Dang, this question takes me back like 10 years

Remember the old 7" round or 5x7" rectangular sealed beams used in the previous generation 4Runners and trucks? You could get Hella or IPF drop-in replacements (that took H2 lamps) for $75 a pair. And they had better brightness and beam patterns than almost any of these custom fancy OEM headlights.

Leon, that part number is different than the 'old number' that some of the online parts sites use. Some of the online dealers describe that headlight as "composite", which doesn't sound good to me.
But I can't just order stuff and then hope to return it. Not all of these places are 'return friendly', plus it gets expensive shipping stuff back at consumer rates at Fedex. I wish my local dealer wasn't such a crook so I could order one of these new part numbers and see if it is the real (glass) thing.

Yeah, I had to replace a headlight on my 91 once I was shocked at how cheap it was! Now headlight assemblies are contoured and prioritize style over function and cost an arm and a leg. Something to be said for simplicity.

I'd really like to get these, but money is not going to allow it:

$100 for these: 96-02 Toyota 4Runner Headlight+Corner Lights for Sale in Knoxville, TN - OfferUp

Hey Keith, what part numbers are you seeing? Here is where I got mine from, and confirmed through a couple of other sources.



Toyota frequently updates part numbers, making previous ones obsolete, and I think these are the latest.

I obviously can't guarantee that you will get glass headlights instead of plastic, but I am 99.999% sure that you will - even the aftermarket headlights for our trucks use glass lenses. In fact I've never seen plastic lenses on 3rd Gens. I think the word "composite" that is throwing you off is not referring to material of the lens, but to the fact that it's an assembly of several pieces (lens and housing). Note how in the parts diagram above, they are calling the same assembly "Lens and Housing" for RH side, and "Composite Headlamp" for the LH side. So I think you'd safe with these.

Leon, those are the part numbers I saw. Maybe these headlights are like the radiators that got a new number and a lower price. I'd pay $180 or so for 99+ OEM units.

I got a pair off 99's and put them in the 97 and they look great got them for a steal 60's for both with a pair of tail lights...

The Camelback site shows that part number, 81170-35300, as the "lens and housing", not the complete assembly. In the diagram, #1 is the complete assembly, #3 is this part.
The whole reason I had replace my 97 headlight is because the plastic mounting bracket failed---metal screws into brittle plastic---not one of Toyota's best engineering decisions.
The headlight was still working OK, except of course the 21 years of dust and oxidation cutting the output from the reflector. I'm getting a new 97 complete assembly for the other side.

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Good point - the part numbers above are for the lens and housing, without the backing piece. That's all you'd need if you just wanted to upgrade from '96-98 headlights to '99+, like the OP was asking. But that won't work in your case, where the backing piece was broken. Can you find a used one at a junkyard?

I never really considered the junkyard approach because my original part failed at the plastic/metal screw interface so I'd be concerned about installing an already-fatigued part.

Yes man it totally dose even now it feels so nostalgic to see such cars.