2021 4Runner OEM LED Headlights/Lights Performance and Retrofit

[Too Stroked]

Sport, Pro, or Max ... which is recommended as a replacement fog light?

Based on personal experience with the Pro and Max fogs in selective yellow, here's my thoughts.

The Sport is probably the biggest bang for the buck. It provides more than adequate lighting and properly aimed, won't bother anyone. If you run your fogs all the time, this is the one to get.

The Pro is more powerful, but has a slightly less well defined beam pattern - particularly the height of the horizontal beam. This shows up as more "up light" which gives somewhat more distance projection, but also may bother oncoming drivers occasionally - even when properly aimed.

The Max is stupid powerful, yet still street legal. The beam pattern is much tighter than the Pro and in fact looks a lot like the Sport pattern - just brighter. They're totally awesome, and ridiculously expensive. They also require the most careful aiming so as not to bother oncoming drivers.

 

[david05111]

If the Alpharex for a 4Runner are anything at all like the Alpharex for a Tacoma, they're junk. For the Tacoma, they've deviously substituted a ton of foreground light for any kind of distance illumination. I say "deviously" because this fools almost everyone into thinking they actually have more light. More foreground light just allows you to drive into that deer in the middle of the road at a higher speed.

If there's one thing I've learned about aftermarket lighting in my 45 years of experimenting with lighting upgrades, it's that almost all aftermarket stuff - particularly the inexpensive stuff - is junk. You do get what you pay for.

There are just no good options, it seems, to better what's in the car. I did the halogen upgrade to the H9s and 9011s. The morimotos suck and fail. The alpharex apparently suck. Putting LED bulbs in suck. Putting HIDs in is apparently ok, except that they bounce all over the place and occasionally flicker.

It's amazing to me that no company can make a decent solution for this problem. Maybe the new Toyota units are the answer.

 

[david05111]

All of them are street legal as a replacement fog, and all of them are strong choices at their respective price points (and true bargains when they're on sale). In fact, the 3 of them are the top recommendations in the fog pod shootout thread here, besting other brands like Rigid, KC HiLites, and Baja Designs:

The LED SAE J583 Fog Pod & Fog Light Review | Tacoma World

The sport is a great value with excellent intensity and coverage. The pattern also meets the newest J583 F3 spec with its sharp focus and cutoff. They use about 15W.

The pro uses larger, more powerful chips (more than twice the power, 36W) which results in a brighter, but less focused pattern (the emitters are larger than the focal point of the optics, which loosens the pattern somewhat). They still meet the older J583 F spec, so they are still road legal. They also run warmly enough to melt snow, which has long been a failure point for LED pods.

The max SS3 uses new Osram Boost HX chips that have insane amounts of intensity, but with the smaller chip footprint like the sport LEDs. So their intensity is greater than the pro but with the focus and cutoff of the sports. The chips themselves are rated at 20W each (80W), which would be insane- but the heatsink capacity of the lights limits the pods to about 38W. They too will melt snow, and meet the older J583 F spec.

Personally I find the white lamps to be a touch too blue, so I prefer the yellow ones for fog use. For my driving lights (street legal auxiliary high beams) in the grill, I use the SS3 driving pattern. For a warmer 4000K white, I used the yellow lights and swapped in clear optics. Everything on the front of the truck is street legal (the roof lights are off road only).

This is a great post

 

[MIKE969]

There are just no good options, it seems, to better what's in the car. I did the halogen upgrade to the H9s and 9011s. The morimotos suck and fail. The alpharex apparently suck. Putting LED bulbs in suck. Putting HIDs in is apparently ok, except that they bounce all over the place and occasionally flicker.



It's amazing to me that no company can make a decent solution for this problem. Maybe the new Toyota units are the answer.

One company does. Toyota.

Buy the OEM ‘21 lights when a plug&play harness comes out!

Edit: unless that’s what you meant by “There are just no good options it seems, to better what's in the car.”

 

[Axix23]

There are just no good options, it seems, to better what's in the car. I did the halogen upgrade to the H9s and 9011s. The morimotos suck and fail. The alpharex apparently suck. Putting LED bulbs in suck. Putting HIDs in is apparently ok, except that they bounce all over the place and occasionally flicker.

It's amazing to me that no company can make a decent solution for this problem. Maybe the new Toyota units are the answer.

I have tried 55w hids 4300k, 3 different companies of drop in led bulbs, and the 2021 oem headlights are the best so far to date....................

 

[perf0rmance]

All of them are street legal as a replacement fog, and all of them are strong choices at their respective price points (and true bargains when they're on sale). In fact, the 3 of them are the top recommendations in the fog pod shootout thread here, besting other brands like Rigid, KC HiLites, and Baja Designs:

The LED SAE J583 Fog Pod & Fog Light Review | Tacoma World

The sport is a great value with excellent intensity and coverage. The pattern also meets the newest J583 F3 spec with its sharp focus and cutoff. They use about 15W.

The pro uses larger, more powerful chips (more than twice the power, 36W) which results in a brighter, but less focused pattern (the emitters are larger than the focal point of the optics, which loosens the pattern somewhat). They still meet the older J583 F spec, so they are still road legal. They also run warmly enough to melt snow, which has long been a failure point for LED pods.

The max SS3 uses new Osram Boost HX chips that have insane amounts of intensity, but with the smaller chip footprint like the sport LEDs. So their intensity is greater than the pro but with the focus and cutoff of the sports. The chips themselves are rated at 20W each (80W), which would be insane- but the heatsink capacity of the lights limits the pods to about 38W. They too will melt snow, and meet the older J583 F spec.

Personally I find the white lamps to be a touch too blue, so I prefer the yellow ones for fog use. For my driving lights (street legal auxiliary high beams) in the grill, I use the SS3 driving pattern. For a warmer 4000K white, I used the yellow lights and swapped in clear optics. Everything on the front of the truck is street legal (the roof lights are off road only).

Got an idea of what the sale price is? When was the last sale you saw? A PM will suffice if you don't want to post here. Much appreciated!

 

[kanonengedonner]

Anyone that has the 2021 headlight housing could please take a photo or tell me what is the polarity of the LED plug?

I just bought (and received) the new LED 2021 headlights. I swapped the plugs from my older headlights (my right one was wrecked), but I completely forgot about the position the red and black wires when I did the retrofit...

 

[mynameistory]

There are just no good options, it seems, to better what's in the car. I did the halogen upgrade to the H9s and 9011s. The morimotos suck and fail. The alpharex apparently suck. Putting LED bulbs in suck. Putting HIDs in is apparently ok, except that they bounce all over the place and occasionally flicker.

It's amazing to me that no company can make a decent solution for this problem. Maybe the new Toyota units are the answer.

I think the reason why may be that headlights are more delicately engineered instruments than most people realize. Anyone can make goofball lights that look cool on instagram, but it takes a lot of engineering and testing to make lights that truly perform and work correctly. Usually the folks that have the kind of deep pockets to perform all of this engineering and testing for a single car model with unique headlights are the OEMs.

Some companies make great universal lights that are DOT and SAE compliant, but they tend to be universal in shape (like 7" round headlights from JW Speaker and KC HiLites). Those can be used by Jeeps and classic cars, but not much else. Diode Dynamics did a great job of making their products modular. The SS3 uses the same chassis for all of their models, but the optics can be swapped based on the application (fog, driving, flood, spot, combo) and they've made brackets and cowlings to adapt them to all sorts of OEM applications.

 

[rageandlove]

Anyone that has the 2021 headlight housing could please take a photo or tell me what is the polarity of the LED plug?

I just bought (and received) the new LED 2021 headlights. I swapped the plugs from my older headlights (my right one was wrecked), but I completely forgot about the position the red and black wires when I did the retrofit...

Is this what you need?

https://www.toyota-4runner.org/3603796-post213.html

That's the only photo I have found.

 

[kanonengedonner]

Is this what you need?

https://www.toyota-4runner.org/3603796-post213.html

That's the only photo I have found.

Close

There is a red wire and a black wire going into the plug ... making the LED plug polarized.

I took both of mine off when I did the mod without memorizing the position...

 

[kanonengedonner]

If you want to get your hands on a pair of headlights from a 2021 4runner, then the 2 wire plug for the low beams as well, its a pretty easy plug swap and now you have the new headlights!

hey [MENTION=643802]Nommpop[/MENTION] , do you know where the wires (red and black) sit in the white plug to get the correct polarity ?

 

[Axix23]

hey [MENTION=643802]Nommpop[/MENTION] , do you know where the wires (red and black) sit in the white plug to get the correct polarity ?

its either one or another...... Its not rocket science. No 2021 owner is going to be able to slit the wire looming to trace back the red/black wires all the way to the plug to let you know which side is what...

If it doesn't work, then you know you got it reversed..... lol

 

[Axix23]

Here are my photos. As you can see the color of the wiring is hidden by the wire loom

 

[kanonengedonner]

its either one or another...... Its not rocket science. No 2021 owner is going to be able to slit the wire looming to trace back the red/black wires all the way to the plug to let you know which side is what...

If it doesn't work, then you know you got it reversed..... lol

Thx for sending the pic.

Quick answer ... I dropped the headlights by my mechanic then I realized that I didn't check the polarity after the mod.

It is tough to work on switching the cables after the headlight install and I don't want the mechanic to fiddle with the plug.

Also, the wires are visible just behind the white plug.

 

[Axix23]

Thx for sending the pic.

Quick answer ... I dropped the headlights by my mechanic then I realized that I didn't check the polarity after the mod.

It is tough to work on switching the cables after the head light install and I don't want the mechanic to fiddle with the plug.

Also, the wires are visible just behind the white plug.

I don't remember being able to see the color wires behind the plug as it has a sleeve over it. Its on the car now and I am able to see. I am looking at my 2018 Headlights now bc they are off, and you are unable to see the color of the wires bc of the blue sleeve...

 

[Nommpop]

I do not know which side of the plug is positive and negative. On morimotos brown is positive and black is negative, on the 2021 red positive black negative.

 

[Chris Joy]

Curious if anyone has swapped out the DRL/High Beam bulb for something whiter to match the LED low beams? I searched and haven't found anything. I have a 21 SR5 and I absolutely love the LED low beams, they really throw a lot of light - a massive upgrade over the 19 Tacoma's crappy halogen output. I wish Toyota had gone full led including the Morimoto style DRL/Turn signals, but for now I just want a whiter DRL and high beam. Thanks in advance.

Chris

 

[halfempty]

Curious if anyone has swapped out the DRL/High Beam bulb for something whiter to match the LED low beams? I searched and haven't found anything. I have a 21 SR5 and I absolutely love the LED low beams, they really throw a lot of light - a massive upgrade over the 19 Tacoma's crappy halogen output. I wish Toyota had gone full led including the Morimoto style DRL/Turn signals, but for now I just want a whiter DRL and high beam. Thanks in advance.

Chris

The Xenon Depot Xtreme LED Pro version of a 9005 comes with a driver (on the website it looks like it now cost extra where as it used to be included) that will allow it to act as both a low light DRL without the flicker and as the high beam. It’s pricey but might be what you’re looking for.

 

[mynameistory]

The Xenon Depot Xtreme LED Pro version of a 9005 comes with a driver (on the website it looks like it now cost extra where as it used to be included) that will allow it to act as both a low light DRL without the flicker and as the high beam. It’s pricey but might be what you’re looking for.

This is your best bet. Most 9005 kits won't dim properly with PWM, and leaving your DRLs at full brightness is discourteous to other drivers.

 

[Chris Joy]

The Xenon Depot Xtreme LED Pro version of a 9005 comes with a driver (on the website it looks like it now cost extra where as it used to be included) that will allow it to act as both a low light DRL without the flicker and as the high beam. It’s pricey but might be what you’re looking for.

Thanks, I'll check them out. After the epic Tacomaworld lighting thread, I'm always a little hesitant to swap halogen bulbs for LED's since those tests usually show a pretty dramatic difference in favor of a quality halogen bulb vs. LED's.

Cheers

Chris