Any input on replacing all new headlights/tail light setup?

My headlights are old and faded, tail lights are mismatched just want to replace all the way around and update the truck. Looking for a black or smoked look. I don't have a preference on halos, LED's, HID's or anything specific, just not looking for a huge work load looking for as close to plug and play as possible. I've been searching on Amazon but don't know what i'm looking for or if that's even the best place to look. Looking for opinions of whatever you have. Budget is around $500 to include bulbs and lens ready to go. Thanks for any info.

 

TacomaBeast has a good light selection and they seem to be reputable. I got some headlights and about 7 months ago and they've held up great so far.

 

My opinion is to always, always, ALWAYS go OEM. Most all aftermarket options will have issues with leaking and/or hazing up quickly making the money savings pointless.





...unless it's the headlights from TacomaBeast. I really liked the style of them compared to other aftermarket options and after reading some reviews here I decided to try them out. So far I'm pleased and aside from one or two negative posts in all of the intrawebs it seems like most all other buyers are happy too. Here's to hoping they hold up long-term because they're affordable and I really like how they make the truck look. There's a huge thread on them that's currently active so I'd recommend doing a search, sitting down with a cold one & getting comfortable and reading through it because there's lots of good info with pics and all sorts of details.

 

Mine was too. Mother's aluminum polish shined them up. Got some new bulbs too. If you're down with stock.

 

Go for the black outs not smoked. Smoked #1 look stupid and #2 greatly reduce visibility from the lights.

 

Generally i'm an OEM guy as well but I was going to go for a red/black look on my truck so didnt want to get OEM then go around and read how to smoke them myself. I would just polish mine but the turn signal lens is burnt on the inside and since my tail lights are mismatch i figured go ahead and replace all 4 corners.

 

Thanks, this is the kind of blunt feedback I need because I know nothing of this headlight jargon

 

Good thing is 05-07 tail housings are cheaper, after that the LEDs look cooler but raise the price.

 

Got el-Cheapos from eBay. I really like the way they look, they use black plastic behind the clear, not smoked, however as @Ostrichsak said, they did have an issue with leaking rainwater inside. I have LED lights that I got cheap on eBay as well, they're pretty good for output, but the projection from the el-Cheapos is not nearly as good as the OEM projection. I actually ended up putting a little ring of RTV around the el-Cheapos to keep the rainwater out. Seems to work fine for that purpose, although next time I will go with black RTV - the orange is kinda visible at the corners...

 

Yeah I was just gonna add that. Put RTV silicone on it BEFORE you install or youll regret it after the first rain.

 

Several threads on this. I swapped out all the old OEM lights on my Son's Tundra with "plug and play" 2 years ago and they are doing real good so far.

 

Sounds like TacomaBeast is better than Headlights Depot...

 

I'll have to check out Headlights Depot because while everyone is praising TacomaBeast, i've been reading that's just the company's name they are selling Spyder headlights and the general consensus on them are about the same as every other aftermarket. Half say they look like shit 6 months later, the other half saying best investment ever. Just wish one manufacturer had it figured out already..

 

I bought mine from Headlights Depot.
Large selection.
after 2 years the drivers side leaks.. I have drilled small holes in the very bottom face...
Water in / Water out.
No problem... I would have put the silicone around the top side initially if I recognized that as an issue.
If my regular maintenance shop didn't slam the hood shut.
This may never have been an issue.
I'm happy with the Depot light's, for the $$ spent.

 

Another important designation is that TacomaBeast sells one model of Spyder headlight which is the one everyone is discussing in that other thread even though some sourced theirs from eBay or various other sellers. Spyder makes numerous different headlight models with the previous versions being of relatively low ratings. I personally wouldn't have installed the previous styles they made due to the rather lengthy list of poor reviews and issues. They seem to have taken what they learned from those and created a better headlight housing though and I believe these are of drastically better quality than the previous ones which have besmirched the Spyder name to many. Who knows, 6 months or a year from now I may be singing a different tune if they don't hold up but for now I've been quite happy.

 

Taking your good judgement on Spyder, ordering these on Friday. Couldn't bring myself to spend $400 on the TacomaBeast exclusive light bar style although they are nice, they're just a little too nice for me. Thanks for the input

 

What year is your truck? TB had these same exact ones with everything for the drl already soldered

 

'06. How much soldering is it that makes the same set double the price from Amazon?

 

You actually went opposite of my judgement if you got one of the other versions of Spyder headlights which it sounds like you did. What I said was that the previous versions of Spyder headlights had some negative reviews and I personally wouldn't get them. For clarification, the ONLY Spyder headlights I would get are the newest ones with the LED DRL bar that TacomaBeast (among others) sells. TacomaBeast has also been known to offer up $100 discount codes from time to time on them as well making them about $300 or so as I recall. The other models are too prone to leakage, fogging and general QC issues so if I wasn't going to get those I'd just go OEM. I know it's tempting because they're cheap but you will likely find that you threw that money down the drain after only a few months of use. That's just my opinion though and I wish you the best of luck with your headlights.

 

I’m gonna throw these in these in the mix to. I stumbled across them while looking for tail lights

http://www.opt-7.com/2005-2011-toyota-tacoma-projector-headlight-assembly-drl-leds-black-clear-lens/

Can’t really find much in the way of tacomaworld reviews except for their led bulds.