Headlight upgrade

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sgmartz

sgmartz

Joined
Dec 7, 2020
Threads
9
Messages
39
Location
Evergreen, CO
Hi all, I did some research on here and wanted to double check my plan for a headlight upgrade. My goals are simply better driving light for street (I have aftermarket lights) and better beam spread.

Slee 9005/9006 wiring harness upgrade - based on several thread recommendations on here (SLEE - 9005/9006 Headlight Upgrade Harness - New and Improved! - Slee Off Road - https://sleeoffroad.com/products/lig1001v2/)
Plan to buy Auxbeam 9005 & 9006 LED bulbs - open to other recommendations though

Now the part I am not sure about is the housing. My current OEM housings are old and one is cracked. What determines the bulb mount the housing or the bulb? I would assume both. Also I assume getting new housings (regardless of the cracks on my current housings) is required to get the best out of the harness and bulbs. So does something like this work for what I am planning - 1991-1997 Toyota Land Cruiser FJ80 Euro Style Crystal Glass Lens Headlights w/ Optional US Spec Plug & Play Adapters - https://www.uniquestyleracingstore.com/products/1991-1997-toyota-land-cruiser-fj80-euro-style-crystal-glass-lens-headlights-w-optional-us-spec-plug-amp-play-adapters-hltyfj8091cchr?srsltid=AfmBOopzMKaLZ7pgKxs5fVQheHvggNxdKLErSnN2d0N2nGkj2-uC6Dxc>?

Sorry for the basic questions on housings, I am not an electrical guru by any means.

Cheers, and thanks
 
Lord, save me from janky LED headlight bulbs in the oncoming lane... I don't have any direct knowledge if Auxbeam is better than any of the others, but I'd skip the LED bulbs and just go to 9011s in all 4. They take a tiny bit of trimming on the tabs to fit, but they're a significant upgrade, and yet the halogen lights are less blinding to the oncoming traffic. I can understand the argument for LEDs in an electric vehicle, but infernal combustion doesn't care about a few amps of 12v power.

No personal input on the housings or the Slee harness (though I've heard good things about the harness as well).
 
I have the HIR 9011s in all four locations (with OEM headlights), and the Slee harness (from 2004), and I think the light output suck the big donkey wang. However, I'm staunchly against LED/HID upgrades so I too am curious what the path forward is these days. At the very least, I should at least update the Slee harness as the bulb sockets are no longer looking pristine, shall I say? It still works fine, and I'm probably getting decent voltage at the bulb sockets.

I fully admit that after 23 years of ownership of the 80, my eyes have also gone to $hite when it comes to night time driving. :bang:
 
Last edited:
sgmartz said:
Hi all, I did some research on here and wanted to double check my plan for a headlight upgrade. My goals are simply better driving light for street (I have aftermarket lights) and better beam spread.

Slee 9005/9006 wiring harness upgrade - based on several thread recommendations on here (SLEE - 9005/9006 Headlight Upgrade Harness - New and Improved! - Slee Off Road - https://sleeoffroad.com/products/lig1001v2/)
Plan to buy Auxbeam 9005 & 9006 LED bulbs - open to other recommendations though

Now the part I am not sure about is the housing. My current OEM housings are old and one is cracked. What determines the bulb mount the housing or the bulb? I would assume both. Also I assume getting new housings (regardless of the cracks on my current housings) is required to get the best out of the harness and bulbs. So does something like this work for what I am planning - 1991-1997 Toyota Land Cruiser FJ80 Euro Style Crystal Glass Lens Headlights w/ Optional US Spec Plug & Play Adapters - https://www.uniquestyleracingstore.com/products/1991-1997-toyota-land-cruiser-fj80-euro-style-crystal-glass-lens-headlights-w-optional-us-spec-plug-amp-play-adapters-hltyfj8091cchr?srsltid=AfmBOopzMKaLZ7pgKxs5fVQheHvggNxdKLErSnN2d0N2nGkj2-uC6Dxc>?

Sorry for the basic questions on housings, I am not an electrical guru by any means.

Cheers, and thanks
Click to expand...
The housing determines the bulbs. Those depot housings as in your link take different bulbs than oem afaik. I could be wrong i haven't had oem housings for a long time. In my opinion a projector retrofit in a depot housing is the best use of money and time for the highest quality light output. You can screw in projectors for those depot housing for less than 50 bucks. You can also retrofit a stock looking housing for projectors i imagine but I've never tried.
 
alia176 said:
I have the HIR 9011s in all four locations (with OEM headlights), and the Slee harness (from 2004), and I think the light output suck the big donkey wang. However, I'm staunchly against LED/HID upgrades so I too am curious what the path forward is these days. At the very least, I should at least update the Slee harness as the bulb sockets are no longer looking pristine, shall I say? It still works fine, and I'm probably getting decent voltage at the bulb sockets.

I fully admit that after 23 years of ownership of the 80, my eyes have also gone to $hite when it comes to night time driving. :bang:
Click to expand...
Ouch, that definitely sucks. You have my sympathy and I mean no offense, but if 9011s aren't enough, I'd say it's time to avoid night driving for all you're worth.

The PO put 9011s in the high beam slot on mine and they were a revelation as soon as I kicked on the high beams.
 
I'm not sure what everyone complains about on these headlights. My base OEM headlights with Sylvania Super Star Ultra 9006 have been fantastic.
When I am on the highway at night I run (4) extra Halogen 100W lights that are aimed to compliment my headlights and point toward the ditches to stop deer at the fence line. I don't have the extra driving lights tied into my high-beam harness, but on their own switches.
Note that my extra lights are round and round lights are more efficient at light transfer than square or rectangular.

My base headlights are better on this than any of my other vehicles.

I can physically feel my eyes relax when I turn on my extra driving lights. You can see how I have them set up in my avatar pic.

I prefer the yellowish color of the 9006 bulbs and I don't like the white-blue lights of the LED. I don't get the depth and distance on the LED lights that I can see on the 9006s.
 
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