PSA: Your Amazon Hi-beam LED headlights are garbage.

[17KT4R]

I purchased the Diode Dynamics H11's and have found them to be a perfect halogen replacement. They fit nicely inside the dust caps and I've been in front of my vehicle many times ( driving another car type of thing ) and they don't expel any more light where it shouldn't be. Presumably this is in the design mindset at Diode Dynamics which is why I chose this brand. They don't claim to be brighter than stock, the beam pattern is pretty much the same from what I can see, nobody is flashing high beams at me in inclement weather from glare. I replaced my stock fogs recently with the popular Tundra LED retrofit.

H11 SL1 LED Headlight

 

[John in NC]

OK let me narrow down my comments to LOW beams.

If your aftermarket low beams cause you to get oncoming brights flashed at you, your lights suck.

If you constantly get flashed your lights are a problem, and if your response is "Screw them I'll do what I want it's my vehicle" while giving them the bird and flashing your sweet light bar and searing high beams at them, you're a d-bag.

I searched this forum regarding the topic and the general opinion of the mod loving folks seems to be DOT be damned I'll do what I want with my headlights.

Is there not a DOT/ OEM sytle slight bulb upgrade that would help without going with this not DOT legal stuff and blinding people?

 

[bugkillr]

OK let me narrow down my comments to LOW beams.



If you constantly get flashed your lights are a problem, and if your response is "Screw them I'll do what I want it's my vehicle" while giving them the bird and flashing your sweet light bar and searing high beams at them, you're a d-bag.



I searched this forum regarding the topic and the general opinion of the mod loving folks seems to be DOT be damned I'll do what I want with my headlights.

You must live in my area. Haha
It's mostly all the diesel crowd here though that does it.
White Oakley's and flat bill cap pulled down to the nose are the other 2 mods that go with the headlights here.

 

[Brick Sprickly]

..... that is unless you do that Carolina Squat thing which signals aliens your a$$ is available for probing!

View attachment 348201

Is that what this is called? I've seen it all over the region here and wondered if it was just a local thing.

Stupid as hell haha

 

[bugkillr]

Is that what this is called? I've seen it all over the region here and wondered if it was just a local thing.



Stupid as hell haha

Google "cone life" as regards to full size trucks if you want to lower your IQ by 30 points.

 

[tjnptel1]

I understand this thread is about LEDs but what about xenon bulbs in the low beam? I have those from XD, and never been flashed back, the throw is great and (i think) the cut-off is good.

 

[17KT4R]

I searched this forum regarding the topic and the general opinion of the mod loving folks seems to be DOT be damned I'll do what I want with my headlights.

Is there not a DOT/ OEM style slight bulb upgrade that would help without going with this not DOT legal stuff and blinding people?

I would say that nothing is DOT approved other than what is OEM from a legal perspective. Even Diode Dynamics markets their SL1 LED replacements with the acronym being 'Street Legal' but what does that mean technically. Their engineering team seems to go to great lengths to ensure the product is properly focused with beam patterns and intensity levels, luminance however you want to look at it that is at the OEM levels. So with that in mind - that is the reason I chose their product personally, they certainly fit the bill for me, they don't shine any better than the OEM halogens from what I can decipher but certainly not worse.
:behindsofa:

 

[Brick Sprickly]

Google "cone life" as regards to full size trucks if you want to lower your IQ by 30 points.

I just did. Brain is numb.

Hah i mean what's the point? These trucks aren't visible enough being twice the size of a 4R?

 

[bugkillr]

I just did. Brain is numb.

Hah i mean what's the point? These trucks aren't visible enough being twice the size of a 4R?

Man I don't know. I'm pretty much resigned to the fact that some things people do can't be rationalized logically.
We have a group of about 10-15 guys in our small town that do that stupid "conelife" stuff. Same guys run "cali lean" on their trucks as well as poorly designed headlights that blind birds, much less other traffic. Strange stuff.

 

[Brick Sprickly]

Man I don't know. I'm pretty much resigned to the fact that some things people do can't be rationalized logically.
We have a group of about 10-15 guys in our small town that do that stupid "conelife" stuff. Same guys run "cali lean" on their trucks as well as poorly designed headlights that blind birds, much less other traffic. Strange stuff.

Well I suppose the silver lining is that the upward angled headlights will make driving more dangerous for them. Natural selection at work!

 

[angerbot]

People don't like hearing this, but LED bulbs only provide the illusion of better lighting performance.

You have to decide whether you're going to trust some forum members with 0 scientific testing equipment or people with engineering backgrounds, scientific testing equipment, and actual scientific research. The forum members with 0 scientific testing equipment say that LEDs are an upgrade. The people armed with science say it's not. I'm only going to present you with science. No marketing materials. No Amazon referral links. It's up to you to make the informed decision.

If you want more rigor, here's an SAE study that tested 9 LED bulbs in 3 different lamps and found that most had too much glare and not enough downrange light.

To present a real solution: your 4Runner has Koito H11 projectors, and I have some scientific tests for you.

For those of you who don't want to click through, here's the results of the bulb testing at various distances. You can see that at 40' the stock halogen bulbs were actually providing more light than either Xenon Depot or Diode Dynamics LED bulbs.

Get GE Megalights, or Philips X-Treme vision H11 bulbs, whichever is cheaper on Amazon at the time as Philips has a slight performance edge but not enough to be very noticeable in the real world. You'll improve your lighting dramatically without adding undue glare for other drivers on the road.

 

[tristero]

People don't like hearing this, but LED bulbs only provide the illusion of better lighting performance.

TBH I learned a ton more from reading this guy's posts on TW than anywhere else on the internet crashnburn80

 

[flatspin]

I've upgraded my bulbs years ago and the ONLY time I've been flashed was when I had the back loaded heavy at night.

I did adjust my cut-off line 3 inches below factory (non-lifted) settings and I'm careful to keep the cut off below the trunk line/side view mirror when I pull up behind someone at night.

To test it, I parked my daughter's Sonata, pulled up behind it in my 4Runner, and sat in the Sonata to see if the glare was too bad. Nope, not an issue at all. Much better than some of the OEM truck LEDs actually (which have actually blinded me when I'm in my 4Runner).

The result is the truck is MUCH safer to drive at night and I'm not blinding anyone. People upgrading just need to be smart about it.

 

[Slubgub]

I had XD leds in both the high and lows with the anti-flicker driver for drls for almost a year. That was until I drove in a snow storm last weekend. Very next day I ripped them out and went back to the H9 conversion. When I first installed the leds I tweaked the clocking numerous times trying to rid the dead spot in front of the vehicle, but always had to run fogs. Driving in the rain at night was challenging and the glare bouncing back at me off the roads signs was annoying. additionally the drls still did flicker. Not noticeable to other drivers but I knew it was there and found it annoying. I never really felt satisfied with the amount of money I put into the leds but learned to live with it until I hit the snow. It made visibility worse with that white light reflecting back off of every flake, did not feel safe at all. After putting the H9’s back in, the dead spot is gone and I do not need my fogs all the time. The light is more full and throws better. If you live in an area that there is frequent inclement weather, skip the leds. Wish I would have seen this thread before spending all that time and money on trying to get the leds to be satisfying and not interested in spending the cash on a proper retrofit housing. Will make a spare set of conversion bulbs for when the halogens burn out.

 

[zonzin]

Good information, OP! Thanks for sharing.

...

Perhaps an even bigger pet peeve is fog lights. Probably 98% of the time I see them, it’s a clear night with no rain, fog, snow, or dust. Perhaps the drivers think it looks cool. ....!

I live in a rural area and deer and elk are constantly on the road. Having the fogs on has saved my bacon many times as they light up the sides of the road way better than lows or highs helping me to spot the critters before they become road kill. I always drive with fogs on when in deer areas and always will.



.

 

[maxp0wer]

They need to crack down and stop passing these vehicles at inspection. It's not just the headlights, but the people who have the LED fogs running all the time. By god, they paid $400 for them and need to prove to everyone how cool they are. I will add it seems to be the jeeps and lifted trucks that are the worst.

 

[thennen]

I live in a rural area and deer and elk are constantly on the road. Having the fogs on has saved my bacon many times as they light up the sides of the road way better than lows or highs helping me to spot the critters before they become road kill. I always drive with fogs on when in deer areas and always will.



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I live in a rural area too. Fog lights are supposed to illuminate the road right in front of you and to the sides, as you mention. So they would light up a deer when you're almost on top of it. Hard to imagine that they would illuminate something 100 feet away or further. Maybe yours are aimed high, helping you to see further down the road. If so, you may be making it difficult for oncoming drivers to see. That's what I'm talking about. If you're the only one on the road, turn on all the lights you want. If someone is approaching, be courteous and turn your fogs off if they're that bright.

 

[bugkillr]

That's what I'm talking about. If you're the only one on the road, turn on all the lights you want. If someone is approaching, be courteous and turn your fogs off if they're that bright.

This^
I'm all for lighting up the night.....as long as you're not a hazzard to other drivers. The idiots in my area brag about blinding people on purpose and "rolling coal" on folks at stop lights ect. It's just a general disregard for other people. I did get a small twinge of satisfaction when one of them had their truck catch fire and burn to a crisp. I'm assuming from some hacked up mod done to it. ..once diesel catches fire...

 

[17KT4R]

People don't like hearing this, but LED bulbs only provide the illusion of better lighting performance.

You have to decide whether you're going to trust some forum members with 0 scientific testing equipment or people with engineering backgrounds, scientific testing equipment, and actual scientific research.

Your info is appreciated, there are obviously a multitude of factors present with these so called 'upgrades' but there are certainly better options than others and I think you get what you pay for with the DD product. After looking into the R&D that they seem to be doing with their lights, it's the reason I made the choice and as I said - they appear pretty darn close to the OEM halogen shine on the road ( I wear a tinted visor at night on the motorcycle so I consider my night vision to be half decent LoL ).

So why even change then? Personal choice, I just don't like the halogen look so I'm on that side of the fence.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eytcPqKD4k0

 

[zonzin]

I live in a rural area too. Fog lights are supposed to illuminate the road right in front of you and to the sides, as you mention. So they would light up a deer when you're almost on top of it. ...

No, mine are factory aimed factory bulbs, they give out just enough light to the sides to improve the visibility in that area where deer jump right out in front of you, 100 feet down the road is covered by the low beams.



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