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OEM LED Install Experience

Discussion in 'Lighting' started by WNY PAT, Mar 29, 2020.

  1. Mar 29, 2020 at 2:42 PM
    #1
    WNY PAT

    WNY PAT [OP] New Member

    Joined:
    Jul 22, 2019
    Member:
    #33562
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    479
    Western New York
    Vehicle:
    2017 Crewmax Limited (Mines) 2019 Crewmax SR5 (Work)
    Updated: installed. :)
     
    Last edited: Apr 11, 2020
  2. Mar 30, 2020 at 10:52 AM
    #2
    lonelydriver

    lonelydriver New Member

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    WNY PAT[QUOTED][OP] likes this.
  3. Apr 11, 2020 at 7:33 PM
    #3
    WNY PAT

    WNY PAT [OP] New Member

    Joined:
    Jul 22, 2019
    Member:
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    Messages:
    479
    Western New York
    Vehicle:
    2017 Crewmax Limited (Mines) 2019 Crewmax SR5 (Work)
    Well, I finally decided to put these in. I went back and forth, mostly because I was hoping to be able to get back to work and then I wouldn’t have had the time or energy to do this... well obviously that didn’t pan out... so yesterday I decided to dig in to this project. Let’s call it my LED upgrade on a budget. I bought all the LED lights used and hoped for the best... and I lucked out. Bought 3 of the 4 lights here on tundras.com and stumbled across the other headlight on flea-bay. Everything arrived as described and works perfectly. I ordered the iHacker harness with DRL dimming option. I have $590 in to all the parts. Thx to the honest sellers here!

    Hopefully I can add a couple pointers to all the great resources out there that helped me through this: namely the awesome how to videos and pictures by @Headlight Revolution and @iHacker. Thanks to those guys first and foremost. I’d have made a mess of this without those great resources. Materials needed: 10mm socket, Phillips head screwdriver, fastener / trim tool, zip ties, high quality electric tape, small Swiss Army knife scissors or razor knife, good work light for under the dash, blue tape to mark halogen hot spots on wall before removing, cloth to wrap ground wire from battery. I marked the wall with the tape for the headlight hotspots and disconnected my battery then:

    1. Load up the HR video “how to” on removing the grill and other bits to get to the headlights. Get all that stuff taken apart and carefully get the old headlights out. Here’s pointer #1: be careful of the mounting tabs. I can’t tell you how many used lights I came across that had broken mounting tabs as I was searching used lights. They aren’t flimsy but they aren’t stout either. From the factory they sit down ever so slightly in where the 10MM bolts hold them in. I found by gently breaking the seal with my fastener remover/trim tool around the entire circle, it allowed the tabs to come up pretty easily and the headlights slid right out of the cavity. Electrical connectors were easy, they came out just as described.

    2. Pull up the iHacker pictures and video (included in his link on tundras.com to buy the harness) and install the harness just as he describes. The install he lays out is perfect, looks completely factory, right down to the locations for the zip ties. Make sure you have the two extra zip ties he talks about... you’ll need them for the main harness connectors as they don’t have a positive locking mechanism and it does seem like they could back out or loosen over time. Living in the rust belt, I also bought a small tube of dielectric grease and put a light coating on all the connectors. Once the connections are made, tuck the wires safely behind the lights and and tighten up the bolts... but don’t overtighten.

    3. This part only applies if you have the amber DRL delete / DRL dimming harness from iHacker. It’s the one that goes through the firewall... not straight to the fuse box under the hood. So here are a couple quick notes on this:
    A. The IHacker video (after all the pics in his post) on how to remove the interior panels is must watch. It made the disassembly and reassembly a breeze for me.
    B. I wasted some time figuring out where the “nipple” was at the firewall he talks about. It’s directly underneath the wire cluster that runs through the firewall. Look at the picture on the iHacker post. I didn’t see it until after I was finished with this step... it would have saved me time. I ended up using a stepladder and feeling underneath where the big wire harness and cable for the hood release run through the firewall and found it. I used the tiny scissors from a Swiss Army Knife to cut the end off the nipple, I’m sure a razor knife would work but the small scissors made a perfect clean cut. Anyway, now I could feed the wire lead from the hood side to under the dash. To finish this step up: it took some contortions, but I was able to get a zip tie around the wire lead and the wire harness a few inches from the firewall and then wrapped some weatherproof tape right to the firewall and took it about 8” back under the hood to make it weathertight again. Cutting the end of that nipple off and using that void for the lead is a must. Don’t try to force it through next to the cluster of wires IMO.
    C. Once you have the lead to the dash side (assuming you have the panels off) it ought to be pretty straightforward if things go as planned. Of course, nothing goes as planned for me. I located the thin grey wire described in the video and tried to depin it. Of course, with my fat fingers and too much pulling, I broke the wire and it didn’t release from the connector. Learn from me and take your time to gently depin the wire. This mistake added an hour or more to my project. I ended up having to modify the perfect iHacker harness to tie in to the broken wire. The grey wire you use for this step is very small / thin gauge. I found it was about impossible to get a good connection with such small gauge wire with wire caps or crimps. So, off to NAPA I went to buy some solder. I ended up soldering the grey wire to a small lead I’d made and then crimped that new lead to the iHacker harness. I soldered all the connections and used heat shrink tubing and some 3M electrical tape for good measure. It ended up working out, but it was a major hassle and totally unnecessary. If I’d just been more patient and more gentle in depining that grey wire... ugh. Did I say be careful with the grey wire? Lol.
    D. The iHacker supplied posi-tap worked perfectly for the 12V power supply - the location is described well in the video and pictures... it’s NOT in the same connector as the grey wire and fortunately is heavier gauge.
    E. I zip tied the relay in the location recommended and zip tied all the wiring against the factory clusters. Everything from the iHacker Harness looks factory, perfect and very high quality IMO.
    F. I hooked the battery back up and everything worked fine EXCEPT the DRLs. Dammit! I went back and started looking at things... it all looked right. So, I PM’ed IHacker at 6:30PM or so... he responded in less than an hour... told me to check to be sure the e brake is off since that turns off the DRLs and also to double check the connection that I made with the lead I fed through the firewall. Turns out I hadn’t pushed in that lead to the supplied female connector for a positive lock... I was being a bit timid after breaking the grey wire. Anyway, I pushed that lead in more forcefully, heard the positive click that it had engaged the plastic lock. I hooked the battery back again up and viola! Everything was working perfectly. I taped everything back up, reconnected all the plugs under the dash and reinstalled the interior panels. Tested the lights one last time and then reinstalled the grill and side pieces as well.

    4. The fog lights were a breeze. Plug and play with GREAT directions on the install at the HR website on how to remove the fender liner and original fog lights. I only ended up removing the bottom fender liner and was able to access the screw easy enough to pull the existing light out and slide the new LED fog right in. The video @Headlight Revolution instructions have you remove an extra piece which would have made accessing it even easier. I was lazy and made it work. Again, a little dielectric grease on the connectors for me since I live in the rust belt. It took me about 10-15 minutes for each side.

    I’m thrilled with the finished product. Another big thanks and shout out to iHacker for being so responsive and making such a great plug and play harness. I took the truck out for a ride tonight and love having the LED lights on my 2017 too - there’s such an amazing difference in brightness comparing these LEDs to the factory halogens that came on the truck. I have to adjust the passenger side headlight down about an inch or two but you can see the wall pictures below for beam pattern of the new LEDs. They are great lights. IMO, this mod is well worth it. I probably never would have done this mod had I not leased my 2019 and seen the difference between the factory LEDs on that and the halogens in my 2017. Hope maybe this is of some help to someone doing this project along the way. Pics below... high and low beam.
     
    Last edited: Apr 11, 2020
    iHacker likes this.
  4. Apr 11, 2020 at 7:35 PM
    #4
    WNY PAT

    WNY PAT [OP] New Member

    Joined:
    Jul 22, 2019
    Member:
    #33562
    Messages:
    479
    Western New York
    Vehicle:
    2017 Crewmax Limited (Mines) 2019 Crewmax SR5 (Work)
    Low beam with fogs: great pattern IMO:

    3B02DBD6-F393-40FD-AE9A-8ABDB9B0D7D6.jpg
     
    Last edited: Apr 11, 2020
    BrandonL812 likes this.
  5. Apr 11, 2020 at 7:38 PM
    #5
    WNY PAT

    WNY PAT [OP] New Member

    Joined:
    Jul 22, 2019
    Member:
    #33562
    Messages:
    479
    Western New York
    Vehicle:
    2017 Crewmax Limited (Mines) 2019 Crewmax SR5 (Work)
    High beams:great beam pattern again IMO:

    EF2548A6-4D66-4E49-BF6C-2193829A63A7.jpg
     
    BrandonL812 likes this.
  6. Apr 11, 2020 at 7:46 PM
    #6
    WNY PAT

    WNY PAT [OP] New Member

    Joined:
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    #33562
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    Western New York
    Vehicle:
    2017 Crewmax Limited (Mines) 2019 Crewmax SR5 (Work)
    @Pinay - can you change the title of this thread to OEM LED Install Experience or something? I’d appreciate it. Didn’t realize the title until I looked back at it. Thx!
     
    Pinay likes this.
  7. Apr 11, 2020 at 7:55 PM
    #7
    xtyfighterx

    xtyfighterx New Member

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    North Idaho
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    2015 Black Crewmax Mid Travel
    Mid travel fox 2.5 coilovers 2.0 real shocks shims 295 70 18 trail grapplers pro accessories 32in light bar blacked out bed cover sway bar Moto metal 970 18x9
    Looks like ur passenger side is higher.
     
    WNY PAT[OP] likes this.
  8. Apr 11, 2020 at 8:00 PM
    #8
    WNY PAT

    WNY PAT [OP] New Member

    Joined:
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    2017 Crewmax Limited (Mines) 2019 Crewmax SR5 (Work)
    Yep - gotta adjust that down an inch or two. If the adjustment is as easy as they say... I just need a screwdriver and a couple minutes.
     
  9. Apr 11, 2020 at 8:03 PM
    #9
    xtyfighterx

    xtyfighterx New Member

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    2015 Black Crewmax Mid Travel
    Mid travel fox 2.5 coilovers 2.0 real shocks shims 295 70 18 trail grapplers pro accessories 32in light bar blacked out bed cover sway bar Moto metal 970 18x9
    Yes sir. I love mine to awesome lights no reason to really have any more output for every day driving. One of the best upgrades I’ve done. Those stock halogen lights were a safety hazard I thought.
     
    TheBeast and WNY PAT[QUOTED][OP] like this.
  10. Apr 11, 2020 at 9:23 PM
    #10
    Lovetrucks

    Lovetrucks Member

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    LED’s certainly are a lot brighter than halogens, after having the LED’s you start to wonder how we ever drove at night without them. lol
     
  11. Apr 12, 2020 at 12:20 PM
    #11
    WNY PAT

    WNY PAT [OP] New Member

    Joined:
    Jul 22, 2019
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    Messages:
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    Western New York
    Vehicle:
    2017 Crewmax Limited (Mines) 2019 Crewmax SR5 (Work)
    So reached out to a friend who owns a collision shop and he said the headlight aim is fine as it is. When he sets them up, he usually leaves the driver’s side ever so slightly lower than the passenger side for two reasons: one: it’s a truck and that light is the one closest to passing car drivers on two lane roads; and 2. If you were to hypothetically put the truck live on a road with a crown... the driver’s side is going to be slightly higher as it’s towards the crown of the road so in reality, the lights as they are In real life would be perfectly level. He said if I wanted to level it, not to bring the driver’s side up but to bring the passenger side down to save the eyes of oncoming traffic... as these LEDs in general are retina burners (as they all are) at night. In my area, on the rural roads, it seems that all the new cars and trucks blind you. I think all the manufacturers are going for a 10/10 on the Consumer Reports headlight rating at the expense of our collective “oncoming traffic” night vision. Anyway, it’s easy to adjust, so I’ll probably level them out and see how I like it and fine tune it. I’m going to use my factory 2019 as the baseline height.
     

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