So what's the over under of us retrofitting these 2021 full LED headlights coming?

97BlackAckCL said:

Morimoto MLED 2.0 projectors and Morimoto HB LED projectors

Click to expand...

I’m still trying to decide if I should ditch the halogen drl and run to the shroud solenoid without splitting off the the 9005 bulb. That would leave the high/drl slot open for a separate, switched light option. Again, trying to keep an OEM appearance but improve night driving on and off road. It would be a nice alternative to a light bar, I think.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I don't think it will be that bad. The 4runner headlights prior to this LED offering was not part of the CANBUS network. I doubt that Toyota would convert the 2021 4runner to have new canbus modules. It is a platform that is imminent for a refresh. Which means get LEDs (which will be a selling point) out to market as fast and cheaply as possible to please new buyers.

I've gone through 2 sets of TRS H11 kits (they last in my case about 1.5 years). I'm now currently on the XenonDepot kit with the phillips H11 bulbs and it is nearing about 2 years.

I'm very interested in doing this mod. Screw the H11 aftermarket stuff. I want OEM from the factory reliability.

Like almost everyone I hated the factory halogens and was waiting a few years to see when Toyota would finally update the headlights on the 4runners. I couldn't wait any longer. I just finished a morimoto MLED 2.0 bi-LED retrofit in the factory headlights. I also installed the Toyota oem LED fog lights. They are amazing compared to stock and were definitely worth the upgrade. Of course the factory option was just announced after me finishing these. I can't see the new LED oem headlights being any better than the morimotos so I will keep them till the next major headlight technology upgrade. I attached a photo of just the low beams on, amazing cutoff and lots of even light. Definitely worth the upgrade. In my opinion they are better than any plug and play HID kit and rival any HID projector.

Srt4runner said:

Like almost everyone I hated the factory halogens and was waiting a few years to see when Toyota would finally update the headlights on the 4runners. I couldn't wait any longer. I just finished a morimoto MLED 2.0 bi-LED retrofit in the factory headlights. I also installed the Toyota oem LED fog lights. They are amazing compared to stock and were definitely worth the upgrade. Of course the factory option was just announced after me finishing these. I can't see the new LED oem headlights being any better than the morimotos so I will keep them till the next major headlight technology upgrade. I attached a photo of just the low beams on, amazing cutoff and lots of even light. Definitely worth the upgrade. In my opinion they are better than any plug and play HID kit and rival any HID projector.

Click to expand...

Looks really good. Do you know what the spread angle is on these? I think the IS projectors I'm working with are 160 degrees.

Srt4runner said:

Of course the factory option was just announced after me finishing these.

Click to expand...

Thank you for doing your part to ensure these made it to market good sir.

Srt4runner said:

Like almost everyone I hated the factory halogens and was waiting a few years to see when Toyota would finally update the headlights on the 4runners. I couldn't wait any longer. I just finished a morimoto MLED 2.0 bi-LED retrofit in the factory headlights. I also installed the Toyota oem LED fog lights. They are amazing compared to stock and were definitely worth the upgrade. Of course the factory option was just announced after me finishing these. I can't see the new LED oem headlights being any better than the morimotos so I will keep them till the next major headlight technology upgrade. I attached a photo of just the low beams on, amazing cutoff and lots of even light. Definitely worth the upgrade. In my opinion they are better than any plug and play HID kit and rival any HID projector.

Click to expand...

Looks better than the plug and play bulbs for sure. How was the install though? I always worry/hate removing the lenses and breaking that seal so to speak. I’ve done it in the past on a very old truck and they never sealed back right (100% my fault I’m sure). Did you just give it a shot on your own or follow instructions somewhere?

NW.OH.T4R said:

Looks really good. Do you know what the spread angle is on these? I think the IS projectors I'm working with are 160 degrees.

Click to expand...

Not sure on the spread angle but there's a lot of stats listed online if you search. The side illumination is much better than stock but that can also be from them just being brighter in general. the picture I posted earlier in this thread was from 25 ft away from the garage door when I was leveling it. I can try and get more further in the distance pictures when I get some free time. Activating the fogs adds additional lighting on the sides as well and the high beams are great.

I was going to go the IS projector route and even bought a pair, but after seeing good reviews of these I decided to go LED instead. Pros and cons to both projectors but that's another discussion.

It may be a bit early to have this discussion because we don't know what sort of changes will be required.

LEDs are most likely not the best solution for vehicle lighting, but they have design advantages - which is why you normally find LED headlights introduced with new models. Here, it is most likely a marketing gimmick that may actually produce worse results over the halogens because I doubt that they put a lot of thought into a design that will be scrapped next year.

It will provide whiter light (which may actually be a detriment in poor weather conditions, but they might surprise us and come up with something stellar.

Even if the retrofit will be easy, it still will not - technically - be legal, but clearly it will be "less illegal" that the current solutions and it is unlikely that any state inspection will fail the car for those.

CollinJ said:

Looks better than the plug and play bulbs for sure. How was the install though? I always worry/hate removing the lenses and breaking that seal so to speak. I’ve done it in the past on a very old truck and they never sealed back right (100% my fault I’m sure). Did you just give it a shot on your own or follow instructions somewhere?

Click to expand...

This was my first try doing a retrofit and it was fairly easy.
I ordered a spare set of headlights and baked them in the oven. Separating them after wasn't too bad, the pain in the ass was cleaning the permaseal off. When I removed the permaseal it all stuck to the clear lense and left the channels in the black housing clear. I used a heat gun which helped a lot to soften an inch or two of the seal and worked around each lense careful not to melt them. I used a retrofit bracket to mount the projector to the housing. I did make my own wire harness using the factory plug and soldering the wires to the adapters I bought. I may post a how to when I get some free time if there's any interest. I left the stock halogen high beams for now and may eventually upgrade them to LED or a better halogen bulb but it's not really necessary due to the M-LEDs having a high beams as well.

I'm excited to see what comes of this, as I've been holding off replacing the low beams for something workable for a while. Driving around on the English back roads in wintertime with the stock set-up sucks!