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Old 11-19-2020, 01:58 AM #31
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Originally Posted by texadelphia View Post
But you still have to take the lens off the reflector housing correct?
Yeah, but even that is easy. Just need to strip down the housing, pop it in a 200 degree oven for 15 minutes, then gently pry the lens off and make sure you don't get sealant on the reflector.
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Old 11-19-2020, 10:44 AM #32
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I read the entire thread and saw that TYCs being mentioned frequently but DEPOs were mentioned only once. Are the DEPO lights not the shiznnit any longer like they used to be?
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Old 11-19-2020, 10:59 AM #33
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Originally Posted by T.A.Kirk View Post
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.

Does your high beam indicator work with that wire harness from Susquehanna motorsports?


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Old 11-19-2020, 01:35 PM #34
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Quote:
Originally Posted by texadelphia View Post
That's disappointing to hear. I wonder how much variance there is between batches. I have one of my current original headlights maxed out on the l/r adjustment similarly. So I wonder if there's just some variability to how it was assembled. I guess I'll get these mounted and see if they're off and if so return them and get the OEM ones.
I believe I found the issue. The glare cap inside the driver headlight is crooked, as in it probably shifted when the light was being assembled. It's pointed down and inwards (towards the grill), I removed the headlight and stuck the handle end of a large screwdriver through the bulb hole until it looked like the cap on the passenger headlight. Will post an update later when it gets dark.
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Old 11-19-2020, 01:55 PM #35
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Originally Posted by Ed_C View Post
I believe I found the issue. The glare cap inside the driver headlight is crooked, as in it probably shifted when the light was being assembled. It's pointed down and inwards (towards the grill), I removed the headlight and stuck the handle end of a large screwdriver through the bulb hole until it looked like the cap on the passenger headlight. Will post an update later when it gets dark.
This seems to be a common complaint with these according to Amazon reviews. People believe that TYC is using the passenger side glare caps in the driver side assembly. Did it seem like the glare cap will stay where you moved it to? Is it just held in place by friction?
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Old 11-19-2020, 02:30 PM #36
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Quote:
Originally Posted by texadelphia View Post
This seems to be a common complaint with these according to Amazon reviews. People believe that TYC is using the passenger side glare caps in the driver side assembly. Did it seem like the glare cap will stay where you moved it to? Is it just held in place by friction?
The caps shouldn't move, they're screwed onto the headlight housing with two screws like OEM.
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Old 11-19-2020, 02:40 PM #37
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Originally Posted by Ed_C View Post
The caps shouldn't move, they're screwed onto the headlight housing with two screws like OEM.
So how did you adjust it exactly? Did you bend the arms by using the screwdriver handle inside the cap?

After reading some more reviews and hearing your experience I have a feeling I'm going to be returning these and buying the OEM housings. Haha.
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Old 11-19-2020, 02:53 PM #38
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Quote:
Originally Posted by texadelphia View Post
So how did you adjust it exactly? Did you bend the arms by using the screwdriver handle inside the cap?

After reading some more reviews and hearing your experience I have a feeling I'm going to be returning these and buying the OEM housings. Haha.
Stuck the screwdriver handle through the bulb opening until it contacted the inside of the cap then wiggled it around until it looked like the passenger side headlight's cap, won't be sure how identical I have it until tonight...hope it's close enough LOL
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Old 11-19-2020, 08:54 PM #39
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Quote:
Originally Posted by gamefreakgc View Post
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.
How is the quality on that harness in your opinion? I found a way pricier version so I am just curious how its held up for you.

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Old 11-19-2020, 10:48 PM #40
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 19963.4lsr5 View Post
Does your high beam indicator work with that wire harness from Susquehanna motorsports?


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Perfectly.

The only issue I have with the setup I have going, which is on a '99 limited, is that there is a behavioral glitch in the foglight circuit that allows the driving lights to stay on if I leave that switch on and stop the truck. I think it's because that relay gets powered up, and stays on. If the switch is off, and the fogs are off, no issues.

The way I had Susquehanna set it up was with a relay-driven circuit for the headlights, low and high beam, a relay-driven circuit for the stock fog lights, and a separate relay-driven circuit for the driving lights that are set up to go "off" when the low beams are on, which allows me to leave the driving lights set "on" and have them supplement the high beams. Everything plugs into the stock connectors for control, and the only thing I had to fuss with was the wiring for the fog lights (I wanted 12ga wire all the way around). Everything else was pretty much plug-and-play.

If you've got zero electrical and mechanical skills, this might not be a good path for you. If you're reasonably 'ept with tools, it's a piece of cake.
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Old 11-19-2020, 11:55 PM #41
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Quote:
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How is the quality on that harness in your opinion? I found a way pricier version so I am just curious how its held up for you.

H-4 Headlight Relay Conversion Harness | Painless Performance
Key issue you want to look at is the gauge of the wire used. The one you link to on Amazon uses 14 and 16 gauge wire. You aren't really doing any better than with the stock using that light a gauge.

What Painless Performance is using I can't tell--They don't say what gauge it is they're using.

The power drop using the light gauge stuff is big enough that if you're going to rewire the truck's lights, then you want to use the heaviest stuff you can get.

Hell, I tried to get Susquehanna to do me a harness in 10 gauge, but they talked me out of it because the 12 gauge stuff carries more juice than you need for the bulbs.
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Old 11-20-2020, 05:13 AM #42
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Quote:
Originally Posted by T.A.Kirk View Post
Perfectly.

The only issue I have with the setup I have going, which is on a '99 limited, is that there is a behavioral glitch in the foglight circuit that allows the driving lights to stay on if I leave that switch on and stop the truck. I think it's because that relay gets powered up, and stays on. If the switch is off, and the fogs are off, no issues.

The way I had Susquehanna set it up was with a relay-driven circuit for the headlights, low and high beam, a relay-driven circuit for the stock fog lights, and a separate relay-driven circuit for the driving lights that are set up to go "off" when the low beams are on, which allows me to leave the driving lights set "on" and have them supplement the high beams. Everything plugs into the stock connectors for control, and the only thing I had to fuss with was the wiring for the fog lights (I wanted 12ga wire all the way around). Everything else was pretty much plug-and-play.

If you've got zero electrical and mechanical skills, this might not be a good path for you. If you're reasonably 'ept with tools, it's a piece of cake.

I built one for my old CJ7 and it was night and day difference. Thinking on doing the same for the Toy. However, I really can’t complain about its headlights and driving lights.


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Old 11-20-2020, 12:09 PM #43
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 19963.4lsr5 View Post
I built one for my old CJ7 and it was night and day difference. Thinking on doing the same for the Toy. However, I really can’t complain about its headlights and driving lights.


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I don't know what it is about the older Toyotas, but I can't think of one that I've seen with a stock headlight setup that was what I'd describe as "safe" for driving around here in the mountains. I've heard suggestions that it has a lot to do with corrosion in the wiring/connectors, coupled with the whole "Let's do 14 and 16 gauge wiring and run it through the dash switches...".

Whatever the root cause is, it's solved by getting the stock bulbs as much power as they actually need. I think people would be shocked if they actually went out to their trucks and checked the stock harness for how much voltage and ampherage it was delivering to the connectors. Another issue is the connector itself--The ones that Susquehanna sets you up with on the 4Runner are ceramic, so heat at the bulb isn't going to cause issues with the connector deforming on you.

The whole issue with piss-poor headlight performance in these trucks boils down to three things: Wiring, wiring, and wiring. At least, in my opinion.

I think I'm getting better performance out of my stock headlights and bulbs now than the HID projector setup the P.O. put in--And, I don't need to worry about the damn things falling apart every six months or so, necessitating another headlight bakeoff to fix. For off-road use, those damn projectors are a freaking nightmare--The ones I had were constantly vibrating apart.
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Old 11-20-2020, 12:44 PM #44
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Originally Posted by T.A.Kirk View Post
I don't know what it is about the older Toyotas, but I can't think of one that I've seen with a stock headlight setup that was what I'd describe as "safe" for driving around here in the mountains. I've heard suggestions that it has a lot to do with corrosion in the wiring/connectors, coupled with the whole "Let's do 14 and 16 gauge wiring and run it through the dash switches...".

Whatever the root cause is, it's solved by getting the stock bulbs as much power as they actually need. I think people would be shocked if they actually went out to their trucks and checked the stock harness for how much voltage and ampherage it was delivering to the connectors. Another issue is the connector itself--The ones that Susquehanna sets you up with on the 4Runner are ceramic, so heat at the bulb isn't going to cause issues with the connector deforming on you.

The whole issue with piss-poor headlight performance in these trucks boils down to three things: Wiring, wiring, and wiring. At least, in my opinion.

I think I'm getting better performance out of my stock headlights and bulbs now than the HID projector setup the P.O. put in--And, I don't need to worry about the damn things falling apart every six months or so, necessitating another headlight bakeoff to fix. For off-road use, those damn projectors are a freaking nightmare--The ones I had were constantly vibrating apart.
I reached out to Susquehanna this morning to see if they sell a product similar to that harness adapter from Amazon. I have a feeling it's the HL28200 but waiting on them to confirm. I'll likely buy it instead of the Amazon one as it seems more robust.

https://www.rallylights.com/hl282-sm...d-systems.html

My other car is a '91 Corolla with equally terrible headlights so I'm thinking about a similar upgrade for that car too.
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Old 11-20-2020, 01:07 PM #45
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Quote:
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How is the quality on that harness in your opinion? I found a way pricier version so I am just curious how its held up for you.

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