Drop-in headlight upgrade?

Wife and I hit an elk one night last week. Rig was nearly totaled so I've been trying to think of what might have prevented it. Compared to the bi-xenons on my Audi, the stock 3rd gen lights are atrocious. I'm convinced we might have seen that elk if we had been in the Audi so I'm looking for ways to upgrade. Are there any drop-in solutions for better lights that don't involve tearing the housings apart?

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texadelphia said:

Wife and I hit an elk one night last week. Rig was nearly totaled so I've been trying to think of what might have prevented it. Compared to the bi-xenons on my Audi, the stock 3rd gen lights are atrocious. I'm convinced we might have seen that elk if we had been in the Audi so I'm looking for ways to upgrade. Are there any drop-in solutions for better lights that don't involve tearing the housings apart?

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Nothing but an HID retrofit will give you anything close to the Audi headlights.

www.bxbuilt.com - He does custom retrofits. You can get brand new everything, with the latest Projector tech.

shadow247 said:

Nothing but an HID retrofit will give you anything close to the Audi headlights.

Home | BXBuilt - He does custom retrofits. You can get brand new everything, with the latest Projector tech.

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I respectfully disagree. My headlights are amazing and I have halogens at a fraction of the price of retrofits (I'm guessing the OP needs to save his money for some repairs right now).

I've tried a few different combinations and this is what's worked out the best:

New TYC headlights - $80 on Rockauto.com. The old headlights, especially 96-98, lose their ability to reflect light on the road over time. New housings is literally like night and day. Just be sure to adjust the beams after you put them in.

Upgraded wiring harness & 100/80W bulbs - $30. Yes, 100/80W. If you change the wiring setup by adding a pre-made relay harness, it's no longer running the power wire from the headlight stalk in the interior all the way into the engine bay and to both headlights. That wire just become the power wire for the relay with then draws power straight from the battery. No more voltage drop. The harness allows you to safely run 100/80W Hella bulbs. Let's just say I can see everything now with 100W high beams.

Amazon.com: H4 LED Headlight Wiring Harness [Negative Switched Conversion] [Fused] H4 Head Light Relay Harness Kit for 9003 H6054 H5054 H6054LL 6014 6052 6053 Subaru Toyota Head Lights: Automotive

Amazon.com: HELLA (H4 100/80W) 12V Bulb: Automotive

So for $110, you can have fantastic headlights that work better than when the 4Runner was brand new.

I could be wrong but I feel like your only options for cheap, drop in upgrades are brighter bulbs. Then you run into being that jackass that blinds people with your low beams. If you have the opaque 96-98 lights you could try the 99-02 clear ones?
Lots will recommend retrofitting projectors, but it can be a little pricey and I've heard it's a little tedious your first time around. You can buy them assembled but it'll cost a fair amount more - and be careful who you look at, people like SRQ will convince you they're $1000+ and I would recommend someone like BXB above if you're interested but don't wanna fiddle with them yourself. Regardless, projectors are top of the line when it comes to visibility and there's very good reason why new cars use them as standard. Projecting light is much better than reflecting it. (not to mention the looks, some are straight out of this world)
What was the situation? I personally would recommend some auxiliary lights or maybe a small spot/flood bar, but I don't want to sound ignorant recommending something that using your high beams could've done similarly. Still something to consider, LED bars around 12in in size can be fairly inexpensive (especially compared to big ol 40in flooders) and still throws tons of light. There's plenty of write ups on how to hook up aux lights if you're unfamiliar, it's pretty simple at it's core
Glad to see you're okay. Moose are such stupidly huge animals. First time seeing one was near Spokane and it was a giant bull stuck between the highway, easily twice the size of every car passing by

Doesn't necessarily have to be cheap, but it does have to be an improvement, and I just don't want to take the housings apart.

I like HIDs for the function but I'd like to keep things looking as stock as possible. Most of the HIDs out there seem out of place to me on a 20 year old car appearance-wise, especially with halos and all the doo-dads. The most basic chrome housing that BXBuilt offers might be an option, but $500 is something I'd need to clear with the boss first.

I like the idea of upgrading the housings, harness and bulbs, if it really improves things. I looked at rockauto and the housings for a '97 are $100/piece. For a '99 they're $40/piece. Did they change to plastic lenses instead of glass or something? Are the '99 housings functionally better than the '97 housings?

We were on a 2 lane highway at night with oncoming traffic so low beam situation. Having auxiliary lights or a bar wouldn't have been an option.
Although we do have plenty of elk closer to where we live which is mostly back roads so something like auxiliary lights might make things better. But again, I'd like to keep things looking stock as much as possible.

Yeah guess I was assuming your rig was built up, if you're retaining a stock look some fancy HIDs would look a little out of place lol
Do you have a hood scoop? If you want a stock look but some more light, you can try mounting an LED bar behind it.
In regard to oncoming traffic, that's what I figured. Perhaps some brighter bulbs and upgraded wiring like aforementioned would be up your alley. edit: Maybe throw some extra bright ones in the fog lamps to use on a whim

New housings, OEM(old style) or TYC, plus brighter bulbs, plus the upgrade wiring harness are recommended.
Keep in mind that your original 97 reflectors are yellowed and coated with dust, as mine were. They are probably outputting less than half the amount of light compared to when they were new. I replaced the old 97 headlight assemblies with new OEM '97-style housings. I also use the add-on wiring harness.
The original 97 headlights are universally acknowledged to be at least a bit inferior to the later 99+ headlight design.
Unfortunately, Toyota ran out of OEM 99+ units a few years ago, so you're left with aftermarket 99+ units, like the TYC. The TYC units are very close copies of the OEM 99+ headlights and most users seem satisfied with the quality and the better reflector/lens design.
For a while, you could get Philips 67/60w bulbs, which are a step brighter than the stock 55/60w bulbs, without being 'blasters'. I've had trouble finding the 67/60w units lately---some retailers will sell you packages that say 67/60w on the outside, but inside are standard 60/55w bulbs. I may try the 100/80w bulbs if I can't find the 67/60w bulbs.

pluton said:

New housings, OEM(old style) or TYC, plus brighter bulbs, plus the upgrade wiring harness are recommended.
Keep in mind that your original 97 reflectors are yellowed and coated with dust, as mine were. They are probably outputting less than half the amount of light compared to when they were new. I replaced the old 97 headlight assemblies with new OEM '97-style housings. I also use the add-on wiring harness.
The original 97 headlights are universally acknowledged to be at least a bit inferior to the later 99+ headlight design.
Unfortunately, Toyota ran out of OEM 99+ units a few years ago, so you're left with aftermarket 99+ units, like the TYC. The TYC units are very close copies of the OEM 99+ headlights and most users seem satisfied with the quality and the better reflector/lens design.
For a while, you could get Philips 67/60w bulbs, which are a step brighter than the stock 55/60w bulbs, without being 'blasters'. I've had trouble finding the 67/60w units lately---some retailers will sell you packages that say 67/60w on the outside, but inside are standard 60/55w bulbs. I may try the 100/80w bulbs if I can't find the 67/60w bulbs.

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New OEM '97 style housings look to be about $200/piece. Why they still stock the '97 style but are out of the '99+ style escapes me. I'd prefer to upgrade to the '99+ style but several Amazon reviews indicate that the TYC units have a problem with the position of the bulb shield on the driver's side units. It appears they're using the passenger side bulb shield in the driver's side assembly. I suppose I could roll the dice and see what they look up when they show up and return them if they look off.
Would using 100/80w "blasters" be a problem for oncoming traffic if they're aimed correctly? I don't want to be "that guy" and spend my days getting flashed by oncoming cars.

The complete '99-02 headlight assemblies are no longer available, but it appears you can still buy the glass housings from Toyota (they ain't cheap, p/n 81130-35320 and 81170-35300) and swap over the rear/adjuster housings. Or just pick up some nice used OEM Toyota '99-02 headlights, they are out there, since they are glass they hold up better than the plastic ones. I got a nice set off FB Marketplace recently for $50.

rglsr said:

The complete '99-02 headlight assemblies are no longer available, but it appears you can still buy the glass housings from Toyota (they ain't cheap, p/n 81130-35320 and 81170-35300) and swap over the rear/adjuster housings. Or just pick up some nice used OEM Toyota '99-02 headlights, they are out there, since they are glass they hold up better than the plastic ones. I got a nice set off FB Marketplace recently for $50.

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Interesting. Any idea of these would fit directly in my 97 rear housings? I'm assuming construction/assembly is the same, just different glass and reflectors.

Looks like it, I looked up the rear housing p/ns '97 vs. '00 and they are the same. (p/n 81105-35231 and 81106-35211) and they appear available too. ($23 each) So even though the complete headlight assys are not available, each individual component seems to be. I could take a couple of photos, I've got a loose pair of headlights if you want.

rglsr said:

Looks like it, I looked up the rear housing p/ns '97 vs. '00 and they are the same. (p/n 81105-35231 and 81106-35211) and they appear available too. ($23 each) So even though the complete headlight assys are not available, each individual component seems to be. I could take a couple of photos, I've got a loose pair of headlights if you want.

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Nice. I trust that if the p/ns are the same that they would drop in. I think I might just drop the coin on the new glass and reflectors since I've got a 2000 mile road trip coming up at the beginning of December and I'd rather not wait for something to show up used. Thanks for pointing out that option!

shadow247 said:

Nothing but an HID retrofit will give you anything close to the Audi headlights.

Home | BXBuilt - He does custom retrofits. You can get brand new everything, with the latest Projector tech.

Click to expand...

Yes everyone is right replacing the housings/bulbs will be a great improvement over stock but to me the bxbuilt lights are basically the ultimate headlight. It will be close to as good as your Audi headlights imo. Definitely going to be one of my next upgrades. If you wait for Black Friday I bet they will have a decent sale. My .02...

T4topher said:

Yes everyone is right replacing the housings/bulbs will be a great improvement over stock but to me the bxbuilt lights are basically the ultimate headlight. It will be close to as good as your Audi headlights imo. Definitely going to be one of my next upgrades. If you wait for Black Friday I bet they will have a decent sale. My .02...

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I don't doubt this one bit. I think the updated housings and bulbs will get me to a better place without altering the stock look and saving some money though. If I'm not happy with it, maybe I'll bite the bullet and install one of BXBuilt's DIY upgrade kits in the '99+ housings.

Is upgrading the bulbs and housings going to mess with the cutoff similar to an LED bulb swap and blind oncoming traffic? From what I can tell the HID retrofits have a cleaner cutoff than the reflectors. Found my answer: Why LEDs should not be run in Halogen reflectors | Tacoma World
Also, is there a high beam with the HIDs? My Audi had a solenoid actuated shield that blocked part of the projector for low beams. I'm guessing the retrofits don't have that.

texadelphia said:

New OEM '97 style housings look to be about $200/piece. Why they still stock the '97 style but are out of the '99+ style escapes me. I'd prefer to upgrade to the '99+ style but several Amazon reviews indicate that the TYC units have a problem with the position of the bulb shield on the driver's side units. It appears they're using the passenger side bulb shield in the driver's side assembly. I suppose I could roll the dice and see what they look up when they show up and return them if they look off.
Would using 100/80w "blasters" be a problem for oncoming traffic if they're aimed correctly? I don't want to be "that guy" and spend my days getting flashed by oncoming cars.

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I put 99+ housings on my 98. They are a direct fit. I have had no issue with the bulb shield or any other fitment. The TYC's have a plastic back with a glass lens, just like the OEM Toyota parts. They are the closest things to OEM you can get and fairly cheap, all things considered.

Definitely get 99+ housings, they have a much better beam pattern than the 96-98's. The 96-98's tend to focus all of the beam in the center and the peripheral is pretty bad.

Since the 100/80W keep the OEM beam pattern, they have the DOT approved beam cut-offs for oncoming traffic and are safe. Just remember to turn off your high beams when passing . This is not the case with LED bulbs and non-DOT approved bulbs.

Toyota headlights in this generation of 4Runner, the FZJ-80, and most of the other vehicles I've driven and worked on are utter shiite. You'd be better off driving with a decent LED flashlight hanging out the window.

The root of the problem is the wiring. In order to get full power out of even the stock bulbs, you need heavier gauge wire and a direct connection to the power source. Stock runs through the switch in the dash, and the power drop is atrocious.

Slee sells a harness kit that will be a drop-in replacement for the FZJ-80. Did that in mine, and it solved the problem, along with using the HIR bulbs. For the 4Runner, I did something similar and wound up commissioning a custom harness from Susquehanna Motorsports that would replicate the setup I have on the FZJ-80. That setup gives me a relay-switched direct connection to my battery/charging system and allows fully power to the bulbs. The other thing I did was add a set of Hella driving lights, also from Susquehanna. Between those and the now fully-powered stock headlights, I've got an easy half-mile visibility at night in the mountains around here. Also, the driving lights turn off with the dimmer switch, so I don't blind oncoming traffic with them. The power switch for those pops right into one of the standard dash locations, and looks like it's stock. I think the switch is even original Toyota...

Fix the wiring, and solve your headlight issues legally. I don't think there's a single HID retrofit kit that's truly DOT-legal, and the downside to a lot of them is the issue I had with the ones that the previous owner put in--The damn projectors kept falling apart inside the headlight, and would not tolerate any kind of vibration at all, like off-road driving.

rglsr said:

Or just pick up some nice used OEM Toyota '99-02 headlights, they are out there, since they are glass they hold up better than the plastic ones. I got a nice set off FB Marketplace recently for $50.

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Thankfully, these OEM headlights use a glass front lens, but please note that a 20 year old housing is almost certainly going to have reduced light output because of the inevitable dust and airborne deposits collecting on the reflector. Aside from disassembly being already ruled out by the OP, cleaning the reflectors is probably also out as an option, due to the physically soft material of the Al reflector coating. Any wiping will instantly scratch it, and ...of course...reduce output. Buying the 99+ reflector housing and then transplanting it into a pre-99 assembly seems like something worth looking at.

pluton said:

Thankfully, these OEM headlights use a glass front lens, but please note that a 20 year old housing is almost certainly going to have reduced light output because of the inevitable dust and airborne deposits collecting on the reflector. Aside from disassembly being already ruled out by the OP, cleaning the reflectors is probably also out as an option, due to the physically soft material of the Al reflector coating. Any wiping will instantly scratch it, and ...of course...reduce output. Buying the 99+ reflector housing and then transplanting it into a pre-99 assembly seems like something worth looking at.

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This is why I didn't want to mess with the housings. I was looking at upgrading headlights on another car years ago and the reflector paint was super fragile and I was sure I'd mess it up.

I placed an order for 99+ housings, high wattage bulbs, and those harness adapters yesterday. I actually ordered OEM housings but I'm going to try to cancel that order and get the TYC housings. It sounds like the TYC housings are decent and 1/4 the price of the OEM housings. That way if I do decide to retrofit HIDs at some point, I'll have less heartburn about tearing the housings apart.

texadelphia said:

...It sounds like the TYC housings are decent and 1/4 the price of the OEM housings. That way if I do decide to retrofit HIDs at some point, I'll have less heartburn about tearing the housings apart.

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Err... wouldn't you use the OEM housings you're going to replace right now? No heartburn at all to use something that you otherwise have no use for (and has zero resale value). Or did I miss something?

And I've been stuck with this too. I don't mind doing the HID work, but they look atrocious to my eye, I just don't think I could drive the truck knowing those were visible... shallow? You betcha! But we all have personal taste preferences. I've most everything I need to build a relay harness, just haven't don it yet (building one for a '66 Beetle too, which has better lighting than the 4-runner even on stock sealed-beam bulbs).