Can I run 100/90 w. replacement bulbs in my 01 Tacoma or will they be to hot? The one's I've been looking at are called "bright white" and have a year guarantee. Also does anyone know what number I need, like maybe H-4 ?
Thanks , Mike

 

100/90's will draw a much heavier current than stock bulbs, which could result in damage to your lighting circuit, possibly causing a wiring fire. Before switching to bulbs such as those, consider upgrading the loom. This in itself will improve the light output greatly whilst keeping the stock legal bulbs. It should also allow you to run the uprated bulbs with safety if you still require them.
Check out 4crawlers website for an example of these upgraded looms.

 

yea i wouldnt do that.

just get some silverstars. im not a huge fan of their greenish hue, but the output is awesome

 

Thanks guy's! Got the part number for the Silverstar replacement for my Tacoma lights. I'll pick some up this week end. Just hope they are brighter than my stock bulbs. Mike

 

they are brighter than your stock blubs. I have a set in my runner. The improvement is huge over stock

 

DO you have a pic of the loom. How does this "loom" improve light output. I currently have silverstars.

 

4Crawler has upgrade harness for the head lights - it uses relays and allows for more voltage direct to the bulbs. I used Sliver stars + 4Crawler harness and it made a huge difference - worth every penny


See this thread: https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f2/lighting-upgrade-done-62565/

 

Kevin - Here's the link to 4crawler's site where you can get the upgraded headlight harness. I'm thinking about doing the same to my Taco. Good reading on his site too!

http://www.4crawler.com/4x4/CheapTri...#WiringHarness

 

I think the Tacoma still uses H4s, I run some 55/100 H4s in my '85. I upgraded the wiring harness, as mentioned above, at the same time as the stock headlights were already taxing the stock wiring, as evidenced by a quick voltage check at the headlight bulbs:

http://www.4crawler.com/4x4/CheapTri...#WiringHarness

I got at least as much light improvement from the harness as I did from the 60->100W bulb swap. Shown below is the 9004 harness, H4 is basically identical with the exception of 3-H4 connectors in place of 3-9004 connectors:

 

4crawler, it's basically "plug-n-play" for that harness, right?

 

It seems this is for the 1st gen trucks... Do you think the 3rd gen suffers the same epidemic that the need of the upgrade is practical..

 

Kevin - wouldn't hurt, right? Except maybe make your wallet lighter.

 

Yes, 3 plugs to connect up the headlights and harness, power and ground and you are ready to go:

http://www.4crawler.com/4x4/CheapTri...#WiringHarness

 

One sure way to tell is to measure the voltage at the headlights under load, as described on the web page. If your lamp voltage is not within a few 10ths of a volt of the battery, you have a voltage drop:

It is real easy to see if your headlights are being hampered by the wiring. Just slide back the connector partway off the back of the bulb to just expose the connections. Put a volt meter right across the bulb (common-low or common-high) and measure the voltage with the lights on. If it is not within a few 10ths of a volt of the battery, the wiring is limiting the light output. FOr example with my 2 volt drop, I lost 50% of the light's output, since the light output is proportional to about the cube of the voltage. Even a 1 volt drop is about a 20% light reduction. And in case you think I'm making this up, here is a link to a site that explains it in way more detail and wih hard numbers:

http://www.danielsternlighting.com/t...ys/relays.html

And from the site:

WHY USE RELAYS?

Power for the headlights is controlled by a switch on the dash. This is *not* a great place to tap into the system, for two reasons: The headlamp switch uses tiny, high-resistance contacts to complete circuits, and the wire lengths required to run from the battery to the dashboard and all the way out to the headlamps creates excessive resistive voltage drop, especially with the thin wires used in most factory installations.

In many cases, the thin factory wires are inadequate even for the stock headlamp equipment. Headlamp bulb light output is severely compromised with decreased voltage. The drop in light output is not linear, it is exponential with the power 3.4. For example, let's consider a 9006 low beam bulb rated 1000 lumens at 12.8 Volts and plug in different voltages:

10.5V : 510 lumens
11.0V : 597 lumens
11.5V : 695 lumens
12.0V : 803 lumens
12.5V : 923 lumens
12.8V : 1000 lumens ←Rated output voltage
13.0V : 1054 lumens
13.5V : 1198 lumens
14.0V : 1356 lumens ←Rated life voltage
14.5V : 1528 lumens

And as an intersting note, just had a guy with a Tacoma report that he had about a 2 volt drop with his stock wiring, put in the relay harness and dropped that to a few 10ths of a volt. As you can see going from say 11.0 to 13.0 volts increases light output from 597 lumens to 1054 lumens, over a 75% increase in light output with the same bulbs.

 

I run a replacment harness comparable to Roger's offering on my 96 4Runner... I can notice a difference.

 

I just put some Nighthawks to replace the stock POS ones. What a differance, I'm a Super White guy... My eye's can't handle blue tint. Will the Harness increase the wattage on these or just help the life? Thanks! Awesome forum

 

You can do a simple voltage test and find out if you have any room for improvement:
- http://www.4crawler.com/4x4/CheapTri...ryBeforeYouBuy

Only takes a minute or two to stick the voltmeter probes into the back of the headlight connector and get a reading:

 

I've been running the 100/90w Super Brite Whites in my 2002 now for about a year. No problems with using the stock harness. I can't answer if an after market harness would make them even brighter though. This setup works great for me...huge improvement over stock!

 

I have the harness and 90/130 bulbs....I know its over kill on the bilbs but I haven't had any problems at all. The wiring hookup was very easy.

I do not like to drive at night and dont do much of it. During the winter months though it can't be helped.

Literally the harness and the bulbs have made a night and day improvement.

 

I 2nd the Silverstars. Also, the biggest difference in light output I noticed was going from a 96-98 Headlamp to the 99-02 Headlamp. I get comments all the time when people are riding or driving my 4runner.