I am looking to possibly upgrade my headlights by purchasing a 6k-6.5kHID kit to increase my visibility on the road. If only I had an 06+ 4runner with projectors...

Anyways, I tried to do a search on HID kits for 2003-2005 4runners but seem to come up empty handed.

Do users here not normally go this route on their older 4th gens?

I would advise against it without doing a projector retrofit. I had HIDs in my stock housing and yes, it's very bright, but it also makes you a douche. I got flashed all the time and I got these aftermarket projectors. I'll be doing a proper retrofit soon.

this is my first vehicle without projectors so it is alittle weird to me having yellow lighting. as much as i would like to go the retrofit route, money is too tight at the moment :/

How about some sweet halogen bulbs (phillips crystal vision, ultravision or sylvania silverstars) ?

You can get them online and on e-bay.

I have HID Headligths, and HID Fogs, they are bright, but no brighter than the modern LED / HID on luxure cars. Totally worth the extra light.

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Try them. I recommend the Extreme kit with the PHILLIPS bulbs. The bulbs are designed better that the cheap HIDs and the glare isn't bad with them. Although they are only in the 4800 range (I think) they are pretty white and I if I recall that temp range puts out the most (read brightest) light.
They are a vendor on this site and provide a modest discount for members.

i know nothing about lighting to be honest. do these produce white light output like HIDS do? what is the K rating of the lights? do many people go this route? pictures?



have any pictures for reference? how bright are your HIDS?

Glare in a reflector based headlight is bad period. The glare in their overpriced kit is no different than glare in a cheaper DDM kit.

Worth blinding other drivers? IDK about you, but I got flashed all the time. Now, for extra light i have a 40" led bar on my roof

Unless you're upgrading to a projector housing designed for HID then don't use HIDs. Upgrade to some nicer halogen bulbs. Using HIDs in a reflector housing is a safety hazard for other drivers.

If you do go the HID route with suitable housings then you'll want lights rated 4300k to 5000k at most if your goal is truly to gain more usable light.

thank you guys. it seems like upgrading the halogen bulbs is the way to go. what temperature should i go for to achieve a white lighting like a 6k HID bulb?

here is a picture i found for reference

go with a 4500k. They are a true white and not blue like a 6000k

I just upgraded to the HIR bulbs and love them, big improvement over stock. There are posts on here about them

Contact whitebeauty he is a member here and can get you a quality kit.

This is from my personal experience, so you can take it with a grain of salt if you wish. I retrofit my 73 Chevy pickup and 1989 Jeep Cherokee with H4 Halogen capable headlamps, and did a retrofit projector with HID install on my 2001 Jeep Grand Cherokee. Since I've had my 4Runner for less than a week, I am still trying to decide what I'm going to do with it.

There are some resources online about headlights that provide some good info. One of the universal assertions is that putting HID headlights in housings that are not designed for HID lights is a bad idea. The reason is where the light is being generated. In other words, if you hold an HID bulb and and H4 Halogen bulb right next to each other, you can see that the pieces that arc to make the light are different distances from the socket, and oriented in different directions. Therefore, they bounce the light off the reflectors differently, even in the same housing. This is why HIDs in non-HID housings produces glare.

One of the other things that we have to think about is the color. Some people have decided that a higher temperature number produces more light, but that is usually not true as well. The temperature of color just defines what color the light is. The sun, as viewed through the atmosphere, is usually about 6000K (depending on atmospheric conditions). Many bulb manufacturers use filters to make their light bluer, which actually causes loss of light output. Additionally, as you start up the color temperature spectrum, the light starts causing an increase in glare to the human eye, which our brains usually perceive as "brighter", even though the output hasn't changed, and the light that is produced is less useful.

To really get "brighter" lights, you need to understand that light output is measured in lumens, which really don't have anything to do with color temperature. And, the lumens that a headlight bulb puts out is actually regulated by the government. For instance, the standard 9007 bulb is legally required to put out 1000 lumens from the 55w low beam filament when powered at 12.8v. Manufacturing tolerances for that bulb are 15%, so the bulb that you buy off the shelf could produce as much as 1150 lumens, or as low as 850 lumens. Most cars power the headlights a more than 12.8 volts, sp you get a little better light performance.

Now, there are some halogen bulbs that produce more light through different types of technology and manufacturing processes. Sticking with a regular 9006 bulb, you can get the Narva +30, or the Philips Xtreme Power +80, both of which put out more lumens, but the cost is the life of the bulbs. While a standard bulb should last about 650 hours, and a long life about 1100 hours, a +30 would drop to about 400 hours. A +80 would be even lower than that. You can also check into the HIR lights, but those require some extra work to make them fit.

Hopefully that helps some. I'm happy to admit that I don't know it all, and stole most of my info from other sources. For more information, I would check out Daniel Stern's website (Daniel Stern Lighting Consultancy and Supply) or the CandlePowerForum's site. Both are excellent sources of information for lighting. Headlight Services - Home has some good selections of higher-output bulbs. And, no, I am not affiliated with any of the sites I've mentioned. I've just spent WAY too much time looking into how to see better while I drive at night...