Amazing 1st Gen Headlamp Upgrade

Yes, good question and observation. You don't really want to exceed 55w low beam with stock wiring.

 

Seems clear people have used that kit, so it'll work even though it says it's for 95-97 Tacomas?

 

I asked because I just did the harness upgrade and now waiting for the 100W OSRAM bulbs. For $25ish, I might just go ahead and order the 100W mini projector just to try it out


EDIT:
Upon double checking, the AliExpress bulbs are 50W each, same as the Braveway that I already have. Not gonna order it anymore

 

I did the harness upgrade on my truck and ran the 100w bulbs at the same time. Can’t say the harness had some dramatic effect on its own as I did the upgrade simultaneously. But the OE wiring is pretty small and the OE sockets look burnt after a while like they are getting hot. I think the harness upgrade is worthwhile if you are upgrading to more powerful bulbs.

 

So the I got the Diode Dynamics Flasher (standard version) in the mail today.
I'm hoping my truck doesn't have daytime running lights . . . as stupid as that sounds, I've never understood what those actually are on our trucks. LOL

I was hoping the relay would be located under the hood . . . but I guess I can just keep hoping, because it's located way up under the drivers footwell ???
. . as seen in this post . . . ???
https://www.tundras.com/threads/turn-signal-flasher-removal.94318/

Gawd I hate doing this type of shit . . . always sketched that I'm gonna snap off some old brittle plastic piece, or force & break some electrical contacts.
I need to be in the right frame of mind and channel some inner Houdini to get my fat ass up under there and do this . . . . ggrrrrrrrr

 

https://www.tundras.com/threads/smart-relay-for-access-cab-regular-cab-trucks-with-drl.74207/

See that thread, reply #19 or #33. It's up above the p-brake pedal. Look for a tan box like you see in my pic there. It's weird place. Pop it off its mount post, and bring it down with the wiring. Swap it onto the harness. Test. If all OK, reinstall on its retainer.

 

This light mod is turning into a complete s-show . . .LOL.

Thanks @shifty` for all the help, tips, links etc. . . . . with your help I was able to ID the flasher, remove and re-install the new one w/o breaking anything.

Now with the new flasher installed . . . the hyperflash is all gone . . . . wait for it . . . 'But' . . . the fog lights still turn off when high beams come on.

'And' . . . the drivers side marker/ running light does not come on at all when the lights are on. (Passenger side is fine)
It's odd, because when I use the drivers side turn indicator, the light works fine, but the running light itself does not come on at all.

Everything on the passenger side works as should.

I did go to the back of the truck and check functionality of those lights, and everything seems fine back there.

Here is a (crappy) pic. with truck not running, key on, and with the 1st click on the light stalk engaged.
The 2 little lights in the headlamp are on, and only the passenger side marker light on . . . (nothing on the drivers side)



At this point, I could care less about the fog light / high beam merry-go-round . . . I'm over it.
If I can get that drivers side marker to work, I'll be cool with it.
I guess I'll take the lamp out again and make sure the connections & bulbs are all good, unless someone has any other ideas.
I'll probably end up cracking the new fixture removing it , so I'm mentally prepping for that as well . . .LOL !!!!!

 

I'm not up to speed on all the different electric anomalies this swap can cause, but seeing as you just replaced a lot of stuff, I'm tempted to believe the side marker light issue has nothing to do with the LED headlights. More likely a connection somewhere.

I'm interested to find out...

 

Your fog lights are supposed to go off when the high beams are on

 

Cool . . . thanks. I can see how that makes sense . . .duh on me.
I guess I should stop making comments about people not having 'Common Sense" anymore . . .LOL !!!

I may have put the 2 plugs in backwards on that drivers side lamp . . . . I did use some blue tape to not make that very mistake . . . but I've been known to completely ignore my attempts at being smart. . . .

 

LEDs are polarity sensitive. Try flipping the bulb in the turn signal housing and see if that does the trick.

 

I didn't swap out the turn signal bulbs to LED's, (just the headlights).
I left the bulbs in that came with the housing from Rock Auto.
I'll pull it tomorrow and report back . . . I think it's probably just something simple, . . . or stupid that I did.
Thanks for the reminder on the polarity.

 

Update #1714-346-2006DC-POS

I pulled the driver side marker/ flasher lamp off and the bulbs looked fine.
The old OEM one's I had taken off looked identical except for the the old amber paint that was crackling off.
Somehow when fiddling around & deciding what to do next . . . I realized the new bulbs were in the socket, but not 'snapped' in place from the manufacturer . DUH.
Voila . . . problem solved.

So now everything works as should ... just need to adjust headlights down a little.
I ordered that 12" screwdriver bit set mentioned earlier . . . so that'll come in handy for other things.

Since I've got the resistor and Diode Dynamics LED flasher relay installed & everything is working, I was thinking of replacing the remaining bulbs with LED's . . . or maybe I should just quit while I'm ahead . . . LOL.

Thanks again to everyone on here for the help. Saved me from losing my marbles even more.

 

Ha, glad you were able to finally get it sorted. Share a pic when you can of the front end with everything lit up so I can see (and totally not judge) your combo of headlights/inset lights/corner lights/fog lights.

 

Will do for sure.
Funny how this leads into the full LED-Rabbit-Hole . . . the fogs look terrible now, and those little corner lights at the bottom of the headlamp look pee-yellow compared to the new mini-projectors.

I've already swapped out most all of the interior lights, and lic. plate, and back-ups . . . but I've already clogged this thread up w/ enough of my crap.

 

Foxbeam’s SS3 kit is actually pretty solid. I just swapped out my plastic basket that cracked on install today. Will see how they hold up!

 

@Auburn02

Here's a crappy cell phone pic.
I'll take one with my actual 'camera' and a legit lens when I get the headlights adjusted.

 

Threw some Phillips LED 9006s in my fog housing and I’m super happy with the appearance and the light output. Amazing low field light fill in with these. Best my headlight performance has been overall.

 

It's been a little over a year since I started this thread. Thanks to all who have added value to it!

My dad still loves the CO Light mini projectors in his 2003 Tundra SR5 AC Step Side. Also, I sold my sedan and my brother has kindly loaned me his 2002 Tundra Limited AC until I can find a truck of my own. As a "thank you" to him, I have ordered the exact same parts and will be doing this install on his truck.

 

Well . . . I got all the driving lights converted over to LED.
Running/ Brake , Reverse , Turns . . . and guess what??? . . . everything works as should ! LOL.
That flasher relay from Diode Dynamics along with the resistor seemed to have done the trick.
No quirks, hyper-flashing, or other anomalies so far.
Thanks @shifty` once again for all the help and everyone else in this thread.
Now that it's all squared away, I'll take some pics with my camera and post them here.

 

Can’t wait to see the pics. Might motivate me to get off my ass and start down the path on mine.

 

Oh boy, my dumbass has done it now. My housings were in much worse shape than I realized, far beyond anything a polishing could fix.




So since modifying these even if I don’t like the lights is a non-issue, I’ll have new housings ordered by bedtime. Pushed forward and installed the bulbs. First, I have much less of a visible cutoff line like other pics here but I have to assume this is because of the horrible surface on the face of the housings. You can also see the fogs still worked with only one of the LEDs but not with both installed. I had moved the truck further back for the second picture, though I can’t recall why.



The old light output is impressive, I know!



As expected the fog lights don’t work, resistors will be ordered tonight as well. Brights also don’t do anything, maybe catch a flicker but that’s it really. Not sure if this is also a resistor issue? Honestly I feel like when I had only the headlights plugged in the right one did change to high beam, but once I added the corner lights nothing at all on high.

Priority for now will be resistors and housings. I will try the resistor first to ensure that fixes the fogs and hopefully the brights, and then if I’m happy I’ll go ahead and modify the new housings.

Oh, one of my dust protectors is also completely separated so I’ll replace those too, and the factory plugs don’t look great but not sure if this is bad enough to be concerned or not.



Final question, do you guys just let all the new wiring dangle behind the housings or try and secure it with zip ties to minimize anything bouncing and banging around?

 

Ok , these are straight out of the camera (Sony a7iii w/ 24mm Sony G-Master f1.4 lens)
1/80 shutter - F1.4 aperture - ISO 320 - I tried to get the settings as close to what I was seeing in real world.
No photo edit or enhancements at all.
Truck is facing down the driveway.
Pics. don't really show the blue/white of the headlights . . . it's not too offensive, but it's more significant than what you see here.

i went with the 320 lumen tail lights . . . they're brighter than stock, but not overwhelming.
Glad I didn't go with the 500 lumens.

Overall I'm very happy with the upgrade. It's a city dweller truck, so there wasn't a 'need' for me to go any brighter like some of you that live more rural, or venture into the sticks.
This all began as a way to hopefully avoid hitting one of the many grommets flying around on e-scooters & e-bikes at night that infiltrate the streets.

 

Looks awesome.

I'm only online because I just placed my RockAuto order, hopefully got everything I needed that I planned to source from there. Also ordered the resistors and new dust boots from Amazon. For now I plan to leave the stock/new incandescent bulbs that come with the new corner parking/turn lights unless there's a really good reason to change them, being they are amber it's not like they'll clash with the white headlights like a warm white incandescent would. Not sure if I'll still need the DD flasher relay or not given my turn lights will still be incandescent for now, but will snag it if warranted.

 

Good call.
I think you'll be fine with the bulbs that come in the parking/ turn lights.
Of all the bulbs I swapped out, those seemed to make the least amount of difference.
They are def. a bit brighter and 'crisper' for lack of better description . . . but to be honest, it was probably a waste of money.

Oh yeah . . .(Edit) . . . I was able to adjust down the headlights easily with the 12" screwdriver bits shown earlier in this post . . . it took the 'middle' sized phillips bit.

 

Can't remember if it was this thread or another where someone complained about the garage/wall shots of headlights, and how they don't tell us anything about the actual light output while driving. It's true, but I think most of us don't want to take photos while driving...

I took a chance earlier this week. Did a very rare 4-hour drive, all in the dark, and had the road to myself for a while so I took a couple photos. They aren't great, but I was focusing on driving, not the camera. I know there a ways to mount a camera and take better, safer photos, but I have no need to take pictures while I'm driving, typically.

First is low beam, second high.

 

Damn. Can’t wait.

 

Zip ties...unless it causes some other problem.

 

Just installed the anti-flicker adapters to fix my fog lights. Had to use both for it to work, with one the fog lights were turning on the high beams. Swapping in LEDs in my fog lights tomorrow. My truck had cheap aftermarket headlights when I got it, and I noticed the reflectors are just screwed in place. So next I think I'll try the COLIGHT mini projectors. If I don't like them I'll get some better quality headlights.

Any good replacements for the fog lights? My drivers side lens is pretty cloudy and I don't want to deal with polishing them.

 

What modifications did you have to your lights already and what are the “anti-flicker” adapters you reference?

Depo replacements are just under $40 each from Rockauto; elsewhere in this thread someone linked these from Amazon:

$43 Fog Lights For 2000-2006 Toyota Tundra (Not fit steel front bumper models)/ 2001-2007 Toyota Sequoia 2PCS OEM Replacement Fog Lamps AUTOWIKI

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07VSS7FBY