For sure, I kept gradually trying to upgrade my headlights every year and finally pulled the trigger on a retrofit. I think its also safe to factor in what you have available. I actually had a hard time finding IS projectors for a while so I just went with what the best projectors were at the moment. Now I have too many extra headlight accessories.
The warranty on my MLED 2.0 are good for 5 years, which I think I will outlast my needs if I don't get an itch to upgrade again.

Heads up I did buy everything at 20% as I waited for the holiday sale earlier this month.

1) I did buy the Morimoto retro-quik brackets. The $24 was worth it for me. I seen Biggu's post on his DIY retrofit (2014-2017 HID Projector Retrofit DIY) and I decided I did not want to spend more time on them if I could help it.
I do want to say I did make the mounting holes larger to make my horizontal plane a 100% for micro-adjustments. I did spend like 5-10 minutes modifying.


2.) What other wiring adapters did you need?
Depending on what system, HID/LED you go with, I just had to buy headlight socket adapters (H11 male ->9006 female) and high beam splitters. Which I see is question #4. That's it. The socket adapters may have been just for my application so I highly suggest you reach out to these headlight guys to ensure the materials and build sounds solid before you dive in. Caesar @ Lightwerkz or Matt @ TRS are who have helped me before.

3.) Did you use a shroud to cover the sides of the projector and which one did you use?
I didn't use a shroud. I don't think a shroud may fit around it. Stock projectors are 3", so are the MLED series and IS 350 ones. There is about a 1/8 inch gap around the 3" projector. Just test fit your lens since the stock shroud is mounted on the lens. I did have to adjust the height higher a couple times since it sat on the bottom of the stock shroud lens when test fitted. I must say I do see a little bit of the CNC stainless steel housing if I look really hard but other than that I could of sprayed it black if it really bugged me.


4.) Did you use anything for the factory high beams?
I bought high beam 9005 cable splitters for like $4. My projectors were bi-xenon so I was able to keep the stock 9005 socket with upgraded Silverstars for keeping DRL's on. I did attempt LED light bulbs but they do not dim like halogen bulbs. So I have x2 high beams, stock + bi-xenon shield down which is nice.


This is my first time with LED projectors so I need more drive time with them. I do enjoy the ease of less wires and 'plug n play' for this build.
Here's a run down of what I bought while using the stock headlights:
-MLED 2.0 Projectors
-2x H11 headlight socket adapters
-2x 9005 high beam splitters
-Retro rubber butyl sealant.
My grand total was ~$330 and about 12 hours from bumper removal to complete assembly & driving. I felt half the time was spent opening and cleaning the permaseal. TYC should be way easier though.

Nicely done!

I installed Nineo H11 along with dual color switch backs in fog light housing.
cutoff is great with no glare to traffic.

i drive on hwy 395 about 15-30 times a year and haven't had any issues with the lights I'm running; go with HID for your low beam and LED for your high beam. i went with 35w 5500k morimoto H11 elite HID system and 2.0 LED bulbs

Alpharex series thoughts?
 

Hey all,

Been a lurker for awhile reading the different threads on headlight upgrades. I was wondering if anyone has experience with the “AlphaRex 2014-202 Toyota 4Runner NOVA-Series LED Projector Headlights”? I did like the look of the Morimoto XB led ones but after reading about the issues I no longer want those. Living in Colorado driving through the mountains in the rain/snow I definitely need better headlight options. Thanks in advance for the help/suggestions.

I have the Alpharex Luxx and just recently went on a ~3k mile round trip on the east coast. Encountered rain storms that were causing people to pull off the road and wait. The Luxx still lit up enough of the road I could see and keep driving. Occasionally had to turn on the BD squadron sport fogs to see well but I would not hesitate to put both those on a 4R again. IMO, save the few hundred from "downgrading" from the Novas to the Luxxs and spend that on not strictly street legal fogs.

I went with Kustom54 AB6’s with the Morimoto MLEDs BiLED projectors. It lights up the road really well by itself. I also upgraded the fogs with Toyota OEM LED fogs (replaced BD Squadrons which I didn’t use much). The combination is amazing.

I'm literally driving to Colorado right now for my vacation. I have the Alpharex Luxx's and they've been fantastic so far. Just went through a torrential storm in western Illinois that reportedly had 70 mph winds and had no trouble cutting through the rain combined with the newer style OEM LED fog lights.

I came out of a 2018 IS350 and I would say these are pretty comparable in performance. The output is nice and even and has pretty good width. My only complaint is the cutoff is a little sharper and deeper than I'd like so I had to raise them to cover more on the left.

OEM fogs add a TON of width and good foreground light. I tend to keep the fogs off when I'm on the highway to cut down on foreground glare and preserve distance vision.

Attachment 365313Attachment 365314

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Long read but interesting and valid.

Those look nice. I also upgraded the fog lights with the OEM LED ones as well. Thanks for the suggestion. I’m going to look at these.

I can't speak to an upgrade to the high beams, as my 30" dual row bar in the bumper takes care of that, but I could not be happier with these fog lights from Diode Dynamics. Absolutely outstanding. I got pro level, and never get blinked at, so not sure if they aren't a problem for oncoming traffic, or people just are blinded too much to reach for their high beam...lol

https://www.diodedynamics.com/stage-...light-kit.html

I was gonna ask if this works on the limited till I saw the front end. I have a nightshade and want this same exact setup! Thx


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The Xenon Depot HID kit has been great for the low beams as a drop in retrofit.

For fogs, you gotta go with Diode Dynamics and their SS3 pods. Even the SS3 Sports are crazy bright and throw light way down the road in a nice wide pattern. They truly have a square cutoff which will keep oncoming traffic from flashing you. I compared to a Squadron Sport wide cornering (their typical fog) and the squadron was bright but threw light everywhere making it more of a flood and rather unusable. The SS3 put light right where it needed to be.

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And now this is my combo haha and I'm very happy with it.

yes. this.