Inu

my 4runner has the 9004 bulb with glass lens housing. What are you guys doing for upgrading the poor lighting without converting to the older style headlights?

Is their an Hid buld that works well in my stock fluted housing?

i lost my driving light when i traded to a T.G. bumper so im really looking to up the output

help?

JDOGG

I'm thinking about doing this https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f127...-beams-227785/

Look on Craigslist for people/shops that convert you housings to whatever you want (HID, angel eyes, LEDs, projectors, etc...)

daved5150

iTrader: (1)

I know what your talking about with the 9004 bulbs. I have a 94 4runner and I have been researching how to get better lighting. The pictures of those aftermarket headlight housings that were probably made in Taiwan/China in the thread that JDOGG posted are garbage. Yes, they are cheap but brighter doesn't always mean better. I want brighter headlights too but I don't want to blind on coming drivers to get it. HID's are brighter but they are blinding most of the time to oncoming traffic. Every one thinks that the cooler color of HID is better but it is not good for perception at night. I am not a big fan of HID.

Check out http://danielsternlighting.com/

I just was on his site and it's down until the 3rd week in September.

I found a lot of information on that site as Mr. Stern knows what he is talking about and will answer any questions you email to him. I will post his emails to me when I get a chance as it deals with what you're asking about. The first thing I am going to do is buy an upgrade kit from him with quality relays and factory connectors to run full battery power with 12 gauge wire to the headlights instead of the crappy factory small gauge wire dropping all kinds of voltage creating the low light level coming from the badly designed 9004 bulb.

I would also recommend a set of driving lights on the front end such as Hella 500's which are moderately priced but put out a decent amount of light for the price. You can wire them in with the brights so they turn on when you trigger your brights. That's what I did on my 88 with the Hella 500's. I still have to put them on my 94 as I took them off the 88 when I parked her. Hopefully this helps you. Let me know.

JDOGG

wait you don't have a sealed beam? you want just the bulb? try DDM tuning they will send you everything you need for a cheap price.

Inu

yep their not seald beams, i would do drivning lights again but me n a buddy have spent a few daystrying to figure out were to put em wihtout blocking the radiator or hacking up the stinger. soo im back to trying to brighten up the headlights but the fluting has me worried about just dropping even a more quality hid bulb that might have the arc hieght set right

michael0584

Make sure they are adjusted properly, mine were aweful until I adjusted them, they were aimed too high which made them look very dim on the road. after aiming them down they are much better. Maybe try some silverstar ultra 9004 bulbs or the GE Night Hawk 9004NH and the Philips VisionPlus 9004VP both get good reviews.

nv4runner

I "converted" my housings to 9007 bulbs. There are write-ups about this on the web. All it requires is the removal of two of the three locating tabs inside the housing and swapping the high beam and ground wires IIRC. The electrical connector is exactly the same and the retainer is exactly the same. If you are very careful and don't remove too much material (I used a small hand file) to remove the tabs it still has a secure fit and I can even go back to 9004 if that's all I happen to have and need lights. The filaments are positioned like this | instead of like this -- and I think it gives a better light pattern. I was impressed when I did the swap.

daved5150

iTrader: (1)

Inu, you are not really going to block airflow to the rad all that much if mount them just to the inside of each headlight. That's what I did to my 88 and mounted them to the top of the bumper with no problem. I relayed the Hella's and used the bright light pwr line as a trigger for the relay that was supplied with the lights. I've seen posts about dropping in HID bulbs in the stock housings but I don't know about the legality of doing this. Would it pass inspection???? Would it blind oncoming drivers by having a bulb in there that the lens was not designed for? Believe me, I've been looking into this as well because of the crappy lights our 2nd gens have. Michael0584 does have a valid point of checking to see if the headlights are aimed correctly, which I will have to do. But I am going to relay and upgrade the wire size for the headlights. Also, a quality bulb instead of some crappy import would help also. I think that wiring a set of decent driving lights to turn on with the brights is a good idea because they made my 88 seem like I had great lights as I live in deer country and drive 17 miles to work each way. Don't buy into the hype of those blue tinted "HID" light bulbs as that is false advertising...total hype man. Buy pure white light bulbs. Filtering out all the other colors of white light and sending out just blue light does not help you see at night.

Very good ideas, michael. Name brand bulbs not import "overwattage" bulbs or blue tinted bulbs as well.

nv4runner, I'm glad that that worked for you brother but I had concerns about doing this as I have read this posts before. Check these out:

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/...yths-dispelled

http://candlepowerinc.com/pdfs/9004_9007.pdf

http://candlepowerinc.com/pdfs/Illegal_Overwattage.pdf

http://store.candlepower.com/trabhidki.html

Just food for thought. Not trying to knock you, dude just when I look into something I research it pretty good. Give me your thoughts on this. Thanks.

nv4runner

There was definitely a need to re-aim the headlights after installing the new bulbs. Since I switched I also aimed them with a photometric aimer (provided by the college I went to) and this provided even better results. I never have anyone flash their Highs at me unless I do have my highs on and the High beam is still high enough to illuminate signs and animals as good a distance out as the original bulbs. Maybe I just had really good luck though. I'd rather do this conversion than an HID if you are looking to do something though.

daved5150

iTrader: (1)

Thanks for responding. At the very least like I said, I want to upgrade the wiring and relay the headlights along with some new quality bulbs. Then see what that's going to do for me. I now have an extra set of headlight housings, so I MAY experiment with HID projector lamps in them. Maybe. I've got a lot of stuff going on so I don't think it would be soon. Did you look at that first link: http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/...yths-dispelled

It shows the 9007's low and high beam hot spots are at the same height. That's what concerns me. If you re-aimed the 9007 bulbs, then you somewhat lost the high beam because you had to aim the low beam down because it was high.

I found out that you can also buy the European headlight assemblies (E code) for the overseas version of the 4Runner, the "Hilux", that take the H4 bulb I believe. But they are cheap. Of course, you can always get the radiator core support out of the 90 - 91 4Runners or 89 - 95 (I think) Pickups and use an E code assembly with them as well.

Too may things to do before winter and snowmobile season as well as hunting seasons are coming...and not enough time. Oh well.

dropzone

iTrader: (6)

I converted to HID's and will be going back to conventional h4's..Probably some silver stars or PIAA's. The cheaper ones (like I can afford) have no cut off and I had to aim them way down to drive and not get flashed all the time. A true projector conversion would be nice.

nv4runner

Yes, I looked at all of the links and those are one person's findings. I am having great results with my conversion.

daved5150

iTrader: (1)

What type of housings did you put the HID's into and what truck (your 81?)?

Like i said nv4runner, I'm happy that it works for you. I'm not bashing you. I just don't want to go do all the work and not like the results. If I was going to do it, I'd either do the core support conversion from a 90/91 4Runner so I could use an E code such as this: http://www.rallylights.com/detail.aspx?ID=1787 This option would require more work than the second option here:

Or I would order these :Toyota part numbers are 81110-35110
> and 81150-35110. from here :http://www.cheaptoyotaparts.co.uk/ This is not a cheap option. I believe that with shipping it would be around $550 or so. These are the OEM E code headlight assemblies from the Toyota Hilux, the overseas version of the 4Runner.

Either way it's going to be some money and some work or just some money.

I am going to paste a section of one of the emails to me from Daniel Stern, the guy has a ton of knowledge about headlights, bulbs, laws, etc.

Here it is:

I just bought a 1994 Toyota 4Runner recently and want to
> > upgrade the headlights as they are not the best in stock form.
> > I haven't looked at them yet but I researched on line and saw
> > that they use the 9004 bulbs.
>
> Right. You've got some choices to make. How well do you want
> to see, and how much effort and money do you want to put
> into seeing well at night?
>
> There is no simple bulb-swap upgrade for your '93 4Runner.
> The stock U.S.-market headlamps use the 9004 bulb and its
> associated optical system. The 9004 system itself is optical
> trash. This was Ford's "Better Idea" (remember that ad
> campaign?) for 1983, and the design priorities were
> cheapness, low cost, and lack of expense. 9004 headlamps,
> even with the least-bad bulbs fed by proper wiring, will
> always produce dim, poorly-focused, narrow beams with very
> little light on the road surface and very high levels of
> upward stray light that cause backdazzle in rain, fog, and snow.
>
> There are no well-made overwattage 9004 bulbs, only
> poorly-made ones from the 3rd world, with very sloppy
> filament placement. Tiny differences in
> filament placement make huge differences in beam focus and
> performance; sloppy filaments spoil the beam focus. The
> extra light some of these higher-wattage bulbs produce
> is pretty much all wasted: Extra glare and flare light, no
> extra seeing
> light. TOTALLY hopeless in fog. And, the stock wiring is
> inadequate for the extra current drawn by these bulbs; using
> them throws a severe strain on the wiring and switches. In
> most(!) cases you won't have a big spectacular fire or
> anything, but you won't be doing your electrical system any
> favors, and the damage is cumulative to the point of
> expensive failure. All in all, overwattage 9004 bulbs are
> not a safe or effective way to better seeing.
>
> If you're trying for a material safety performance
> improvement via substantially better seeing with wider and
> longer beam reach and reduced backglare in bad weather, we
> will need to look at better headlamp assemblies
> (European-specification units).
>
> Your present front end configuration is like this:
> http://www.robinhood4x4.com/Pics/mammoth_main2_page.jpg
>
> There are two ways of putting in the better headlamp optics.
> You can put in the grill and headlight brackets from a
> similar-year Toyota pickup, which looks like this:
>
> http://www.2carpros.com/forum/automo...DSCN0410_3.jpg
>
> http://www.tennesseecartraders.com/p...nal/truckk.jpg
>
> The parts can be found easily with a used-part search on
> www.car-part.com (searchable used auto parts clear across
> North America). Specify a search for a 1993 Toyota pickup.
> Search grill, and search "headlight assembly". You'll have
> to search left and right separately. Beware that "new" parts
> (e.g., grille) are aftermarket from China, not genuine
> Toyota, and quality is usually iffy.
>
> The key isn't the sealed beams that were used as original
> equipment on those trucks, it is the standard shape and size
> of the sealed beams. The sealed beams themselves are junk,
> but once you have the pickup truck grill and headlight
> components, you can install very good European-code
> glass-and-metal replaceable-bulb headlamp units in the same
> standard size format, and the result will be much better low
> and high beam focus and performance. Much wider
> illumination, total elimination of upward
> stray/backscattered light in fog and rain, much less glare
> to other drivers on low beam. I keep the lamps in stock,
> $74.95/ea.
>
> The other option, if you require that the appearance of the
> truck not change, is to install the genuine Toyota
> European-code aero headlamp assemblies. This will be
> considerably more costly but will give the same benefit as
> described above without altering the appearance of the
> truck. Toyota part numbers are 81110-35110
> and 81150-35110. Can't get them from a US Toyota dealer,
> have to deal with an overseas dealer. I have good success
> with Chris at www.cheaptoyotaparts.co.uk . Send him an email
> chris@cheaptoyotaparts.co.uk for an up-to-date quote on
> those two P/Ns. Order by part number, not by description
> (the "4Runner" nameplate is US/Australia only; if you ask
> for European headlamps for a 4Runner you'll just get things
> confused for him).
>
> With either headlamp option, you'll need to upgrade the
> wiring to bring full power to the headlamps. This can be
> achieved with a relay kit RIK-H4RT, $64. The RIK is not a
> harness, but a _parts kit_ containing all relays, brackets,
> terminal blocks, terminals, plugs, sockets, fuses and
> fuseholders. You supply your own wire and use the parts from
> the kit to build up your own wiring harness. Specific
> instructions are provided, and the concept is explained at
> http://www.danielsternlighting.com/t...ys/relays.html
> .Parts are specially made premium-grade items (e.g. ceramic
> headlamp sockets) that accept large-gauge wire; this is not
> the "consumer grade" junk you can find at the parts store.
> Or, I can have my harness builder custom build you a
> ready-to-install harness assembly using the same components.
> Cost for this option is $154 (including parts and labour -
> you pick _either_ the relay kit _or_ the custom-built
> harness. It costs more than the $40 to $90 Chinese prefab
> harnesses because it is not a Chinese prefab harness).
> Installation is simple: you run the marked wires to battery
> positive and to battery negative, snap the harness plug onto
> one of the vehicle's original headlamp sockets, snap the
> harness sockets onto the headlamps, and secure the cable
> runs and relays neatly out of harm's way. Either way, parts
> kit or built-up harness, the in-car switches continue
> working normally, and you will not need to cut or otherwise
> disturb any of the vehicle's original wires.
>
> Bulbs: Osram 70/65w H4, $22/ea. Need two, get a spare or two.
>
> Aim the headlamps carefully and correctly per the "VOL"
> specs at http://www.danielsternlighting.com/tech/aim/aim.html .
>
> Fog lamps: Certainly. See
> http://grote.com/product.php?product_number=64021 .
>
> (replace 64021 by 64011 for silver-grey paint instead of chrome)
>
> The 64011 and the 64021 can both be had inexpensively on Amazon:
>
> http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000FBSUGA
> http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00460BCWK
> (note the same chrome photo is shown for both)
>
> Alternatively, you can use Truck-Lite or Signal-Stat P/Ns:
>
> 652H, housing assembly w/mounts, silver-grey paint
> 653H, " chrome
> 657H, " black paint
>
>
> Grote, Signal-Stat and Truck-Lite are all major players in
> the truck/bus/heavy-duty lighting equipment market. You
> shouldn't have any trouble tracking down a local supplier
> who will order these in for you, just look for truck parts
> in the yellow pages. But for starters here, what we're
> checking is compatibility with your mounting space and
> appearance preferences. The reason for starting with an
> empty housing is that there are numerous different beam
> units that fit in these housings, either directly or with
> trivial modification to the housing seat ring. There's an
> excellent all weather auxiliary low beam unit that fits
> them. There are very good fog beams that fit them, spot
> beams, "driving" (auxiliary high beam) units, etc. This way
> you can have the light you need, and if your needs change in
> future you can just swap out the beam unit. I recommend
> those aux low beam units in them, $97/ea. Vastly more useful
> than almost any nominal "fog lamp" I can think of, for
> groping through crazy fog. The beam units are $97/ea.
>
> running lights significantly reduce your risk of being in
> a crash during the , and are required on all '90 and newer
> vehicles in Canada. There are many ways to implement them,
> each with various drawbacks and benefits. If you want (or
> need) to have (or keep, after you install headlamp relays) a
> running light function on your vehicle, the best (most
> beneficial, least detrimental) implementation is the
> steady-burning operation of the front directional signals.
> They produce a light distribution with a wide view angle,
> are generally well located for DRL service at the outboard
> edges of the front of the vehicle, consume considerably less
> power than any headlamp-based DRL implementation, use light
> sources of generally much longer life than any headlamp
> bulb, do not encourage improper nighttime use of lights, and
> do not require additional lighting devices to be added. Most
> recent Cadillacs, Chevrolet/GMC large vans and minivans,
> Corvettes since 1997 in the US and since 1990 in Canada,
> some Toyota and Lexus models, certain new Lincolns and
> Chryslers and assorted
> other vehicles use this implementation. It is steady-lit
> operation of the bright amber turn signals (except when they
> are flashing to signal a turn), not operation of the dim
> parking lamps; parking lights are not bright enough and
> don't have the right view angles to serve the running light
> function. Turn signal DRLs comply with US and Canadian Motor
> Vehicle Safety Standards #108 and are approved in all
> states, provinces, and territories. You can easily enable
> this functionality in your vehicle using a DRL-1 module
> ($42); see http://dastern.torque.net/Mods/DRL/DRL1.html for
> instructions and
> http://www.allpar.com/fix/electrical/DRLs.html for an
> example installation.
>
> Can make your reversing (back-up) lights nearly 100%
> brighter for $8.20/bulb .
>
> The brake lights and turn signals can be made 40% to 50%
> brighter, but I can't sell you those bulbs. You can get the
> required bulbs (which have nice nickel-plate bases that will
> not corrode and seize in the sockets) from your local Honda
> dealer. Part number for the single-filament variety
> (replacing 1141, 1156, 1073, 7508, or P21W) is
> 34903-SF1-A01. Part number for the dual-filament variety
> (replacing 1016, 1034, 1157, 2057, 2357, 7528, or P21/5W in
> brake/tail or park/turn lights) is 34906-SL0-A01. Don't try
> to buy these bulbs in the aftermarket, and don't let the
> dealer sell you anything but a genuine Stanley-made Honda
> bulb; everything but the genuine Honda product is junk.
> These are ultrapremium bulbs with very long lifespan,
> corrosionproof nickelplate base, etc.

I know that there is a lot of info there but I posted it in case anyone can walk away with something from it. Like I said before, I am in no way bashing anyone that does a 9007 bulb swap, HID swap or any other swap. I was looking into the HID swap myself. I just want to have lights that not only help me see better, but that also do that safely with out blinding oncoming drivers as I cannot stand those factory HID's with the cool color that just blind and dazzle your eyes as they come at you. I am still in my research phase with the headlights. Maybe what I'll do when I relay the headlights is do some pics with actual voltage measurements before and after along with before/after pictures of the headlights as well. If I do, I'll keep you guys posted. I appreciate all the comments.

In case someone didn't know, the E-code lights throw out a more focused beam and have a greater cutoff than the OEM lights. Any post from someone that has done an E-code conversion has no complaints...such as member Roger Brown from 4crawler.com. That dude's got an awesome site and a lot of knowledge there.

Alright, I'm typed out here....

tj884Rdlx

9004s are available in higher wattage. get an 80/100, and make sure they're aimed how where you want them to throw. they're so cheap, worth trying if you haven't already. google shopping search listed this place had 'em for $2.50
http://www.planetbulb.com/products/9...-Watt-HB1.html

stock headlight housings are made to throw in a particular shape. if you need light outside that shape, you'll need supplemental lighting. one reflector housing can't illuminate everywhere, without blinding oncomers. otherwise, we'd all just have one big round flood light on the front of our vehicles.

i bought those cheap ebay housings and they're working just fine for me. but i found a pitch dark road and aimed them both really well with a blanket covering one at a time. that made a huge difference for me. good luck!

daved5150

iTrader: (1)

"i bought those cheap ebay housings and they're working just fine for me. but i found a pitch dark road and aimed them both really well with a blanket covering one at a time. that made a huge difference for me. good luck!"

Are those the ones that use the H4 bulbs? Did you upgrade the wiring harness at all or use relays? I have an 88 that is now sitting for engine work and I want to get it going some day for a beater for my son and I. Any info here would be appreciated.

Good idea on the dark road adjustment.

tj884Rdlx

i did nothing more than install them and replace the bulbs which were supplied. the pair was like $25 shipped, so i figured i'd take a gamble on them.

they do use H4 bulbs. i put in some Sylvania silverstars, and i think they illuminate very well with a whiter light. they're not higher wattage, and i didn't change the harness. i believe 4crawler (a really helpful member here) sells the harnesses if you'd like to upgrade.

for each housing, the top edge of their "throw" kinda resembles a hockey stick lying down with the blade to the right.

so it's flat across the left side of the road, but kicks up significantly on the right. i aimed them so the left light's kick-up shines on my side of the road, and the right light's kick-up shines on the right-hand shoulder. make sense?

they work well enough that i've procrastinated buying supplemental lighting for, well i still haven't. and i want to add some! hah

but again, i found that smart aiming was critical. i used a long, straight, dead-end road where i knew i could leave it in the right lane without someone coming up on me. you can't just do that anywhere, of course. with a blanket over each light, i was able to really fine tune them. screw parking in front of a garage door. put the light exactly where you want it, on the road.

oh, one thing though, i had to break off some tabs on their edges for them to fit in my headlight retaining ring correctly. needle-nose vice grips did it. the housings were white fiberglass or plastic resin of some sort, not glass. so i was able to just pinch them off for a proper mount.

and, one more thing. i doubt the lens is DOT rated, if that's a legal issue for your state. one of mine already has a bull's eye in it from a stone. but i taped over it immediately with some quality clear packing tape, and it's been working fine for at least a year.

lastly, the little blue "city light" bulb that's in it, i just ignored it.

for the price, and the ability to use H4 bulbs, i still don't consider it a waste of money. maybe someday when i've run out of other things to buy, i might get the Hella brand housings. but these, originally intended just to "make do", have proven to be much better than the halogen sealed beams i had in there.

daved5150

iTrader: (1)

Thanks for the info, tj. I haven't decided if I'm going to do the harness myself to save money or just order it. 4crawler is currently out of stock on his harnesses. I'll probably actually build it myself but will order the parts from Daniel Stern.

Yea, I know what your talking about with the kick up's from the headlights. Usually good E-code headlights have that...with real sharp cutoffs. You said that the lens are just clear plastic right? I thought that lens design was responsible for focusing the light like that.

I'm actually impressed that they are working that well, but that probably is due to the correct aiming of them rather than the quality of the headlights, which were probably made in Taiwan or China. Plus, the H4's are better bulbs than the sealed beams for sure.

Not too worried about the DOT rating. I have friends that do inspections.
You know that you got what you paid for...$25 shipped. They are working and so what if you have to replace them at one point. It's only $25. The Hellas would be better but these are working. I appreciate the info man.

Inu

Holy i need to check my subscribe list.. Thnx for all the good info.

alas i did probly the stupid thing and ordered hid bulbs from DDM tuning on the 27th of last month.........got them today. their shipping is absolutly 3rd rate. but no DOA so i'll see how they go. nice harness that came with them. install was tight and still need to permenently mount the ballasts. when i wentup to the wall the pattern was exactly the same as with the stock bulbs untill i hit the switch and thats were things get funny i think the hi/lo teloscoping is a waste of money with these housings. tommorow i'll get on a nice road to adjust them more ad im shure there's some scatter going on. if this doesn't work out (other drivers lynching me) i'll put the stock back in and deal with it untill i can afford some dedicated hi and low projectors

Inu

After some fiddling i figured out that my wiring wasnt off. the high beam has a gfactory cutoff but the low just is a mess. going to pop one out and play with it a little to see if i can set it back in the lens a little

T4Rguy

I know this is an older post and has lots of great ideas, but has anyone else come up with any other or better solutions? I agree, my lights suck and they're aimed too low, gotta fix that first, but brighter illumination would be even better...