Amazing 1st Gen Headlamp Upgrade

These bits that are listed at the bottom of the page.

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/dp/B0012Q54KW

 

A really long Phillips

 

Thanks. That's out of stock but I grabbed a similar one.

 

Warning - Fog Light Reply, not Headlight

I ordered the Auxbeam mini-projector LED fog light bulbs and the resistors that @shifty` posted earlier in this thread.
They arrived yesterday. They seem built well enough for $50. I'm not crazy about the 'cooling fans' , but what are you gonna do?
The included instruction pamphlet doesn't seem specific to these bulbs and is very generic.
I'm very much a newbie to LED, or any tech for that matter . . . a question I have before I climb under the truck is that I don't see a 'top' or 'bottom' for these bulbs. Other models of this brand include an allen wrench to loosen a set screw for clocking adjustments . . . but these don't have that.
Does anyone know if these are these just a 'spray pattern' with no top or bottom ?
Looking closely at the lens and body, I can't see anything that would give me any orientation.

 

Projectors are normally for driving and not fog light patterns, interested to see the light pattern for these

 

Maybe they aren't a traditional 'Projector' and more of just a spreader beam through a lens.
I tried calling their customer service to ask a couple questions with no answer 'shocking' . . . so I sent an email.
I'll report back more findings here if anyone cares.

 

Damn looks like you're a pro at this now. Want to do mine? I can bring a case of beer over!

I ended up going with the Y7S because the more softer white color intrigues me. Super white/blueish LED color always throws off my eyes.

https://www.led-colight.com/product...HdomDqAVHIJYdwR32GSbfsZxUZN3N1ninl5i4toMbegna

I think I'll get started in my driveway tomorrow hopefully everything comes out easy.

 

Did you find a way to keep them from running through the different light colors while you're driving? With mine, switching the high beam on & off caused the low beam to cycle through all 3 colors. I could have tolerated having to switch the headlights on/off every time I start the truck, to get to the color I want. I wasn't ok with the color changing on it's own while I was driving, because of having to turn high beams on/off.

 

I haven't installed them yet... But I'll let you know. I almost never have to use my hi beams so it won't be much of an issue for me. Will check on that though.

 

Ah alright. Yeah I really liked the color spectrum and the option of using amber instead of the harsh blue/white of most LED headlights. But every second or third time I'd cycle my high beams, the low beam color would change. On the interstate out here it's pretty much constant on/off with the high beams. The amber color doesn't cut it at 70+mph after dark, and the only way to get off that color was either completely on/off with the headlights, or on/off multiple times with the high beams. Either way oncoming traffic would get distracted or pissed.

 

Well, I got a brief reply email from Auxbeam… they’ve been discontinued. Wonder if I should even install them …. Hmmmmm

 

Installed Auxbeam headlights and fog lights today. I did need to add a resistor to both sides, but everything works/looks great!

Question: Where/how do we put the resistors so they are out of the way and not just loose moving around?

These threads have been SO helpful! Just purchased a 2003 AC SR5 4WD for my son who will be 16 next month. He loves doing all of this himself, but we have a lot to learn!

 

The resistor and drivers can get hot. Ideally mount them on sheet metal in-around the housings. I like industrial commercial Velcro for mounting. Lots of other stuff you may need to look into here.

 

I would much prefer velcro to screws! I saw a post that said to use a self-tapping screw to attach it. I’m going to try the velcro.

I have the post you linked book marked. We’ve gone through it a lot

 

team ziptie here. The ultimate in secure, removable, repeatable and relatively clean attachments. Use any existing hole. TWSS

 

Well I finally got those Auxbeam mini-projector headlight bulbs installed.
I had purchased the resistors with them as well . . . but when I plugged everything together . . . no dice.
I took out the resistors and plugged the bulbs straight to the factory plug and everything works as should.
Just a guess, but 'maybe' since I already had put in resistors at the headlights, and the DD LED Flasher relay as well, there was no need for relays at the fogs . . but who knows.
I'll update with a picture tonight . . . but so far in the garage they appear much brighter then the halogen, and the color match is much much closer. 6500 headlights, & 6000 fogs.

Still not crazy about the 'cooling fans', but we'll see . . . with the truck off you can just barely hear them running if you're standing at the hood.

 

Truck’s pointing down in the driveway …

 

Alright Team,

What's the latest and greatest for mini projectors and longevity?

I am having a hard time parsing all the Co-Light options. The only fanless option from them right now is the Y7s, which I do not wish to use because you have to cycle through the colors...

Anyone use the Y9 Plus? Or the Y16 with success? Or.. a "tried and true" fanless model from another brand?

Thanks all for your time!

 

Just installed mine, Y6 with the fans. Not in love with the fans but whatever.
Are people running the wire out the boot jammed against the fan? Seems like water will get in eventually. There are clearly 2 exit holes meant for wires on my dust boots, but they're too small to get the twist plug through I think.

I'll also mention that the spring clip doesn't fit true anymore. The LED lights sit farther back (into engine bay) so that spring clip has more tension on it than it should.
There's nothing to hold the lights in without the spring clip though, unless I drilled and tapped a hole for the provided screw to hold on.

I have cheapo headlights from Amazon - the reflectors are actually screwed in, so you can just unscrew them and then needle nose crush em out.

I also bought those extra in-between dongles that prevent blinker issues. No idea if I need em or not, but things seem to be working.

Hoping I don't need to align the lights much. One of the lights is ziptied down and don't think it will respond to the alignment screw.
I will almost definitely need to align them >->


Honestly the whole thing feels jerry rigged, but I'll take a better stab at it in spring

 

Yeah, I have cheapo housings too and it was a bit of extra work to get the projectors to fit well. I ended up having to fab up a bracket to hold the bulb in place, as I had broken the tabs that the spring clip goes into. Like this: https://www.tundras.com/threads/2000-limited-trd-refresh-repair-story.116395/page-8#post-3189586

Are you able to send a photo of how the wires exit the projector assembly? My fanless ones have the wire coming straight out of the heat sink. I assume yours are different?

 

Sure, will do. My wire just goes straight out the back through the main hole in the boot.
I had to carefully pull the wire away as I screwed in the fan, else the edges would have shredded the wire sheathing off.

Certainly not water tight, but it's around 5F here so...water currently doesn't exist lol

Just drove around and these Y6 bulbs are pretty nice. I think both my headlights are aimed way low

 

So I took a look at COLight's website just because I was curious. Check out what I found, this is the description for the Y6 bulbs:


Maybe that's why you're having issues. The bulbs that I got look the same as the Y1 series.

 

We discussed this one quite a while ago. Maybe even in this thread? It's when we were talking about the Y7. The info from CO is wrong.

 

Ah. That makes sense. Maybe I need to be refreshed- but there is a reason that the Y7 or Y9 is better than the Y1, which is what I have on my truck? My Y1s have been flawless so far.

 

Gonna need to spend some time snooping

Would loveeeee some brighter headlights

 

Y7 is the tricolor IIRC and is apparently really shitty/annoying. And no real improvement on the weird blue-purple abberation at cutoff.

 

Sometimes it requires some trial and error to get these set up right, but the performance is really awesome for the cost of mini projectors. I'm really happy with mine, and I do all kinds of driving, highway, city, inclement weather, etc. Here's some examples:

https://www.tundras.com/threads/2000-limited-trd-refresh-repair-story.116395/page-11#post-3543898
https://www.tundras.com/threads/2000-limited-trd-refresh-repair-story.116395/page-9#post-3191557

 

Yes we talked about that statement on their website, in this thread. I asked them about it. Someone (maybe multiple people) reached out to them with issues, likely some of the same issues people here have had, so they added that language. But as we've found here, these headlights are more or less plug & play for some, but not others. Others have definitely needed to make other modifications. They installed and worked with no issues for me.

I managed to snag a set of fanless Y6's when I saw they were on their way out from Colights lineup. Amazon still had stock and a few of us bought them up. So far I've been very happy with them.

 

Mine are still going strong.

 

Okay. So if a guy wanted to do the projector conversion today, what should be the first I look at? I want to do it right the 1st time.