Amazing 1st Gen Headlamp Upgrade

I got a deal on TYCs at Rock Auto for ~ $20 side. I practiced the mod on my original OEM housings (turned out only one was original, I think PO had a fender bender on one side), then I was brave enough to mod the new TYCs. Worked great! I went back to Rock Auto while the TYCs were still ~ $20 and bought another pair to keep in case I ever want to change back.

 

It's a "parking lamp". Here's what I did with mine. https://www.tundras.com/threads/wha...-gen-tundra-today.2558/page-1800#post-3442809

 

Nice. They look good!

I finally got out at night to adjust my headlights. They really needed it. Found a cargo trailer parked in the parking lot at work, pretty level surface, so I used it. Surprisingly, they were pretty high. Glad I got around to it. Also noticed I need to level them a bit. Slightly tilted to one side.

No idea what everyone else's Y6 look like, but I was surprised by the difference between the Y6 and Y7. Y7 is very clearly...Y7. Y6, as `shifty and others here found, could be anything that Colight call Y6 but other companies call something different.

I'm happy with the light. Still need to see how they are on the interstate, but around town, both high beams and low are good with me.

 

IMHO the side markers are the most fragile with the tabs on the side potentially breaking when fitting the top screw mount on at the same time especially with repeated on/off. Have found aftermarket headlights can be a little fragile at the spring lamp mount. Likely they will need adjusted. Think it's a 4mm or 4.5mm.

 

Well . . . so far so good.
Got the reflectors out w/o breaking anything, and was able to get the new mini-projectors in and eyeball adjusted them horizontally. Thanks @shifty for the tip on that.

Couple thoughts/ tips for anyone thinking of doing this.
Place a towel down to keep the fixtures from rolling around while working, it sort of cradles it.
When removing the reflectors, I left the screw attached so it was stable when I collapsed them with long needle nose.
I went around and folded one tab in at a time . . . take your time and do a little more than you think you'll need.
When I was ready to attempt removing them, I had the long needle nose holding the reflector as I removed the screw so as not to drop it. I also had a 2nd smaller pair of needle nose to remove the screw once it was backed out.

As far as that 'spring clip' that hold the bulb in place . . . I left that in . . .it seemed like a potentially easy piece to break or bend, especially the plastic tab area it was fastened to on the housing. I just took extra precaution to not bend or break that spring as I was removing the reflector.

As far as the horizontal adjustment, I found it easier to loosen the set-screw on the side of the bulb before I installed it. Then I found the orientation with the 3 tabs on the bulb base, and put the spring clip back in place. I turned the fixture around and eye-balled the adjustment by hand. I took my time checking & re-checking . . . then tightened the set screw till I felt decent tension. I looked one more time to make sure that nothing had rotated before final tightening.

Dust boot fit fine. And I put a little dielectric grease on the connection before securing the locking ring. The heat sink spun on fine . . . I ran it down till I got good tension against the back of the dust boot . . . but there was some threads left and I didn't want to force anything.

Now I just gotta yank out all the old fixtures and put these in . . . carefully.
Fingers crossed.

PS . . . What's with the 3 plastic caps on the back of the housing? I think the top left covers and adjuster . . . but what are the other 2 that are recessed in the upper right and lower left?

 

I think those caps are exhaust/vapor vents.

 

So I got them pretty level.
But 1st test down the street and people were flashing hi-beams at me.
Need to adjust them down . . . def. a lot brighter than the halogens.
Ordering a resistor I guess . . . when I turn on the fog lights, the hi-beams come one and that's it.
I've also got the hyper flash thing going on.
The drivers side marker lights don't come on . . . but they work because when I use the turn signal on that side, they hyper-flash.
If I can get the bugs worked out, I'll be very happy.
I'll get used to the blue/ purple line . . . no biggie.

Before with halogens.


After with colight led mini-projectors . . .



I backed the truck into the driveway.
Here's a shot of the spread with the lights pointing down at the street.

 

Do you have any other bulbs replaced also, like LEDs in the corner lamps? I thought what I had read was the hyperflash on the blinker would only be an issue with LEDs in the corner turn signals but maybe not.

 

Ah crap. You pulled the short straw!

 

I should add that I carry a spare set of the mini projectors in my truck in case I have a burn out on the road. It's not likely I'll be able to get one at the local AutoZone, and a normal bulb will no longer work.

 

Yep. This, and the fact that I don't think I'd get a full refund sending back my Y7s is why I've decided to hold onto them. Backup.

Also I've wondered if there's not a trick that could help them work better. Like I've said, I don't mind the on/off to pick the low beam color setting. That's just how these type bulbs work. The un-workable thing is how they cycle through the colors when I use the high beams. If there's a way to modify them or my truck so that power doesn't temporarily cut off to the headlights when I turn the high beams on/off...you know? I wonder if on another model truck, this wouldn't happen, because the headlights don't turn off for a fraction of a second when you turn on the high beams, and so the low beam color wouldn't change. Makes me wonder...

 

I used the bulbs that came in the new side markers, and I'm almost certain they are halogen and not LED.
The only other bulbs that 'may' be LED are the fog lights, . . . my buddies Son put those lights in for me, so I don't remember what they were. (Edit) the fogs are halogen as well.

 

You could possibly use relays to wire/convert to powered instead of ground switched.

 

Yes. I have no idea what that means in practice, but yes, exactly, that's what I'm talking about. A mod to bypass the issue. Is that the difference with our headlights? "Ground" switched? How common or uncommon is that for headlights? And what would it look like to actually do it? I'm happy with my headlights now so it's not an issue for me anytime soon, but someone might find it useful.

 

Not very common amongst other brands.

There may be a premade 'upgrade' harness with ceramic h4 connectors for higher wattage bulbs that converts it. I haven't looked for one before.

 

Grrrrrr . . . went to adjust the headlights, 'nada'.
Long Phillips fits down the sleeve perfectly, but wont engage the 'gear' I guess. (wrong size phillips tip?)
Tried fooling around with the upper ones as well, but didn't see that making any difference either, even after manually turning that adjuster.
Hmmmm . . . did I mention how much a despise electrical ???
The resistors show up tomorrow . . . maybe that'll clear up the gremlins and give me a shred of hope that I didn't make a mistake doing this mod in the first place.

 

With aftermarket and even OEM housings sometimes, you've got to finagle yoru screwdriver just right to engage the screw.

If you cannot quite get it, pop the blinkers off, the adjusters have a wrench-ready 6-point head on them. Ideally, if you have a wratcheting wrench you can zip them right into shape.

But yeah, I had the same issues with my DEPO housings. Adjusters were stubborn and you've gotta angle just right.

 

On my brother's truck, I could not get any size Phillips head to engage the gears without feeling like I was stripping it. Maybe I had the wrong angle the whole time but my solution was a small flat head. I could still fit it in the ajuster hole but I could be much more intentional about engaging the teeth on the gear. It took a bit longer than if the Phillips would have worked but it did the job.

 

The design is different on your 2006 than my 2002, right? On mine, the mechanism was a bit clunky, but I had no problem getting in there and getting up/down movement with a standard length/size phillips-head.

 

We talk about adjustment a bit in this thread: https://www.tundras.com/threads/headlight-mount-bracket.134007/

I swear I posted pics of both setups in here at some point but I've got no time to hunt.

 

I found this set works well at fitting the hole and engaging the adjusters (with plenty of length to spare):

NEIKO 10043A Extra Long Bit Set | 5-Piece | Cr-V Steel | 12" Length Phillips and Slotted Screwdriver Bits |1/4" Hex Shank | Power Driver Bit Set

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0012Q54KW

 

I owe you a thanks btw. After you posted about those over here, I ended up buying a set. I haven't used them yet on the Tundra (not that I recall), but I've used the hell out of them in other places. In fact, I used them two days ago, re-hanging a hook board for the missus on Saturday.

 

Good memory! Yeah, I've used them for a lot of other things as well, and saved me a couple times. But my original reason for purchase was the headlights too... never knew I would use them as much as I have.

 

Yeah I aways wondered what they were talking about, I just used a normal length Phillips, they must have changed something in the later years.

 

Update: Help Needed . . .LOL

I received the Xprite LED Deco Canbus Reistors in the mail yesterday.
Installed one on each side and everything works as should, headlights, high beams, fogs, side-markers . . . but, wait for it . . . 'Except', when I use the drivers side turn signal it still hyper flashes.
The passenger side still blinks at the normal pace.
I took off the drivers side resistor and everything stayed the exact same as it did with both resistors installed.

So does anyone have a suggestion for eliminating the drivers side hyperflash?
Can I do damage using it like for a short time till I figure out how to correct it?

Thanks in advance for any tips / ideas.

 

Yes: https://www.diodedynamics.com/led-flasher-for-2000-2006-toyota-tundra-non-dtrl.html

 

Yes, the module. That's what fixed hyperflash in my Tacoma.

There's no damage being done. The truck just thinks your bulb is out, so it's flashing fast to let you know.

 

Thanks Boss . . . ordered.

 

Crazy it's been such an ordeal for you. I mean, in the scheme of things it's nothing, but compared to what I had to do...It was plug & play for me. But of course my truck came with LED headlights and it's possible the PO went through all this before I bought it.

 

Not sure if anyone posted this question -

Will this 100W bulb benefit from the upgraded harness on this post