60 replies to this topic

[rando]

To update this  - I ended up with a 'behind the grill' mount and 32" LED light bar from Caliraised LEDs.  It positions the light bar behind the lower opening in the Tacoma grill, barely noticeable if you are not looking for it.   We did some winter camping last weekend with a bunch of after dark driving on lonely roads.   The light bar puts out a huge amount of light, and will work for what we want it for.    The beam patterns is pretty wide, so it lights up the side of the road well, but would not be great for high speed driving as it puts too much light in the foreground.   In retrospect I should have bought the light bar elsewhere - it appears to be a generic Chinese light bar with a brand added to it, I could have bought the same thing for half the price on Amazon. 

 

I did two other lighting upgrades while I was at it - changed the foglight bulbs for Flosser 90W bulbs and switched the low beams from H11 to H9 bulbs.   Both of these make a minor difference for on road driving, and maintain the stock light pattern.  Worth while primarily because they are cheap, easy and reversible upgrades.  

[DavidGraves]

Hi Rando

 

Can you tell me more about the bulb change for your truck low beams ?

 

We also drive a 16 Tacoma and the night driving is actually dangerous with my older eyes and the poor stock lighting.

 

Are the H9 bulbs "warmer" in spectrum or something ?

 

Would appreciate knowing where you bought em also.

 

David Graves

[rando]

H9 bulbs are slightly higher wattage, more efficient and therefor about 60% brighter than H11 bulbs.   You can buy H9 bulbs anywhere, they are the stock bulb used in your high beams:

https://smile.amazon...t/dp/B003YMPN3A

 

You do have to modify the connector on the H9 bulb slightly with a utility knife to make it fit with the H11 plug:

 

Because they are being driven harder the H9 bulb will probably have a slightly shorter lifespan than the H11, so keep the bulbs you take out in your glovebox.

[DavidGraves]

Thanks Rando

 

If they are brighter bulbs, does the lense design avoid blinding oncoming drivers ?

 

My 97 T100 has much better lighting for our rural roads.

 

Is it just my eyes ?

 

David Graves

[rando]

It won't blind on coming traffic as the beam pattern is the same, with the same sharp cutoff for your low beams and fogs.   The filament in the H9 and H11 are the same size and position, it just burns brighter in the H9.   One of my (many) pet peeves are the folks that put HID or LED bulbs in their halogen head lights and drive around blinding everyone and raving about how much better they can see.   You can usually see these guys coming b/c their lights are usually also blue to pink for some reason. 

 

The increase in light with this modification is not drastic, but definitely noticeable. 

[DavidGraves]

Thanks again

 

DG

[Vic Harder]

Thanks Rando

 

If they are brighter bulbs, does the lense design avoid blinding oncoming drivers ?

 

My 97 T100 has much better lighting for our rural roads.

 

Is it just my eyes ?

 

David Graves

If you want great lights, check out https://www.lightwer...net/index.php/  They offer kits for DIY, or you can send them your lights and have them retrofit true HID projectors into your stock headlight assemblies.  Involves a lot of cutting/gluing and tweaking when you DIY.

 

I've done this for two of my vehicles and love the super sharp lighting cut-off and bright output.

 

No affiliation!

[craig333]

They never responded to my email unfortunately.

[pvstoy]

Rando

 

So looking at my 2012 Dodge Ram I have H11 low beams and are 55 watts,  You say I can put in H9 and they are 65 watts.  Is 10 watts a big enough difference that will be noticeable while driving?  As it is now low beams are hardly usable driving, just not enough light to see down the road at highway speeds.  Need to use high beams to feel safe.

 

On the Ram it takes a bit of effort to change bulbs as you have to pull the whole light assemble out to get to the bulbs.  Good to know options to make it better, brighter & safer.

[rando]

If you want great lights, check out https://www.lightwer...net/index.php/  They offer kits for DIY, or you can send them your lights and have them retrofit true HID projectors into your stock headlight assemblies.  Involves a lot of cutting/gluing and tweaking when you DIY.

 

I've done this for two of my vehicles and love the super sharp lighting cut-off and bright output.

 

No affiliation!

 

This sounds like a good option - but make sure you get the complete retrofit not just the bulb conversion, otherwise you could be 'that guy' blinding everyone else on the road.