Member
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Join Date: Oct 2018
Location: Washington State
Posts: 59
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Member
Join Date: Oct 2018
Location: Washington State
Posts: 59
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Just went through this with my '99 Limited.
What I found was that the stock wiring was a.) corroded, b.) way, way too light gauge for the application, and c.) absolutely not doing the job. The voltage drop from the battery to the bulb was nowhere near what you need to get full performance out of a 55-watt stock-style bulb.
Previous owner had installed HID headlights, which kept falling apart inside the modified OEM headlights. This led directly to my next decision, which was to consult with Wil at Susquehanna Motorsports, and commission a new light harness similar to the one built by Slee for the FZJ-80 Land Cruisers.
Cost me around $300.00 with all the correct wiring and a set of Hella driving lights. The difference between the HID and the now-stock bulbs properly powered is not all that great, and subjectively, I think my headlights are now better than the HID kludge that was in there when I bought the truck.
Toyota headlights are usually really dim because they use like 14-gauge wiring, the connectors corrode, and on top of that, they run through the dash for power. Using the relay-based setup from Susquehanna, you get direct connection over much heavier-gauge wiring to the headlights (and other lighting, should you choose...) from the battery/charging system. This takes the performance up to a level that's competitive with the HID retrofit systems, and it has the added advantage that you're DOT-proof if you ever get stopped.
I ran the same setup to my fog lights that I did with my headlights. Performance is considerably better than it was, and everything remains essentially stock.
Only issue I've had is that there are some odd behaviors with the driving lights and the new harness. Leave the dash switch for those on, and then turn on the fog lights? The driving lights will come on and stay on when you turn the truck off, despite the "automatic off" for the headlights. I haven't quite traced out why it's doing that, but with the driving lights being LED, it doesn't drain the battery all that much that you can't start the truck if you leave it for a bit. Overnight? Dunno... I'm sure you'd notice.
Again, fix the wiring issue and your stock setup will perform a whole lot better, and you likely won't want the HID setup nightmare. You're also DOT-proof...
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