Headlight Upgrade?

Don't want to put a light bar on the front of my truck, but need to upgrade my lights somehow.

Anybody changed their stock housings out with something like this: https://www.headlightsdepot.com/199...SwXq-2ZCZhCKqeLaksquTq_irQf3iJOhoCBwAQAvD_BwE

I've seen some skeptical reviews as far as just swapping the stock bulbs for LEDS.

Any other ideas, tried and liked?

1998 tacoma

 

search for the "ultimate upgrade".

To sum up:

Nobody in the aftermarket makes decent (as in, function over form) headlight housings for 1st gen Tacos. You have a 98, which iirc has the sealed beam E-code lights, so I think there are a few more options, but still pretty limited.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/best-replacement-headlights-for-96.550346/#post-17884121

 

Phillips X-treme vision bulbs. $25 on Amazon. If you dont like them, your only out a little bit. I did it, night and day difference from stock. If the bulbs only last a year its worth it to me.

 

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/the-ultimate-headlight-upgrade-h4-not-led-or-hid.398066/

Stick with halogen, clean your housings, boost the wattage. Best bang for your buck. LED in my opinion is not great at all for you main driving lights. Your headlight design is based on halogen and filament position. Halogen produces a light that is easy for your eyes over long periods. OEM housings are going to be the best....period. You buy aftermarket housings, they do not meet automotive standards as far as research and design. Seals will eventually fail, reflective coatings will tarnish, you will be right back to looking for OEM housings in the future....GUARANTEE IT! Put in time, do your research!

Also, checking/re-adjusting your headlights. Brick wall, level surface, tape measure and screw driver.

 

If your old housing aren't too fogged over, you can park your truck ~25 feet from a flat wall, and mark where the cutoff beam is on each light with tape on the wall. Then replace them and match the marks.

However, with mine, they were so badly fogged (even after polishing/restoring them 2x) there was NO cutoff beam (just totally smeared blob of light), so I had to do a little research and figure out what the standard adjustment was (basically, some measurement higher/lower than the height of your lights, or something like that).

 

Is the "ultimate Upgrade" this: https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/starr-hid-projector-headlights.451433/ ?

I did already wet sand clear coat the housings, helped a little: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UEJbKLZ7RmM

Been using these in my camry and love them, maybe should try for the taco: https://www.sylvania-automotive.com/products/headlights-and-fog-lights/silverstar-ultra/index.jsp

Sounds like mixed reviews on the phillips bulbs: https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/philips-x-treme-vision-bulbs.291089/

From what I saw, yea the LEDS actually provide less lighting, especially in wooded areas - no light penetration. Maybe it has to do with trying to use the same housing.

How do I boost the wattage on the lights?

Where the lights seem to be pointing looks fine, just the intensity is so weak. I was thinking about trying to restore them - wet sand and clear coat again, but like jbrandt says don't know if it will help anymore.

 

No, it's the link a few posts up from mjohn617

Yeah, depending on how bad the fogging is, no amount of polishing will help. New housing time... (I got CAPA certified housings form Rockauto)

The problem with the halogens with the blue tint on them is that while it makes the light appear bluer, it is actually decreasing the light output. So the light looks "cooler" it's actually dimmer...

The problem with LEDs isn't that they are dimmer. The expensive ones really are brighter. The problem is that the LEDs produce different shaped light patterns than halogens. The housings are precisely engineered for the halogens, so the LED light just gets scattered/smeared. That's why you typically have to aim them down after installing LEDs - you loose that cutoff pattern and start blinding people.

Look through the link posted above. That link is originally for the 2nd gen trucks, but there's a discussion in there for the parts needed for the 1st gens. The other link I posted was for the headlights for the earlier 1st gens.

Basically, you get an upgraded wiring harness that connects directly to the battery (with relays, it's all plug and play, super easy). The wiring harness has bigger wires that can handle the extra power draw.

The link describes getting the TRD pro headlights, but that's for the 2nd gens. 1st gens don't have that option, and the only real solution, at least for the guys running the H4 bulbs (earlier Tacomas have sealed housings) is either keeping your original housings, or getting new housings (factory OEM, or CAPA certified aftermarket).

Even if you ONLY do the wiring harness, you should see a slight increase in light output since you're actually providing more wattage to the lights than through the stock wiring because it's direct to the battery.

Yeah, if you've tried the polishing thing a couple times, just spring for all new housings.

 

Wow thanks for thorough response. I'm thinking it'll be worth the money to just replace the whole housings then along with the bulbs. Still reading through the "ultimate upgrade", good stuff but the bulbs are discontinued - what to do down the road when you can't find those bulbs?

This is the 1st gen related thread (reading through still also): https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/proper-headlight-upgrade.407879/

Did somebody mention the projector lights and housings were not good? https://www.carid.com/1998-toyota-t...halo-projector-headlights-leds-669702353.html

- almost the same price as the "capa" housings, and if using housings designed with the bulbs, wouldn't it be better? (instead of trying to use a LED bulb with a halogen housing)

What about the regular TYC housings vs the CAPA, is it really worth the CAPA ones?

Has anyone done the "ultimate upgrade" on a 1st gen? Part numbers, wiring diagram, everything else, etc would be really helpful...