Another headlight upgrade thread.

SunPilot

SunPilot

New member
I've been reading (for days) about headlight upgrades and conversions. Some upgrades, etc. are buried in build threads and take forever to research. I have some questions for the community.

I have a 2007 with projector headlights. I don't need to upgrade from reflector style headlights, but I want to upgrade the bulbs. Halogens are not working for me.

I have concluded that HIDs are best for the projector H11 bulb, but not suitable for the high beam 9005 bulbs. I will probably go with a good set of HIDs for the projectors, and a set of LEDs for the high-beam 9005 bulbs. I don't want cheapy bulbs, and there are plenty of them out there. I would appreciate your honest opinion on whatever bulbs/types you are running...good or bad. Did you find an improvement in the bulbs you chose? Are you happy or do you wish you went with something else? Did you do anything with your DRLs?

Any advice or info you care to add will be greatly appreciated. I also need to clean and polish my faded lens, so if you have any good products or procedures to offer, I am all ears. Thanks!
 
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Is it necessary to replace the projector lenses when doing an HID upgrade, or will new H11 HID bulbs work with the stock projectors?
 
By swapping the projectors you will get more width and better beam characteristics. Sharper cutoff etc. HID's in the factory projectors are not terrible though... if I recall they do have a "squirrel finder" where light bleeds out above your cutoff and this can be annoying. Another reason to upgrade the projectors but it will still be a big improvement over halogen just dropping some HIDs in there.

Morimoto also makes really nice LED's for your high beams.
 
rickashay said:
By swapping the projectors you will get more width and better beam characteristics. Sharper cutoff etc. HID's in the factory projectors are not terrible though... if I recall they do have a "squirrel finder" where light bleeds out above your cutoff and this can be annoying. Another reason to upgrade the projectors but it will still be a big improvement over halogen just dropping some HIDs in there.

Morimoto also makes really nice LED's for your high beams.
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I'm thinking about doing LEDs for the high beams. Will check out Morimoto

Where does one get new projector lenses?
 
SunPilot said:
I'm thinking about doing LEDs for the high beams. Will check out Morimoto

Where does one get new projector lenses?
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You would have to swap the whole projector, not just the lense. That means opening up your headlight housings to do the swap. Right now I am running HID's in the factory projectors on my truck and they do pretty well. You could always try that first to see how you like it. If you are not happy with the results, then go down the road of swapping the projectors.

My suggestion would be this kit with 4500k H11B bulbs. https://www.theretrofitsource.com/hid-systems/universal-kits/h11-morimoto-elite.html
 
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HID cork-sniffer purists will tell you its an abomination.. But if you ask me (and likely a crap-ton of others) HID bulbs in the stock projector housings is just fine and a huge improvement over stock bulb type. Odds are slim that you'll ever even need the high-beams after doing the conversion.
 
EdmundGTP said:
HID cork-sniffer purists will tell you its an abomination.. But if you ask me (and likely a crap-ton of others) HID bulbs in the stock projector housings is just fine and a huge improvement over stock bulb type. Odds are slim that you'll ever even need the high-beams after doing the conversion.
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I still use my high beams even with the HID's. In fact, I have a set of the Catz Zeta boost ballasts running them.
 
I ordered a set of HIDs, but I also have to clean and polish the outside of the lights...getting a lot of haze. Might even open them up and black out the inside.

Def want LEDs for the high beams. I travel in some dark areas here in Arizona.
 
SunPilot said:
I ordered a set of HIDs, but I also have to clean and polish the outside of the lights...getting a lot of haze. Might even open them up and black out the inside.

Def want LEDs for the high beams. I travel in some dark areas here in Arizona.
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I am a fan of these - https://www.amazon.com/DDM-Tuning-S...qid=1493133009&sr=8-4&keywords=ddm+saber+9005

DDM Sabers (not the pro's) - These use CREE XHP50 emitters, which I find to be a fantastic little LED, the output is great. They were down to $64 with Prime at one point.

I decided to move these to my wife's Subaru, and I installed a set of the Saber Pro's in the 4Runner, which use a Philips Luxeon emitter. In my opinion the design and output of the XHP50 design is better and has less noticeable hot spots in the beam pattern.
 
adkfinn said:
I am a fan of these - https://www.amazon.com/DDM-Tuning-S...qid=1493133009&sr=8-4&keywords=ddm+saber+9005

DDM Sabers (not the pro's) - These use CREE XHP50 emitters, which I find to be a fantastic little LED, the output is great. They were down to $64 with Prime at one point.

I decided to move these to my wife's Subaru, and I installed a set of the Saber Pro's in the 4Runner, which use a Philips Luxeon emitter. In my opinion the design and output of the XHP50 design is better and has less noticeable hot spots in the beam pattern.
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Thanks for the input. I noticed these have fan cooling. I was hoping to find LEDs with passive cooling, to help eliminate future failure, but considering they are Hi beams, and only on sporadically, I might give them a shot. Certainly will;l be an upgrade over stock!
 
SunPilot said:
Thanks for the input. I noticed these have fan cooling. I was hoping to find LEDs with passive cooling, to help eliminate future failure, but considering they are Hi beams, and only on sporadically, I might give them a shot. Certainly will;l be an upgrade over stock!
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I completely agree with you, but everything I have seen on the market has fans, at least any unit with actual high wattage LED's. For what it is worth, I ordered the original Saber's in October or late fall, ran them in my 4Runner for a few months, then swapped them into my wife's Forester, which uses the high beams as DRL's. Those lights have been running any time the car is running for months (and she does a lot of driving) and they are still working just fine. So, at 6 months, they have already out lived the first gen POS, over priced Silverstar bulbs that people used to shell out comparable money for.
 
SunPilot said:
I also need to clean and polish my faded lens, so if you have any good products or procedures to offer, I am all ears. Thanks!
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I routinely buff my headlight covers out as I detail the paint. Reseal with sealant. On friends/family that are really bad, I'll wet sand with a few grades, then buff and polish before sealant.

Chrisfix (Youtuber) has a very thorough video on cleaning up headlights and how to permanently protect them.
 
i would say save your money and do a nice hid projector retrofit, on the high beam part, stay with halogen bulbs, a decent set of nokya hyper yellow, or hella optilux yellow or osram all season is a good bulb. i prefer the yellow high beams since itll help you see distance.
 
riceandpho said:
i would say save your money and do a nice hid projector retrofit, on the high beam part, stay with halogen bulbs, a decent set of nokya hyper yellow, or hella optilux yellow or osram all season is a good bulb. i prefer the yellow high beams since itll help you see distance.
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I didn't realize a yellow light enhances long distance viewing. Thanks for pointing that out


BTW, I did get some HIDs for the low beams and thinking about what to do for the Highs. I really need to clean and polish the outer lenses.
 
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