first pic is the stuff i got...99+ headlights and clear corners. costed about 190 for both. second is the hid bulb since i remember someone asking a while back what it looked like. its a cheapo rebased bulb, and yeah its a bixenon kit...8000K (wish id gotten either 4300 or 6000). after that is some pics of before/after n blah blah blah, then one driving. sorry its bad. anyway it was pretty easy to do. install takes about 30 minutes maybe..but i had to reaim mine so it took a lot longer guessing and checking. overall WAY better light output and looks much cleaner. recommended mod.

 

Looks good.

 

So what is the deal with the 99+ headlights? I have been thinking about doing this upgrade for a while now. I already have Sylvania Silverstars and Roger's wiring harness upgrade. Will this upgrade help throw more light out around the edges of the beams? Should I notice more light in the center of the beams? Also, why did you have to reaim your lights? Was that something you had to do because of your HID setup? Thanks, and the lights look really nice.

 

Prior to '99, the headlights were frosted. In '99, Toyota went with a (I forgot the term) headlight. It is more crystal like and is clear. From his pics, you can tell that one is much clearer than the other.

The RB wiring harness is suppose to increase the voltage to the bulbs, which will increase the light output. This is something I'm considering as HID's at our height, may blind others on the road. If you go with a "super white" bulb, these tend to do better with the RB harness b/c they require more voltage to increase life span of the bulb. Others will complain the Silverstars, for example, burn out after a year. I'll let him answer about aiming but I would think he didn't need to since it was an OEM swap. Maybe he bought aftermarket lights, which weren't aimed properly.

 

I see that the 99' headlights are clearer, more "european" looking if you will, but I really want to know what the differences are between the 99' headlights and pre 99' headlights when it comes to the beam pattern. Do you get a brighter pattern at the center or around the edges or both? I really love how my brother's Xterra throws light all over the road and in the trees when he has his brights on as he is driving down rural roads. I want my 4Runner to do the same sort of thing.

 

the 99+ give an overall brighter beam pattern i guess, and also eliminated the hotspots i had with my old lights. now i have a pretty even beam pattern that i really like. i had to reaim cause the light wasnt put out where i wanted it when i installed it. theyre off of ebay so theyre aftermarket, not oem. yes, hids throw out a lot of glare, but it doesnt really matter if youve got a slammed civic or a lifted 4runner. the glare our headlight housings put out go ALL over the place. the only way to do it right is to do a retro.

 

also, you guys should really think about a bypass for the entire wiring harness. I installed a hella setup that was totally plug-and-play with relay and heat disipator. Was about $80-90 with shipping and I put new bulbs that are 60/70w in ($18/ea) at the same time. These are not bi-xenon halogens, they just project true, white light. They are WAY better than stock, cheaper than the 99s, and work great. I can post some more pics, but my website is experiencing technical difficulties so my pics and writeup aren't accessible at the moment.

MJ

 

Wait, that just accomplishes the same thing as Roger Brown's upgraded wiring harness or am I missing something here? Also, what kind of bulbs do you have that are 60/70?

 

Ditto. I've talked to a few people that have put the HID kits in their 4runners and w/o the retro, the light is much too blinding to others. One guy was asked by the popo to get rid of his HID's. This causes me to think w/ our increased heights that I would rather go with Roger's alternative w/ some super whites, which I already have.

 

yes its exactly the same concept. The nice part about this was it took 15 mins total to install. All the wires are pre-cut, wrapped and a nice heavy gauge. The relay and pieces are already there. Yes, I have made them in the past for my 87 per Roger's instructions, but decided for the price this was way easier. The goal is to actually get as close to 12v as possible instead of the factory 11.4 or so. The result is clearly just more power to the existing lights.

Does anyone have any information that details any actual reflector changes in the 99 headlights? Other than being clear lens, did they change the shape to make a better cut off? I've read people describe better distribution, so I'm curious to know what exactly changed.

I got the bulbs from www.danielsternlighting.com He's a distributor for sylvania and wagner in the US, and can get bulbs you can't find elsewhere. Much nicer and easier than silverstars, higher output, and even longer life Hard to argue with unless you want the blue tints to your lights.

 

Not to mention the cost. While HIDs are very very nice, they are also proportionately far more expensive. I don't know what it would take to fit in a 3rd generation 4runner, but unless you got completely new refelectors, they wouldn't work nearly as well as a factory setup because the reflectors weren't designed for HID, they're designed for halogen. HIDs also need self-balancing motors and specialized aiming--I think its a lot to take on using aftermarket parts. The result might be unhappiness and others being blinded :pat:

I'll just say that wiring a relay first, before you do anything else, will make a big difference. Then get brighter bulbs and see how you like it. Rogers harness is like $40 IIRC? You have to get the fuse and a few little parts, but its not hard. Cheap compared to HID. YMMV of course

MJ

 

Did you buy your harness from the same place you bought your bulbs? If not, where did you get it? I'd like to go as simple as possible. If you did get them from your link, which model did you go with? Thanks.

 

bi-xenon without a whole housing, where and how?

 

Yep got them from the same place: www.danielsternlighting.com . Just ask for Dan and tell him you know me and he'll take care of you. Here's the pn

HL28200S: Wiring Harness for Vehicles with two H4 Headlamps and Switched Ground.

Halogen bulbs aren't really bixenon like a HID. Its just a little gas in there to give it some color. From what I've read and been told by lighting engineers is that it actually makes your light output worse, not better. But I'm neither a physics major, engineer, or lighting specialist.

 

try looking on the forums on hidplanet.com for a lot of info on retros n all that stuff. also, lots of things in the classifieds and for sale on the actual site

 

Menko,

got any pics of the brightness(dunno if it will help)

I am looking for a bulb to run.

I just ordered the RB harness and want/like to run a higher wattage bulb

 

I can run out and take some...unfortunately I don't have a "before" shot for comparison. Give me 10 mins and I'll post them up

 

sweet, you rawk!

how long have the daniel sterns bulbs last you? What is the manuf name?

i remember reading somewhere that the max wattage to use was 100 since anything over that would melt something? does that ring a bell?

 

Ok here are a few of the 65/70w bulbs I have. I didn't post all the pics, but you can see all of them here: http://menko.no-ip.com/files/4runner/Lights/

Against garage:


Dark Corner with no street lights:



Angle from next to the headlight on drivers side (windshield was a little fogged up)



Also, my new $20 reverse lights:





Hope that helps.

 

The bulbs are made by sylvania, export/off-road use only. They are not silverstars. I could dig out the box for you its in my shed out back. The bulb life is about 3x that of a silverstar if I recall correctly.

Yes, not only would 100W draw a lot of current, you would most likely have trouble with other cars being blinded. See what you think and you can make a decision.

MJ