Solved: Upgrading headlight HELL

The short of it is I am having a hell of a time picking a headlight bulb for the new housings with the LED DRL. Halogen, LED, HID...the choices are endless, the reviews are all over the place, brightness vs. lifespan vs. price point......GFG I am at my wits end. I can implement LED bulbs but Jesus, do I really have to spent $150 bucks or more to get a solid bulb with all of the best characteristics? I am not looking for 2 supernova's on the front of the car from an output perspective, but I do want some longevity over 12 months. Thoughts?
Thanks
G

 

Cheap ain’t good. With electrical pick your poison.

 

So are the VLED's the only answer here?

 

No way, you can find something that's fine for much less. But IMO you shouldn't be putting LED bulbs in a halogen housing. Some will say the tech is there now but I still find them blinding and light scattering

 

Good advice....was thinking about staying halogen
G

 

That is ideal for the way those headlights are built. Some guys over at tacomaworld showed a way to upgrade the headlight wiring harness which allowed the use of 75w or 85w bulbs. Those blew away some of the HID and LED bulbs, but you have to upgrade all the wires to do it safely.
There are a few threads here about LED bulbs. And quite a few people say that a few manufacturers have designed their LED bulbs to mimic halogen output resulting in less scatter and glare. To me the photos still looked to have a lot of glare and scatter but they swear it's not bad.
I gave up trying various expensive bulbs in my 2015 LED DRL lights and finally broke down and got 2018 LEDs and an ihacker harness. I am very pleased. You can find sets of used OEM LED headlights for under $500 nowadays, plus harness for about $125. I think it was worth every penny.

 

I would go with the Toyota Pro led headlights. About $500 total, may need a wire harness depending on what year ur truck is. Everything is clean, works awesome and avoid the headaches. I went retrofit first and it bit me in the ass. Never mind that I spent double what the OEM headlights are. Don’t do it to yourself and buy OEM and be done.

 

I am going to try OSRAM NIGHT BREAKER LASER H4 and see how they treat me
G

 

I have OEM lights. This is a discussion about bulbs.
G

 

But you don’t have OEM LED headlights. But I get it. Do what you’d like, just trying to save you a lot of trouble. Best of luck.

 

I do have OEM LED DRL lights...I just installed them on Saturday. They are not LED mains if that is what you men.
G

 

TTU19 is referring to LED headlights that came out in 2018. Much better than halogen and easy to install on earlier 3rd gens.

 

Ahhhh ok, that makes sense. These had LED H4 bulbs when I got them but I think they are originally halogen lights.
G

 

Yes, and @TTU19 is right. See this thread: https://www.tundras.com/threads/201...lay-harness-for-2014-2017-models-v-2-0.24416/

Last piece for deleting the goggle-eyed, over-the-top chrome look.

 

That's wonderful news
G

 

Personally, I would consider new LED Pro headlights, skip trying to put LEDs in a halogen light. I had aftermarket HIDs on my Tundra and they sucked. Light pattern was terrible. Bought LED Pros from Toyota Cool Springs and a wiring harness from @iHacker. Install was a breeze, light output is awesome, and cost was about $650.00. Worth every penny like @Pudge said.

 

I put the 2019 TRD Pro black ones in mine. World of difference driving at night. Strange thing is everything is brighter but I have fewer people flip their lights at me thinking I have my brights on than when I had the HIDs.

 

Agreed, I have already ordered halogen bulbs.
G

 

Can the vled switchbacks be run in the TRD led headlights?