Good god, the stock projector headlights are so awful

[HanginInUtah]

Seems to me that the lighting preference could be like some people's preference with sound equipment. You get someone who is used to high-end speakers, and nothing stock will do. Same here with lights.
I have upgraded my low beams to the XD HID bulbs (5000K color) and I love them. But I am sure if I had experienced some of the others you guys are talking about, and a better projector housing, I might not be as happy. I guess sometimes ignorance is bliss? :naughty:

 

[SlickTRD]

Seems to me that the lighting preference could be like some people's preference with sound equipment. You get someone who is used to high-end speakers, and nothing stock will do. Same here with lights.
I have upgraded my low beams to the XD HID bulbs (5000K color) and I love them. But I am sure if I had experienced some of the others you guys are talking about, and a better projector housing, I might not be as happy. I guess sometimes ignorance is bliss? :naughty:

Ignorance is definitely bliss. A good retrofit will easily surpass a hid kit on stock projectors. A good retrofit will be much more evenly lit, have a wide pattern and produce a sharp cutoff that won't blind oncoming drivers. It's something I have done in previous cars but I haven't had the time or money to do to the 4Runner at the moment.

 

[rayofsi]

i had hids in oem projectors for a while, get highbeamed now and then. moved on to retrofitted projectors, problem solved! more usable light too!

 

[Jetboy]

The proper solution is a quality Bi-Xenon retrofit. Well aimed, broad, focused presentation. Fog lights become unneeded and the bi-X high beams simply rock. Ya know Jet, you know a lot about a whole lot of shit ... proper lighting? Meh.

You guys spend thousands upon thousands on tires, wheels, lifts, racks, etc etc etc etc etc HAVE OF WHICH IS POSING ....... and then b!tch and b!tch about the lights, and wimp out at $1000 for great visibility. Jeez, I just don't get it.

:noidea:

I think the stock lights are fine. I've never had any issue with stock lighting other than going fast in the whoops at twilight. That's the only time I've been able to outrun my headlights and why I decided to upgrade them.

The high beams being the primary upgrade. Bi Xenons in the stock housing location like the 2IS retrofits would be a fine choice. Especially at OEM ride height. I bought the HID kit on a whim and found that it was a waste of money for me. If you're going to do HID's - a full conversion is the way to go to get a proper projector assembly in there. On the other hand I also have an RX350 with OEM Bi Xenon lights that self level and aim around corners. They're great for highway driving. Even better than the IS lights I had before - which were also pretty damn good. They're not really comparable to the LED high beams in my 4runner though. The LEDs are a lot brighter and wider pattern. For going fast in at twilight - I'll still take the LED brights over Lexus HIDs. My ultimate goal if I really cared enough to move it to the top of my list is to have both. Bi-Xenon in the Fogs and some ultra bright offroad only type lighting in the OEM housings up top.

The OEM headlights are simply too high to allow you to aim them nearly level and not blind other drivers. If you're going to do a retrofit, why not put them in the proper place? The fog lights are a better choice at about 35" off the ground. And the fogs are way too high for actual fog use anyway. (They're so high that they're probably illegal in Louisiana that has a max fog light height of 30"). I think a bi xenon retrofit in the OEM fogs is objectively the ideal headlight placement even if it's not the best looking setup. But there's no reason to leave the original headlights empty. They're perfect for high beam lights (higher the better in that case - on the roof would be even better) and you might as well put something in the OEM projectors as well.

 

[e60ral]

i agree that lower driving lights at the elevation of the fog lights is the best solution


i remember the first time i drove at night when i bought me vehicle, it was a long trip at night that involved 55mph county roads and a 60-70mph highway. There was enough traffic that I couldn't leave my highbeams on, but not enough where i was benefiting from other driver's headlights and I was not comfortable driving over 50 because i couldn't comfortably see 3 seconds in front of me.

 

[jon.salpas]

I did and it was among the best money I have ever spent on an aftermarket part. I cannot imagine not having them.

Same here. Wife thought it was a waste until we found ourselves out it the woods late at night last weekend. She was amazed at how much better they looked. We did however, get flashed by at least 5 cars thinking we had out high-beams on though, but they were quickly corrected by our actual high beams.

 

[philsey]

Same here. Wife thought it was a waste until we found ourselves out it the woods late at night last weekend. She was amazed at how much better they looked. We did however, get flashed by at least 5 cars thinking we had out high-beams on though, but they were quickly corrected by our actual high beams.

Yeah, cool story bro, but your headlights are maladjusted. Just because your brights teach them a lesson, your being told your LBs are offensive. Fix it. Don't be that guy. If you get my HBs you'll need to pull over.

I've had 3 professional retrofits in 2 4Rs and never.once.ever.been.flashed.....ever.

 

[roborob1969]

1st time driving my new 2018 at night and the headlights are terrible. They are dim and have really poor distance.

I read up on some options here.

Xenon Depot HID seem to be the most popular but it was cause glare and hot spots with the stock halogen projectors so I'm not sure if I want to go with this option.

I see some people are replacing the H11 bulbs with H9 but it doesn't seem as popular option as Xenon Depot HID. I'm thinking of trying the H9 and see how it goes.

I went with Oracle Lighting's HID Xenon Bulb Kit 8126-013 - couldn't be any happier!

 

[AK Mule]

Definitely try a quality halogen. I am a stickler for good lighting and with quality and properly aimed halogen bulbs, I have been able to hold off on doing a proper HID retrofit now for almost 3 years as I have been pretty satisfied with the stock.

I have tried the H9 swap and they are brighter, but they do produce a bit more glare above the cutoff than the standard H11 halogens.

You should check that the projectors are aimed properly, especially if you are lacking throw. Believe it or not, it is very common for even brand new vehicles to have improperly aimed headlights.

Keep in mind that just because a different type of bulb may appear brighter, that does not make it better. The stock projectors were designed for use with H11 halogen bulbs, so from an optics stand point, H11 halogen bulbs will perform the best.

Obviously, there are a lot of different solutions. We have 20 hours of daylight now, but 20 hours of dark in the winter without streetlights. I changed mine to quality halogen (Sylvania) and that made a large difference. Changed the fogs to yellow because of ice fog, and the combo meets my need. We don't have a lot of traffic, highways and other lights, so my changes fill the dark spots. Haven't been surprised by a moose in the road yet! Try that first, and if it doesn't meet your needs, step up to the solutions offered here. Start cheap.

 

[epjfsa]

Yeah, cool story bro, but your headlights are maladjusted. Just because your brights teach them a lesson, your being told your LBs are offensive. Fix it. Don't be that guy. If you get my HBs you'll need to pull over.

I've had 3 professional retrofits in 2 4Rs and never.once.ever.been.flashed.....ever.

Exactly this. Even a proper retrofit isn't legal (or at least, wasn't last I looked) but if done right, will never draw attention from anyone. HID bulbs in halogen housings are absolutely terrible and any vehicle with it should be considered unsafe and removed from the street until it's fixed, and cops should enforce this. What I find somewhat ironic is I know of a few people who have HIDs in halogen projectors who have previously made racist comments about people in japanese cars blinding others doing the exact same thing in the early 2000's.

I'm of the mindset that you absolutely don't mess with someone else's car. But I would take a guilty amount of pleasure watching unsafe and asinine headlight mods get destroyed.

 

[graysquirrel]

On My 2016 T4R I did the HID option and they were so bright it washed out the fog lights and made the hi-beams useless. Got flashed all the time and took them out.

Was looking at putting in Sylvania XV bulbs. Has anyone tried those?

 

[WVhillbilly]

All of the Sylvania bulbs I've tried have a short life.
I have much better luck with PIAA.

 

[KP Texan]

Put some modified H9s in the low beams and never look back, unless you want to spend $1000 on a retro. Been there, done that with the XD Xtreme LED and have dust covers with hole plugs in 'em to prove it.

In my opinion, those projectors work best with halogens and anything else is not ideal. The H9 is an H11 on steroids, and has the same filament location etc. so the beam pattern just works.

 

[Louise]

FWIW, the stock bulbs are great when driving in heavy fog. It provides this yellow color that allows for better contrast on the road as opposed to the LED/HID's white color. The lines on the road are white, the fog makes everything white, and then you're driving with lights projecting this white light.

 

[mrblah]

:violin::violin::violin::violin:

 

[lld3monll]

First thing I did was upgrade to a Morimoto Elite H11 HID kit, no hot spots and the brightness is way better, also the cutoff on the projectors does well with the HID's as well.

https://www.theretrofitsource.com/hid-systems-34/hid-systems-universal/h11-morimoto-elite.html

Exact thing I did , Deff go with the H11B , it’s made specifically for the 4Runner housing and cuts out most of and if not all spotting issues. They have a video on the morimoto site that explains it lol. I hated the stock lighting , and it’s pretty nice with the HID upgrade. A retro fit would be ideal ! Just to pricey for me to mess with

 

[97BlackAckCL]

Exact thing I did , Deff go with the H11B , it’s made specifically for the 4Runner housing and cuts out most of and if not all spotting issues. They have a video on the morimoto site that explains it lol. I hated the stock lighting , and it’s pretty nice with the HID upgrade. A retro fit would be ideal ! Just to pricey for me to mess with

Yep, same bulbs that I went for

 

[e60ral]

FWIW, the stock bulbs are great when driving in heavy fog. It provides this yellow color that allows for better contrast on the road as opposed to the LED/HID's white color.

you can get the same color in HID, try a 3800K bulb

 

[Louise]

you can get the same color in HID, try a 3800K bulb

Stop trying to get me to spend money!

 

[Hans Moleman]

Are the Morimoto H11B bulbs from TRS really that different than the H11 bulbs from Xenon Depot? The Morimoto H11B seems to get a lot better reviews.