Morimoto 2012-2015 headlights

I’m sure there’s probably a thread started on these.
https://youtu.be/eX6YuGl3xkY

I was in the market for an upgrade. Heard good things with little negative reviews on the brand. Better than other brands.

emailed them to anticipate when these will be released; was told late summer and pre orders start in about a month or so. Anyone else waiting on these?

 

Very interesting, I haven't seen these before. I was already looking to upgrade to prebuilt retrofits from kustom54lighting.com, but these Morimoto's look clean.

Couple more videos:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQOzZtvEoF4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bsyVhQdLSIM

 

The main lighting guru on this forum essentially was disappointed in their performance in the 3rd gen iteration for the price. I’d sooner retrofit than buy these.

 

Huh never seen these before, definitely dig em...will have to keep an eye on em.

I wish they'd stuck more with the spec-D style DRL bars, rather than imitating the 3rd gen aftermarket headlight cues. this one below, specifically. I might be biased since that's what I have on my truck, but I think it looks much better for our model years than the 3rd gen narrower style.

I'm already aware that the light output won't be as good as stock. I'm okay with it...almost guaranteed Morimoto will be better than any of the other aftermarket offerings.

 

Yeah that was my issue with the spec-d. Even after upgrading to a morimoto HID kit, light output was average and light cutoff was wonky.

 

Agreed, I don't like the DRL style looking like the 3rd gen. There are some nice Retro fits in the marketplace I've been eyeing that are local to me.

 

Get these, retrofit in some Morimoto HID projectors, you’ll have the best lights possible in my opinion.

 

What was wrong with them?

 

to summarize...

they throw a lot more light in the foreground, which gives off the illusion of more light, but put significantly less light further down the road where it matters, which is exacerbated by the excessive foreground light drawing your vision away from where they're supposed to be, and providing less light where they are supposed to.

@crashnburn80 feel free to come on in and elaborate

 

I’ve read that about the alpha Rex type ones. Wonder if these will be differeng

 

yeah i believe AlphaRex were the worst offenders, but Morimoto is guilty of it too. That being said, I do believe Morimoto is one of his top aftermarket alternatives if you aren't gonna go OEM, and they're a pretty established lighting company that has been around for quite some time, making products for a ton of vehicles. I'm sure they'll be a step above AlphaRex, and probably fairly close to OEM.

 

I believe this is what was said about alpharex. He didn't praise the morimotos but has said they are the only acceptable plug and play housings on the market.

 

possible, i may have mistakenly extrapolated that statement to all the aftermarket offerings. but he's definitely said they're the best aftermarket option, yeah. hence why i wouldn't hesitate to buy these, and anxiously await more information

 

I

Have them for my third gen and love them. Excited to see they are making something for the 2nd

 

That summery is accurate for AlphaRex, it is not the case for Morimoto.

The biggest flaw with the Morimotos lights is they don't have uplight like OEM lights, meaning you have a hard cut off from the low beam and a black wall void for what is beyond the low beam illumination. OEM headlights, both halogen and 3rd Gen LED, have uplight (reduced light above the cut off) so you can see beyond the headlight cut off in the distance and helps illuminate things above the cut off like overhead signs. It makes for a much more natural driving experience. You can read the reviews linked below, the Gen 1 Morimotos were ok at best. Gen 2 significantly stepped up the output intensity being the highest output intensity lights on the market, but quality wasn't great and they lacked uplight.

You can see the 3rd Gen, Gen 1.0 Morimoto review posted here and the Gen 2.0 Morimotos reviewed in post #4538 here. For comparison the OEM LED headlight assemblies are covered here.

Ironically I had suggested TRS bring a Morimoto headlight for 2nd Gen to market years ago since 2nd Gen owners are more likely to need to replace worn out units, and they said no. I'll have to get ahold of a set and see how they stack up. The single low beam projector and single high beam projector design is very different from the 3rd Gen Morimoto lights. It is unclear if they are using the same projectors as 3rd Gen, if so I'd anticipate underwhelming performance being the 3rd Gen uses a 3 projector low beam and these appear to use a single low beam projector. I wouldn't think they'd go that route though. I'll have to dig into a set once they are launched.

 

not a fan. trying to be too much like a 3rd gen.

 

Dibs on when you get rid of them hah.
I get a good idea of what you’re saying. You’re reviews are top notch with an abundance of info. Basically, we appreciate your truthful consumer experience. Also, can one expect retrofits to out perform oem? I’m on the fence on what I want. Aesthetics vs performance at the end of the day.

 

I will resell them, as I am self funded.

Retrofits vary just like any other light. There is some very low quality highly popular inexpensive retros like Morimotos mini H1 using illegitimate Chinese halogen rebased HID capsules that should definitely be avoided. On the other end of the spectrum there are OEM retrofits using products like Lexus RX350 D2S projectors allowing for the worlds best OEM grade German HID capsules from major lighting brands like Philips and Osram with bleeding edge +200 capsules. It makes those Morimoto products look like pathetic child's toys.

For 2nd Gen though, it is hard to beat the halogen upgrade in value. I'd bet money the new Morimoto LEDs are unable to match these halogens on serious steroids.
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/the-ultimate-headlight-upgrade-h4-not-led-or-hid.398066/

 

Looks like they'll be available end of May. Looking forward to your in depth review as always, I'll be picking them up myself if it's favorable.

 

Hi