Headlight upgrade

[Drtmvr]

Anyone done a headlight bulb upgrade on a 5th gen Tradesman. Mostly would like more light out of the low beams.

 

[Trash Panda]

Not to be a dick here, but this doesn’t exactly seem like a “Powertrain” topic of discussion, and you’re gonna have a collection of guys up in arms over the use of the term “5th gen”.

Good luck with the upgrade. I love the LED’s on my Laramie, and I imagine it wouldn’t be too difficult to swap some factory units in.

 

[Slutzk]

Whatever you do... DO NOT put LED bulbs in halogen housings. They do not belong in them nor were they designed to do so. If you want the color and brighter get 5-6k white halogen bulbs. If you want LEDs, replace the entire housing. Dont be a POS by blinding everyone on the road.

 

[Drtmvr]

Anyone done a headlight bulb upgrade on a 2500 Tradesman? Mostly would like more light out of the low beams.

 

[johnmyster]

How do we know what kind of headlights a 5th gen is going to use?

If we're talking about a 2019-2024, it appears the base headlights use an H11 bulb (low) and 9005 (high). For these, a higher output substitute is a H9 and 9011, respectively. Both will require minor tab trimming and is well documented online.

The best 9011 will be a Toshiba, imported from China, also sold as Toyota part number 90981-13066. I happen to import them in bulk and sell them on ebay for less than anybody else in the US. I can get you a set in a few days.

Any of the "regular" H9 bulbs will be an excellent step up over an H11, if you can deal with the shorter bulb life. FWIW, I got two years on my last set and they were going strong, winter commutes in the dark. Just avoid any "long life," "blue," "silverstar," "nightvision," etc. If you really want to split hairs, the best H9 will be a Philips "standard" either made in Germany or China. At one time Delco part number 92095788 was the german philips but has been superseded with a slightly inferior OSRAM, GM/Delco number 130351666. Any of these will be a remarkable step up over any H11 that Ram would have used from the factory.

The Philips H9 has gotten difficult to source. These are cheap and available. I'm pretty sure I've used some OSRAMs and was pleased, but I can't remember where they are sourced these days. There were some good bulbs coming out of Turkey, Korea, etc...

Amazon.com: DAMA Automotive Lighting H9 64213 DOT Original Standard Halogen Bulb 12V 65W 3800K PGJ19-5 Made in Germany/Pack of 2 : Automotive

Buy DAMA Automotive Lighting H9 64213 DOT Original Standard Halogen Bulb 12V 65W 3800K PGJ19-5 Made in Germany/Pack of 2: Headlight Bulbs - Amazon.com ✓ FREE DELIVERY possible on eligible purchases

www.amazon.com

This sylvania basic is probably an OSRAM, which is fine. I honestly can't keep track anymore.

Amazon.com

I have done both of these substitutions on multiple cars. The filament remains in the same place. You get higher output and better color temperature. IIRC the H9 is typically 3800K.

Your housings appear to be reflector housings, so I would not recommend any type of HID or LED bulb swap. If you want to crack them open and do an HID projector retrofit, there's that option too, but I've had reflector housings provide incredible pattern/light if they were in good shape and had the right halogen bulb in them. If your housings/reflectors suck, no bulb will be able to compensate.

Is that what you were looking for?

 

[H3LZSN1P3R]

Anyone done a headlight bulb upgrade on a 2500 Tradesman? Mostly would like more light out of the low beams.

What year? 19-24 its best to go with swapping out to the factory led housings. Throwing led bulbs in the factory housing is not great.

 

[Rockcrawlindude]

been running morimoto 2 stroke LEDs for about 5 years in halogen housings (they’re designed for that) and I’ve never been flashed by oncoming traffic.
My wife gets flashed daily in her stock Mazda with factory led projectors. YMMV.

The morimoto bulbs were a big improvement but a housing upgrade would be much better as the beam would be greatly improved. Hopefully Black Friday this year I can snag a projector housing

 

[AH64ID]

been running morimoto 2 stroke LEDs for about 5 years in halogen housings (they’re designed for that) and I’ve never been flashed by oncoming traffic.
My wife gets flashed daily in her stock Mazda with factory led projectors. YMMV.

The morimoto bulbs were a big improvement but a housing upgrade would be much better as the beam would be greatly improved. Hopefully Black Friday this year I can snag a projector housing

I ran GTR CSP mini LED’s in my 18’s halogen housing and they were impressive. I also was never flashed, unlike some OEM LED headlights I’ve driven. There are definitely some LED bulbs that work great in halogen housings.

 

[dieselscout80]

How do we know what kind of headlights a 5th gen is going to use?

If we're talking about a 2019-2024, it appears the base headlights use an H11 bulb (low) and 9005 (high). For these, a higher output substitute is a H9 and 9011, respectively. Both will require minor tab trimming and is well documented online.

The best 9011 will be a Toshiba, imported from China, also sold as Toyota part number 90981-13066. I happen to import them in bulk and sell them on ebay for less than anybody else in the US. I can get you a set in a few days.

Any of the "regular" H9 bulbs will be an excellent step up over an H11, if you can deal with the shorter bulb life. FWIW, I got two years on my last set and they were going strong, winter commutes in the dark. Just avoid any "long life," "blue," "silverstar," "nightvision," etc. If you really want to split hairs, the best H9 will be a Philips "standard" either made in Germany or China. At one time Delco part number 92095788 was the german philips but has been superseded with a slightly inferior OSRAM, GM/Delco number 130351666. Any of these will be a remarkable step up over any H11 that Ram would have used from the factory.

The Philips H9 has gotten difficult to source. These are cheap and available. I'm pretty sure I've used some OSRAMs and was pleased, but I can't remember where they are sourced these days. There were some good bulbs coming out of Turkey, Korea, etc...

Amazon.com: DAMA Automotive Lighting H9 64213 DOT Original Standard Halogen Bulb 12V 65W 3800K PGJ19-5 Made in Germany/Pack of 2 : Automotive

Buy DAMA Automotive Lighting H9 64213 DOT Original Standard Halogen Bulb 12V 65W 3800K PGJ19-5 Made in Germany/Pack of 2: Headlight Bulbs - Amazon.com ✓ FREE DELIVERY possible on eligible purchases

www.amazon.com

This sylvania basic is probably an OSRAM, which is fine. I honestly can't keep track anymore.

Amazon.com

I have done both of these substitutions on multiple cars. The filament remains in the same place. You get higher output and better color temperature. IIRC the H9 is typically 3800K.

Your housings appear to be reflector housings, so I would not recommend any type of HID or LED bulb swap. If you want to crack them open and do an HID projector retrofit, there's that option too, but I've had reflector housings provide incredible pattern/light if they were in good shape and had the right halogen bulb in them. If your housings/reflectors suck, no bulb will be able to compensate.

Is that what you were looking for?

Interesting I am interested in more like for my high beams.

You said that bulb lifespan will go down is the true for the 9011 too. I think you meant for both but just clarify.

Do you know of any good sites that show the light output differences with actual measurements?

 

[johnmyster]

Interesting I am interested in more like for my high beams.

You said that bulb lifespan will go down is the true for the 9011 too. I think you meant for both but just clarify.

Do you know of any good sites that show the light output differences with actual measurements?

The topic of output and measurements has been hashed ad nauseum in the Tacoma forums. Let google be your guide.

In general, bulbs trade lifespan for output. You get more light by burning the filament hotter, which reduces lifespan. So anytime you buy a "long life" version of a bulb you're actually buying one that is at the low end of the output requirements...but they don't tell you that. The H9, designed as a high beam bulb, has higher output than an H11 because it was designed to be used as a high beam bulb. People generally only use their highs a small proportion of the time, so the reduced life for a high beam bulb is tolerable.

The H9 is also a good candidate for swapping into an H11 low beam application because the filament geometry is identical and the bulb base is close enough to work with minor tab trimming. The additional heat output (wattage) is small enough to not be a problem. An H9 will have better output than any "high output" H11 you can buy.

The 9011 runs brighter because it uses an infrared reflector to pull heat back into the capsule, so it's a different animal with additional technology that is not cheap to produce. 9011 life span is comparable to a hot 9005 but with higher output.

I converted to 9011 high beams on our three cars three years ago and have yet to retire a bulb. I converted my commuter to H9 low beams three years ago and still on the same set. Bulbs are cheap enough I'd rather buy the best output I can and keep a spare set on hand for the rare change. H9 is readily available at any supplier including walmart. The Toshiba 9011 is an odd duck but I've told you where you can get those. PM me if you need more direction.

Bulb life will be shorter (but tolerable) but the cost is trivial and there is no other downside to swapping to 9011 and H9 bulbs in your application. For the bulbs I've recommended you're talking $70 tops. If you'd rather buy LED conversions and have ricer boy 6000k color temperature and turn your housings into glare cannons, you can go that route instead.

Oh look, AI search. So nominally you can expect 55% more low beam output and 35% more high beam. Except the bubs I've suggested are best of the best and your current bulbs are probably factory "long life" units, so it's save to anticipate more than that.

 

[Ewoodard]

I ran lasfit led’s in my halogen housings and the were great, put out a ton of light and no one ever bright lighted me.

 

[dieselscout80]

The topic of output and measurements has been hashed ad nauseum in the Tacoma forums. Let google be your guide.

In general, bulbs trade lifespan for output. You get more light by burning the filament hotter, which reduces lifespan. So anytime you buy a "long life" version of a bulb you're actually buying one that is at the low end of the output requirements...but they don't tell you that. The H9, designed as a high beam bulb, has higher output than an H11 because it was designed to be used as a high beam bulb. People generally only use their highs a small proportion of the time, so the reduced life for a high beam bulb is tolerable.

The H9 is also a good candidate for swapping into an H11 low beam application because the filament geometry is identical and the bulb base is close enough to work with minor tab trimming. The additional heat output (wattage) is small enough to not be a problem. An H9 will have better output than any "high output" H11 you can buy.

The 9011 runs brighter because it uses an infrared reflector to pull heat back into the capsule, so it's a different animal with additional technology that is not cheap to produce. 9011 life span is comparable to a hot 9005 but with higher output.

I converted to 9011 high beams on our three cars three years ago and have yet to retire a bulb. I converted my commuter to H9 low beams three years ago and still on the same set. Bulbs are cheap enough I'd rather buy the best output I can and keep a spare set on hand for the rare change. H9 is readily available at any supplier including walmart. The Toshiba 9011 is an odd duck but I've told you where you can get those. PM me if you need more direction.

Bulb life will be shorter (but tolerable) but the cost is trivial and there is no other downside to swapping to 9011 and H9 bulbs in your application. For the bulbs I've recommended you're talking $70 tops. If you'd rather buy LED conversions and have ricer boy 6000k color temperature and turn your housings into glare cannons, you can go that route instead.

Oh look, AI search. So nominally you can expect 55% more low beam output and 35% more high beam. Except the bubs I've suggested are best of the best and your current bulbs are probably factory "long life" units, so it's save to anticipate more than that.

View attachment 91039

View attachment 91042


View attachment 91041

Thanks

I learned something new today.

 

[johnmyster]

Thanks

I learned something new today.

The HIR1/HIR2 bulb technology was an interesting solution meant to bridge a gap. They didn't have HID output but they also didn't have HID cost/complexity. Some OEMs have used them but it never really got popular before HID and LED took over. In the "i want more output from my halogens" it's really a no-brainer. If it solves the problem, no need to deal with the additional compromises of LED/HID conversion products.

 

[HodgeDodge]

I went with Lastfit very good quality light, adjusted the beam so zero blinding anyone. Also replaced the high beams with lastfit.