New in Montana

Hi all, I am new here and I need help. I have a 2001 tundra little six cylinder, 4WD. I have discovered the headlights are dim. I had someone work on the trailer lights but I do not know if this has anything to do with the headlights. A friend installed a new bulb and it was dim as well. What would be the first thing to check with this truck? A side note the horse trailer brake unit is not working either. Thank you! Sue

 

Welcome from NY.
Look at the bulb socket for corrosion or animals that chewed the wires.

 

How does you headlight lens cover look? I had a 2000 and they get pretty dull over time. Maybe see about polishing/restoring the outside.

...and welcome!

 

The headlights in these trucks are honestly pretty lackluster compared to other vehicles I've owned.

Stupid question: What's the age on your battery? Have you driven to a local auto parts store for a free battery health test?

 

Welcome from Bozeman! These headlights are kinda dim to begin with, but from what I've found the OEM housing fog up pretty badly. Might be worth grabbing a headlight restoration kit for cheap and see if that helps.

 

WELCOME!

 

This. The socket for the bulb burns out due to corrosion and needs replacement. You can see the corrosion and potential burn marks when you pull the bulb from the socket. You can replace the sockets and wire connection terminations individually using OEM which is more $$ or goto Autozone, buy compatible sockets with wires and splice them into the existing wires for replacement. I did the latter.

 

Are you a bot? If you're not a bot say potato.

 

Welcome from LA (Lower Alabama)!

 

At first I was, like, "I'm gonna highlight this one thing and give my 2¢", but then I said, "Naw, I'm not gonna be my normal cynical self. Too often I'm dancing that fine line between cynic and realist..."

But now it's been more than a week with zero response, I'll say it - but feel free to surprise me, OP!

You and about two hundred other people who've posted this year asking for help, gotten advice, then never bothered to come back

 

Welcome from an undisclosed location slightly north of Missoula.


One theory, there is large resistor that is used for your day time running lights, to deliberately dim them....wonder if the wiring is F'ed up and running your normal lights, through the resistor.

You could test it out by seeing if there is a jump in brightness between your DTRS and normal lights. Normal lights should be roughly twice as bright.

 

My 2000 does not have DRLs but have headlights that turn off when you shut the engine off and open the driver door so I leave them on all the time for safety. Agree headlights pretty lackluster and polishing them became a monthly chore so I just replaced and run a 55/65 halogen bulb. You could go higher wattage w/ 100W bulbs but best to install a relay kit to save your switches and wiring