Headlight Retrofit Upgrade vs. High End Lightbar

[YSackett]

I'm looking for opinions on choosing between the following lighting upgrades.

Option 1: High quality headlight retrofit and upgrade, a la the LightWerkz conversion here. Biggest benefit being that this upgrade is a constant benefit both on and off-road. Since the stock headlights are decidedly pretty weak, that's a huge bonus, given that while I do camp and travel off-road with some regularity, I still do spend far more time on the road than off. Downside = cost is $2,200 uninstalled.

Option 2: High End bumper mounted light-bar. Similar to what was done in this thread, with a Baja Designs S8 20" lightbar plus two S2 Sport pods in Amber to either side for improved fog/snow/dust lighting. Would consider comparable quality lights from other reputable brands but don't want to go to cheap lights as I'm not looking for external appearance/vanity lighting, I actually want to make a big shift in the light performance and visibility. If using Baja Designs lighting, lights and harnesses will be ~$1,000. Benefits to this option are *possibly* better? lighting when actually off-road from the bar (not sure if this would be true or not), plus the upgrade in fog/low visibility lighting. Main downside obviously is not getting any benefit when daily driving/on-road.

 

[Super77]

Unclear what vehicle you have, but your pic shows a LC100, so I’ll assume we’re not talking about an LX, and probably post-facelift since you linked to an 06-07 kit.

Do you have stock halogen headlights right now? HIDs? Sorry, not familiar with what shipped on the later year LCs.

 

[Trunk Monkey]

You can do a conversion much cheaper yourself, look at the Morimoto kits. Few good, detailed how to threads here.

 

[YSackett]

Unclear what vehicle you have, but your pic shows a LC100, so I’ll assume we’re not talking about an LX, and probably post-facelift since you linked to an 06-07 kit.

Do you have stock halogen headlights right now? HIDs? Sorry, not familiar with what shipped on the later year LCs.

Sorry, I linked to the wrong kit. I've got a 2000 LC. Stock halogen headlights.

 

[FxFormat]

A pair of diode dynamics fog lights will outshine any retrofit headlights by 10 fold. I’ve done a few retrofits and they look good with a sharp cutoff line, but once you turn on those fog lights, you can’t even see your headlights.

 

[Super77]

Sorry, I linked to the wrong kit. I've got a 2000 LC. Stock halogen headlights.

If you’ve got a couple grand burning a hole in your pocket, don’t let me stop you. But I’d first double check my wiring: you want at least 12v at the headlight connector. Anything less and you’re not getting full light output. Next I’d consider some HIGH quality halogen bulbs, like Daniel Stern lighting sells. They’ll cost at least twice what the parts store sells, but you’ll get way more value and a nice light upgrade for under $200. If you’ve still got your original headlamp housings, check for hazing and breakdown of the reflectors. I replaced mine with OE units (<$200 each from Serra Toyota on sale) and the light got more focused with a crisper cutoff.

I’d start there for my on-road needs and then consider auxiliary off-road lights.

 

[YSackett]

If you’ve got a couple grand burning a hole in your pocket, don’t let me stop you. But I’d first double check my wiring: you want at least 12v at the headlight connector. Anything less and you’re not getting full light output. Next I’d consider some HIGH quality halogen bulbs, like Daniel Stern lighting sells. They’ll cost at least twice what the parts store sells, but you’ll get way more value and a nice light upgrade for under $200. If you’ve still got your original headlamp housings, check for hazing and breakdown of the reflectors. I replaced mine with OE units (<$200 each from Serra Toyota on sale) and the light got more focused with a crisper cutoff.

I’d start there for my on-road needs and then consider auxiliary off-road lights.

Great advice, thanks. I'll start with these ideas and see what kind of performance I can get out of my stock lights - definitely don't need to spend extra if I don't have to.

A pair of diode dynamics fog lights will outshine any retrofit headlights by 10 fold. I’ve done a few retrofits and they look good with a sharp cutoff line, but once you turn on those fog lights, you can’t even see your headlights.

Are you talking about the DD LED fog bulbs that go in the stock fog light housing, like these? Or separate replacement units?

 

[FxFormat]

Talking about these, expensive but is stupid bright.

 

[Mike NXP]

Best investment I ever made was my ARB spotlights up front.....New headlights just don't compare to what spot lights can do....

If you do a lot of highway / town driving and just want a good bright light and don't want to blind everyone then you should consider upgrading headlights

If you do more rural driving / less people / more off road then nothing can beat the spotlights.....Out my way being able to spot deer from a long ways away is a huge win....

From there you need to make sense of flood VS spot beams

Those little pod style lights posted above are weak, at best they are good for ditch lights or close range fog lights....your headlights could be upgraded to do more....If you wanted to add the pod lights you could add them up on hood edge near windshield like people do for ditch lights ...

Also need to think about wiring aftermarket lights and getting a switch inside your cab to control lights....can be a bitch if not handy in that field


Sorry for the random scattered thoughts lol let me know if you need help wiring up aux lights