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I have not added this functionality and don't care to as it's extremely obvious when the high beams are on.
it is and it isn't . at night, yes, quite obvious. during daytime, er, not so much. unless the indicator works. and the solution for me was cheap - the price of an LED bulb. done.
I can usually sense when high beams are on during the day by the feel and position of the lever on the column. I personally see having the high beam indicator dim or off as an upgrade, as I hate how bright they are at night, when the whole point of using my high beams is to see better. I covered it on my truck with tape and never once forget to turn them down for oncoming traffic at night.
The light output of these bulbs is an immense improvement. In low beam I can see very well and the E-Code housings have a very sharp cut-off and it doesn't seem like I'm blinding anyone as I've aimed them. The 100/80W bulbs are pretty serious stuff in the high beam mode. They are approx. $6/bulb so easy to keep spares in a glovebox.
Thank you for all the help!
I just ordered the same Hella E-Code housings and the 100 watt Hella bulbs for it. Quite excited to finally see well again in my truck! The h6054 bulbs are 35w on low beams, which is pathetic and dangerous going against modern vehicles.
One thing that I am doing differently than most others, is I am running a parallel relay system to both lights. That way I have two fuses and two sets of relays and separate wiring for each. Seems like an easy way to have more of a guarantee that both lights won't fail at exactly the same time. From there I am installing 15amp fuses instead of the 30amp ones that came with the harnesses. Only modification needed beyond that is a longer connector wire for the existing headlight socket to activate the relays.
it is and it isn't . at night, yes, quite obvious. during daytime, er, not so much. unless the indicator works. and the solution for me was cheap - the price of an LED bulb. done.
wallytoo,
This circuit won't allow this to work even if you grab an LED bulb. The reason why is that the current needs to go back down the low beam circuit (which I left disconnected). I show that you can add a resistor here. One way to actually fix this would be to flip the 87a and 87 on the left relay and then use the low beam as the switch. In this configuration it would flow current back down through that line always.
Thank you for the tip - if I find it's an issue I'll be installing the extra line either way . This is an off-road/camping/exploring-only vehicle and I don't ever use it to commute so won't run in to issue too often (hopefully).
I can usually sense when high beams are on during the day by the feel and position of the lever on the column. I personally see having the high beam indicator dim or off as an upgrade, as I hate how bright they are at night, when the whole point of using my high beams is to see better. I covered it on my truck with tape and never once forget to turn them down for oncoming traffic at night.
ToyoDerp,
That's one way to fix that problem! I like clever, easy solutions.
I just ordered the same Hella E-Code housings and the 100 watt Hella bulbs for it. Quite excited to finally see well again in my truck! The h6054 bulbs are 35w on low beams, which is pathetic and dangerous going against modern vehicles.
One thing that I am doing differently than most others, is I am running a parallel relay system to both lights. That way I have two fuses and two sets of relays and separate wiring for each. Seems like an easy way to have more of a guarantee that both lights won't fail at exactly the same time. From there I am installing 15amp fuses instead of the 30amp ones that came with the harnesses. Only modification needed beyond that is a longer connector wire for the existing headlight socket to activate the relays.
ToyoDerp,
My low beams were also 35W and I don't daily my vehicle so it wasn't a huge deal but what I've found is that if I get caught in the dark off-roading I can't see a thing. Pulling in to a campground after dark is an adventure for the wrong reasons (I can't see).
My low beams were also 35W and I don't daily my vehicle so it wasn't a huge deal but what I've found is that if I get caught in the dark off-roading I can't see a thing. Pulling in to a campground after dark is an adventure for the wrong reasons (I can't see).
Holy cow, that sure hits home! I had the exact same problem when I was doing a lot of traveling for nature photography. Trying to find an empty spot in a busy campground at 1am or navigate a steep logging road with lots of tire eating rocks was incredibly frustrating. Also managed to turn a deer or two into instant shredded meat sausages due to poor visibility. Almost nailed a 400+ lb bear at speed once as well.
Wow, mdzu. That looks good. Like they were factory. Thanks.
Not gona work for those of us that want the ghetto hack job look to fool thiefs! /sarc-off
I suppose I will keep what I have, 9004 bulbs, but I think I still want to rewire to remove that current from lamps thru combo switch.
this is off a 95 4runner, btw
Not to hijack this thread or anything, but I did an install of the same Hella E-Code headlights today on my pickup. Besides the oft-cursed grill that never seems to come out easily, it all went together nicely enough. My truck has had metal bent back in shape up front several times from playing full-contact deer tag, so getting the alignment set for the lights is going to take some trial and error. Toyota seems to have assigned the same engineer who decided where to place the fuel filter in charge of also designing the tilt system for aiming the headlights. What in holy christ on mashed potatoes were they thinking? As much as I love these trucks, I have to question the competence of some design decisions they make on various parts.
Until I get a second relay harness for the driver side, I only have the 80/100 watt Hella bulb on the passenger side, and stock 55 watt bulb on driver side. The difference between the two isn't massive, but still noticeable. I might try plopping one of my LED bulbs from my other rig into there at one point and see what the difference is between 100 watt halogen and and high output LED.
On the plus side, the E-Code headlights are vastly better than sealed beam DOL lights. Nice cutoff and little to no glare toward oncoming driver's eyes. DOT specced ones put a bit of light above the cutoff in order to illuminate road signs above the road. I think I will take better visibility on the road and less blinding other drivers than the rare chance that I can't read a sign, which is probably close to zero chance.
I'm sort of curious about the difference between a relay harness for ground switch vs. positive switch from the original wiring.
Is the only difference the way the pin out is done from the existing headlight socket? So in theory, any relay harness would work for converting the two ground wires to positive for LED lamps just based on the way the wires are hooked up to the one plug? The common wire doesn't care what it is as long as the two switch wires are the same polarity? A pre-made universal common ground harness could then be super-easily converted to work with a Toyota?
Reason for asking, is that there are far more options out there in varying levels of quality and price for pre-made relay harnesses. If all it takes is removing two pins from a plug and swapping them, then just about any of them would work out as long as the wires are long enough.
My thoughts as well. But one would still have two issues:
1- the High Beam indicator
2- the "last mile" or the last 2 inches from harness to 9004 bulb plug (in my case). On that I can't say how much "extra" current would be running thru the small guage wires that plug into the bulbs proper. Probably not much to make any difference?
01-05-2021, 05:28 PM
. This is an off-road/camping/exploring-only vehicle and I don't ever use it to commute so won't run in to issue too often (hopefully).
Also managed to turn a deer or two into instant shredded meat sausages due to poor visibility. Almost nailed a 400+ lb bear at speed once as well.
/sarc-off
What in holy christ on mashed potatoes were they thinking? As much as I love these trucks, I have to question the competence of some design decisions they make on various parts.
