bbrock1415

Has anyone tried or used a conversion kit for the headlights? I am looking in to upgrading my headlights and not sure if I want to convert them over to where I can switch out the bulbs or if I just want to stick with the one that is sealed. Any Suggestions?

Michael Beckman

Halogen H4 conversions are well worth it. I installed these
I also built a heavier wiring harness at the same time, so I'm not sure how the bulbs look on stock wiring.

bbrock1415

how hard was it to do the wiring harness? Also which bulb did you use?

Michael Beckman

Built the wiring harness following these instructions: http://www.go.jeep-xj.info/HowtoHeadlightLoom.htm Not too hard, took a few hours to get everything hooked up. Toyota uses a switched ground, so you have to run the ground from the old headlight plug to your relays.
I ran the included bulbs at first, then switched to these: Higher wattage on the high beams, same low beam so I don't blind anyone.

bbrock1415

I wonder how much better it would be if I converted and didn't change the wiring harness. I am not real sure if I want to tackle the wiring harness

Michael Beckman

Should still be a big improvement.
I've also run these:
I put them in my '89 2wd truck. Pretty big improvement, though not as good as the Hella housings.

bbrock1415

Thanks for the help

JohnnyCanuck

you can also buy truck lite leds which are a plug & play, probably half a dozen of us have them, check the link in my sig to see them.

RSR

X2 on the Hella Vision plus. I'm going to add some pictures of mine later this week. Just finally hooked up the wiring harness this weekend. In stock setup, the wiring for the lights runs through the wiring harness to the cab and then back to your lights which causes resistance, leads to voltage drop, and occasionally burns wires if running too powerful of bulbs.

In regards to bulbs, these two are supposed to be the best, but I'm happy with the stock bulbs that came in the Hellas.

And I bought a premade harness and am happy with it but have only been running a week or so:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=330813121438

RAD4Runner

Improvement in brightness but that's a band-aid; You won't be fixing poor wiring design. See Daniel Stern Lighting website or my thread for explanation, Re: Voltage Drops and worse yet, wear on dimmer switch.

Do not get AutoPal (Ebay stuff) if you're picky. It has poor optics. Has dark spots, shown here on mine:

bbrock1415

What are you pictures showing? Is this with upgraded lights and stock wiring harness? Also are you saying don't buy a premade harness like suggested above? Thanks for all the replies

bbrock1415

they are a lil pricey but look really nice and btw nice truck

bbrock1415

you have any pictures? how hard was it to run the wiring harness?

blakefogt

I used these guys..
http://www.roundeyes.com/Toyota_Head...Headlamps.html

I'm happy.

RAD4Runner

please read post ^^ thoroughly

That type of wiring is plug and play and easy to route along existing wiring (along and to front of top of radiator)

1. Unplug both existing bulb connectors from your headlight bulb
2. Plug male plug of harness into one of the existing bulb connectors (this is he control input of harness)
3. Plug female connector (these are the outputs) of harness into your bulb
4. Connect power supply wire of harness to fused line from battery
5. Screw ground cord terminal of harness into ground post inside right fender, next to fuse block

.
Done.

RAD4Runner

Do these give even beam pattern, without voids like the Autopals in my post ^^)? TAI

bbrock1415

So are these sealed headlights or are they converted over to bulbs?

RAD4Runner

Wiring harness is different and separate from bulb conversion.
Harness is to eliminate voltage drops in wiring, See the many posts about it.
AutoPal, Ruondeyes and Hela's are housings that replace stock sealed-beams so you can bulbs that are brighter and make them easy to replace.
I do not recommend buying AutoPals ^^.

bbrock1415

I understand that the wiring is different from the bulbs. What I was asking is do you have stock wiring harness and upgraded bulbs? Also what do you recommend to put in for headlights. I am not trying to go broke when putting in headlights I would like to stay under $200 and thats why the truck lites are not really an option although they look really nice I don't want to spend that on headlights

RAD4Runner

I do not have stock wiring. I modified. It improved light output even when I had stock sealed beam. Later I installed housing upgrade by AutoPAL which came with "standard" halogen bulb. This further improved light output.

Sensible decision not to spend too much on the light.

Housing:
Some housings come with bulb, some do not.

If you want to upgrade with least expense, and OK with the dark spots^^, Autopal housing is OK.

If you're willing to spend more, AND IF recommenders of Roundeyes or Hella housing ^^ say they have more even beam pattern than AutoPAL, then go for it.

Bulb:
IF housing you buy comes with standard bulb but yo want better output, then spend a little bit more for the Sylvania or Phillips upgrade bulbs^^