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LED Headlight Bulb Install Steps

Discussion in 'Lighting' started by ronlunan, Jan 10, 2018.

  1. Jan 10, 2018 at 6:17 AM
    #1
    ronlunan

    ronlunan [OP] New Member

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    I know this has been discussed, diagrammed, and videoed ad nauseum, but if it helps one guy then it was worth it.

    I recently replaced the halogen headlight bulbs on my 2018 TSS CM. It was a fairly intuitive process, but the first one took forever and the second took five minutes.

    I replaced them with these Lightning Dark Ultra Brights. They look great.

    Step 1: Remove the bumper. There are four 10mm bolts on top of bumper. Also remove square panel on right side.

    Step 2: Remove both clips on either side. Closest to light housings.

    Step 3: Unhook sensor harness. You won’t be able to take off bumper without this step. And it will be hard to remove bumper if you wait to unclip.

    Step 4: Unclip and remove bumper

    Step 5: Remove two 10mm bolts holding headlight housing to frame.

    Step 6: Remove panel below headlight

    Step 7: Remove final 10mm bolt holding the headlight on

    Step 8: Rest housing on bumper. First put something soft on the bumper to protect the paint. Unplug the light.

    Step 9: Replace old light for new

    Rinse, Repeat, and Enjoy!
     
  2. Jan 10, 2018 at 6:40 AM
    #2
    Danimal86

    Danimal86 Looks clean even when its dirty!

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    Thanks for taking the time to do a proper write-up. Guaranteed it will help someone!
     
    ronlunan[OP] likes this.
  3. Jan 11, 2018 at 4:47 AM
    #3
    trueaspect

    trueaspect New Member

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    Good write up!
     
    ronlunan[OP] likes this.
  4. Jan 29, 2018 at 4:12 PM
    #4
    Medging

    Medging New Member

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    So there is nothing fancy you have to do? Just pull the old bulb out and put these in?
     
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  5. Jan 29, 2018 at 4:17 PM
    #5
    Berdine

    Berdine Voodoo Sport

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    Great post!
     
  6. Jan 29, 2018 at 6:21 PM
    #6
    Stumpjumper

    Stumpjumper New Member

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    +1, no need to pull bumper to access headlights. Just pull grille and 2 trim pieces.
     
  7. Jan 30, 2018 at 12:51 AM
    #7
    ronlunan

    ronlunan [OP] New Member

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    @RowdyRon @Stumpjumper thanks for keeping me honest. :facepalm:

    @Medging You might be able to get away with only swapping the bulbs. Your new LEDs draw less power than stock so some folks opt to add a power ballast and resistors to balance things out. I only swapped the bulbs.

    This is the video I studied before the swap.

    One thing I’ve noticed; the stock housings were not designed for LED bulbs so the light pattern isn’t normal. It’s not terrible, but don’t expect the pattern to be similar to your halogen bulbs.
     
    NewImprovedRon, Sunnier and Medging like this.
  8. Feb 7, 2018 at 11:04 PM
    #8
    sctruckgirl

    sctruckgirl New Member

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    Thank you so much for posting this! Definitely helped me out today
     
  9. Feb 8, 2018 at 2:33 AM
    #9
    TXRailRoadBandit73

    TXRailRoadBandit73 YOTAS,RAILROADER,RÖKnRÖLLN',BEER,MAX/GEMMA

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    None yet
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  10. May 5, 2018 at 6:50 AM
    #10
    wigsplitter

    wigsplitter New Member

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    I must be missing something as I replace my bulbs in my 2013 crew max and just simply opened the hood, reached in, unhooked old bulbs and then installed the new ones. Never had removed all this stuff to do that. Yes it is a tight fit but I've reached into smaller/worse areas working on aircraft to change parts in my days...
     
    Trooper2 and Stroke250 like this.
  11. May 7, 2018 at 6:54 AM
    #11
    yosh2000

    yosh2000 New Member

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    10000 lumens (5000 per side)!!! wow, HID only puts out like 3200. and for only $52...STEAL!!
     
  12. Jan 12, 2019 at 6:22 PM
    #12
    mrburns05

    mrburns05 New Member

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    Thank you! It just helped me... good lord what we have to go through to change a bulb nowadays :eek2:
     
  13. Jan 12, 2019 at 8:55 PM
    #13
    alpinepro4

    alpinepro4 What is your MPG Today!

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    Put new LED bulbs in yesterday. HR Supernova V4 LED. They have a pretty good pattern. Better light than my OEM LED bulbs.
    [​IMG]
     
  14. Jan 21, 2019 at 9:14 AM
    #14
    Cement-Mixer

    Cement-Mixer New Member

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    Pat,

    Pat, are you talking about replacing the OEM LED low beam bulbs found on the 18/19 Tundras with an aftermarket LED bulb? From what I have seen, no one is offering anything yet for the new headlights. Just curious. Cheers, Frank
     
  15. Jan 21, 2019 at 10:34 AM
    #15
    alpinepro4

    alpinepro4 What is your MPG Today!

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    I replaced my 17 headlights OEM halgion bulbs with LED aftermarket bulbs from Headlight Revolution. My truck didn’t come with LED bulbs or the nicer LED headlight with DRL. That came after my generation.
     
  16. Jan 21, 2019 at 4:36 PM
    #16
    Cement-Mixer

    Cement-Mixer New Member

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    Ok, thank you for clarifying, I got happy there for a min as I was thinking there was an upgraded bulb lol. Love your truck by the way ;-)
     
  17. Jan 22, 2019 at 10:17 AM
    #17
    RastaMan69

    RastaMan69 New Member

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    Flowmaster-Super 44, BDS 7" lift with Fox shocks, 22's on 35's, Oh S&*t bar mod, Console safe...wireless charger, ADD Stealth Fighter bumper, Rigid lights
    Beautifully done....Thanks
     
  18. Jan 24, 2019 at 8:36 AM
    #18
    Morninwood

    Morninwood New Member

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    All this to change a light bulb??? Engineering fail, for sure! I got back-up lights as well. I sure hope I don't have to remove the bed!;)
     
  19. Jan 24, 2019 at 3:14 PM
    #19
    alpinepro4

    alpinepro4 What is your MPG Today!

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    Yeah it was kind of a pain in the ass! But I know how to replace my headlights for OEM LED headlights in the future. It was worth the pain in the ass though.
     
  20. Jan 31, 2019 at 10:14 AM
    #20
    gs1197tx

    gs1197tx New Member

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    Toyota engineers "fixed" that problem. Now you can't get to the bulbs at all without disassembling 1/2 the front end....grrrrr
     
  21. Feb 8, 2019 at 11:41 AM
    #21
    wigsplitter

    wigsplitter New Member

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    Found that out recently with my 2018 when I wanted to put new bulbs in to replace stock ones. Thank you Toyota engineers! Big fail on their part!!!
     
  22. Feb 22, 2019 at 1:58 PM
    #22
    ncorry

    ncorry New Member

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    When replacing halogen bulbs w LED bulbs, you don’t replace the rubber boot, correct?
     
  23. Feb 22, 2019 at 2:12 PM
    #23
    TundraTSS19

    TundraTSS19 New Member

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    No. You reuse the rubber boot.
     
  24. Feb 25, 2019 at 6:53 AM
    #24
    ncorry

    ncorry New Member

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    After posting the question here, I went and re-read your post in another thread (https://www.tundras.com/threads/2019-tundra-sr-led-conversion-help.39546/#post-1005716). Yes, the black plastic mount on the Auxbeam headlights. I started looking at the allen screw and removed it. Nope, do not do that. The plastic mount simply turns about 20 degrees and slides off, then you can run the LED bulb through the rubber grommet and re-install with the fan portion of the LED bulb outside and behind the rubber headlight grommet.

    TSS19- thank you so much for your posts on this. The Auxbeam H4 NF-S1 LED headlight replacement is the best $33 bang-for-your buck mod I've ever done on any vehicle. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B074GZ3S4P/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
     
    TundraTSS19[QUOTED] likes this.
  25. Feb 25, 2019 at 8:10 AM
    #25
    TundraTSS19

    TundraTSS19 New Member

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    @ncorry I'm very glad to hear this. I did have to make a correction as to the orientation of the bulbs. Make sure the metal reflector cup is on the bottom and not the top. If it's on top then the beam pattern will be off and the lighting output will be bad. Just recheck.
     
  26. Feb 25, 2019 at 8:39 AM
    #26
    ncorry

    ncorry New Member

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    I saw the correction you made to the other thread and the pic you posted. The NF-S1's cup looks nearly identical to the OEM halogen bulb's construction. When removing the OEM bulbs, I noticed that the cups were facing up, and by up I mean if the cup were a coffee mug, it'd be ready to receive a pour. Your posts talked me into and then walked me through it, although there was no mention of having to remove the #$&^$%^#*ing fender flares in order to change a headlight bulb.....
     
  27. Feb 25, 2019 at 8:53 AM
    #27
    TundraTSS19

    TundraTSS19 New Member

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    My apologies. I never posted a step by step procedure on how to change them out. There were already a few YouTube videos that had that down in detail. It only takes me 15min to get both headlights out. To me it's that simple. I'm glad everything worked out and that something I posted helped out someone else. Have you done the fog lights yet?
     
  28. Feb 25, 2019 at 12:34 PM
    #28
    ncorry

    ncorry New Member

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    Amazon tried to deliver the fogs to my office on Saturday..... I am tapping a pencil waiting for USPS to show up any time now.... Wonder if I'll have to remove the FENDER FLARES for those too.
     
  29. Feb 25, 2019 at 1:14 PM
    #29
    TundraTSS19

    TundraTSS19 New Member

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    Nope. You just need a plastic pry tool or a screwdriver with some electrical tape on it. Prey on the outside of the foglight right in the top middle and begin to pull it out. The tabs will unlock. Now the trick is to cut the zip tie that holds the connector wire to the frame. I had a pair of very long "12inch" needle nose pliers that I used to grab the zip tie and twist it off and from there removed factory bulb and inserted new led bulb.
     
  30. Mar 6, 2019 at 6:18 PM
    #30
    jwl019

    jwl019 New Member

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    Ordered the Auxbeam NF-S1 headlights and fog lights today, ready to see the difference!
     
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