[XenonDepot]

Originally Posted by modelstudent101

Just purchased the XD Xtreme HID Lo and Xtreme LED Pro Hi w/ DRM module last night (Sunday). Made a mistake when checking out and purchased the Xtreme HID Hi's - couldn't go back in and edit the order but e-mailed the team at about 9pm PST to ask if they could change it. Got an e-mail back at 5:20am (Monday) saying they had made all of the adjustments and would be refunding me the difference. Received a shipping notification at 9:00am. Crazy quick and awesome customer service.

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk

Glad we could help before you got the wrong items!

Danny

[HAMMER77]

I have a 2019 TRD PRO and the new LED high output fogs that came with the truck are great. Thinking about upgrading to XD HID low and LED highs. Does anyone know what color temp. the new fogs are so I can match the XD HID/LED's color temp.?

[XenonDepot]

Originally Posted by HAMMER77

I have a 2019 TRD PRO and the new LED high output fogs that came with the truck are great. Thinking about upgrading to XD HID low and LED highs. Does anyone know what color temp. the new fogs are so I can match the XD HID/LED's color temp.?

Are the LED fog lights more white or do they have a hint of blue?

Danny

[HAMMER77]

I would say they are more white than blue.

[XenonDepot]

Originally Posted by HAMMER77

I would say they are more white than blue.

I would suggest going with the 5000k option then but the 6500K would be worth checking out as well.

Danny

[kanonengedonner]

I posted this in a separate thread, but was advised to post here...


So I installed the Morimoto on my 2018 T4R. I gave them about a week of city driving and finally over the last 2 days 600 miles of country, highway and city driving with a lot of rain and some dry weather.

I am at a loss! I bought them because of the few good reviews, but I am putting back the $hitty stock halogens.

The Morimoto, to say the least, do not inspire any confidence. I'd say they are unsafe. They have a weak output, a very short throw, an insane amount of glare in the rain and I actually ended up with bad tunnel vision once, and had to pull over.


I feel bad as I wanted to like them. The install was quick and easy. The bulbs weer turned all the way into the socket, and at first I got kinda struck by how nice the color is. Then I saw that the light washed out with public lighting.... I kept driving and convinced myself that I would see the true potential once I hit dark highways and country roads. Not really.

The straw that broke the camel's back. I went and did a bit of research about the company as I thought it was a Japanese brand. Their "About Us" page has a stock picture of an Asian fellow with safety glasses on... add the Morimoto, Japanese sounding name and you get .... An Atlanta-based company !!

I guess I have to go the HID route and do the ballast drilling/taping that i didn't want to do.

[Angelo]

Originally Posted by kanonengedonner

So I installed the Morimoto on my 2018 T4R. I gave them about a week of city driving...I am at a loss! I bought them because of the few good reviews...The Morimoto, to say the least, do not inspire any confidence. I'd say they are unsafe. They have a weak output, a very short throw, an insane amount of glare in the rain and I actually ended up with bad tunnel vision once, and had to pull over.

I feel bad as I wanted to like them.

You're having a heavy buyer's remorse, man. Without sounding like a ****, welcome to upgrading a stock vehicle. I totally get your frustration. Some of the best advice I ever read online said something to the effect of "understand that every single thing you do carries with it both pros and cons" and that applies to lighting as much as it does to suspension, armor, anything. There is also the fact that as soon as people spend money, they tend to climb online and tell everyone how great it is. There are a lot of honest reviews on LEDs in the stock LB projectors around the 5th Gen forum, including mine linked on the LED section of this thread.

FWIW, outside of HIDs or LEDs in their appropriate projector, there isn't a headlight bulb made that won't wash out in most ambient lighting scenarios like city driving. Higher Kelvin temps universally glare in inclement weather- this is why effective fog lights in race trucks are yellow. Respectfully, if your headlights are washed out and you're feeling dangerous with the stock low beams, I think you should be making an honest appraisal of your vision and driving.

You mentioned fitting an HID kit into the stock projectors, but that carries with it some pretty major cons as well, both for you (drilling, aiming lower) as well as the people you're driving at. As was posted to you in the other thread, you should be aware that the only true incredible upgrade to the low beams is a HID or LED projector retrofit. Even then it's still very possible to blind people oncoming (hills) because the 4R lights are so much higher-mounted than your typical Acura or other stock HID passenger car. Pros and cons, brother.

In any case, thanks for posting here so that someone else may not have to make the same mistake. Cheers.

[kanonengedonner]

Originally Posted by Angelo

You're having a heavy buyer's remorse, man...

You nailed it

What set me off even more is the Asian "scientist" on their web page

PS. My opinion is that the Morimoto are unsafe especially when it rains. Stock light are $hitty, but not unsafe. But I guess I could still get my eyesight checked, although I very much doubt i have any issues.

[RysiuM]

Originally Posted by Angelo

You mentioned fitting an HID kit into the stock projectors, but that carries with it some pretty major cons as well, both for you (drilling, aiming lower) as well as the people you're driving at. As was posted to you in the other thread, you should be aware that the only true incredible upgrade to the low beams is a HID or LED projector retrofit. Even then it's still very possible to blind people oncoming (hills) because the 4R lights are so much higher-mounted than your typical Acura or other stock HID passenger car. Pros and cons, brother.

It always amazed me the very little common sense is applied to vehicle lighting modification in USA. I don't know if the the regulations are so loose or nobody cares about it. I know California does not have any safety inspections besides being natzi about emission.

In Europe vehicle lighting is for safety, not for show. When applying common sense to vehicle lighting modification in US it is worth to know, what is safe.

In that regards there is a strict regulations about headlights upgraded to 2000lm or more (LED or HID). When used on public roads (not off road) there is a real danger of blinding oncoming drivers with powerful low beam headlights if the the amount of light above the cut-off is not limited. While projectors gives you nice clear cut-off there are still two factors that make using HID or high power LED bulb in 2014+ 4Runner dangerous in US and not legal in Europe.

1. Aiming. According to European regulations, if 2000+ lumen light source is used in low beam the lamp has to be equipped with "automatic headlamp-levelling device". Many European cars have manual headlamp-levelling (a simple knob on the dash controlling electrical motor in the lamp to adjust headlight aiming and compensate for vehicle load) however even manual device is not allowed with high output lights. It has to be automatic. As far as I know 5th gen 4Runner does not come with headlamp-levelling device (not even manual). Or maybe they changed i last years model - please correct me if I'm wrong.

2. Cleaning. According to European regulations if 2000+ lumen light source is used the low beam has to be equipped with "headlamp cleaning device(s)". That is to prevent from the light being deflected or spread because of accumulated water or dirt on lenses. It is not a huge problem with halogen bulbs where the light output is not that high, but if the bulb has high output light, the proportionally light spread is higher too.

I know I will get a lot of for saying that, but IMHO replacing stock halogen bulbs in 4Runner headlights with high output LED or HID is plain dangerous and should not be done for the sake of everybody's safety. Unless of course you are driving only off road, never in traffic at night time.

[Saker]

Originally Posted by kanonengedonner

I posted this in a separate thread, but was advised to post here...


So I installed the Morimoto on my 2018 T4R. I gave them about a week of city driving and finally over the last 2 days 600 miles of country, highway and city driving with a lot of rain and some dry weather.

I am at a loss! I bought them because of the few good reviews, but I am putting back the $hitty stock halogens.

The Morimoto, to say the least, do not inspire any confidence. I'd say they are unsafe. They have a weak output, a very short throw, an insane amount of glare in the rain and I actually ended up with bad tunnel vision once, and had to pull over.


I feel bad as I wanted to like them. The install was quick and easy. The bulbs weer turned all the way into the socket, and at first I got kinda struck by how nice the color is. Then I saw that the light washed out with public lighting.... I kept driving and convinced myself that I would see the true potential once I hit dark highways and country roads. Not really.

The straw that broke the camel's back. I went and did a bit of research about the company as I thought it was a Japanese brand. Their "About Us" page has a stock picture of an Asian fellow with safety glasses on... add the Morimoto, Japanese sounding name and you get .... An Atlanta-based company !!

I guess I have to go the HID route and do the ballast drilling/taping that i didn't want to do.

Originally Posted by Angelo

You're having a heavy buyer's remorse, man. Without sounding like a ****, welcome to upgrading a stock vehicle. I totally get your frustration. Some of the best advice I ever read online said something to the effect of "understand that every single thing you do carries with it both pros and cons" and that applies to lighting as much as it does to suspension, armor, anything. There is also the fact that as soon as people spend money, they tend to climb online and tell everyone how great it is. There are a lot of honest reviews on LEDs in the stock LB projectors around the 5th Gen forum, including mine linked on the LED section of this thread.

FWIW, outside of HIDs or LEDs in their appropriate projector, there isn't a headlight bulb made that won't wash out in most ambient lighting scenarios like city driving. Higher Kelvin temps universally glare in inclement weather- this is why effective fog lights in race trucks are yellow. Respectfully, if your headlights are washed out and you're feeling dangerous with the stock low beams, I think you should be making an honest appraisal of your vision and driving.

You mentioned fitting an HID kit into the stock projectors, but that carries with it some pretty major cons as well, both for you (drilling, aiming lower) as well as the people you're driving at. As was posted to you in the other thread, you should be aware that the only true incredible upgrade to the low beams is a HID or LED projector retrofit. Even then it's still very possible to blind people oncoming (hills) because the 4R lights are so much higher-mounted than your typical Acura or other stock HID passenger car. Pros and cons, brother.

In any case, thanks for posting here so that someone else may not have to make the same mistake. Cheers.

Originally Posted by kanonengedonner

You nailed it

What set me off even more is the Asian "scientist" on their web page

PS. My opinion is that the Morimoto are unsafe especially when it rains. Stock light are $hitty, but not unsafe. But I guess I could still get my eyesight checked, although I very much doubt i have any issues.

This is strange....

Personal experience with Morimoto products since 2008 and have been very please with HID Retrofits and their other products that were installed properly.

You seem to call out Morimoto for reasons that seem to have nothing to do with the performance if used properly.

These projectors in out our T4R's were not designed and shouldn't be fitted with LED's.
First you cannot put enough light into the reflector with a LED simply because of the position of the chips on the LED's stalk, period.

Yes, we place HID's into the reflectors to obtain better lighting.
No, the projector/reflectors are not designed for them, but there is more than enough light produced with the HID and proper aiming that makes the acceptable IMHO. Some will disagree and I respect that.

To callout MORIMOTO for your mistake is absurd to say the least.

Should you have questions about the best replacement bulb for the particular location, everyone is here to help.

[kanonengedonner]

Originally Posted by Saker

This is strange....
Personal experience with Morimoto products since 2008 and have been very please with HID Retrofits and their other products that were installed properly.

Good for you... I haven't talked about the HID Morimoto, and I have never used them. Morimoto can still have good products and some crappy ones! The 2Stroke LEDs on our projectors were crap.

Originally Posted by Saker

You seem to call out Morimoto for reasons that seem to have nothing to do with the performance if used properly.
These projectors in out our T4R's were not designed and shouldn't be fitted with LED's.

My surprise was a combination of other people who used the Morimoto LED 2Stroke on stock projector and claimed it was great as well as the advertisement coming from Morimoto. Morimotoy stated that the LEDs are a direct substitute of the halogen H11 without mentioning anything about changing the projector. They specifically wrote that the 2Stroke's "maximum lumen density and precision perfection when it comes to the bulbs ability to re-create the output of the original halogen bulbs they replace."

I actually might have a bigger beef for the Japanese sounding name and the Asian researcher on their page (for an Atlanta-based company) than anything.

Originally Posted by Saker

Yes, we place HID's into the reflectors to obtain better lighting. No, the projector/reflectors are not designed for them, but there is more than enough light produced with the HID and proper aiming that makes the acceptable IMHO. Some will disagree and I respect that.

Thanks for acknowledging that is ok to praise HID when we use them on stock projectors, but we can't criticize Morimoto's LEDs when we use them on stock projectors.

Originally Posted by Saker

To call out MORIMOTO for your mistake is absurd to say the least.

I am still calling out Morimoto, I am also a bit confused about those that thought the LEDs were great. During my rainy trip, they were horrendous. Far from being absurd, I warn anybody against buying these and use them on stock projectors. Thank you very much!

[Saker]

Originally Posted by kanonengedonner

Good for you... I haven't talked about the HID Morimoto, and I have never used them. Morimoto can still have good products and some crappy ones! The 2Stroke LEDs on our projectors were crap.



My surprise was a combination of other people who used the Morimoto LED 2Stroke on stock projector and claimed it was great as well as the advertisement coming from Morimoto. Morimotoy stated that the LEDs are a direct substitute of the halogen H11 without mentioning anything about changing the projector. They specifically wrote that the 2Stroke's "maximum lumen density and precision perfection when it comes to the bulbs ability to re-create the output of the original halogen bulbs they replace."

I actually might have a bigger beef for the Japanese sounding name and the Asian researcher on their page (for an Atlanta-based company) than anything.




Thanks for acknowledging that is ok to praise HID when we use them on stock projectors, but we can't criticize Morimoto's LEDs when we use them on stock projectors.



I am still calling out Morimoto and those that thought the LEDs were great. During my rainy trip, they were horrendous. Far from being absurd, I warn anybody against buying these and use them on stock projectors. Thank you very much!

Sorry you are so butt hurt & ....

You can use XYZ, ABC, 123, CIA, FBI, NSA LED's in that location and get the same results.... quess you'll call them out too because you used them in the wrong application.
Sure most LED manufactures will state they can be used in halogen applications, but they assume the end user has some insight to make a proper decision in that regards.

BTW, why would you have a "beef for the Japanese sounding name and the Asian researcher on their page (for an Atlanta-based company) than anything."?

That sounds really strange. Maybe they have Asian people there doing business in Georgia. Did you check....? Probably not, making assumptions again?
Seems you have some other kind of issue.




Hope you have a nice day!

[srsrogerissrs]

@kanonengedonner

Honestly... your biggest issue should be with Toyota and there decision to use a side entry projector instead of a rear entry projector. Some light searching through the forum would have brought up a few threads where you would determine that a LED bulb (regardless of brand) is not efficient in our projectors. The diodes simply aren't placed in the correct location to give optimal light output.

Does it look bright when you're looking at it? Yes.

Does it shine on the road properly? No.

Can you judge light output based on someones picture? No

Does light output on a wall mean same light output on the road? No

I originally used some LEDs (through another big named company) on my 4runner and experienced the same issues as you. Looks great on a wall, Looks piss poor shining on the road. No matter which way I clocked the diodes, I couldn't get an acceptable amount of light output on the road. Honestly, my current 35W HID setup barely lights up the road. I put the same LEDs in my girlfriend's accord that uses an h11 halogen projector, and it lights up the whole freaking road. 10x more amazing than my 4runner. Same bulb. Different housing. Different experience.

Maybe you'll start slamming toyota next for being a Japanese car company building their tacomas/tundras out of Texas.

[kanonengedonner]

Originally Posted by Saker

Seems you have some other kind of issue.

lol...wrestle with a p#$...

Originally Posted by srsrogerissrs

Maybe you'll start slamming toyota next for being a Japanese car company building their tacomas/tundras out of Texas.

Not sure I get the analogy. I think it is fairly reasonable to criticize a company based out of Atlanta (an American company), for making a bit of a deceptive marketing effort to sound like a company from Japan. I am aware that, as consumers we have to do our research, but still...

Originally Posted by srsrogerissrs

@kanonengedonner

Honestly... your biggest issue should be with Toyota ...

I agree 100%. My previous car is an Acura and the HIDs were just amazing. It was a shock forme how Toyota let out a car with such atrocious lights.

Let's say my post is just a warning for others not to get any LEDs - although my experience is with Morimoto. I think that this is consistant with the spirit of this forum.

[Saker]

Originally Posted by kanonengedonner

I think it is fairly reasonable to criticize a company based out of Atlanta (an American company), for making a bit of a deceptive marketing effort to sound like a company from Japan.

Do you realize what this sounds like? Are you serious?

WOW....
You still don't get it, do you?

Bye Felicia