Looking to get some budget driving lights for the 4Runner. Its stock lights are lacking but dont have a ton of money to drop into fixing it up. Just wanting something to help light up deers eyes and give me better visibility out in front and slightly off to the sides. I dont need a lot but want more than what I have. Figure $100 or so right now is better than hitting a deer and spending $1000 in repairs.

Been looking at the Hella 500's but was looking for other oppinions.

Also curious if anyone knows where to find the switches that will fit in the auxillary switch ports in a '97 4Runner SR5?

 

my first choice would be to simply upgrade the stock headlights to better bulbs since you'll use those more than you use a set of offroad lights. also, perhaps getting a headlight repair kit to rid of the oxidation glaze is a good choice as well.

yes, some people have found switches that fit in the stock ports, you'll have to search that one. as for lights, Hella 500s were the go-to for years, but modern LED tech is pretty good. They might not have the distance penetration, but the usable light for most people is significantly better. Plus, who's racing at 100mph in the dark and needs that extra distance? Also to consider is the power draw from LED vs Halogen or HID lights - much less amperage draw.

 

Hella 500s converted to HID with a DDM tuning kit.. Will be lots of light and will be pretty close to the $100 budget.
I did a set for my truck a few years ago and they worked great with no issues. I used the method from this video for a clean conversion.

 

Depending on the year of the 4Runner, you can do the H4 conversion. Amazon has Autopal Euro housings, 2 for like $40 with the bulbs. It'll be a huge improvement over the stock sealed beams. It's even better with bigger bulbs and a wire harness upgrade. However, this is all assuming you have a pre-'93 4Runner with rectangular headlights. The '93 to '95 is a whole different animal that I know nothing about.

I was going to say the same thing, since that's what I'm doing right now. Or just install the Hella lights now and wait a while to do the HID conversion. Don't get a HID kit off of ebay, I just learned my lesson on that In general, Hella 500s or 700s are about the best you can get for the money.

 

^first post says he has a 97, so he has H4 lights already. there are several grades of bulbs for non-sealed beam headlights, each of them being better than the previous. the most expensive bulbs are really only like $50, so it won't really break the bank. i still say upgrade the bulb before you get offroad lights, because you're limited with where/when you can drive with blinding offroad lights.

 

autopal has a pretty good inexpensive variety,im running both headlights and driving lights! I like em.

 

This...

 

Fits the factory spot and very cheap: http://www.oznium.com/scion-switch-led I have never even used a relay with any of them.

As for lights, hard to beat hellas with the HID in them.

 

Ahh, I somehow missed that detail

 

Dude, I'm picking fog lights for my 3rd gen 2001 Toyota 4Runner SR5 4x4 5vzfe 3.4L v6 SUPERCHARGED as we speak, er, type, and I've been doing a LOT of searching. I have come up with 5 that I like. I'm putting these in the bumper where stock fog lights would go. The bumper will fit something close to 2" lights (haven't measured), maybe a little bigger. Plus the SR5 is already wired for fog lights, and just has little push out covers for the flog light like housing on the bumper.

Here's what I've found that seems rad:
The Hella Micro D2's are used by dealerships around the country to mod their own vehicles which they are selling, which means they are high quality and long lasting and have a great reputation.
http://www.rallylights.com/all/light...ngle-lamp.html

Here is a good kit price of the Hella D2's at $129:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Universal-Halogen-Fog-Lights-Lamps-Set-Kit-Micro-DE-HELLA-12V-H3-x2-pcs-/171002662642?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item27d08d8ef2&vxp=mtr
These look killer. You can get the 10,000 lumen one's by requesting them at check out which will shine blue. Looks like they are German clone lights made in China, but they have a one year warranty, and these are trick at $85 plus 12 for shipping:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Projector-HID-Xenon-Fog-Lights-10000K-Off-Road-Light-Custom-Mounting-Universal/360623343663?_trksid=p2045573.m2042&_trkparms=aid%3D111000%26algo%3DREC.CURRENT%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D27%26meid%3D3059754155428936660%26pid%3D100033%26prg%3D1011%26rk%3D3%26rkt%3D4%26sd%3D161140883912%26
I really might just go with these for $69:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/1999-2002-To...-/130778705621

These are only $29, and look like they might need some custom mounts:
http://www.rdmoffroad.com/2-Round-Lights.aspx

 

This looks groovy. It's Slim 35W Xenon HID Lights Conversion Kit 9006 8000K

Replace your bulbs with 8000 lumen xenon bulbs in your headlights for $30. I think I'm going to buy these at the same time I buy my fog lights. My question, as always, is will these fit? And what I've heard, is most of the cheap HID stuff is really only HID simulated....so you never know.

 

The Sylvester lamp replacement guide is cool. You can find out what type of bulb you have, and can get replacements in HID for every bulb in your truck, from brake lights to instrument panel lights. I never knew about this till now.

https://www.sylvania.com/en-us/appli...s/lrgmain.aspx

 

8k is way too blue of a light. you will probably be able to see less with them then with the stock lights. usually anything over 6k is the wrong color temp.

 

^Agreed. For best visibility, stay between 4500k and 6000k.

 

Agree ^^^ Don't be that ricer with HID's without proper projector lenses blinding everybody with his blue lights.

AND, whether you upgrade bulbs or not, I strongly recommend getting a conversion harness to send power over a shorter path, on thicker wires, directly from battery to relay to headlight bulbs, and relieve your dimmer switch of the high current needed to power light bulbs. No sure what connectors is used on your year but on our first-gen 4Runners, we use the "H4 Conversion" harness. See explanation why harness is the clean and robust way to correct the mistake (yes, it is an electrical engineering mistake) in headlight circuit wiring.

 

Thanks guys, Sorry for the late reply. The holidays got hectic, got to hanging out with an old grade school friend I havent seen in years now Im back at school working away.

My dad still wanted to sell his Tundra so we cut a deal and I traded him the Runner and some promised manual labor hours for his truck. I dont need the lights but he did say that he is still interested in what everyone recomends because he did agree that they are in desperate need of upgrading. But hey, after I get a grill guard for the truck I still am interested in putting a couple auxillary lights on it. Them deer are sneaky and they seem to sneak up on ya in the early mornings.

He doesnt want blinding off road lights he wants to make it so that he can legally drive without shutting them off. I think Idaho and Montana have a 4 or 6 drive light law. Meaning as long as they are under a certain brightness you can legally drive with say 4 drive lights turned on. (Dont quote me its been a while since I have looked this up).

Hes been monitoring this thread so hes checking into the above posts and open to any others. First thing hes doing is having the headlights buffed, the sun hasnt done much damage but just enough to not help anything. Then he said he will probably look into some bulbs.

PS.
I know one of them ricer drivers with blue lights.... he drives a bone stock baby blue Camry, he wanted to make it look like less of a grandma car so he rattle canned the HUB CAPS black and installed some very blue head lights and replaced his license plate light with a blue one and I also believe added blue lights inside. Now hes the kewlest kid I know.

 

Ok, if he doesn't want blinding lights and he wants to drive without having to turn the lights off, then you don't want driving lights with an HID kit.

I mentioned earlier that I was going to convert my driving lights to HID. Well, I did the conversion yesterday... I'd say it's pretty blinding