that. But tbh it has some decent upgrades and the price was comfortable for me. So I didn’t budge on my trade in price. That was a fair trade I think, they are stern business men and I respect that. I was happy with how they treated me and would recommend you keep an eye on their prices. Because when they drop it’s an easy quick buying process from them.

 

Great thread if you want to swap to newer OEM LED headlights. I jumped to 2022s and love them! Also went with the factory performance LED fog lights. Easy plug and play.

https://www.4runners.com/threads/oe...on-adapters-for-14-20-halogen-4runners.25899/

 

Thanks Chris! I basically would upgraded my fogs to match any upgrades I do to my high and low beams. That’s good to know about the factories, thanks!