sato_toguchi
New member
I did not have to adjust aim at all. Good luck with the install!
2021 4Runner OEM LED Headlights/Lights Performance and Retrofit
- Thread starter RichinRidgewood
- Start date
I did not have to adjust aim at all. Good luck with the install!
mynameistory
New member
If you're swapping the entire housing, you really should check the aim. Easy to do.
Measure the distance from the ground to the center of your headlight projector. Let's say it's 40".
Toyota specs a 2" drop at 25 feet. So, place a piece of tape on a wall that is 38" from the ground. Find a parking garage or lot with flat ground and park your truck squarely 25 feet away from it.
Aim your low beam cutoff for the tape. You can adjust the headlights up or down with a large philips screwdriver. And you're done.
If you want to do your fog lights at the same time, you follow the same procedure but with a 4" drop.
I also prefer to do my aim when the truck is loaded, as if for a trip. That's usually when I need my aim to go the distance on long, dark roads. During my daily (nightly) commute my low beam aim is pulled back in a bit with no load.
Measure the distance from the ground to the center of your headlight projector. Let's say it's 40".
Toyota specs a 2" drop at 25 feet. So, place a piece of tape on a wall that is 38" from the ground. Find a parking garage or lot with flat ground and park your truck squarely 25 feet away from it.
Aim your low beam cutoff for the tape. You can adjust the headlights up or down with a large philips screwdriver. And you're done.
If you want to do your fog lights at the same time, you follow the same procedure but with a 4" drop.
I also prefer to do my aim when the truck is loaded, as if for a trip. That's usually when I need my aim to go the distance on long, dark roads. During my daily (nightly) commute my low beam aim is pulled back in a bit with no load.
rageandlove
Member
Thanks [MENTION=208721]mynameistory[/MENTION] - v helpful.
I'd found this, which is a lot more confusing (instructions as written by Toyota). It seems to suggest +-3 inches from the ground to the middle of the headlight is ok, which is a pretty big range. I can't figure out the diagram with the diagonal lines, though. Anyone?
I can't find the equivalent for a 2021 LED model. I don't know why it would be any different.
They do say (1) fill gas (2) inflate tires (3) remove spare tire and jack (?!?) and put a 150-pound person in the driver's side. What if my wife only weighs 110 lol.
I need to find a flat wall - I live on a hill so my garage wont work - but I think step 1 is to record how the lights (and fogs which are going to be replaced by some DDs) currently sit, since my suspension is stock.
PS the fog light aiming is the same thing, but only - up to 10 cm (this one is metric lol)
I'd found this, which is a lot more confusing (instructions as written by Toyota). It seems to suggest +-3 inches from the ground to the middle of the headlight is ok, which is a pretty big range. I can't figure out the diagram with the diagonal lines, though. Anyone?
I can't find the equivalent for a 2021 LED model. I don't know why it would be any different.
They do say (1) fill gas (2) inflate tires (3) remove spare tire and jack (?!?) and put a 150-pound person in the driver's side. What if my wife only weighs 110 lol.
I need to find a flat wall - I live on a hill so my garage wont work - but I think step 1 is to record how the lights (and fogs which are going to be replaced by some DDs) currently sit, since my suspension is stock.
PS the fog light aiming is the same thing, but only - up to 10 cm (this one is metric lol)
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kanonengedonner
New member
perf0rmance
New member
sweet... now we just need the new plug (and of course the headlights LOL)
kanonengedonner
New member
That's the plug you need to move to the 2021 housing
DallasTRDPro
Member
I would say be happy.
RichinRidgewood
New member
It’s been my experience that pulling the connectors out of a plug turns them to shit. Virtually no one has the correct crimp tool to put the correct connectors on if you can even buy them.
Thats why a pigtail is the best option. It’s plug and play. What is so hard for someone to do this. It’s a business opportunity for some of you young guys to make a few bucks on
umidkusername
New member
This thread is truly one big mess. So the retrofit depends on what trim and year you have now and then what you can put in depends on what trim it is coming from? Also, the different trims in 2021 have different combinations of halogen/LED?
.. and then it takes changing adapters and modifying existing ones?
How is all this nonsense better than just buying a Marimoto and paying the extra money for a peace of mind? Hell you get a 5 year warranty.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
.. and then it takes changing adapters and modifying existing ones?
How is all this nonsense better than just buying a Marimoto and paying the extra money for a peace of mind? Hell you get a 5 year warranty.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
RichinRidgewood
New member
Jesus H. Facepalm
Morimoto’s gargle goat pickles. See #mynameistory
How hard would it be to maybe have 2 or 3 different pigtails?
mynameistory
New member
Morimoto headlights are actually decent, it's the AlphaRex units that are junk. If anyone wants to see a comparison, have your your headlights drop-shipped to crashnburn80 up in Washington before you take delivery. If his backlog isn't too deep, he'll review them for pattern, optics, color, and intensity.
I sent my Morimoto 2stroke 2.0 LED bulbs (just drop-in bulbs, not headlight assemblies) for him to test. They performed terribly in distance projection.
rageandlove
Member
That's the most positive possible way of framing it sunshine. Enjoy your Morimotos. Think there's another thread for that ;-)
kanonengedonner
New member
to make a cable harness You still need to source 2 female adapters, pre2021 and 2021 versions... not sure they exist.
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rageandlove
Member
OK, got some 2021s from [MENTION=643802]Nommpop[/MENTION]. They were nicely packaged in Morimoto box ...
Took about 2 hours total to swap, though I could do it way faster the second time around - an hour to remove and replace the bumper cover, 30 to replace lights, 30 to screw around with aiming.
For aiming, I started by matching where the halogens were aimed from the port. They were fairly close to the same aim as the original halogens.
They throw a lot more light with much cleaner cutoff and stair-step.
The next day, I took them and did the 25-feet-from-wall-to-Toyota-specs adjustment. That required me to raise them about 1/2-1 inch.
(My truck has the typical 1/2-inch lean so the driver light is lower than the passenger light ... when setting up the line for the adjustment I drew the line in between the two measurements.)
We'll see if that's too high and if I need to adjust them down.
I threw in a S8 light bar in the grille at the same time since I already had everything apart. It's ridiculously bright.
Overall, super happy with the change. The lights work perfectly, they throw much more light and while cooler in color temperature are not "HID" or "Xenon" white - I'd guess more like 4k.
The transaction with [MENTION=643802]Nommpop[/MENTION] was smooth - cheaper than the dealer, fast ship, good packaging, connectors were well done.
My wife has a limited, and I'm going to hit him up for a second pair.
You do see the funny rectangles against walls but I don't notice them when driving.
Happy to answer questions.
Took about 2 hours total to swap, though I could do it way faster the second time around - an hour to remove and replace the bumper cover, 30 to replace lights, 30 to screw around with aiming.
For aiming, I started by matching where the halogens were aimed from the port. They were fairly close to the same aim as the original halogens.
They throw a lot more light with much cleaner cutoff and stair-step.
The next day, I took them and did the 25-feet-from-wall-to-Toyota-specs adjustment. That required me to raise them about 1/2-1 inch.
(My truck has the typical 1/2-inch lean so the driver light is lower than the passenger light ... when setting up the line for the adjustment I drew the line in between the two measurements.)
We'll see if that's too high and if I need to adjust them down.
I threw in a S8 light bar in the grille at the same time since I already had everything apart. It's ridiculously bright.
Overall, super happy with the change. The lights work perfectly, they throw much more light and while cooler in color temperature are not "HID" or "Xenon" white - I'd guess more like 4k.
The transaction with [MENTION=643802]Nommpop[/MENTION] was smooth - cheaper than the dealer, fast ship, good packaging, connectors were well done.
My wife has a limited, and I'm going to hit him up for a second pair.
You do see the funny rectangles against walls but I don't notice them when driving.
Happy to answer questions.
RunnerRunnerStr8
New member
Sup boyos. Can't seem to be able to pm anyone, just joined the other night after running into this thread; looking to upgrade to oem led on my '19 off road. Someone mind sending a pm with how to make contact with Nommpop/alex?
Wonder what you can get for the oem '19 headlights? Anyone sell their older oem's?
:cheers:
Wonder what you can get for the oem '19 headlights? Anyone sell their older oem's?
:cheers:
perf0rmance
New member
Go to his post, and at the bottom right (from the desktop view), there should be a "reply with quote" link. That should notify him of your post.
I'm checking this thread out to see if there's any questions I can answer so I see your post. Make a few more contributions on the forum (I think 5 is the magic number) so you can send me a PM with your phone number and I'll get in contact with you. Right now there's a waiting list and I'm getting them out as fast as I'm getting them
Southpaw07
New member
Hi...sent you a PM a moment ago. Thank you
rageandlove
Member
A guy on YouTube (TRD Jon) did a short review of the Pro LED lights.
It's pretty clear that the low-beam and high-beam are the same lamp, and that all the high beam does is slide some sort of barrier upwards to allow more light to shine aimed higher up as a result.
So that is why they changed from a 2-pin to a 4-pin plug. 2 pins for power, and 2 pins to give some sort of signal for the lamp to raise the barrier.
Accordingly, it seems using the Pro/Limited units will be more complicated because you will need to figure out how to mirror that signal.
That said, he gives the high beams a thumbs-down review, so I think for those that want OEM, using non-Pro/Limited is the right path.
It's pretty clear that the low-beam and high-beam are the same lamp, and that all the high beam does is slide some sort of barrier upwards to allow more light to shine aimed higher up as a result.
So that is why they changed from a 2-pin to a 4-pin plug. 2 pins for power, and 2 pins to give some sort of signal for the lamp to raise the barrier.
Accordingly, it seems using the Pro/Limited units will be more complicated because you will need to figure out how to mirror that signal.
That said, he gives the high beams a thumbs-down review, so I think for those that want OEM, using non-Pro/Limited is the right path.
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