[shootmymime]

i am looking at getting my dad some aftermarket headlight bulbs off ebay, mainly because they can be really cheep!

i recently installed some sylvania silverstars in my 96.


what are a good WHITE BRIGHT LIGHT bulbs for the 03 limited? i dont really want to spend more than 40 on this so the big HID conversion kits are out of the question.

i need to know what part # takes the headlight, low/high beams and the fogs because i want it all to match.

and what do i really need to do to get that true blue/BRIGHT WHITE color you see in the BMW and Lexis?

[Uneek]

Your dad's '03 uses 9006 for the lows and fogs, 9005 for the high beams.

Silverstars are good, but I've experienced short bulb life with them. Blue tinted blub glass just gives that "fake" HID appearance, but no performance improvement. If anything, it will hinder performance because the blue tint on the glass reduces light output. Watch out for those higher wattage bulbs (80 or 100w) as some people ended up with melted wiring and plug sockets.

To get the "true" BMW and Lexus look, you will need to do a full HID retrofit. Contrary to popular belief, it's not the bulb or HID burners that give the blue flicker you see in HID equipped cars, it's caused by the projectors and cut off shield.

[Fo_SheeZy]

The color you see in BMW/Lexus are HID's. There's no way to get the HID look in your going to get halogen's. You could go with Texon Blue-White halogen's from www.texonstore.com that will give you somewhat of an HID look..

I have replaced all of my parents vehicles with them including my girlfriend's integra, dad's tundra, mom's MDX, and a few of my friends vehicles.

Here's a pic of them in my dad's tundra:

[Nuke]

Thre are a number of websites out there to confirm what bulbs you need (assuming you can't get hold of dad's Owners Manual). The Sylvania website has an automotive bulb selector guide.

If you want to do your dad a favor, do this:

Low beams - Sylvania Silverstar Ultras. They don't have that annoying color that makes other drivers want to smack you but are whiter than stock (at about 4100k). Yes, they do have a shorter bulb life but I've been using them for years and consider them worth every penny. 55 watt is fine.

High beams - Here I'd consider a Super White (Hella makes a reasonably priced bulb you can find on ebay) since you normally don't have them on with people coming towards you so the offensive, cooler color (around 6000k, I think) isn't as much an issue. 65 watt is fine. Don't get Silverstars here as they are 55W

Fogs - Since fog lights really do need to be a warmer color (about 2500k) to be truly effective on dark, foggy, rainy nights, get a set of Hella Optilux (again on ebay). They provide excellent contrast under poor conditions and have much less glare than the whiter, cooler lamps. And if your dad's '03 is like my '00, he can turn the low beams down to the DRL level and maintain the fogs on in really bad conditions to further reduce glare. 55W is fine. Definately NO higher.

[shootmymime]

thank you guys for all your help! thats exactly what i needed to know!

just gotta love this site!

[GottaBeTRD]

hey foshizzy, that tundra looks pretty sick. im one of those that wanted a better light too but not to sure on the hid's. and i found this post so i have a couple questions about your texons. do they put out pretty good light? Now Ive colored lights before and they really sucked on my civic... terrible.... I couldn't see a thing! Also did you run drl's with those? Thanks

[T4RSpectreSix]

I noticed on that site those Texon Blue/White bulbs say they run at 80W? Is that like output or actual wattage? If so, aren't 9006's supposed to be at 55W in the 4Runner?

[UPS92008]

HIR's are your best bet period. Your 4runner needs 9006's in the lows and fogs and 9005's in the hi beam. These are 2X better than the SilverStar ultra's and cheaper now. Read on...

Want to get great illumination without extra heat, wiring upgrades, relays, transformers, and blue tint? Want to SEE better at night instead of HEARING a bunch of dubious chatter about xenon-filled, over-wattage, blue-tinted bling-bling bulbs that are supposedly "just like HIDs"? Want a bulb where you could create a simple swap and maintain the correct filament placement for a perfect light pattern, instead of causing glare and scattered, diffused light?

These Toshiba bulbs are a unique product, the only bulbs available that use the research technology that General Electric patented in 2000 (patent number 6,087,775). It was GE's goal to create a bulb that produced 75% of the light output of HID headlights at 25% of the cost. GE sells HIR bulbs for residential lighting and specialized projectors, but decided to stay out of the automotive market and licensed this technology to a division of Toshiba. In fact, Toshiba and GE are among the few companies in the world with the expertise to engineer and build this product. These bulbs attain light levels 75% to 110% brighter than stock as a result of an engineering process that deposits multiple, yet almost invisible, layers of semi-reflective coating on the surface of a specially shaped quartz bulb. This coating ( a titania/silica, zinc oxide/silica, zirconia/silica, silicon nitride/silica, and titania/magnesium fluoride tantalam/silica multi-layer dielectric, according to the patent) reflects a portion of the infrared energy emitted by the filament back onto the filament, causing it to glow brighter and emit more light from the uncoated forward portion of the bulb. Although the filament gets hotter, the glass does not. IT GENERATES NO MORE HEAT THAN A REGULAR HALOGEN BULB, AND IT DRAWS THE SAME WATTAGE AND AMPERAGE AS THE STOCK BULB IT REPLACES.

These bulbs produce white light with a hint of blue and are rated at 7000k color. They will match 6k and 8k HID kits very nicely.



PM me and I can link you to a place to buy from. IM not sure how vendor rules apply here.

[T4RSpectreSix]

I've been reading up on these HIR bulbs myself. Very cool tech. As far as I know they are solid bulbs that will function just fine in our trucks.

My main concern is that it was stated somewhere (can't remember which forum I read it on) that they are more front-focused than stock bulbs, and so they don't give off as wide of a beam? Also wondering about DOT legality? I guess that's why I haven't pulled the trigger on these since I had so many questions.

I know they are legal for tractors...and that GM had at one point used the same numerical designation for their truck bulbs or something - there's a lot of myth out there around these bulbs, but for what they're worth - they seem like a good way to go.

I wonder why the bulb manufacturers aren't making these for cars nowdays if they're better?

I will PM you for your source and see about giving these a try.

[UPS92008]

Up until recently the price for these was 40 bucks+ a bulb. Factor in their only made in Japan and only a handful of american cars even use the bulb as OEM. Not a lot of info.

The low beam has a reflector(hood) that should spread out the beam a bit. Just like stock but a lot brighter. HIR's in the high beam(no hood) is pretty much like laser beams. Im not kidding.


I ordered mine for the lows and the fogs. (9006's)I see no reason for them not to work in the 4runner. I have seen these at my other car meet and greets and I can tell you that they are the real deal.

Ill post up as soon as I have them in with pics and the link. I Just want to make sure that they work and fit in the 4runner.

[T4RSpectreSix]

Sounds good man, once you do - if all goes well - I will likely order up a set of these and give them a go. I've got some PIAA bulbs in right now, so I will wait to see the difference you get before I take the plunge - but I know the HIR bulbs are said to be brighter, and by the pics I have seen in other cars, they certainly seemed to be brighter than stock.

I guess with so many lumens going forward, I'd hope the 4Runner housings (mine being an '04) wouldn't throw the light into the eyes of oncoming traffic. I guess the '06 and up runners won't have to worry as much about that though.