cb1111
Member
that's 25 feet away from the front of the car? And dead level for 40'?
If so, then the municipality needs to send out a housing inspector because that isn't close to code.
Last edited:
Gen 2 Xb headlights is out already!!!
- Thread starter amir_gh
- Start date
If so, then the municipality needs to send out a housing inspector because that isn't close to code.
Srt4runner
New member
That photo is not from a level position. That's when I first installed the lights and was initially aiming them from 25' away on the garage door near where my oem lights projected. I then drove to a level area near me to fine tune them. Didn't want to blind the crap out of everyone when I first installed them and it turns out I had to lower them just a little bit.
I didn't realize the internet would call the housing inspector on me for posting pictures of headlights. This place is great.
Just ignore him. He doesn't even own a 4R.
Those look great....Do I want to even ask how annoying it was to retro yourself??
Srt4runner
New member
I bought a second pair of headlights and took my time. It was my first retro. The worst part was removing the permaseal from the headlights but it wasn't that bad. I used a heat gun and a screwdriver and got 99% of it off. Took me around an hour per headlight. I also made my own wiring harness soldering the factory connector and the adapter wires so it's plug and play. I bought laser cut brackets to mount the projector to the headlight housing so they are perfectly aligned. Wasn't that difficult if you have the right tools and time. I can type up a how to when I get some free time.
Would love to see your writeup as I would be a 1st timer as well. May not have the correct tools and hearing that you used a heat gun to get the permaseal off is encouraging considering when looking at someone to do it for me they were charging 250-300 alone for that part of the process.
4RunnerMurse
New member
Really anxious to see some real world reviews on these. Loving the styling and if these project a better output and got rid of the DRL's failure issue I'm sold.
Well, I just noticed that my Gen 1 drivers side has started to yellow. They are sending out a new one under warranty, with a 350 dollar deposit required. I hope they have made some changes for gen 2. This is my second warranty claim since I bought mine in November. At least xenon depot has responded quickly to both of my claims.
Spyder4runner
New member
Well, my gen2 will be here this Friday. If it shows up during the day, I’ll install it and wait until night fall and head over to Golden Gate Park for some pics. More to come fellas!
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
There are a few ways of doing the retrofit on these. One his the way srt did them - LEDs and retroquick brackets, or you can open the headlights and replace the lenses with STi-R and drop in HIDs, also very easy but not a perfect outcome (potential aiming issues), or a HID projector retro with another side mount projector - this is probably the most involved.
I would recommend using your oven, or even better a gas or electric smoker, to evenly heat your headlights to SLOWLY open them up. An hour a headlight is flying for permaseal. The 4R is not my first retrofit and all-in I spent 4-5 hours to get the headlights open and completely clear of permaseal. You want to soften the permaseal, but not deform the plastic body of the headlight, which is very difficult to avoid with a heat gun due to the deep channel the lens sits in. I found 240F for 20 minutes is good to soften the permaseal and give a working time of about 10 minutes without deforming the rest of the headlight body - I believe the softening point of the back side plastic is around 280F.
You can also skip this entire headache by buying Eagle Eyes headlights. They use butyl instead of permaseal. Toss them in the oven at 220-240 for a few minutes and the butyl melts like cheese. *Disclaimer - the Eagle Eyes projectors have different brackets for mounting the projectors, so some drilling may be required.
There are several good sources on here for this retrofit, but most are now missing photos. I've added some to the consolidated lighting thread, but it's by no means a formal DIY write-up.
amir_gh
New member
That would be great. I really appreciate it if you could compare them
graysquirrel
New member
From reading on the Retrofit Source it seemed like they received a ton of complaints about the first version of the lights, took that in, and now fixed it for version 2.0.
From looking at the video and pictures, it looks like a large improvement in beam patterning and lighting.
From looking at the install, it seems to be pretty plug and play and looks to be very simple, other than having to remove your bumper.
Toyota is coming out with LED forward lighting for the 2021 4Runner that leaves some questions.
TRD Pro and Limited gets LED lo and hi beam. All others get lo only. From looking at the pictures, its the same headlight unit as we have now. So whats going to change?
From the Tacoma headlight thread you can't throw an LED bulb into a halogen bulb design as the physics of the light source is different. So, that means the internal housing reflector for the 2021 4Runner will have to be different than the 2020 ones. Will this mean a plug and play? Don't know. Will this mean a better beam pattern and more light downrange? Don't know. You would have Toyota quality.
Would need to see some pictures of the Morimoto on a very dark road out in the boonies with short and long range pictures to see if it does work.
Main part with upgrading is to get a headlight that puts out a good beam pattern, and you're not having to upgrade bulbs or change them frequently cause they blow out.
From looking at the video and pictures, it looks like a large improvement in beam patterning and lighting.
From looking at the install, it seems to be pretty plug and play and looks to be very simple, other than having to remove your bumper.
Toyota is coming out with LED forward lighting for the 2021 4Runner that leaves some questions.
TRD Pro and Limited gets LED lo and hi beam. All others get lo only. From looking at the pictures, its the same headlight unit as we have now. So whats going to change?
From the Tacoma headlight thread you can't throw an LED bulb into a halogen bulb design as the physics of the light source is different. So, that means the internal housing reflector for the 2021 4Runner will have to be different than the 2020 ones. Will this mean a plug and play? Don't know. Will this mean a better beam pattern and more light downrange? Don't know. You would have Toyota quality.
Would need to see some pictures of the Morimoto on a very dark road out in the boonies with short and long range pictures to see if it does work.
Main part with upgrading is to get a headlight that puts out a good beam pattern, and you're not having to upgrade bulbs or change them frequently cause they blow out.
Xtremluck
New member
I don’t think there are any pics of the new headlight out there yet. Also, where did you see that Pros and Limiteds were Bi LED?
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Spyder4runner
New member
I never had the gen1 but I do currently have HID drop in. I’m not expecting it to exceed the HID. I’m hoping morimoto fixed the dead spot that everyone was talking about. I just want the clean look under the hood.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Xtremluck
New member
I don't think its going to be any cleaner IMO. You still have ballasts and also wiring that needs to tap into your fuse box and across to the passenger side. If anything its going to add more wiring.
graysquirrel
New member
I think it was Motortrend that had photos of the new TRD Pro color and reported that LED headlights were coming to the 4Runner. I believe it said that all trim levels of the 4Runner would get LED lo-beam headlights and LED fog lights. The TRD Pro trim level would get upgraded Rigid fog lights that were heavy duty to handle the pounding of off-roading. It stated that the Pro trim and Limited trim would also get LED hi-beams.
Given that the pictures shown, the headlight looked identical to our current headlights, then the lo-beam needs the be a different type of projector for an LED and the LED hi-beam would also have to be a different design.
https://www.motortrend.com/news/2021-toyota-4runner-details-photos/
Once the truck is release, someone will need to get up close and personal pictures of the headlight and bulb placement to see what the heck they did and if it will be a plug and play, as due to physics of light projection, they cannot just stick an LED bulb into the current housings.
Last edited:
Spyder4runner
New member
You could be right. From the video, it looks like the ballasts are attached to the back of the headlights. Yes, I'll have to tap into the fuse box, we'll see tomorrow I hope. :noidea:
Spyder4runner
New member
Sorry guys, UPS changed their delivery to this coming Monday.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Similar threads
