Potential Lighting Upgrade

I have a 2020 4Runner TRD Off Road. I have come to the same conclusion as many here, the OEM halogen headlights leave a lot to be desired. I have been pondering upgrade options. I considered upgrading the H11 low beams to either HID or LED bulbs. I also considered upgrading to the latest version of the Morimoto bi-led headlights. As I read more about the 2022 ORM headlight assemblies I have become more interested in them.

I am seriously considering upgrading to the 2022 OEM bi-LED headlight assemblies. The lowest I have been able to price new assemblies for is $702.57 each. That said, I have seen several websites (The Retrofit Resource, Xenon Depot, Headlight Revolution) offer trade-in rebates for the OEM assemblies.

Does anyone know of a source that resells traded in OEM bi-LED headlight assemblies? All the assemblies I see on eBay have been damaged. Are there any other lighting options that I might be missing?

 

If you're looking for immediate results I recommend upgrading the H11 bulb to an H9. It requires minor trimming to the bulb's alignment tabs.

That being said, I still think the stock headlight assembly leaves a lot to be desired and is just not that good. I also have been considering the OEM bi-LED upgrade.

 

How about relatively cheap option like drop in LED bulbs. Like Lasfit? Here's my test video. I have included topics in the description like comparison vs halogen and also vs stock LED housing.

https://youtu.be/YcW5-EwZ-HI

Edit-
Always look for coupons. Last time when I was helping a friend to buy these we found a coupon called "VIP2" which gave a huge discount.

(This coupon worked as of Feb 19, 2023)

 

These are a really good alternative. I ran these for about a year till I upgraded my headlight housings.

 

https://youtu.be/kItoEHPgn98

 

I have considered the H9 option. I’m just not certain that it would be enough to tide me over for a while.

 

I have considered the those bulbs. I am concerned about any bulb adjustments and potential heat issues inside the housing. I have also considered the Boslla 3 color LEDs, but I have the same concerns about them as well.

 

good video about the Morimoto lights. This video is also a good one.
https://youtu.be/LJ3eUT9bXT8

I really like the Morimoto lights, but my big concern is that I have seen many refurbished and used ones for sale with failing DRL/turn signal LEDs. If I am spending $1,400 I would hope to get nearly a lifetime of service. That is what has me leaning towards the OEM bi-LED lights. The most likely to fail parts are the DRLs and turn signals, both of which are replaceable.

 

Sadly I don't have any scientific tools to test the heat. I only test by touching the back of the dust cap after driving for about 30 minutes from my grocery run and it was very mild heat. Sorry can't say anything about heat.

I love the easy adjustability of this Lasfit LA series bulbs as it requires no tools. Just push and turn to adjust vs my Headlight Revolution SV4 has a special tool to adjust.

Speaking of HR SV4 bulbs I'm selling my previous bulbs cheap if anyone local to CO. I think I paid around 200 bucks. Trying to get little bit of money selling them for my next mod.

 

The H9 upgrade is a substantial increase in brightness. If I remember correctly, it doubles the output. Taking a $20 gamble might just save you $1000+

There are a lot of guys on this forum and on Tacoma world that have been beyond satisfied with the H9’s, myself included.

 

I did the H9 upgrade and it made a huge difference with nighttime driving. It is definitely worth the mod and will hold you over until you move to LED. A few months after the H9 mod, I found some 2021 OEM LED headlights with halogen high beams. Install was a piece of cake and didn’t require and special harnesses or special tools. It was super easy to swap the OEM plugs from the halogen headlight to the LED headlight. This was definitely an upgrade over the H9 and worth it, if you can source the headlights cheap enough. I wouldn’t say the LED headlights are worth the upgrade, if the set costs you more than $600. Just keep searching your local classified ads for a set.

 

I really wish I meet someone with H9s to do a video at my house compared to my stock LEDs on 2021 for free. I think comparing right next to each other on video in front of same garage door and the same football field gives better results for my testing. Separate videos may not give a better idea and pictures are the worst since you can make a fire fly bright as the sun.

Sadly I'm just not comfortable installing H9 bulb after trimming on my own car.

Not sure if anyone would be willing to do that spending thier time and gas money for a test with no return other than sharing info with fellow 4runner owners.

 

patience and luck. random morimoto thread below where i asked if they’re selling their OEM headlights. could be available still.

https://www.4runners.com/threads/morimoto-xb-headlight-issues.30310/

 

I'm telling you, it's a significant upgrade. And will certainly tide you over until you figure out what will be the permanent fix.

 

Thank you,

I will send a message to see if they are still for sale.

 

+1 for the H9 swap. It's around double the output, and cheap. I would avoid drop-in LED bulbs.

 

I agree with this. Try it out. You'd be surprised at how much better it will be.

 

Drop-in LED’s really aren’t a great solution. If you live in a city with lots of ambient “city light”, the drop-in LED’s put a nice bright spot down close to the vehicle and that is extra light can be appreciated.

But drop-in LED’s at highway speeds on country roads in the dark, proceed with caution.

It’s unfortunate that the T4R halogens are lacking *just* enough to make people go searching for upgrades that are actually downgrades when/where it counts.

 

Frizzle77, 4runningMan, steelevo, kmeeg, and Thatbassguy,

I decided to follow guidance from all of you. I ordered some H9s to try in my 4Runner to tide me over.

I was really leaning towards just buying HID bulbs from Xenon Depot, but I want some more time to sort through reports on relay and bulb issues.

 

The lights are pretty bad on the Gen 5 4Runner, much worse than the lights on my old Gen 3 were. The bi-HID lights on my wife's Ford Escape did spoil me a bit, but the quality of lighting from my 5th Gen 4Runner's stock halogen bulbs reminds me of the lighting from my old 1965 Ford pickup.

 

I have personally faced problems with HIDs. One of the bulbs were not working. Since my fogs were super bright I did not notice until my buddy who was in front told be that one of my low beams not working. Turn off the lights and back on it was working fine. Happened 2 times and that's when I switched to GTR ULTRA2 LEDs and never again HID as they are too complected and I wasn't a fan of drilled dust cap. I bought 2 pair of dust caps from Toyota dealer. So I too say no for HIDs.

 

I agree. They suck. Frustrating.

Did you order the Philips H9’s from Amazon? They used to be like 9 bucks each or something.

Have you found a good how-to for the bulb mod?

 

These are interesting. Haven’t seen them for sale before.
https://runnin4tacos.com/products/bulbzilla

 

Yours was one of the reports that I read about. I have read that regulators are not required for the 35w bulbs, but I was seriously considering it in abundance of caution to keep from burning out fuses or tripping any self-resetting circuit breakers. I really liked the way each headlight gets a relay through Xenon Depot, while other companies use one relay for the set.

 

I ordered the AC Delco to test out. The Phillips were $12 each, while the AC Delco were $9 each. I considered Hella High Performance 2.0 at $27 for a set.

For modifications, I read about the need to remove the tab in the H9 bulb. I have read that one of the tabs that holds the light in place might need to be modified. I have also read that tilting the bulb before fully inserting into the assembly can negate the need to modify that point.

 

Trimming the tab is super easy.

 

If you end up going the HID route, please do a full retrofit. It really does make a difference when using projectors that have their optics designed for HID vs Halogen projectors. You won’t get a bunch of hot spots and the beam will be much more usable in the HID projector.

 

Ordered H9s, looking forward to…looking forward.

 

With me having a 4Runner with factory halogen low/high, which would be the better factory upgrade for me to seek?

Option 1: LED Low/Halogen High
Option 2: Led Low/High

Opinions?

 

I vote for option 1. It will not require any special harnesses. Just swap plugs and it’s a direct bolt in. Swapping plugs takes 5-10 minutes with a pair of needle nose pliers. Also, the halogen high beam is great if your headlights ice up. LEDs don’t provide enough heat to melt the ice.