Hey all (1994 4Runner 3VZ A/T)
Been doing more driving through the mountains at night (northern New Mexico) and had a headlight go out. I wanted a good quality LED replacement. I found a tutorial (link below) and ordered . Two issues I am having.

(1) They're not as bright as I hoped. High/low beam works. As in, there is a small difference between high beam and low beam but highs are not much better than lows. Do I need to rotate the bulbs? How do I know the correct rotation?
(2) They mess with the high beam indicator in my dash. When I put highs on I don't get the blue indication to light up. This was lighting up fine previously so I'm sure its not a burnt out dash bulb.

Are these LEDs a lost cause? Does anyone have any recommendations on how to solve this problem or an alternative product that does not suffer these issues?

Youtube tutorial I followed:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9QV3P_H1K_4

 

I'd keep the OEM sealed lights and add a good set of separate aux driving lights under the bumper to use when needed in the mountains. A simple way and gives you the added light with a switch only when needed.

 

There's an H4 style headlight housing sold on ebay by depot. I replaced my housings, added an aftermarket harness, and 90/100W H4 bulbs. The difference was massive, LED's require you to have the correct housing to focus the light, if you don't have the correct housing your light will scatter and not work as it should.

Housings I purchased: https://www.ebay.com/itm/401531167725

 

Truck-Lites. Done.
Plug and Play (readily-compatible with Toyota's switched-ground circuit.
Legit DOT-approved.
Made in U.S.A.
Three-year warranty

Comparison with halogen here: https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f131...l#post52311149

WHY ARE OUR STOCK HEADLIGHTS DIM EXPLAINED BY OUR VERY OWN 4CRAWLER

 

I got these about six months ago and have been very pleased with them. To make the blue dash lamp for the high beam work, you will need to buy a resister from Super Bright LED.com. You only need one, so get the motorcycle version. These headlights are as good as the ones on modern cars.

 

Pardon my question gents but was the 94 the standard sealed beam? When did they switch to the housings that took just a bulb, 95? I just saw the OP said he bought bulbs but no mention on housings?

 

Don't know about the second-gen 4Runner but "H4 style headlight housing sold on ebay" (etc) replaces the sealed beam, plug-and-play and takes H4/9004 bulbs.
HOWEVER, simply replacing the housing is not good. The what 4crawler calls "convoluted path" remains, exposes the dimmer/stalk switch to high currents and worse if one uses the h100W high beams.
An H4 conversion harness is more essential to improving headlight system performance AND longevity.

 

I do mention fitting a aftermarket harness in my post. That is required for upgrading to a higher output light. The harness should only use your stock wiring for switching all power should go through the new harness with relay and fuse.

fwiw I have a 1993 4Runner and it has the composite lights that take bulbs not sealed beams which is why I went with the eBay depot housings. They were the only quality composite housings I found that would upgrade the crap bulbs the OE composite lights come with.