We are bringing you reviews of LED bulbs, HID bulbs, projector retrofits, and brands that offer all these products. We cover fog lights, but if you want to learn more about quality fog light options, check out our fog light options for the 4Runner and top amber/yellow fog lights. We have provided mostly everything information about headlights in this post.
Headlight Education
- LED Bulbs – Install (Low & High Beams)
- LED Bulbs – Overview
- HID Bulbs – Overview
- How to Retrofit Headlights
- How to fix Moisture in Headlights?
- How to aim Low Beam Headlights
Bulbs
- Xenon Depot H11
- GTR Ultra 2 H11
- Morimoto 2stroke 2.0 H11
- Morimoto 2stroke 3.0 H11 / H16
- VLEDs Micro Extreme H11
- last Pro H11
- Xenon Depot 9005
- Supernova V.4 9005
- DDM Tuning 9005
Housings
- Morimoto XB LED Headlights
- USR DEPO Projector Retrofit Headlights
- Alpharex Pro Headlights
- Top 5 Headlight Housings
Fog Lights
- Xenon Depot Yellow H16 LED
- Philips White H16 LED
- Top 8 Fog Lights
- Top 5 Amber/Yellow Fog Lights
LED Bulbs vs. HID Bulbs vs. Projector Retrofits
LED bulbs, HID bulbs, and projector retrofits are all quite different. Projector retrofits are equipped with new and advanced technology. Projector retrofits are usually more expensive and take longer to install, but they produce better and higher quality light than an aftermarket LED bulb, halogen projector, and HID bulb.
You can change a halogen projector housing to an LED or HID projector housing with a projector retrofit. You can always put a HID headlight or LED bulb in our factory halogen projector housing.
LED bulbs are great, cheap, easy, to install and give you better lighting than factory halogen bulbs. LED bulbs produce less light than HID retrofit or HID bulbs, but they allow you to run a brighter low beam than stock while not glaring at other cars on the road.
LED Bulbs
Most LED bulbs work well with stock halogens; some are just terrible. All LED bulbs have a "diode" located somewhere above the center of the bulb housing. Some brands of bulbs have diodes scattered throughout the light.
Most brands on Amazon and eBay are universal fit, and most are made in China. The fact is that these brands are manufactured in poor facilities with substandard production and quality control. It means that one size fits all. Some Chinese-made diodes with low prices on Amazon or eBay may not be your best long-term or short-term lighting solution. Low-quality diodes burn out faster or emit less light. It causes problems with correct light output and beam pattern on your halogen housing. When you choose the right LED light bulb, you have options. You can buy a cheap set from Amazon that might work.
HID Bulb
Generally, people think that HID bulbs are better. They're "bright" in most cases, but they're not perfect for your specific 4Runner's needs. But some people prefer to install HID bulbs because they often want the brightest light on the road in the evening and at night. If that's your goal, H11 LED Headlight and or a retrofit kit will give you the brightest output from your headlights. Although an HID bulb or retrofit cut off-road provides more light, it gets too bright on the road. You can shine through oncoming traffic with your low beam.
Retrofits
When the term "retrofitting" comes up, some people might not like it. However, it's simple in theory. You want to swap in a new projector housing. Some lights need to be wired, but most plug-and-play setups have an upgraded ballast system. Yes, they are simple, but anyone with the tools should be able to do the job. More difficult is when you convert a halogen projector housing to a HID housing.
What does it mean to remanufacture the projector housing?
Retrofitting involves installing a xenon or bi-xenon projector into a reflector-based halogen headlight. It is called the best HID headlight upgrade because the projectors control the light in a properly dispersed, non-glare beam pattern.
Light Bulb Brands
There are hundreds of options when looking at the low beam, high beam, and fog lights. You can choose lights from Xenon Depot, The Retrofit Source, eBay brands, and several top-reviewed brands from Amazon. Xenon Depot is the most trusted and respected brand of bulbs for the 4Runner. Other companies exist (VLEDs, Morimoto, LASfit, USR, etc.).
Retrofit sources are another commonly used source for HID kits and LED bulbs. Morimoto is also a very popular brand in the Toyota community. They make all the big bulbs, including the high and low beam kits for the 5th Gen 4Runner. You can research Morimoto in the forums, and you will see that people have nothing but good things to say about Morimoto. But, one thing you will find is that they have fans which means they will make noise due to the spinning fans. If that doesn't bother you, Morimoto might be a good option.
FOG Light Brands
For fogging, you can go with brands like Xenon Depot, The Retrofit Source, Philips, and brands from Amazon and eBay. What works best for you in the fog is that companies make kits specifically designed for off-road use.
The main companies for off-road fogs are Rigid Industries, Baja Designs, KC Lights, Heretic, and Diode Dynamics, but there are many others.
Conclusion
Lights are very important for a car. It would be best if you got a pair of affordable headlights in the car as they are a very important element of driving, and you can depend on them for a long time. With Xenon Depot being the most popular choice among 4Runner and Tacoma owners, consider checking them out.
