Best current LC 100 headlight options?

[Qmulus]

I am working through getting my recently acquired 2001 Land Cruiser back up to snuff. So far I have refurbished the fuse box, replaced both exhaust manifolds, gutted and cleaned the interior, etc., etc.

Anyway, at some point the headlights and corner lights were replaced with one piece aftermarket lights that are now clouded, broken and both need to be replaced, along with the grill. Are there any good options out there better than these old reflector housings that is of good quality and reasonable price?

 

[Kabanstva]

Best thing if you want to be street legal is get the newest OEM Land Cruiser headlights (I believe in 05+ they changed the design and went to 1-piece) and then retrofit a D2S projector into them. They have LED projector options too now but I’m not familiar with the specifics. These options will give you a good cutoff line and won’t blind oncoming traffic. Legally speaking I think The Retrofit Source still markets all the projector stuff they sell as “off-road use only” simply because it’s not tested OEM equipment but I have yet to hear of anyone having issues with the law over these. One word of caution, Morimoto HID ballasts are trash, they do not last any length of time. You’re better off buying a used set of Hella or Osram ballasts off eBay for $60-$100 a pair and not worrying about a ballast going out after 3,000 miles. I’ve seen too many failures.

OR just get some Auxito LED bulbs and use them in your current housings. You might get high beamed by some random oncoming traffic but honestly these days I think 90% of all new cars have blinding headlights if you look at them directly….so you’ll blend right in.

 

[Piney1]

You can find glass lenses that are Made in Japan. Part # KOITO 60-67/60-64.

This site is the Japanese version of ebay for Japanese stuff: https://buyee.jp/item/jdirectitems/.../category/?conversionType=service_page_search

HKS, Nismo, Greddy, Blitz, Rays and more JDM Parts direct from Japan - Nengun Performance - https://www.nengun.com/ sells stuff taken off of Japanese vehicles and ships worldwide. You can get glass lenses from them. You’ll need to find a headlight builder but they are around.

You can find less expensive but good luck finding glass ones. I had a headlight builder make mine from Made in Japan glass lenses and custom (but OEM looking) LED projectors. The builder is since found to have some issues so I’m not recommending that one but they are out there.

 

[Nori470]

I am working through getting my recently acquired 2001 Land Cruiser back up to snuff. So far I have refurbished the fuse box, replaced both exhaust manifolds, gutted and cleaned the interior, etc., etc.

Anyway, at some point the headlights and corner lights were replaced with one piece aftermarket lights that are now clouded, broken and both need to be replaced, along with the grill. Are there any good options out there better than these old reflector housings that is of good quality and reasonable price?

You can get a brand new headlight housing for about $379 shipped from Serra Toyota right now for Black Friday. From there you can send them to LightWerkz or TEQ customs to have them retrofitted with HID projectors. Or you can DIY and save a few hundred. Putting LEDs in yourself won't give you that much more output and the beam pattern will not be clean and will blind other drivers

 

[x8o8drifter]

Best thing if you want to be street legal is get the newest OEM Land Cruiser headlights (I believe in 05+ they changed the design and went to 1-piece) and then retrofit a D2S projector into them. They have LED projector options too now but I’m not familiar with the specifics. These options will give you a good cutoff line and won’t blind oncoming traffic. Legally speaking I think The Retrofit Source still markets all the projector stuff they sell as “off-road use only” simply because it’s not tested OEM equipment but I have yet to hear of anyone having issues with the law over these. One word of caution, Morimoto HID ballasts are trash, they do not last any length of time. You’re better off buying a used set of Hella or Osram ballasts off eBay for $60-$100 a pair and not worrying about a ballast going out after 3,000 miles. I’ve seen too many failures.

OR just get some Auxito LED bulbs and use them in your current housings. You might get high beamed by some random oncoming traffic but honestly these days I think 90% of all new cars have blinding headlights if you look at them directly….so you’ll blend right in.

NOT legal.
As soon as you "modify" any OEM housing it is no longer "street legal".
This is however probably one of the most "trying" to stay legal things you can do.

Same with swapping bulb types as of now.
If the housing didn't come with incandescent/HID/LED its not legal to swap to any of the other ones.
Will you get pulled over and ticketed for it? Unlikely, but also not legal. (at least here in the USA)

 

[Kabanstva]

NOT legal.
As soon as you "modify" any OEM housing it is no longer "street legal".
This is however probably one of the most "trying" to stay legal things you can do.

Same with swapping bulb types as of now.
If the housing didn't come with incandescent/HID/LED its not legal to swap to any of the other ones.
Will you get pulled over and ticketed for it? Unlikely, but also not legal. (at least here in the USA)

If you read my post all the way I did state exactly what you posted.

 

[Qmulus]

Thank you all for the great info! I think my "ideal" setup would be glass lenses, good projectors and either HID or LED bulbs. I do have some good Hella ballasts, and have built headlights in the past. I think the old "hot ticket" was Hella ballasts, Osram CBI bulbs and Honda S2000 projectors. I am a bit hesitant about the Japanese JDM parts due to some experience with RHD headlight parts. Many years ago I use to bring in used Euro headlight for old Audis (ur quattros), and got a great deal on a few sets of misrepresented headlights that turned out to be UK RHD lights with lenses that won't work in LHD countries.

I am not too worried about modifying lights or changing bulbs. If done properly, a good set of headlights should provide better lighting and not bother oncoming traffic. Lately here in Denver there are soooo many people driving around with brights on all the time, NO headlights at night, horribly aimed lights, 1 million candlepower LEDs, huge light bars without headlights, etc., that someone with proper modified headlights would never be noticed.

 

[Kabanstva]

You can get a brand new headlight housing for about $379 shipped from Serra Toyota right now for Black Friday. From there you can send them to LightWerkz or TEQ customs to have them retrofitted with HID projectors. Or you can DIY and save a few hundred. Putting LEDs in yourself won't give you that much more output and the beam pattern will not be clean and will blind other drivers

I thought the same thing but my opinion changed. Im running LED bulbs in one of my vehicles and the light output is not only INSANE but also very clean. Honestly it’s comparable to a D2S projector (minus the cutoff).

 

[Qmulus]

So, am I correct in assuming that I can mount up '06-'07 housings (glass?) if I get the matching trim and grill? Those are projector from the factory, correct? The aftermarket lights on the truck now are one piece plastic, but they are pretty much trash now with broken mounts and internals and UV damaged lenses. My LC also came with a LX470 bumper with projector fog lights zip tied on. That I replaced with a good take off LC bumper on FB marketplace.

 

[Nori470]

I thought the same thing but my opinion changed. Im running LED bulbs in one of my vehicles and the light output is not only INSANE but also very clean. Honestly it’s comparable to a D2S projector (minus the cutoff).

*Providing you are talking about your LX*
Pull up to a wall with your lights on maybe 15-20' away, you will notice small "blocks" of light above your light cutoff. This can be addressed by taking apart your lenses and filling in the "squirrel finder" holes. These are what shine in people rear windows/mirrors

 

[Qmulus]

I did have LED replacement bulbs in the gen 1 Sequoia that I sold last year and while definitely not as good of a beam pattern as good projectors, they weren't blinding to oncoming traffic. Seeing that I NEED new headlights, I might as well get the right stuff from the start. That said, I don't want to break the bank on this either as I consider this a budget build. I know I could easily spend more on the lighting up front that I spend on the vehicle. Not that that should be a factory, but it does enter the conversation.

 

[Kabanstva]

*Providing you are talking about your LX*
Pull up to a wall with your lights on maybe 15-20' away, you will notice small "blocks" of light above your light cutoff. This can be addressed by taking apart your lenses and filling in the "squirrel finder" holes. These are what shine in people rear windows/mirrors

Not LX470. I have D2S projectors in that. This is a completely different vehicle. I never bothered doing a wall test but I’m telling you real world driving there’s not that much of a difference to me. I paid over $1,500 to have Luke build a new set of LX lights and they’re really not that much better than a set of $80 LED bulbs in an OEM halogen (non projector) housing on my other car.

 

[Qmulus]

Not LX470. I have D2S projectors in that. This is a completely different vehicle. I never bothered doing a wall test but I’m telling you real world driving there’s not that much of a difference to me. I paid over $1,500 to have Luke build a new set of LX lights and they’re really not that much better than a set of $80 LED bulbs in an OEM halogen (non projector) housing on my other car.

I kind of hate to say it, but I found the same when I put LEDs in the my Sequoia. I had some modified projectors in an Audi A6 a few years ago with the super sharp cutoff projectors and expensive bulbs. Yes, the cutoff was razor sharp, but that also made them kind of distracting actually on bumps, etc. A little fuzz at the cutoff line isn't really a bad thing IMO. With polished lenses and good quality LEDs, the reflector headlights on my Sequoia were very good, and I never got flashed, which I can't say about my A6 even though I was very good about keeping them properly adjusted.

 

[x8o8drifter]

If you read my post all the way I did state exactly what you posted.

Best thing if you want to be street legal is get the newest OEM Land Cruiser headlights (I believe in 05+ they changed the design and went to 1-piece) and then retrofit a D2S projector into them.

The Retrofit Source still markets all the projector stuff they sell as “off-road use only”

You implied that even after the retrofit it was still legal in the first sentence.
It's a single sentence with "and then" in it.
It isn't legal and from what you posted latter in the tread they also say that. (My 1st point)
And the problem.
So why even put the "street legal" part. Pick a lane. Legal or not. (we know it's not)

I'd at least add something to clarify that that is about as close as you can get while swapping bulb types. (like below)

"Best thing if you want to try to kind of be street legal is get the newest OEM Land Cruiser headlights (I believe in 05+ they changed the design and went to 1-piece) and then retrofit a D2S projector into them.”

Also BTW I'm one of those people that has been pulled over/ticketed/towed or had friends/acquaintances pulled over/ticketed/towed for

1. Not OEM headlight housing.
2. Not the type of bulb that came in that housing.
3. Highs on where you don't need them.
4. Lights off. (not dead bulb, off)
5. Smoked lights. (any of them)
6. Non rated tails.
7. Clear corners/tails.
8. More than 4 forward facing lights on at once.
9. Light bar on.
10. Red/blue lights. (not even flashing)
11. Flashing lights.
12. Interior lights. Not the dome lights. (2F2F ricer cars and autozone)
13. License plate cover. (like those clear/smoked covers people put over their plate.

One I'm not 100% on is the highs + fogs. I know its illegal in a bunch of states but not sure if its federal.
Most of those are federal DOT laws not state.

Something else I just found out googling that high+fog thing...
Apparently in Cali you need top cover your off-road light while on the road. Apparently CHP can be kinda strict with it sometimes.

Sections 24411 talks about off-road lighting and 24402 talks about auxiliary lights.

 

[Kabanstva]

You implied that even after the retrofit it was still legal in the first sentence.
It's a single sentence with "and then" in it.
It isn't legal and from what you posted latter in the tread they also say that. (My 1st point)
And the problem.
So why even put the "street legal" part. Pick a lane. Legal or not. (we know it's not)

I'd at least add something to clarify that that is about as close as you can get while swapping bulb types. (like below)


Also BTW I'm one of those people that has been pulled over/ticketed/towed or had friends/acquaintances pulled over/ticketed/towed for

1. Not OEM headlight housing.
2. Not the type of bulb that came in that housing.
3. Highs on where you don't need them.
4. Lights off. (not dead bulb, off)
5. Smoked lights. (any of them)
6. Non rated tails.
7. Clear corners/tails.
8. More than 4 forward facing lights on at once.
9. Light bar on.
10. Red/blue lights. (not even flashing)
11. Flashing lights.
12. Interior lights. Not the dome lights. (2F2F ricer cars and autozone)
13. License plate cover. (like those clear/smoked covers people put over their plate.

One I'm not 100% on is the highs + fogs. I know its illegal in a bunch of states but not sure if its federal.
Most of those are federal DOT laws not state.

Something else I just found out googling that high+fog thing...
Apparently in Cali you need top cover your off-road light while on the road. Apparently CHP can be kinda strict with it sometimes.

D2S projectors are street legal on their own. If you aim them correctly nobody is going to give you trouble. You must’ve had some s***ty luck getting pulled over. How would a cop even know you’re retrofitted? My LX headlights look completely stock. Not even a Land Cruiser expert would be able to tell them apart from a stock set of headlights.

 

[GTV]

AFAIK 06-07 lights are not a direct fit to earlier years. 98-05 two piece was glass and IMO, better because it doesn’t turn hazy.

 

[SmoothLC]

I recently updated the headlamps in MY '99 LC. If (big "if") you want to go the "best stock performance:" Glass headlamp assemblies + Daniel Stern recommended Vosla 9012 (HIR2) +120 bulbs (2.8V, 55W, 1975 lumens) for low beams and Toshiba HIR1 9011 bulbs (9011, 12.8V, 65W, 2530 lumens) for high beams.

 

[Piney1]

On the headlight legality discussion: As of 2020, there was an attorney for every 249.7 Americans. Guaranteed that it is easier to say ‘off road use only’ than it is to get them certified by the DOT. Heck, we didn’t get composite headlamps in the USA until the 1984 Lincoln Mark VII despite them being legal in Europe for more than a decade prior to that.

What the police will look for is how they are aimed and that they do not blind oncoming traffic and there are two that work. What gets their attention is the multi colored ones and stuff that is blatantly not OEM.

I just drove my sister-in-law’s 2022 Honda Pilot Elite from Cape Canaveral to the Orlando airport and back before sunrise today. It is 100% stock. Got flashed 3x by oncoming traffic despite the lows being on. My 2005 with the glass OEM, made in Japan lights with the 90W bi-LED projectors have never been flashed by oncoming traffic. They brighter than my personality but are aimed correctly.

The key is to make sure the projector is made for the type of light you are using.

Should you be in a crash and someone claimed it was a lighting issue, theoretically it could come up but I highly doubt it. The only time I ever used lighting in a crash investigation was when a kid in a Ford Escort GT was speeding in the rain and t-boned an old fella & killed him. The kid not have his lights on in the rain as required by FL law. I examined the filament in the halogen bulbs & observed ‘cold snap’ to the filament. This happens when they are off and the filament just snaps from the sudden change in velocity. Had they been on, the filament would have been in a curved shape, like a bow. (Spent 28 years in the polyester in various capacities - know the rules reasonably well.)

 

[bruceson]

You can get a brand new headlight housing for about $379 shipped from Serra Toyota right now for Black Friday. From there you can send them to LightWerkz or TEQ customs to have them retrofitted with HID projectors. Or you can DIY and save a few hundred. Putting LEDs in yourself won't give you that much more output and the beam pattern will not be clean and will blind other drivers

The real treat is the new Bi-LED projectors out there. NHK M5 Plus is a really good one and it's cheap. It beats out aftermarket 35W HID systems with e30 clear lenses. 55W HID systems are onpar, but they produce a lot of heat and will crisp up your bowls fast.

Whatever TEQ customs is using for their LED options, they are cheap projectors <$50/pair. I was not impressed by them. Not all chinese products are made equal.

LED bulbs in a halogen housing is a crapshoot. I've used many different bulbs, cheap and expensive, and they all had subpar beam pattern or poor throw. They are super bright, but were wildly inefficient in getting light on the row. The front scatter (which people don't talk about) also made it hard for me to see down the road. HID retrofit kits are better in this regard.

And don't knock halogen technology as a whole. I've done 80w halogen upgrades with a projector retrofit and the output was impressive.

 

[mk216v]

The real treat is the new Bi-LED projectors out there. NHK M5 Plus is a really good one and it's cheap. It beats out aftermarket 35W HID systems with e30 clear lenses. 55W HID systems are onpar, but they produce a lot of heat and will crisp up your bowls fast.

Whatever TEQ customs is using for their LED options, they are cheap projectors <$50/pair. I was not impressed by them. Not all chinese products are made equal.

LED bulbs in a halogen housing is a crapshoot. I've used many different bulbs, cheap and expensive, and they all had subpar beam pattern or poor throw. They are super bright, but were wildly inefficient in getting light on the row. The front scatter (which people don't talk about) also made it hard for me to see down the road. HID retrofit kits are better in this regard.

And don't knock halogen technology as a whole. I've done 80w halogen upgrades with a projector retrofit and the output was impressive.

I absolutely LOVE my Lightwerkz/OEM bi-LED conversion with NHK M5. To me they look factory. Incredibly sharp cut-off line, makes night driving fun and safe again.
Not an inexpensive upgrade, but personally safety is a top priority for me.

More pics here; For Sale - **REDUCED** Oregon - 1998 HZJ105, RHD, 63k miles: super clean, 1owner most of life. MAKE OFFER - https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/reduced-oregon-1998-hzj105-rhd-63k-miles-super-clean-1owner-most-of-life-make-offer.1366863/#post-16045045