LX 470 Eagle Eye headlights - worth it/possible to fix known flaws?

[Pulgasari]

I'm thinking about installing a pair of Eagle Eye headlights in my 99 LX 470. I know that an OEM retrofit is the "right" way to go, but I really like the one piece headlight look and this seems to be the only real option for the 470.

In case anyone isn't familiar with these, these are available all over Amazon/Ebay/Alibaba etc and look like this:

After looking at a few threads and talking to someone with them installed, it seems like there are a few known issues with these:

• Water can leak into the headlights
• The wiring can degrade
• The bulbs that come with the unit aren't great

I was thinking of making the following improvements to hopefully negate these issues:

• Buying some replacement butyl sealant and resealing the headlights (these are oven-safe, right?)
• Wrapping any wires in automotive-grade anti rat electrical tape and double checking everything when they're opened
• Upgrading the low beam and high beam bulbs
• Headlight PPF

Is this a terrible idea? Any other improvements I'm missing out on?

Advice greatly appreciated.

 

[jsloden]

You want to replace high quality, very well made, GLASS headlights with low quality, cheaply made, PLASTIC headlights. If you go through with this make sure you keep your factory headlights on hand. You're gonna need them.

 

[ninedude]

I'm thinking about installing a pair of Eagle Eye headlights in my 99 LX 470. I know that an OEM retrofit is the "right" way to go, but I really like the one piece headlight look and this seems to be the only real option for the 470.

In case anyone isn't familiar with these, these are available all over Amazon/Ebay/Alibaba etc and look like this:

View attachment 3766878

After looking at a few threads and talking to someone with them installed, it seems like there are a few known issues with these:

• Water can leak into the headlights
• The wiring can degrade
• The bulbs that come with the unit aren't great

I was thinking of making the following improvements to hopefully negate these issues:

• Buying some replacement butyl sealant and resealing the headlights (these are oven-safe, right?)
• Wrapping any wires in automotive-grade anti rat electrical tape and double checking everything when they're opened
• Upgrading the low beam and high beam bulbs
• Headlight PPF

Is this a terrible idea? Any other improvements I'm missing out on?

Advice greatly appreciated.

The vehicle I purchased (and since sold) came with these one piece and I hated them. Not for the looks -- although I didn't like the look, either -- but the lighting itself was really bad. Driving into campsites at night was really difficult. Maybe it was just the PO of mine that didn't have them set up right but they had a short throw and had an area in front they didn't illuminate at all.

I since sold the car, but I had spent 800 dollars buying replacement glass assemblies (that I now need to sell) because I considered it a safety issue. Hopefully mine were just set up wrong, so just providing one data point. The adjustment locations were very poorly thought out so u could only do so by removing the light entirely, which was not something I wanted to deal with.

 

[ko2]

My LX had a set of these on when I got it. Absolutely horrible light output. Beyond that, in my opinion they looked and felt very cheap. They would never be something I would want to spend time or money into "improving". I would vote that they are not worth fixing the known flaws.
If you're dead-set on them because you like the way they look though, then have at it. For potential future owner(s) of your vehicle though, keep the stock ones handy.

 

[Mike NXP]

I installed some Eagle Eyes on my Highlander. I'd say you will get exactly what you're expecting. It lacks high end quality, and felt cheap all around, but it fit in the position of the OEM headlights and when I turn my headlight switch on, light comes out of them lol so overall mission accomplished . I would not have installed them on my cruiser but it really all depends on you, and what purpose your truck is serving for you.

 

[MechE30]

Just do the DIY Luke retrofit. Best $500 or so I’ve spent on the truck. If you can’t afford it now, wait till you can.

 

[Pulgasari]

First off, I’m not throwing the glass assemblies out, I’ll definitely keep them.

I just don’t like the gap between the side light and the headlight, and don’t really want to hack up my existing housings to retrofit the headlight upgrade and relocate the turn signals (or buy new LC housings, while still messing with splicing wires etc).

$225 for a plug and play solution is much more appealing, since I could learn how to open/reseal headlights and make a few other improvements without leaving my only vehicle undrivable until the job is done properly. If I want to go for the retrofit later, great, I can do that while the Eagle Eyes are in the truck and I’m not under time pressure.

It seems like the main problem people are reporting here is that the light output is weak, possibly worse than the OE headlights?

I guess I’ll have to do some more research to figure out whether this can be solved by just upgrading the bulbs in the Eagle Eyes. In case it isn’t obvious by now, I don’t know much about lighting, and this product seems like it could solve the turn signal relocation + headlight issue for an okay price, while leaving me with the OE backup in case something breaks.

 

[MongooseGA]

Since you asked, in my opinion, they're pretty cheap looking as well.

 

[MechE30]

So you’re gonna spend $225 plus new bulbs to get stock level outputs?

The Luke bracket is like $150, the morimito mini h1s are $165, and bulbs/ballast are $200. So for an extra $250 you will have an incredible improvement over stock. Buy once cry once man.

 

[LJE]

So you’re gonna spend $225 plus new bulbs to get stock level outputs?

The Luke bracket is like $150, the morimito mini h1s are $165, and bulbs/ballast are $200. So for an extra $250 you will have an incredible improvement over stock. Buy once cry once man.

Only problem is Luke's bracket hasn't been available for 5 months, and I keep getting told 'end of next month' when I've asked every 4 weeks, hahaha... I'm planning for the eventuality that I'm going to need to fab my own brackets to fit the MicroD2s projectors I've had on standby.

 

[MongooseGA]

Only problem is Luke's bracket hasn't been available for 5 months, and I keep getting told 'end of next month' when I've asked every 4 weeks, hahaha... I'm planning for the eventuality that I'm going to need to fab my own brackets to fit the MicroD2s projectors I've had on standby.

If only we knew someone with a CNC table.

 

[LJE]

If only we knew someone with a CNC table.

Hahaha. It's definitely been on the back burner (life is busy right now!), but if I go through with it I'll hit you up to make the finals after I prototype with 3d prints.

 

[jsloden]

I saw in one example a few years ago that someone managed to hack a couple of the cheap plastic housing to retrofit higher out put bulbs and within a few weeks they had actually melted the housings. This was because the plastic was so thin.

 

[Kabanstva]

Man those are ugly. How dare you even consider installing those on a LX

 

[Pulgasari]

Man those are ugly. How dare you even consider installing those on a LX

In my defense, they look closer to OE in chrome, which is what I’d get. The black background ones look bad and the smoked out chrome doesn’t make sense unless your whole build is murdered out. I just used the first image in the Amazon listing in the post.

I really wish there were more one-piece headlight options for the LX (like there are for the LC).

 

[jsloden]

First off, I’m not throwing the glass assemblies out, I’ll definitely keep them.

I just don’t like the gap between the side light and the headlight, and don’t really want to hack up my existing housings to retrofit the headlight upgrade and relocate the turn signals (or buy new LC housings, while still messing with splicing wires etc).

$225 for a plug and play solution is much more appealing, since I could learn how to open/reseal headlights and make a few other improvements without leaving my only vehicle undrivable until the job is done properly. If I want to go for the retrofit later, great, I can do that while the Eagle Eyes are in the truck and I’m not under time pressure.

It seems like the main problem people are reporting here is that the light output is weak, possibly worse than the OE headlights?

I guess I’ll have to do some more research to figure out whether this can be solved by just upgrading the bulbs in the Eagle Eyes. In case it isn’t obvious by now, I don’t know much about lighting, and this product seems like it could solve the turn signal relocation + headlight issue for an okay price, while leaving me with the OE backup in case something breaks.

If your clips are good on your side light assemblies it should sit very tightly against the headlight assembly. There really shouldn't be a gap. There isn't a gap on mine at all.

 

[choyota]

Opinions are like a**holes, everyone has one. I was once in your position, no one likes it on MUD, everyone hates the Eagle Eye Taiwanese headlights. I had them, they weren't too bad, but definitely could be a lot brighter. I think you posted in the other thread I started, right?

Anyhow, mine never had condensation, nothing degraded on them. If you want to be extra safe about it, I would just glob silicone around the seals.

It was OK. I recently got retrofits via Teqcustoms and it's definitely brighter. I still need to make some adjustments to have driver/passenger match up. But yea there is definitely no other option other than these two. Good luck!

 

[Drunken Ira Hayes]

I’ve had Anzos from Jeg’s for like 4 years. They’ve been fine.

 

[cougar428]

If you try and bake open the headlights there’s a good chance they won’t come apart easily. A lot of the after market headlights now use a different type sealant making it very difficult to disassemble