New AlphaRex tail lights

Allnfitness · Apr 3, 2021

Really liking these new tail lights!!!

80cruzer · Apr 4, 2021

Gor the same set. Love them so much i bought the projector led headlights also

scottstrong89 · Apr 4, 2021

Are these the clear black or smoked black?

crashnburn80 · Apr 5, 2021

80cruzer said: ↑

Gor the same set. Love them so much i bought the projector led headlights also
Click to expand...

AlphaRex Projectors covered here:

crashnburn80 said: ↑

Well there was no need to delete the whole thread. Even mistakes are still helpful for others to learn from without incurring the cost of learning on their own.

To be clear, there is nothing fundamentally wrong from an engineering standpoint with manufacturing lights in China. Toyota's OEM LED fogs made by Valeo are made in China. Valeo is a well known major OEM supplier lighting manufacture. As such, you can be assured Valeo's products will meet the SAE pattern requirements of the spec, their business as an OEM supplier with the worlds largest automotive manufactures depends on it. Unfortunately China is also rampant with non-reputable manufactures and is well known for falsifying SAE compliance claims. Recall that SAE compliance is a self certification process, aka it is an honor system, the government does not issue any compliance certification. Meaning you must trust the credibility of the manufacture to have done their own SAE compliance testing. There is no better place to find fraudulent products than Alibaba. AlphaRex's 3rd Gen lights seem directly sourced from Alibaba, even with the AlphaRex logos blurred out. Being sold in China there is no recourse or mandate that the products actually meet the spec, so they don't need to invest in the proper engineering R&D, testing, compliance check and just stamp it as SAE compliant because it doesn't really matter for their target audience and allows them to sell for substantially cheaper. This is a well understood problem in the lighting community.

The OP is correct, I have not personally tested the AlphaRex lights. But there are so many red flags in others online reviews, unfortunately most are all done by amateurs that do not understand what to look for causing them to draw the wrong conclusions, propagating misinformation.

Here is one, AlphaRex left vs Morimoto right:

Everyone says wow AlphaRex is so much brighter! If you understand how a headlight is supposed to work, you know that foreground light is supposed to be minimized and that maximum beam intensity is supposed to be at the cut off horizon for maximum distance projection. The pattern should have a very smooth uniform light pattern that minimizes foreground light and increases in intensity to the pattern cut off. AlphaRex quite literally has this completely backward, there is no way this is an SAE compliant product. Excessive foreground light will draw your eyes down from the horizon, it will restrict your distance night vision and enable you to outrun your headlights. It is more difficult to see beyond the excessive short range bright spot. Brighter isn't better unless it is brighter in the right place in the pattern. And this is what I constantly reiterate, people see the foreground light and say wow it is bright, not realizing that isn't how a headlight is supposed to work, there is so much more to headlight design.

Another AlphaRex right vs Morimoto left.

Look at each beam pattern and see where your eyes are drawn.

In the AlphaRex product your eyes are drawn immediately infront of the vehicle, while in the Morimotos they are not, they should be drawn off to the headlight horizon. It is very clear that Morimoto understood how to properly engineer a headlight pattern and AlphaRex made a pathetic attempt to build a headlight by using a short range flood pattern. Again, see my previous post, I've never given a good review to a Morimoto product.

The OPs own output photo shows the exact same pattern performance seen in the online reviews. Massive foreground light, which indicates an improperly designed headlight. While the OP claimed the lights had not yet been adequately aimed in this photo, the hot spot should be at the top edge of the beam pattern regardless of the aiming. That is clearly not the case just like all the other online reviews.

Unfortunately the online reviews seem to always say that the AlphaRex are so much brighter, swaying people to buy in that direction. These people lack the education and lighting background to understand they are doing far more harm than good, because they do not understand how these products are supposed to work. Automotive lighting is a funny subject where human judgement is inherently flawed. I do not mean to berate the OP, but again it is very clear AlphaRex is not a legitimate lighting product.
Click to expand...

AlphaRex reflector output shown here:

JayCue said: ↑

Okay so I finally had the time to throw these on. I went in knowing these were going to underperform compared to my stock housing lights but damn these things definitely underperformed.

They look really nice and I definitely enjoy the little light show they give when turning on and locking your car.

The light output is really scattered and at times it’s difficult to make out what’s in front of you. because of the headlight design it has like two blind spots that are pretty big.

Low beam

Low beam

They are not that bad and get the job done but there is definitely room for improvement.

The high beams are the worst. There is literally almost no difference when you turn them on/off.

I’m going to see if there’s a way to angle the headlights or even change the bulbs to my brighter leds that I had in my stocks.

The only upside is now I have time to bake my OEMs and paint black.
Click to expand...

Needless to say output performance and pattern on both AphaRex headlight products is awful and not a legitimate headlight product. They are just relabeled poor quality Vland headlights from China Alibaba, you can buy them direct yourself and cut out the middle man. By comparison the OEM LEDs are the highest performing lights available as shown here. So I'd highly advise looking at OEM LED or the new Morimoto Gen2s, but definitely stay away from the AlphaRex, aka cheap low quality Chinese Vland products that are not a legitimate headlight.

Moonshark · Feb 28, 2022

Isnt this about tail lights? Not sure why you are going into that much detail about the headlights.. They are tail lights..

MENACE · Feb 28, 2022

Moonshark said: ↑

Isnt this about tail lights? Not sure why you are going into that much detail about the headlights.. They are tail lights..
Click to expand...

It was about tail lights...........11 months ago!

Shades_Of_Red · Mar 1, 2022

V2

Siblue · Mar 1, 2022

MENACE said: ↑

It was about tail lights...........11 months ago!
Click to expand...

He joined TW just to post that.

skeletron · Mar 1, 2022

80cruzer said: ↑

i bought the projector led headlights also
Click to expand...

Moonshark said: ↑

Isnt this about tail lights? Not sure why you are going into that much detail about the headlights.. They are tail lights..
Click to expand...

howmuch4onerib · Mar 1, 2022

meh.

so glad the meso x morimoto led's will be here sometime soon.

MrArtixx · Mar 1, 2022

Shades_Of_Red said: ↑

V2
Click to expand...

Still jealous of your truck!

Moonshark · Mar 1, 2022

Siblue said: ↑

He joined TW just to post that.
Click to expand...

Well damn, have to join sometime right? Probably makes sense to participate as well once you join, or no? Just bought my first Tacoma and wanted one for a very long time. Is there a special "new to tacomaworlds post" that you think I should have started with? I'm noticing there is a fair amount of knowledge here but just like anywhere online an even larger presence of trolls. Build your trucks how you want, post what you want, say what you want. The tail lights look sick, good on you mate, hope you enjoy them!

Siblue · Mar 1, 2022

No harm at all.
I’ve seen a few new members join and bounce after one.
Welcome to TW.

Log in or Sign up

Welcome to Tacoma World!

New AlphaRex tail lights

#1
Allnfitness [OP] New Member

#2
80cruzer Active Member

#3
scottstrong89 AhsokaTaco

#4
crashnburn80 Vehicle Design Engineer

#5
Moonshark Member

#6
MENACE Avid toker

#7
Shades_Of_Red Well-Known Member

#8
Siblue Well-Known Member

#9
skeletron Disgraced Member

#10
howmuch4onerib i sure am hungry

#11
MrArtixx Well-Known Member

#12
Moonshark Member

#13
Siblue Well-Known Member

Products Discussed in

Log in or Sign up

Useful Searches

Welcome to Tacoma World!

New AlphaRex tail lights

#1 Allnfitness [OP] New Member

#2 80cruzer Active Member

#3 scottstrong89 AhsokaTaco

#4 crashnburn80 Vehicle Design Engineer

#5 Moonshark Member

#6 MENACE Avid toker

#7 Shades_Of_Red Well-Known Member

#8 Siblue Well-Known Member

#9 skeletron Disgraced Member

#10 howmuch4onerib i sure am hungry

#11 MrArtixx Well-Known Member

#12 Moonshark Member

#13 Siblue Well-Known Member

Products Discussed in Entire Site Forum: 3rd Gen. Tacomas (2016-2023)

#1
Allnfitness [OP] New Member

#2
80cruzer Active Member

#3
scottstrong89 AhsokaTaco

#4
crashnburn80 Vehicle Design Engineer

#5
Moonshark Member

#6
MENACE Avid toker

#7
Shades_Of_Red Well-Known Member

#8
Siblue Well-Known Member

#9
skeletron Disgraced Member

#10
howmuch4onerib i sure am hungry

#11
MrArtixx Well-Known Member

#12
Moonshark Member

#13
Siblue Well-Known Member

Products Discussed in