The ultimate headlight project

Here’s a video I shot while aiming my retros from SouthPaw. I realize it’s a little difficult to see what’s going on here in this video so I’ll try to shed some light (lol). On the left is my tundra with the parking lights pulled out and dangling because I was doing the aiming against a garage door. On the right is my wife’s GX 460. It’s basically me just walking back-and-forth flipping both of them on and off. When they are both off, there is a bit of a dull glow which is the DRL on the Lexus. You will also notice after I turn on the Lexus lights, I then flip on the fog lights which fill in the foreground. Fog lights are off the whole time on the tundra. At the very end of the video, I flip the tundra to the highbeams.

https://youtu.be/aVUNrS_rKeQ

 

Hell to the yeas! That is a nice clean cutoff and a nice tight high beam. Which projectors did you have him install if you don't mind me asking? Are you running HID or LED behind those projectors?

 

I'm not sure what he used, I just asked for his standard plain-jane build. Perhaps @SouthPaw can chime in. Here’s the projector close up:



When I first installed them, the cutoff was misaligned:



I rotated them and easily got the cut off level. After some aligning but before aiming:



Then the video shows them fully aimed. They're every bit as bright as the multi-LED projectors on the Lexus and brighter than 2018+ Tundra OEM LED. The high beams are definitely brighter on the Tundra retrofits than the Lexus or 2019 Tundra OEM LEDs. I used DDM 55W H1 HID 4300K: https://ddmtuning.com/DDM-HID-Kit-Slim-Ballast-35W-or-55W

 

I got some different ballasts that are junk. How do you like the DDM ballasts? I saw a youtube video where he claimed they are the best of the budget ballasts, but I can't decide if I should go that route or just bite the bullet and get Morimoto ballasts. Do you think the 55W are true 55W? I'm guessing my cheap 35W ballasts are more like 10W

 

I've had really good luck with DDM for years on many different vehicles. I have a set in one of my motorcycles that's still going strong after >10 years with 60k+ miles, many offroad. Would definitely recommend

 

First off, I want to thank everyone for being patient. During this break, I made some changes, one which lead to a new career. I have worked in the oil/gas industry for the last seven years although it has treated me well, I decided to step out of it. I decided to continue my career in heavy equipment which allows me to support oil and gas, construction, heavy civil and anyone else who uses yellow iron. My new job allows me more time at home which I am thankful for, which in turn allows more time for stuff like this.

Anyways, now that I have gotten mostly settled in, I am opening the doors back up. I think I responded to everyone who sent me a PM but if I missed you, send me a message. Again, thank you for your patience and I look forward to helping anyone out that is interested.

 

More units going out this week!

 

It was brought to my attention that the hid units I recommend (Xtreme vision on Amazon) may be causing some issues for users. I am curious to see how many of you use them, if you have had any issues with them or what other brands you are using (good/bad).

Feel free to comment here or send me a pm. I’m happy to help trouble shoot the issue.

 

I used them and they weren't very bight and the 4300k bulbs were very blue. I emailed xtreme on Amazon and they sent new bulbs right away, but still had the same problem. I bought new bulbs from xenondepot (trs said these were brighter than the ones they sell) same issue so it wasn't the bulbs. I bought Hylux ballasts and now my lights are so much brighter and the color is correct.

I was surprised because the reviews on amazon were really good.

Here's a picture of the lights with new ballast on driver's side and old ballast on passenger.

 

Thanks for the reply. Curious, did you disconnect your DRL plug? A 2006 may have the separate bulb for the DRL, can’t remember.

As I spoke with another member, I have had only one issue with mine with the fog light ballast. The connector got water in it and it shorted out. Xtreme vision sent me one free of charge under their two year warranty. I have Xtreme vision in my 2016 2500HD, ‘11 Yamaha R1, ‘08 Raider and my tundra. They have all been in for over a year and that is the only issue I have.

Colors on the other hand can vary from brand to brand but these have been pretty consistent, at least for me. All my other rigs run 8k temp and the tundra has 6k.

Hard to see in the daylight but 8k temp here.


Again, 8k here.




These are on my 2500HD. The top light (low beam) is 8k hid and the bottom light (high beam) is 6k LED. I chose LED for the high beams so when you flash them, the light comes instantly vs an HID that takes a few seconds to warm up.


Same light, different angle

 

@rock climber, referencing your color problem, the 4300k temp in my experience has always had a tinge of yellow to it, similar to a halogen bulb but much brighter. I’m wondering if you got the wrong bulb temp? Are your new ballasts 35w or 55w? Higher wattage ballasts will drown out the color as they are over driving the bulb.

I did a quick google search on HID color temp charts and this represents the colors the closest that I have seen personally.

 

For some things I take Amazon reviews seriously. For example when I'm shopping for dog toys and somebody says a chewy toy lasted a month with their Doberman, I know my pug won't kill it in a day.

For other things like car parts (speakers for example) I tend to not take seriously. Not knowing what experience the reviewers have how knowledgeable they are, they may be totally excited over an item that somebody who knows better wouldn't be satisfied with.

Then you get those people who give a one star because the package was beat up and have no input on the product, but thats another story.

 

Mine are in my 01 Sequoia my 06 still has awful halogen bulbs. I did disable the DRL. I prefer just a bit of yellow which is why I went with the 4300k bulbs, (the xenondepot ones are 4500k) The new and old ballast were both 35W. The color difference of the same bulb with different ballasts makes me think the xtreme ballast just wasn't putting out the full 35 watts and that's why there weren't as bright either. The hylux ballasts made a huge difference for me.

I also did the full morimito h1 retrofit in my last Tundra with 4300k bulbs and the color of these is the same.

I'm saving up for the Morimoto D2S for the 06.

I'm in Denver also so if you're bored, I still have the old ballasts and bulbs you're welcome to troubleshoot.

 

Mine have been fine thus far. I actually ended up with these after doing my own shopping and just now noticed they were ones you recommended. So far so good, even in the cold where my old DDM ones had issues turning.on in my Taco.

 

I had a few different issues with the ballasts.
I was stranded at a gas station just after the two hour power outage at work. I flicked my headlights on during the darkness because I forgot they weren't LED. Without running the truck these guys with my load resistors pull quite a bit of amps for headlights. Electrical math can be found here.

It was brought to my attention that I could have used an LED bulb in these housings, but I didn't think about it at the time. I was tired of the weird electrical issues I was having with my truck.

Updates on my diagnosis that the ballasts were my weird electrical issue are all over the lunchtable thread.

Stranded at the gas station.
On the road home.
Diagnosis one. (I realize I eliminated the headlights in this post, but it wasn't until I used the headlights again without running the truck that the light bulb went off.)
Diagnosis two.

More posts all over page 792, and page 793 of the daily 1st gen thread.

 

I eventually removed the headlights, and wiring harness from my truck in favor of OEM housings.

 

Very interesting, seems like quite the headache and wild goose chase.

Did you ever test your alternator to see what amps it was actually putting out? Some one smarter than me can probably shed light on it but per your post, weren’t both the LED resistors and HID ballasts both drawing 2.5A per? I don’t think I’ve ever seen them cause that many issues but stranger things have happened.

I do have an extra ballast and a fluke meter that I can run some tests on to see what I can come up with. Sounds like it could be beneficial.

 

It was quite a pain in the bottom

I never got an amp draw with an amp clamp, and I didn't bother taking the alternator off to have it tested.

I have a duralast alternator installed on the truck. Its supposed to be the equivalent to the 80A heavy duty alternator for my little V6. I really doubt that it is.

Sorry for all the links to everything. It was easier for me to make links to previous posts than it was to make a whole new post because I'm at work.

Here is my electrical math quote in case anyone didn't feel like clicking links.

More testing may be in order when you get to it. By no means is this a pressing issue for me. Just when you get time.

 

So I did some checking on my truck this morning and here are my results.

While driving 60mph, headlights on, fog lights on (both HID’s), heater full blast, few misc items pulling power (rear view mirror, light switches, phone chargers, phone w/ torque app, etc), I can push the window switch up on both closed windows and the volt meter doesn’t move at all. The torque app volt meter (reading power from cigarette lighter) stays steady at 13.2v - 13.7v.

Now when I got to my location, I performed the same exact test at idle but also turned on both front/rear light bars to add more draw. As soon as I pushed both window switches up on the closed windows, the volt meter moved slightly down (1/8”), torque app drops to 12.7v and all the dash lights slightly dim showing a visible load on the truck.

 

Interesting. At idle I've noticed the same movement even before the HID retrofits.

The gif below this line is from my first night of troubles. I ran the headlights for about 3 minutes without running the truck. I want to say that this was from letting the drivers side window auto roll down, and then I would keep hitting the down button.

I remember running no heat, no AC, nothing extra. I didn't even use my blinkers. The only reason I used my cruise control was to take this.

I'm sorry its shakey... you can still see that needle jumping around quite a bit.

Bear in mind for your testing, odds are you have the 100 amp alternator, or the 150 amp sequioa. You, and I have different engines.

20, or 70 more amps than me. Post here.

Now, at idle... with leds my volt guage will move exactly as you described. That was under normal, all systems nominal conditions. I tried this once when I was having these weird issues, and my engine bogged way down, and almost stalled... didn't try again.

 

Its not good for your engine (or other components of your truck) to have drops like this. Truck Volts should read no less than 13.3 per FSM (with full load and engine running).

 

Yes, I know. Thats why I'm back to running leds.

 

So just to be clear, you removed the HID’s and all your problems went away?

 

100% correct. I ordered katana fanless H4 leds, and everything went back to normal after install. Also used OEM housings.

If I had been running the truck when I was using my projectors, I'd probably be okay.
My issue came from me forgetting that I'd went to an HID bulb which was drawing much more power than LEDS would for not running the truck.

Not running the truck and using 100% battery power with my 750 CCA battery was drawing 10.3 amps on both headlights with my in line resistors. It didn't take long for it to draw down to the crank threshold.

Running the engine was 9.5 amps.

I work night shift, so when I'm off I do a lot of work around the house using my truck as lighting. 90% of the time without running the engine. I was used to this practice with LEDS and wasn't something I wanted to do without.

https://www.tundras.com/threads/wha...t-gen-tundra-today.2558/page-793#post-1994067

 

Hi everyone, im going to purchase a 01 access cab shortly. I've read through this thread carefully and have to say I'm very impressed with your work south paw...

 

I'm running all OEM exterior lighting, I'd posted mine doing the same after my battery drained mid-commute, and installing a new NAPA gold battery (only store nearby) subsequently fried, smoked, and started a small fire with the alternator before I could leave the parking lot. After new Denso re-man alternator went in I noticed the flucutation happening, so I'm not sure if it was happening prior. I might not've noticed (see video below).

Someone did start a thread on power fluctuations over here: https://www.tundras.com/threads/tundras-voltmeter-reading-up-and-down-intermittently.67806/

Anyway ... questions for @SouthPaw - 1) Are you still making these anymore, after the career change? 2) Is there any value in low-mileage OEM headlights that need to be re-capped due to age fractures in the lens?

Video of the fluctuation here: https://imgur.com/a/RePgHHB

 

This is what I want. Can you message me a price?

Thank you

 

Hey fellas, sorry for the late response. So long story short, I’ve taken a break on making these. I left my old job 11/2020 and came back to it 08/02/21. I got to go try something new for a bit and decided it wasn’t for me. I was fortunate enough to come back right where I left off.

Anyways, I’m pretty crunched for time at the moment. I will never be the type to take on new orders unless I know I can get them done in a timely manner. Timely manner for me is two weeks or less and I don’t think I can promise that at the moment. I appreciate everyone’s PM’s and response and I purposely leave some on unread as a remainder to check in once I get going again. I appreciate everyone’s patience and I promise to do my best to get with EVERYONE who is interested.

 

To answer your second question, as cheap as new/aftermarket units are, I’d recommend replacing them. You cannot buy the lenses separately so a new set is the only way I have been building them.

 

No worries at all! I'd replaced with OEM assemblies. Wasn't sure what to do with my old ones - the have some stress fractures on the caps - so I listed them for sale over in the 1st Gen marketplace. Wasn't sure if they'd sell or not.

I may tinker with the acrylic welder I use for vintage turntable lids, see if the cracks will fill and they'll polish out clear and translucent like other stuff does just for S&G. But really, for me, kinda prefer just to get 'em gone!

Oh - and welcome back, on all fronts!