Morimoto headlights and bilstein 5100's '14 Limited Crewmax

Hey fellow Tundra drivers! Just thought I'd post a quick review for anyone who might be interested in a few basic mods.
I drive a 2014 Limited Crewmax, and I have made minimal mods to the truck, as its my daily driver. I've had a handful of back surgeries, and the comfort and ride quality of my truck has been really important to me as I spend a lot of time driving for my job. I am not into really big trucks, big lifts, or huge tires. I dont really need more performance out of my truck, as I dont tow huge loads, and as mentioned previously, ride quality is my top priority.
Shortly after buying the truck, I wanted to level it out to fix the rake in the suspension, all for looks of course. I put a puck style leveling kit on it, and I've been running 275/60/20 tires ever since. Although the internet says these tires measure 33", when I take a tape measure to them they only measure 32". I dont have any rubbing when I turn, and overall I've been very happy with the suspension. I dont do gnarly trails- although I do offroad. The articulation has been more than acceptable for my level of trail running, and the stiffness of the suspension hasnt even been something that has entered my mind (contrary to the F350 I used to have that would rattle the teeth out of your skull).
After 175k miles, it was time to replace my factory shocks. I do not have the TRD model, just the limited. One of my pet peeves with my truck has been the squirrely nature of the back end on washboard roads. As part of a general tune up, I decided to make 3 improvements.
1. Rear sway bar.
2. Morimoto LED headlights
3. Bilstein 5100's all the way around, replacing the puck style leveling kit.

Let me first start with the headlights. Ridiculous before and after improvement. Not only do halogen bulbs suck in comparison, but my personal situation was worsened because my housings had cracked and water had gotten inside, causing the lens to fog up badly. The Morimoto's I installed (XB LED option) cost me about $1200, which is a hair cheaper than what the dealer wanted for OEM. The install was super easy, and only took me about 25 minutes without a lift or air tools. The light quality, brightness, and diffusion are all beyond excellent. The projector style LED lights are super focused, and the sequential amber led DRL's look bad a**. Super easy mod in your driveway.

Next was the TRD swaybar. Install took 30 minutes, and it was super easy and very straightforward. When coupled with the Bilstein's, this addition was incredibly noticeable and I wish I had done it about 8 years ago. Body roll is minimized, and tracking and steering are both really improved. The Bilsteins were not a mod I would tackle in the driveway. Luckily I had a friend with a full shop, so I used his lift and spring compressor etc. I removed the leveling pucks, and set the shocks to the max height setting which is about 2.5". Overall, there was no difference in ride height after the swap, but as previously mentioned, steering control, tracking, etc was all greatly improved. Also, in talking to my buddy who owns the shop, removing the leveling puck removes the stress from the balljoints and corrects the suspension angles to their intended loads.

For about $2500 I made some really great, yet not too drastic improvements to my suspension and lighting. Definitely worth it. For those of you that are looking for some basic improvements, but dont want to have a huge lift or be that guy who rolls through town with a ridiculously over-modded truck, these are great options. Cheers!

 

Great first post, welcome aboard! Those headlights look great.

 

Get PPF put on the headlights so that they don't get haze on the lenses.

 

What spacer lift did you have before the bilsteins? You mentioned no height change so just curious what the intended 2.5” lift replaced with no height change. Thanks.

 

I am a bit hazy on the leveling kit, because it was so long ago, but I'm pretty confident it was the rough country 2.5-3 inch leveling kit

 

Do you know if they make a pre cut PPF for the morimotos?

 

Not that I am aware of (at least for the Tundra). The Morimoto is very similar to the OEM housing but I would have to look at them side by side. My local shop charged $100 to do mine.

 

What's the scooter you got in the back? Victory?

 

I really don't see any difference in the before and after photos of the headlights.



Okay, maybe just a little.

Really a great upgrade there. What a difference they make in how the whole front end looks.

Wait, there's such a thing as "an over-modded truck?"

 

The headlight upgrade is a must I say. I have to ask though, where did you price out the OEM LEDs from? I paid about $650 for my OEMs, which is a lot more than a hair.
I also did the sway bar and it tightens up the rear when turning. I did the 6112 /5160. When it’s time to replace I will see about going a tab bit softer.

 

Well, as if I need any help, after seeing this thread earlier and how great the headlights look on your truck, I went to several sites to check out the morimotos and now I'm obsessed. Was NOT going to buy anything else until get Christmas paid off but man these are hot! I accept no blame for my problem; that I lay at the feet of the OP, Mr. running214.

 

Do these headlight have the motor in them to adjust the beam height in the cab?

 

yes the headlights are true plug and play, and the motor to adjust from the cab works great as a plug in.
@Taco-Spike youre looking at a 2020 Indian Chief Dark Horse... really fun ride!
@pursuit2550 the OEM's were priced out from the local dealer. I got the Morimotos with a black friday discount and the total was about 1100. The dealer wanted 1250 for both OEM headlight assemblies... Non sale prices for the Morimotos are about 1400, so if you cant find a deal theyre more expensive than factory... I cant emphasize enough though how much better they are. Not only does the truck look hella cool with the amber DRL's, but the visibility is seriously insane!

 

Yeah that dealer was WAY over charging. OEM LED's only run a round $260-280 each. I wouldn't buy anything from them unless you go online and check prices before hand. You should also check out Diode Dynamics fog light. Also a game changer.

 

"supply chain issues"....
thats what everyone is saying lately when you ask them to explain the 1000% markup lol

 

Here are a few pics of the ride height before and after, along with the pics of the leveling kit that was removed...

 

A question regarding the headlights. I also have a 2014 with all halogen bulbs and the amber daytime running lights. I have watched some videos and read that there is a relay or a wire to remove or cut below the dash on the left of the driver side. Did you do this or was it not needed? I have Morimotos on the way.

 

@Mission Critical the instructions recommend swapping out a relay, which is a simple two screw removal to access and plug and play the new relay. The instructions indicated it had something to do with the DRL's, but I have not swapped out that relay and my DRL's run as intended just fine. Im not sure exactly whey they recommend it, but its not required, and so far I havent discovered a need to swap it out...