Looking for the highest Lumens Headlight bulb.

Hey all, I have been googling for the brightest headlight bulb for my 04. Almost everything that comes up is the same 12V/55 and that is good, but when I start looking at the Lumens they all have it is 910LM.
I found only 1
Eiko clear halogen bulb 9003-BP, that has a much higher LM of 1545/955 High/low.

Has anyone used these? What are your opinions?

 

I would just go with off road and make them run with your high beams.

I know the one I have if I light it up it turns night into day.
The roads get real dark with the wet roads from the snow it absorbs the light and makes it hard to see.

 

I thought about that, mine lights up the mountain roads pretty good.

 

What are you trying to accomplish? In all reality the human can barely notice a difference between anything above 800 lumens. It’s all about how they are aimed and focused.

 

I was never a fan of light bars till I started tying high beamed by 75% of the passing cars. I went ahead and got a light bar. Relay with the trigger on the high beam. It’s more than twice as bright as the high beams alone.

 

One thing I can say for sure is most descriptions as far as power and performance go are usually inflated. It’s unfair to the consumer. The more reputable the company the closer they get to the truth about output/lumens. I own a lighting company, not related to this but I deal with overseas sellers daily. It makes me sick.

 

Light bars arent legal for street use in a lot of states.

For halogen bulbs on stock headlight buckets you wont see a big difference from high end bulb to bulb. I have run Hella, Osram, Sylvania and they all looked about the same with slightly different color. (And they all said Osram)

If you really want bright you could study up on LED bulbs. Our resident @Professional Hand Model might be of assistance to point you in the right direction. (See what I did there?)

If you're bold enough, an HID conversion is guaranteed to satisfy your lighting needs.

 

If the Eikos are street legal, those numbers are grossly exagerated.

All halogen bulbs that are US DOT approved are 55w low/60w high. No exceptions. Manufacturers can change the material the filament is made of, and that can mildly increase the light output, but the old addage "you can't get something for nothing" applies: Not surprisingly, a filament that burns hotter doesn't last as long (less than 1/3). Another trick is to add a blue tint to the glass globe. The tint is giving the appearance of a "whiter" light, but at the expense of light output: the tint is a filter that's reducing the light output of the bulb. You can go with "off road use only" bulbs with higher wattage (some up to 100w), but you run the risk of damaging the headlight fixture with excess heat. Keep in mind that more than 90% of the energy from an incandescent bulb goes to create heat -- less than 10 percent goes to producing light. Your headlight is like an E-Z Bake oven -- you don't want to burn your cookies!

I'm not aware of any retrofit HID or LED that are DOT approved.

Having said that, I'll be trying the LED retrofits that have been recommended by @Professional Hand Model. If I get any resistance at annual inspection time, I'll just swap them out to get the sticker, and swap them back when I get home.

 

Get reading.
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/the-ultimate-headlight-upgrade-h4-not-led-or-hid.398066/
I run the Osram 95/100w H4 bulbs with the Headlight Services Harness. It's all 9003 or what ever our headlights call for but it requires more power. Which is where the harness comes in

 

Check out this link for pics and info.

https://www.tundras.com/threads/the...nt-‘build’-a-chronological-story.46816/page-2

 

Go to the retrofit source, and buy Morimoto 2stroke LED bulbs. I don’t condone LED bulbs in reflector housings but 2strokes will be your best option in output AND quality.
@tvpierce why wouldn’t a proper retrofit to either HID or a bi led projector be dot legal? As long as you have left hand drive projectors and aimed properly you would be fine.

 

Those Morimotos look cool and I actually considered doing them. What stopped me from pulling the trigger is all the work to do them plus the huge cost projectors. I added it all up and was over $500 in parts alone and then comes the work and risk of a leaky housing.

Actually having never seen the Morimotos live in person, I can’t offer any feedback on their performance other than to take peoples word here for it. Their projected light on the wall looks good, but so do the LED Katanas at low beam. High beam is a little streaky with intense light, but who cares as they are for flashing and driving without oncoming traffic.

LED’s have a bad rap from the early models which is why I waited and carefully reviewed. The tech is there now and if you get the CREE or Philips chip in whatever your LED its a good one. Even Morimoto has gone through changes in various models and working now on version 5?

Still haven’t been flashed or had anyone turn their rear views down at me as I used the SAE guidelines for aiming. Plenty of youtubes and internet coaching out there and even the SAE site can guide you.

I’ll never go back to incandescent head light bulbs as the light isn’t sufficient. Its your money. Spend it wisely.

 

@Darkness I understand. With a little extra effort and common sense I think a bar is a good addition. A 3 way switch is recommended as well. On with high beams, off or on with just power. This way it can be turned off.

In my 08 I went with 6000k led, had to remove the headlights to install. Definitely much brighter than stock and not just because of the blue/green spectrum addition.

 

Spot on. The only downside to going with a higher quality led like cree or Phillips is I’m sure most on eBay or Amazon aren’t actually installing them but claiming to. The decreased wattage/heat was a a huge selling point for me.

 

I’m wondering if the 2002 Tundra Fogs design is superior than these later models? Coupled with LED PerfectFits Fog Bulbs they lay out some nice light.

Seems the later models assy are round/recessed and work like spot lights facing forward versus the 2002 assy side to side 225° wrap around lighting?

 

I have no idea how to test these chips so I’ll take your word for it. These were bought on Big Gurrl so who knows?

All the metal machining looks pretty good. Wiring seems solid, as well as the little transformer box thingy.

 

Im sure you’ll like them. Just something that’s concerned me with these places. Amps, light bars, headlights, just about anything they can do to try and sell a product. Just check the power chips on eBay, now up to level 28. 200hp and a 50% fuel economy increase. Who wouldn’t buy it????

 

Its buyer beware. Always will be. I read all the reviews on Big Gurrl and the repeat theme was these were the same as the HR lights for triple the price. All the specs were exactly the same and even the design/color. A few 1st Gen Tundra owners were stoked so figured what the heck?

I believe these Kats have a one year warranty as Sylvania for same price. The Sylvanias reviews suck with many saying the bulbs didn’t last very long. Cheapest bulbs out there are running between $20-50? I think the Incandescents don’t last as long as they used to.

Anything purchased on the credit card can be refunded either through the buyer or using the CC companies overwhelming force if I get them involved so I don’t sweat it much. Key is doing your due diligence upfront and knowing what you are getting into regardless of your choice.

 

Thank you, I wished I had more patience than what I have. Your info would have saved me a few bucks.
I did buy a set (no biggie) but they are no better than what I had. Maybe a slight difference. It was worth the shot tho.

 

It's possible (although unlikely) things have changed, so I'm happy to be corrected if I'm wrong. The operative word in your question is "proper". Who decides if a retrofit is proper? It's my understanding that the DOT's stance is that if it's not identical to the original, then it's not in compliance. I'm not even sure if there's a process by which a retrofit manufacturer can pay for testing to prove their product meets the standards required. It isn't necessarily logical.

Want an example of illogical? DOT automotive lighting standards are among the worst in the world. Every auto manufacturer who sells vehicles in US and Europe has a different lighting system for the cars sold here and there. The European standard for automotive lighting is more modern and is far superior to the DOT standard in every way possible. However, Euro lighting is not legal in the US. Why? Because it doesn't meet the outdated, archaic standards of US DOT.

 

Check out https://www.hidplanet.com/forums
Lots of people doing proper retrofits, things have changed

 

I didn't poke around that forum, but you're saying there are manufactures making HID or LED H4/9003 that are DOT compliant when installed in fixtures designed for halogen bulbs?

 

Yes retrofitted with a projector

 

That's what I'm looking for.

A simple bulb replacement that won't set me back $2k for led headlights

 

Hmm I wonder why they were flashing their high beams? Must be everyone else in the world that's the jerk.

 

Here is what I have in my truck:https://www.amazon.com/XtremeVision...9?keywords=9003+hid+kit&qid=1573851246&sr=8-9

I know people will say that I am wrong, but I have always ran HID's in all my vehicles with standard reflector housings since 2008 with no issues. It comes down to properly aiming and aligning your headlights once they are in. I personally feel that there is no better performing bulb other than HID's on the market. Don't get one of those goofy colored bulbs and stick with 4300k, 6K or 8K color temperature. I usually adjust them a a notch or two down from what is recommended by the OE manufacturer and never have anyone flash me. For $34.99 and plug-n-play, you can't beat it. There is a reason vehicle manufactures are switching to HID/LED technology.

Here is 6K's installed on my Tundra:



Here is 6K's installed in my '16 2500HD:



You can see the major difference between HID and standard halogen bulbs in these two pics:





A few more from previous vehicles. These were 8K bulbs and a little too blue for my taste thus why I started running 6K's. 10 years ago, the 8K's had the slightest tint of blue to them and the 6K's were pure white. Over the years, that has changed.

 

Most aren’t smart enough to know the difference. I have never high beamed anyone who actually had their low beams on. It’s not hard to tell the difference between bright and high beam. On the other hand if someone thinks your lights are to bright they seem to flash you just because they want to pay you back. I know this for a fact since most have to see me turn off my high beams and they still flash me. My Toyota, Lexus and Acura all have factory 6000k spectrum and all 3 get beamed. This is why I installed the bar. When they flash me I flash them back.

 

I used to flash people back too with my PIAA spot lights mounted on my Jeep bumper back in day... until I got 'flashed' back with some red & blue lights lol. The deputy advised me it isn't illegal to have them on as you can have four forward lights on at one time but more of a d*ck move so I should not drive with them on

 

Having your high beams on and bothering other drivers aren't mutually inclusive. Plenty of a$$holes (especially Dodge drivers for some odd reason) level their trucks and change the bulbs and think because the headlights are on low beam and that their fog lights are factory (housings) that they aren't blinding people. Aiming headlights and not using factory scattermachine fog lights with hids or LEDs everywhere is probably a good practice in not making the world hate you.

 

3” drop from center of light, at 25’ I believe