LED High Beams

[BettysNephew]

Have decided to upgrade my high beams with LEDs. For a long time and maybe yet today the DDMs were King of the Hill at least as far as intensity was concerned but unless you disabled the auto feature on Limiteds you had to put up with very bright strobing when in DRL mode or cut the pin on the module. I have seen ads and videos from Xenon Depot regarding their non strobing LED system that claims to tame the PWM issues. I have been very happy with everything I have gotten from XD but am a bit of a sceptic as many others have made this claim but seem to fall short in actual practice.

So hopefully someone on the Forum has had both systems in their 4R. What is the verdict if you have had both? Do the XDs strobe? Is there a massive difference in the light output? The XDs are a bit warmer in color so does this make a difference?

An inquiring mind wants to know. Thanks for your opinions.

 

[discr33t]

I'm also interested in figuring this out. The fact that my high beams and DRLs are not LED like everything else really annoys me. Somebody told me that the TRD Pro 4Runner comes with LED high beams and DRLs; maybe there is a swap option to be explored? I honestly haven't done any research on the subject but I know I want to get LED high beams in there.

 

[Captain Planet]

Drop-in LED's a typically regarded as junk by people in the know.

 

[Birddog1911]

Not sure what year you have, but I can tell you this: a '21 can have the factory high beams swapped to the factory LEDs highbeams.

 

[Immersion_Suit]

I installed GTR Ultra 2 LEDs for both my high beams and low beams and I think they perform excellently. The highs have the PWM module so no flickering. The DRL's are a bit too bright, so I don't often run them, but I have never been flashed for my lows. The low beams have good cutoffs and decent throw. The highs are insanely, stupidly bright which I'm fine with on dark country roads.

Installation was pretty easy as the light housing fits inside the low beam projector housing with no modification of the dust cover.

 

[discr33t]

Not sure what year you have, but I can tell you this: a '21 can have the factory high beams swapped to the factory LEDs highbeams.

Luckily I do have a 2021 Venture. It sounds like I was told correct information then? I guess I can just call my local Toyota dealership and order the OEM LED high beams? Have you done this by chance?

 

[Rainier42]

Luckily I do have a 2021 Venture. It sounds like I was told correct information then? I guess I can just call my local Toyota dealership and order the OEM LED high beams? Have you done this by chance?

Certainly check with your dealer, but am not sure it is a simple swap out. It may be the circuit for the TRD Pro/Limited with LED low and high beams is different.

 

[Saker]

Not sure what year you have, but I can tell you this: a '21 can have the factory high beams swapped to the factory LEDs highbeams.

I have a 21 TRDORP, it came with LED Low Beam Modules. The High Beams come with Halogen bulbs that also function as the DRL’s. Those can be swapped with LED aftermarket replacements as we have done in previous versions.

The TRD Pros and I think at least 1 other model, comes with LED Low / High Beam modules. These are in the same module.
The DRL is in the same location as the previous models High Beam / DRL location.

How can 21 have the factory high beams swapped to the factory LEDs highbeams without a change in the respective harness.
Just trying to understand!

 

[Birddog1911]

Luckily I do have a 2021 Venture. It sounds like I was told correct information then? I guess I can just call my local Toyota dealership and order the OEM LED high beams? Have you done this by chance?

I have a 21 TRDORP, it came with LED Low Beam Modules. The High Beams come with Halogen bulbs that also function as the DRL’s. Those can be swapped with LED aftermarket replacements as we have done in previous versions.

The TRD Pros and I think at least 1 other model, comes with LED Low / High Beam modules. These are in the same module.
The DRL is in the same location as the previous models High Beam / DRL location.

How can 21 have the factory high beams swapped to the factory LEDs highbeams without a change in the respective harness.
Just trying to understand!

I'm no expert, I just know that I told the dealer that I wanted LED high beams, and they said they can do it. They should have it done tomorrow, so I'll look through the paperwork for details. It might be a case of them swapping the whole housing with a TRD Pro?

 

[Rainier42]

I'm no expert, I just know that I told the dealer that I wanted LED high beams, and they said they can do it. They should have it done tomorrow, so I'll look through the paperwork for details. It might be a case of them swapping the whole housing with a TRD Pro?

Would be surprised they would have a '21 TRD Pro housing in stock. I would bet on doing a simple swap out of bulbs.

 

[Saker]

I'm no expert, I just know that I told the dealer that I wanted LED high beams, and they said they can do it. They should have it done tomorrow, so I'll look through the paperwork for details. It might be a case of them swapping the whole housing with a TRD Pro?

[MENTION=646541]Birddog1911[/MENTION],
That will be interesting to say the least....!

Keep us informed if they actually do that and if they do, ask them how it was done.

 

[BettysNephew]

Okay folks, this has been quite a discussion, but I received no answers to the original questions I posed. The three I want answered are:

1. Which are the brightest? XD or DDM

2. Those that have the XDs with the module, do they strobe?

3. Are the XDs on in full bright in DRL mode like others?

Since some couldn't read my sig line, I own a 2017 Limited.

I also do not care if these lights are a bad idea, I just want answers to the questions above. Flame away if you wish but these are relatively basic simple questions.

 

[tm965]

Okay folks, this has been quite a discussion, but I received no answers to the original questions I posed. The three I want answered are:

1. Which are the brightest? XD or DDM

2. Those that have the XDs with the module, do they strobe?

3. Are the XDs on in full bright in DRL mode like others?

Since some couldn't read my sig line, I own a 2017 Limited.

I also do not care if these lights are a bad idea, I just want answers to the questions above. Flame away if you wish but these are relatively basic simple questions.

as a limited owner with the ddm saber pros, the throw is so good on them that i dont care about the flicker DRL. i just turn the lights to the off position unless its a very sunny day where other drivers wont be bothered by the DRL. the performance is worth the extra bit of hassle.

 

[aweaver65]

SV4's from Headlight Revolution work for me

I have a 20 TRD Pro and prior to this had a Porsche Macan GTS with the full LED Package, so when I got the Pro, I HATED how yellow and dim the lights were. It made me really frustrated... So after a long search, I purchased the Morimoto XB's from Headlight Revolution... Those were much better/brighter and looked fantastic. Within a few days, the LED Perimeter lights around the border went out!!! So, HR agreed to replace that light (only one was bad)...

Anyway, after a conversation with a service rep, who told me "Oh, yeah we know some of those have that issue, but we haven't had anyone who has had to REPLACE THEM MORE THAN THREE TIMES". I was like are you F'ing kidding me??? YOU HAVE TO PULL THE WHOLE FRONT END OFF to install them... So I returned them.

Moving forward, I DID buy the LED drop in's from Headlight Revolution because there was NO WAY I was going back to yellow dimness...

I got these:
14-20 Toyota 4Runner GTR Lighting S-V.4 (High Beam) I HR

and these:
14-20 Toyota 4Runner GTR Lighting S-V.4 (Low Beam) I HR

I have to say, I've had them for about 10 months, almost 9000 miles so far and they have been GREAT. They are SUPER BRIGHT, (even brighter than the Morimotos) and make driving at night a completely different thing. I can't say enough positive about them.

I will tell you that I installed them as I had the front end off and the old light housings still out on the bench as I was removing the Morimotos. They are a TIGHT fit inside the housing. I dred the day they go out and have to be replaced.

Anyway, that's my two cents. Headlight Revolution sort of screwed up on the Morimotos, but they made good and I love these lights.

P.S. they come with the controllers to stop the flickering so there are no issues with them at all. Getting those controllers stuffed into the housing is the tough part.

 

[17KT4R]

Okay folks, this has been quite a discussion, but I received no answers to the original questions I posed. The three I want answered are:

1. Which are the brightest? XD or DDM

2. Those that have the XDs with the module, do they strobe?

3. Are the XDs on in full bright in DRL mode like others?

Since some couldn't read my sig line, I own a 2017 Limited.

I also do not care if these lights are a bad idea, I just want answers to the questions above. Flame away if you wish but these are relatively basic simple questions.

1. I have the DD's in the low beams and XD's in the high beams. They look the same color and intensity to me.

2. No - unless you're looking at the DRL from two feet away then you can see the pulse faintly. Or parked up against the garage at night, you can see the pulse. Otherwise, you can't focus on that in all other conditions, drivers do not see that.

3. No they are at 50% like the halogens were since they are controlled by that module they have designed.

Mine is a 2017 as well, have had these in for 3 full years now (actually no the XD units came out in 2018 I think? I bought the first run). No issues. Although my City is converting streetlights to LED which are at the same color temperature so you lose the distance on them a bit under those lights unlike the halogen but under dark road conditions they perform very well (I have no night vision issues, maybe some people do). I added the Tundra LED fogs that bolt right in, they work really well too under conditions which they are designed for, nice wide beam - very focused, did not have to adjust at all.

 

[Pedro367]

Drop-in LED's a typically regarded as junk by people in the know.

I installed GTR Ultra 2 LEDs for both my high beams and low beams and I think they perform excellently. The highs have the PWM module so no flickering. The DRL's are a bit too bright, so I don't often run them, but I have never been flashed for my lows. The low beams have good cutoffs and decent throw. The highs are insanely, stupidly bright which I'm fine with on dark country roads.

Installation was pretty easy as the light housing fits inside the low beam projector housing with no modification of the dust cover.

LEDs seem to be a very polarizing thing on the forums. One says they are useless "because the the OE reflectors arent designed for them" and the other say they love them. Hard to find whats the truth unless you try for yourself I guess.

 

[Captain Planet]

LEDs seem to be a very polarizing thing on the forums. One says they are useless "because the the OE reflectors arent designed for them" and the other say they love them. Hard to find whats the truth unless you try for yourself I guess.

They are objectively worse when paired with projectors made for halogen bulbs.

There is TONS of hype on the internet because they may seem passable at first glance and they are sold at crazy markups. The light in foreground is typically much brighter, but the throw is significantly diminished. You are also blinding everyone on the road.

They real solution is projector retrofit, but that's a lot of work and money. People don't/can't do that, so they take the easy way out.

It is empirically proven that these kits are bad. There is a reason most of the somewhat decent resellers list these as 'off-road only'

You can find a mountain of data indicating that these are bad. Try to find actual reproducible data indicating otherwise. It's always someone's opinion or just straight vitriol.

 

[17KT4R]

They are objectively worse when paired with projectors made for halogen bulbs.

There is TONS of hype on the internet because they may seem passable at first glance and they are sold at crazy markups. The light in foreground is typically much brighter, but the throw is significantly diminished. You are also blinding everyone on the road.

They real solution is projector retrofit, but that's a lot of work and money. People don't/can't do that, so they take the easy way out.

It is empirically proven that these kits are bad. There is a reason most of the somewhat decent resellers list these as 'off-road only'

You can find a mountain of data indicating that these are bad. Try to find actual reproducible data indicating otherwise. It's always someone's opinion or just straight vitriol.

I concur I was reading all of that science back in 2017 as well but I chose to purchase the 2 leading LED units at the time (DD & XD). I've been impressed with their manufacturing standard. For sure there would be a slight performance decrease in the way that you explain being that they are inside a projector designed for halogen but on the other facets I can say that they are not blinding and have no glare, perhaps it is their design too or the intensity that they emit being close to a halogen luminaire. I've seen cheap drop in Amazon LED's in many vehicles with similar projectors and yes they are way too bright, the light more like a flood as well.

I've been ahead of my truck many times in our other car and don't find annoying glare behind me, nor do I see it when the vehicle is coming toward me at night on wet roads etc. So I think there is something to be said for a higher quality choice in the LED market for sure, stay away from the cheap Amazon stuff.

On the issue of performance they are not going to outperform a halogen H11 or whatever totally agree, but I do have good night vision so this is not a problem for me (yet). But - when loaded down in the back however and the headlights face upward they are tougher to look at than halogen, probably because of color temp so I can see that pissing off some drivers on coming, the new OEM units must present the same issue.

Eventually I might change the assemblies out to the OEM's once my lens gets more wear and the pricing comes down... and there is a plug and play harness to convert or whatever the case may be but for now I think these have been a decent option for me looking to have the newer OEM look so to speak without any discernable performance decrease on the cottage roads.

 

[Pedro367]

They are objectively worse when paired with projectors made for halogen bulbs.

There is TONS of hype on the internet because they may seem passable at first glance and they are sold at crazy markups. The light in foreground is typically much brighter, but the throw is significantly diminished. You are also blinding everyone on the road.

They real solution is projector retrofit, but that's a lot of work and money. People don't/can't do that, so they take the easy way out.

It is empirically proven that these kits are bad. There is a reason most of the somewhat decent resellers list these as 'off-road only'

You can find a mountain of data indicating that these are bad. Try to find actual reproducible data indicating otherwise. It's always someone's opinion or just straight vitriol.

But wouldn't someones opinion that they are much better/brighter than the OE halogens be something that should be taken into account too? I understand the argument that an LED bulb that wasn't designed for the OE projector may not be ideal, but if the person is happy with the results I feel like that should also be taken into account, especially for the cost vs. either a new headlight, retrofits, HIDs, etc.. Personally, I don't care if it was designed for the OE projector or not if the performance is worth the price.

My point was that there are just as many people saying that they like them as there are people saying "they aren't designed for the OE projectors." I can't imagine everybody who likes them is just wrong...

 

[Saker]

But wouldn't someones opinion that they are much better/brighter than the OE halogens be something that should be taken into account too? I understand the argument that an LED bulb that wasn't designed for the OE projector may not be ideal, but if the person is happy with the results I feel like that should also be taken into account, especially for the cost vs. either a new headlight, retrofits, HIDs, etc.. Personally, I don't care if it was designed for the OE projector or not if the performance is worth the price.

My point was that there are just as many people saying that they like them as there are people saying "they aren't designed for the OE projectors." I can't imagine everybody who likes them is just wrong...

Performance and opinion are 2 different things if one understands the way the halogen reflector and a burning halogen filament work together vs how a halogen reflector and a LED drop in bulb that does not emit the same arc range in that reflector.
My opinion may or may not be the same as others, but when performance is noticeably different/diminished, that was enough for me.