Headlight upgrade FJ60?

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You find placing them low helps you aim? I feel like placing them between bumper and headlight level makes it easier to angle the cutoff to intersect a flat road at the edge of the beam, vs if they're lower it's harder to find that point because the angle is shallower to start with.
 
CruiserTrash said:
Where did this rumor start that I’m making harnesses??? It’s popped up a couple times in the past week 🤣
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Don't you sell a dongle to fix the hibeam on koito harnesses, or do I have you mixed up with another?

I think that's what he's talking about.

Op, you can get a pretty good improvement just getting a ground switched harness that runs bypassing the stock wiring.. They sell them for led and in various wiring gauge... If you go incandescent, get a heavier one... Toyota wiring is thin and old. You'll get way more power to the beams... With the new harness. That's basically the koito upgrade, but koito is nicer quality and has good headlights lights included .

Myne was cheap Amazon.

On mine everything worked great except the hibeam light in the dash.... The dongle fixed that. But I went LED. No reason it wouldn't bring up you stock lights back to new brightness
 
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cheeese said:
You find placing them low helps you aim? I feel like placing them between bumper and headlight level makes it easier to angle the cutoff to intersect a flat road at the edge of the beam, vs if they're lower it's harder to find that point because the angle is shallower to start with.
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Placing them low means that I can set them to reach further out before they become a problem to on-coming drivers. That shallow(er) angle works to my advantage.
 
caladin said:
Don't you sell a dongle to fix the hibeam on koito harnesses, or do I have you mixed up with another?

I think that's what he's talking about.

Op, you can get a pretty good improvement just getting a ground switched harness that runs bypassing the stock wiring.. They sell them for led and in various wiring gauge... If you go incandescent, get a heavier one... Toyota wiring is thin and old. You'll get way more power to the beams... With the new harness. That's basically the koito upgrade, but koito is nicer quality and has good headlights lights included .

Myne was cheap Amazon.

On mine everything worked great except the hibeam light in the dash.... The dongle fixed that. But I went LED. No reason it wouldn't bring up you stock lights back to new brightness
Click to expand...
Did you buy a harness for your koiti on amazon? if so which one? My koiti is slightly above average :clown:🤣
 
Beehanger said:
Did you buy a harness for your koiti on amazon? if so which one? My koiti is slightly above average :clown:🤣
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The Koito kit comes with a harness in the box, hence it’s called a “kit”. Why would you need to buy another one?
 
I don't recognize the relays used in the Koito harness, are they a std Toyota part?

And for those pondering going with the Koito kit, it appears that the fuse holder assembly has room for a spare to each fuse.
 
I was cheap on this, the problem I was fixing was the headlight wiring under the dash getting uncomfortably hot, so I got a cheap harness on amazon and a cheap set of round led headlights. I wasnt' sure I'd like them, so i got the cheapest one i thought would work, and it's been adequate to the job.

They are not great, buy they worked, taking load off my original wiring.

We' have several ranch trucks too, with similar setups, and my fj40 is running one as well, but older.

It's one of these two harnesses, can't remember which, think it's the first one



Solved my "holy crap that's hot" problem on the cheap, and it's got way more light. I bought cheap LED 7" rounds as well.
Then threw on a cheap 20"+ light bar for when I need lots of light.

From what I've read here, the Koito is a better harness than my cheap amazon ones, which is what I'm trying to convey.
Cruiser Trash's(?)' dongle fixed the "no dash hibeam light" problem for me on my fj60.
 
caladin said:
I was cheap on this, the problem I was fixing was the headlight wiring under the dash getting uncomfortably hot, so I got a cheap harness on amazon and a cheap set of round led headlights. I wasnt' sure I'd like them, so i got the cheapest one i thought would work, and it's been adequate to the job.

They are not great, buy they worked, taking load off my original wiring.

We' have several ranch trucks too, with similar setups, and my fj40 is running one as well, but older.

It's one of these two harnesses, can't remember which, think it's the first one



Solved my "holy crap that's hot" problem on the cheap, and it's got way more light. I bought cheap LED 7" rounds as well.
Then threw on a cheap 20"+ light bar for when I need lots of light.

From what I've read here, the Koito is a better harness than my cheap amazon ones, which is what I'm trying to convey.
Cruiser Trash's(?)' dongle fixed the "no dash hibeam light" problem for me on my fj60.
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Glad the HBIM worked for you!

With the Koito harness installed it's pulling power directly from the battery, and it relegates the original wiring to a low-current application that just switches the Koito harness relays. It's been a minute since I've looked at the original wiring diagram, but I believe the stock relay is in the driver's footwell so there would be high current draw happening through wires under there in the normal un-modified configuration. But, like I said, the Koito harness solves that. Hot wires is usually going to be either something with too big of a current draw for that wire gauge or corrosion in the wiring causing a not-normal amount of resistance. I'd maybe find a way to check a bunch of the wiring and see if there's corrosion and how bad it is. If it's in the headlight wiring, it's definitely going to be elsewhere... and you don't want to start a fire. FYI.
 
CruiserTrash said:
Glad the HBIM worked for you!

With the Koito harness installed it's pulling power directly from the battery, and it relegates the original wiring to a low-current application that just switches the Koito harness relays. It's been a minute since I've looked at the original wiring diagram, but I believe the stock relay is in the driver's footwell so there would be high current draw happening through wires under there in the normal un-modified configuration. But, like I said, the Koito harness solves that. Hot wires is usually going to be either something with too big of a current draw for that wire gauge or corrosion in the wiring causing a not-normal amount of resistance. I'd maybe find a way to check a bunch of the wiring and see if there's corrosion and how bad it is. If it's in the headlight wiring, it's definitely going to be elsewhere... and you don't want to start a fire. FYI.
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He isn't wrong. If you run into trouble say so. If you want an early 80's perm, we can help with that or prevent it too.
 
dbbowen said:
If you dont go with the Koito ones and want to shell out the dough, the Holley Retrobrite LED headlights have been absolutely amazing. Youll need to run a relay on them to get them to work right, i think @CruiserTrash sells a harness. They are absolutely freaking amazing and look period correct. Ive had trucklites in the past and these are miles better and look like normal old school headlights. Ive had mine on my truck for a few years now with no issues
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I agree with the Holley Retro Bright. They work great. I had the Kioto upgrade prior.
 
dbbowen said:
If you dont go with the Koito ones and want to shell out the dough, the Holley Retrobrite LED headlights have been absolutely amazing. Youll need to run a relay on them to get them to work right, i think @CruiserTrash sells a harness. They are absolutely freaking amazing and look period correct. Ive had trucklites in the past and these are miles better and look like normal old school headlights. Ive had mine on my truck for a few years now with no issues
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I second that opinion. I have the Holley Retrobright LED bulbs. They are great.
 
dbbowen said:
Here ya go. Trucklite LEDs vs Holley Retrobright LEDs. The retrobrites have been great. My dads got them on his firstgen camaro and a buddy has them on his firstgen 4runner. No complaints. The Holleys use a morimoto led bulb cartridge thats removable. You can buy the white colored headlights, and then get a spare set of the more yellow bulbs and switch them out if you wanted to haha

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Did you need to cut any part of the headlight mount bucket or firewall to fit the Holley Retrobrights? On their website they look significantly deeper than original equipment lights. Thanks for letting us know
 
I just looked up my Holley order to be certain. Yes. I used the Holley RetroBright switched ground harness Part # H840. I also used the HBIM - High Beam Indicator Module for Koito Headlight Upgrade Kit from Cruiser Trash Parts @CruiserTrash after his recommendation here. It restores the blue high beam indicator on the dash after upgrading to LED headlights.

LED headlight relay harness.jpg
 

Attachments

Awesome, thank you, I'm putting in my orders for these parts. I have some cheap halo/dual projector lights on there now from the previous owner. These Retrobrights are definitely going to be an improvement.
 
Mike83FJ60 said:
I just looked up my Holley order to be certain. Yes. I used the Holley RetroBright switched ground harness Part # H840. I also used the HBIM - High Beam Indicator Module for Koito Headlight Upgrade Kit from Cruiser Trash Parts @CruiserTrash after his recommendation here. It restores the blue high beam indicator on the dash after upgrading to LED headlights.

View attachment 3762608
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To be 100% clear my HBIM was designed around halogen headlights and the Koito harness. If it works for other applications that’s great, but I haven’t personally tested stuff like the Holley harness! Just an FYI!
 
CruiserTrash said:
To be 100% clear my HBIM was designed around halogen headlights and the Koito harness. If it works for other applications that’s great, but I haven’t personally tested stuff like the Holley harness! Just an FYI!
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Duley noted. It worked great for my application!
 
On my 1988 FJ62 I installed Vintage Car LED. I think they are brighter than Holley and are certainly cheaper. They do not require modifying the existing harness and vendor does quality products Lenses are Hella. I worked with the vendor to get it right the first time. Simple plug and play.

7" LED Headlight Kits | 5.75" LED Headlight Kits | LED Headlights

LED headlight kits for all US and international vehicles with 7 inch and 5.75 inch Round Headlights. See specific specs to ensure a perfect fit.
vintagecarleds.com vintagecarleds.com
 
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