Amazing 1st Gen Headlamp Upgrade

Message them on Instagram. They have a small page

 

Essentially it's always been what you see in those videos: You must dismantle a portion of the headlight housing to do this mod.

That's further covered in the community megathread that covers all topics related to upgrades/service/warnings/etc. Here's a copy/paste from the lighting section. Pay special attention to the 2nd-to-last bullet point if you're considering forward lighting changes:

Lighting info ...​

• • If replacing your housings, be sure whatever you buy is "CAPA Certified", it's at least baseline not-garbage product. For brands that are higher-quality and will last longer, most offering CAPA certified options, go with Depo, or alternately EagleEyes, TYC, and some say Akkon make good product.
  • If swapping to LED headlights or fog lights, the overwhelming majority of people have problems with high beams and fog lights working unless they purchase and add a resistor on at least one headlight so enough load is on the circuit - this may not be necessary if your headlight housings have the extra "teardrop light" in the corner of the housing. Problems have been reported with LED tail lights also, it's not just headlights. Some circuits require resistance that an LED won't deliver.
  • Hyperflash problems are common after swapping LEDs into the turn signals. This can be solved installing a Diode Dynamics flashers (avoid the scAmazon knock-offs, buy direct from DD).
  • There are H4 mini-projectors available for our trucks, but you'll need to permanently modify the light housing, no oven-baking required, just remove the hat-shaped chrome shroud inside and install the light (detailed instructions). Likewise there are bake-in options for projectors. Check THIS REPLY for common headlight upgrage options, with links.
  • For interior LEDs... There's a breakdown of interior light sizes over here. For climate control lighting updates, see here. Dash gauges for earlier 2000-2004 models with replaceable bulbs, check this. The later year model's dash gauges had on-board LEDs and are not replaceable without soldering, color not changeable without sanding the rear of the guage face. REMEMBER: LED lights are polarized. If you install them backwards, they won't light up! If you have one or more not lighting up, try popping out, rotating 180º, and reinstalling.

 

FYI I did get the following response from them:



The link goes to this bulb option:
https://www.led-colight.com/products/f2d-series

Obviously others here have solved the fog light issue with resistors, so that doesn’t seem insurmountable, but thought I would share since they did reply so promptly.

edit: wow I had a bear of a time editing that on my phone

 

I bet if you tell them you read on a Toyota Tundra fanatic forum that installing resistors on the headlights solves the no foglight problem, and ask if they can send you resistors, they may actually do it. Not only to make a happy customer, but also to have a solution to the problem.

BraveWAY, who was selling the exact same light bulb (came from same factory) was willing to send me resistors when I brought it up with them.

I wouldn't use the other bulb they linked. It won't and doesn't function like a mini projector. It'll scatter the beam everywhere and blind oncoming traffic. You'll be "that asshole".

 

I really need to sit back with a cup of Joe and re-read all these headlight threads and jot down some notes.
I'm just about ready to do the mini-projector upgrade to my 06 DC . . . the stock lights are just so weak, and my eyes aren't getting any better.

On top of that, i live in SoCal, and it seems more and more people , especially kids, are flying around at night on every electric-powered mode of transport possible.
Lots of them don't have lights, or they disable them /turn them off etc. . . . and I'm afraid I'm going to be involved in an accident . . .I've already had a half dozen close calls.

I'm not bagging on these things . . . they are what they are and it's only getting more common . . . in fact the other day I was rolling down a street and here comes a group of about 10 young dudes on what looked like full-suspension motocross e-bikes . . . I'm not hip on models / types/ brands etc. . . . but these things didn't look cheap. I took off from the light, and they turned onto the street following behind me . . . speed limit was 45 and about 1/2 of them pulled wheelies and got to the next signal the same time I did . . . . pretty rad actually. They peeled-off and jumped onto a side street that leads to a river bed where I know there are some trails.

Anyways . . . I'd hate to take one of these out cause my headlights are so weak and didn't pick them up . . . so I'm gonna start shopping.

 

I've been in conversation with them since receiving the Y7. But it's been an unsatisfying conversation. Here's their last email response, when I asked about the new language, and whether something had recently changed, since I know a lot of Tundra owners run the Y6:






Pretty much tells us nothing. I'm not sure what I'm going to do. Now that the Y6 has a fan, I might look into their other non-fan options. I would have never considered the fan, except for `shifty's hesitation on them.

 

"Just make sure the bulb is brand new"

 

Yeah. In their last response they gave a little more leeway, but basically said every little thing would reduce the refund amount. Signs of use? Original packaging? Etc.

Alright that conversation with the company in Auburn's post wasn't there when I posted my last response. Someone not on this site complained about the fogs, so they changed the website to say it doesn't fit out trucks. That makes it pretty clear. Nothing changed, so they'll still fit.

 

So from what I see . . . no Y6 'classics' (fanless) available . . . and only the Y7 tri-color mode-cycling versions ?

 

That's what I gathered from it too. I've since sent another message to inquire if fanless is officially gone/out of production or just sold out ("Y6 Classic" button is still on the site, just says sold out) but no reply yet. Same as you, the fan model wouldn't have bothered me if not for shifty's comments here haha.

 

Fanless, but questionable quality, pics make the product look a little chintzy in comparison.

https://www.jg-ledlight.com/Led-Mini-Projector-H4-Bulb-Supply-JG-Y1-pd47553335.html

 

It's the exact same bulb as the 'older' CO Light and BraveWAY bulbs. Same box, same wire colors, same chip config, same everything.

Edit, compare to the images here, which are the BraveWAY bulbs: https://www.amazon.sa/-/en/BraveWAY-Headlight-Projector-Conversion-20000LM/dp/B0B3MZP2XZ

Or even here, who knows what brand, but identical box to BraveWAY and CO Light: https://www.ebay.com/itm/395199138689

Only diff'ce being it looks like KNABORES' link has the shroud removed, probably for picture's sake. But it's all the same shit, diff't pile.

Some factory, prob in mainland China, is making these en masse, and you have a few companies stateside who are pushing them out with their own name. None of these guys are making their own product. Reminds me of the Traders Village flea market in Grand Prarie TX when I was a kid. All the shops would have the exact same knockoff Transformer toys, same toy, in one or two different box styles.

I'm sure the end goal is simple: Whichever one burns down the least number of cars will become the more-permanent product. They're using us all as Guinea Pigs to test their products.

 

If that's the case...I might go ahead and order...?

Quite a bit more expensive than COlight though.

 

I wouldn't order the one I linked on fleaBay. I'm only tossing the link out there so you can compare to what @KNABORES posted. I'll update to mention as much.

 

Well unless I'm looking at it wrong, CO Light does still have some (6 available, allegedly) of the fanless Y6 available from Amazon, but not discounted like they are on their own site. Well, doesn't say Y6 anywhere but sure looks like them:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0D9VFRLX4

 

The one I linked doesn't show US availability. Better off ordering the ones from Amazon with some semblance of a return policy.

 

Yup, those are the ones. Hop on it, I guess!

​

 

I guess if I look at it like a game, it's kinda fun. Or at least funny.

 

If you feel like playing with Aliexpress you can get these for cheap. I've purchased over $15k worth of stuff for work directly from the Chinese manufacturers without issue. But, you can find the same stuff on Amazon, just with an American premium.

Here's an example: $23 US
100W H4 LED Len Mini Headlight Bulbs Super Bright 50000LM Bi-LED Projector Lenses H4 High Low Beam Headlamp For Car Moto
https://a.aliexpress.com/_mqPBVas

 

Ordure'd . . . . we'll see . . . .

 

#metoo

Need to get some housings ordered now, but at least I'll have some bulbs looking good on the workbench.

Still feel like I'm missing something by the fact there are hundreds of fan cooled bulbs now available and the fanless are next to impossible to find, but with the testimonials of these lasting multiple years so far, I'll take that.

 

I'm sure you know this, but you can use your housings. Only reason I can tell that people order new housings is so they have a fall-back plan in case they want to go back to OEM. I just took the reflector/hood out of my OEM housings. If I ever want to go back to a more stock headlight, then I'll buy new housings.

But I understand wanting to preserve the OEM housing and mangle an aftermarket unit.

 

Oh thanks but I am aware, my housings are trashed. I've had the truck ('06 DC) for 13 years now - polished the OEMs once pretty early on, replaced them in 2016 with aftermarket, have polished those twice in the past 8 years and they're awful again so I'm just going to replace them with a fresh set of Depos and add these bulbs at the same time.

 

Mine are still the stock 2006 housings . . . I sanded them and did the 2K Clear routine on them a couple years ago and they are still holding up good.
I'd give them a B+ . . . . I may just use them for now, haven't decided.

 

So I just threw in the halogens in my spare housings for fun. The lighting temperature difference in the turn signal will not let my OCD off the hook so I put the colights back in and left it alone. ISO is locked on all 3 pictures.

Philips racing vision gt200 halogen bulbs

colight mini projectors

It’s pretty obvious that the halogens are brighter. The red arrow shows the cutoff on the colight bulb. Yeah it’s not that nice white LED but it’s definitely superior to the colight in spread and output. I know I am suffering on output with the black housing, but it’s apparent who’s the winner here. I’ve got the harness upgrade for more output on the way just to test see if the output is enough to overcome my ocd.

 

Dang how'd you get your trucks parked so close together??

Generally, I don't prefer LED lights anywhere. But the light output vs power draw is hard to argue with.

Yeah that halogen light looks way better.

 

Oh yeah, I just realized I'll need to replace the corner bulb too. And the little inset bulb mine has. And the fog lights. And then and then and then....

 

It’s cross eyed like me haha

 

Going, going...

 

They owe me some commission!

@CO LIGHT - eh, was worth a shot!

Update: ha, now the Amazon page says 10 left in stock.