*Review* Alpharex Pro headlights

[CharlesNellis]

Install went well. The lights sit good and there are no noticeable gaps.

Once the lights are in you cannot change the low beam bulb so pick and clock which bulb you want to run before putting everything back together.

This can also pose an issue for those of you who run longer LED bulbs that stick out past the dust cap too. They most likely wont clear. The wires for my HID bulbs barely cleared.

Here's a couple pics showing what I mean:

The HID kit I got is off of Amazon. Innovite 55w 4300k HID off of a recommendation from another forum member. He says he has been running them trouble free for 3 to 4 years.

These are a great improvement over stock for about $520 total (headlights + HIDs).

The only negative for me are the high beams. The stock highbeams are 10x better than the ones on the alpharex Pros. Perhaps some LED bulbs are on order for the highs. I can still get to the highbeam dustcap.

I'm slightly bothered by the passenger side. I think it can shoot out a little more to the right. Perhaps I will loosen a few headlight bolts on top and retighten while pushing the headlights to the right.

I will get daytime shots of the exterior another time but for now, here are some videos and photos.

The videos are on the same road. Excuse the language in the first video, the phone went wonky.

Stock headlight video.
YouTube

Alpharex Pro video
YouTube

Stock headlights vs. Alpharex Pro

The thread that made me consider these:https://www.toyota-4runner.org/3437996-post100.html

Update:

No pics but I put some katana h7 LEDs in the high beams and the output is even more garbage than with the h7 halogens. That bulb is supposed to be one of the good ones in highbeam projectors but maybe the youtubers only tested the intensity 3 feet away.

So I went to autozone and got some h7 xtremevisions. Much better output and I retain color definition at distance.

That's the route I would go with. HID lows, xtremevision halogens high. I was thinking about HID in the highs too but might want to retain the ability to flash


Update:

So I removed my headlights to see how I inserted them in because I wanted to make sure the "rod" was facing down on the bulb.

Turns out they weren't. I was at about a 10 o clock position with the tab and the rod was at 4.

I fixed it so I was at 12 o clock and the rod was now at 6 o clock.

Remounted the lights and now my passenger side had a wacky beam pattern!

I messed around with it a bit and 10 o clock gave me the best pattern on the passenger's side and 12 o clock on the driver's side.

I guess these cheap Amazon HID bulbs may not be on a perfect plane so you have to pick the right spot for them.

Update: June 29, 2020

I put my stock headlights back in. The alpharex pros with HIDs are a huge improvement over stock, but they are too bright for my eyes.

The projectors need a foreground limiter. The intense foreground lighting dialates the pupils too much and makes everything farther out and to the sides too dark even though the lights are brighter than stock.

I can see why morimoto designed their lights with a dark spot in the front of the vehicle now.

I'm going to store these til I have the ambition to take them apart and tinker with adding foreground limiters.

Having driven with the stock headlights for a bit now, I realize my eyes are not as strained anymore after a long night drive.


The stock 4runner projectors are actually not that bad. They have a good foreground limiter, they don't blind drivers to your right when you are passing, but they do need higher output. Old tech but saves your night vision.

I can see why the best HID projectors have foreground limiters now (TL HID projects, rx350, etc.)

 

[mcat707]

Install went well. The lights sit good and there are no noticeable gaps.

Once the lights are in you cannot change the low beam bulb so pick and clock which bulb you want to run before putting everything back together.

The HID kit I got is off of Amazon. Innovative 55w 4300k HID off of a recommendation from another forum member. He says he has been running them trouble free for 3 to 4 years.

It's a great improvement over stock for about $520 total (headlights + HIDs). The only negative for me are the high beams. The stock highbeams are 10x better than the ones on the alpharex Pros. Perhaps some LED bulbs are on order for the highs. I can still get to the highbeam dustcap.

I will get daytime shots of the exterior another time but for now, here are some videos and photos.

The videos are on the same road. Excuse the language in the first video, the phone went wonky.

Stock headlight video.
YouTube

Alpharex Pro video
YouTube

Some night pics
Imgur: The magic of the Internet

Cutoff lines
Imgur: The magic of the Internet

Just an FYI, it says Alpharex Pro video here but in the YouTube title you got Alpharex Nova. :noidea:

 

[CharlesNellis]

Just an FYI, it says Alpharex Pro video here but in the YouTube title you got Alpharex Nova. :noidea:

Dangit I just fixed it on imgur too lol. Thanks for the heads up.

 

[mcat707]

Are those pics with fog lights on? If so, are they LED or Halogen?

Also, did you install the supplied DRL harness that connects to your battery and fuse box? I know its optional but wondering if you did.

 

[CharlesNellis]

Are those pics with fog lights on? If so, are they LED or Halogen?

Also, did you install the supplied DRL harness that connects to your battery and fuse box? I know its optional but wondering if you did.

No fog lights on in all pics or videos. I didn't install the DRL harness.

I feel like I could aim the lights higher, but the 4runner is so high I dont want to be an a-hole to other drivers. So they are lighting the foreground like a fog but still have more distance than the stock headlights.

I aimed the lights 5 inches below the optical center of the headlights at 35 feet and the step up on the beam is about 1 per 2 inches below the optical center at 35 feet.

 

[mcat707]

Was hoping someone can answer this question for me....


Installation Guide for 14-20 Toyota 4Runner Headlights | AlphaRex

On the install guide, step 12, For the DRL harness, it says to tap the grey wire into the INJ fuse 10A route. According to a Toyota tech I talked to today, he said thats the fuel injection fuse. Why would they have the DRL harness tapped into that fuse slot?

 

[CharlesNellis]

Was hoping someone can answer this question for me....


Installation Guide for 14-20 Toyota 4Runner Headlights | AlphaRex

On the install guide, step 12, For the DRL harness, it says to tap the grey wire into the INJ fuse 10A route. According to a Toyota tech I talked to today, he said thats the fuel injection fuse. Why would they have the DRL harness tapped into that fuse slot?

Probably so the DRLs only come on when the engine is running and not when ignition is on and engine not running.

I think all factory DRLs can't run if the engine isn't. Maybe it's a DOT thing.

 

[mcat707]

Probably so the DRLs only come on when the engine is running and not when ignition is on and engine not running.

I think all factory DRLs can't run if the engine isn't. Maybe it's a DOT thing.

Ah ok, that makes more sense.

 

[aceee]

From your pictures and reviews from others, output on these are amazing. WAY better than those trash morimoto xb headlights people are on the hype train about. These are definitely on my list if my retrofit doesn't go as planned. Thanks for the review!

 

[CharlesNellis]

From your pictures and reviews from others, output on these are amazing. WAY better than those trash morimoto xb headlights people are on the hype train about. These are definitely on my list if my retrofit doesn't go as planned. Thanks for the review!

You're welcome. I'm loving these so far. The morimoto's would have been an option for me too, as well as the Alpharex Novas, but having irreplaceable/unserviceable bulbs bugs me as well as double the price.

 

[ForRun]

It's hard for me to tell on mobile. The XBs have a dead zero light zone up front and to the sides and looks similar to your pics. Is their useable light or do you need the fogs to see in that area? Thanks

 

[ForRun]

Found my old example, hid vs XB showing the dead zone. These pics taken in the exact same spot camera front center of the steering wheel. Use the cracks in the road as reference, can't see some in the xb dark zone

 

[mcat707]

Like what the OP mentioned before, the major downside of the PRO’s (not sure about the Nova’s) is the ability to change out the low beams. You would need to remove the bumper and take out the headlight assemblies once again to replace the bulbs.

A major pain in the azz if you have armor, bull bars, winches or whatever aftermarket parts that take additional work to remove and reinstall over the factory bumper.

 

[CharlesNellis]

It's hard for me to tell on mobile. The XBs have a dead zero light zone up front and to the sides and looks similar to your pics. Is their useable light or do you need the fogs to see in that area? Thanks

There's more useable light than with the stock headlights.

With the stock headlights, my factory LED fogs would be needed to light up the sides.

I turned on the factory LED foglights with the new headlights and could barely tell they were on. That tells me the sides are getting enough lighting to the sides from the Pros to drown out the output of the LEDs.

This pic was taken in the same spot. Factory headlights vs Pros. You can see how it lights up that road marker on the drivers side with the Pros but not with the factory lighting. I would have needed my fogs in with the factory lighting to light that up.

My passenger side needs work though. Stock has it beat a little for up close to the right work. Gotta loosen and aim right a tad.

 

[CharlesNellis]

Like what the OP mentioned before, the major downside of the PRO’s (not sure about the Nova’s) is the ability to change out the low beams. You would need to remove the bumper and take out the headlight assemblies once again to replace the bulbs.

A major pain in the azz if you have armor, bull bars, winches or whatever aftermarket parts that take additional work to remove and reinstall over the factory bumper.

Yeah. That's the great thing about stock, everything is accessible.

With the Pros, you have to remove the headlight to service the low beams, blinker, and side marker light.

With the Novas, you have to remove the headlight and send it in to Alpharex.

 

[CharlesNellis]

In my opinion, these are one of the best options for output.

From pictures, it seems like stock with HIDs beat them for peripheral lighting but at the cost of forward throw due to having to lower the headlights because of the cutoffs.

Stock also has the advantage of not taking the whole freaking bumper off to service the lights.

The Pros may actually be better than the Morimotos peripherally, but I haven't got a set of those so cannot say for sure. The Pros are half the cost and have great output. The morimotos are non serviceable.

The Novas may actually be the best of the bunch. We won't know until someone tests them.

 

[mcat707]

Yeah. That's the great thing about stock, everything is accessible.

With the Pros, you have to remove the headlight to service the low beams, blinker, and side marker light.

With the Novas, you have to remove the headlight and send it in to Alpharex.

Alpharex should note this issue on their product page, To save customers from returning their product and having to deal with that BS. They should be up front about it. It’s not like they didn’t know about it. How could they not?
If I would have known that I would have to take off the bumper every time I need to remove bulbs I probably would have held off on buying my set.

I’m on the fence of returning them at this point. Too lazy to take off my bumper and reinstall my stock set. :ybrick:

I guess they want to take that gamble on customers like me who might just keep theirs.

 

[CharlesNellis]

Alpharex should note this issue on their product page, To save customers from returning their product and having to deal with that BS. They should be up front about it. It’s not like they didn’t know about it. How could they not?
If I would have known that I would have to take off the bumper every time I need to remove bulbs I probably would have held off on buying my set.

I’m on the fence of returning them at this point. Too lazy to take off my bumper and reinstall my stock set. :ybrick:

I guess they want to take that gamble on customers like me who might just keep theirs.

Yah. I think you should keep them. Even though we have to take them off, at least they are serviceable by us and we don't need to ship them out if a bulb goes out.

HID and LED bulbs should last longer than halogens. I don't see myself servicing the bulbs for 2 or 3 years.

 

[RSalha17]

Can you post some pictures of the front of the truck? Do you like the look of the aesthetically? Thanks for all the info!

 

[CharlesNellis]

Can you post some pictures of the front of the truck? Do you like the look of the aesthetically? Thanks for all the info!

I put some up in the first post. You're welcome. I'm kind of indifferent to the look. I thought stock looked great, but these are appealing. Not ugly or "ricey" to me by any means. I was more after the performance.