Headlights upgrade ...

[Red Oktober]

As many of you may have encountered the standard headlights on the 80's are sort of next to useless. .... I've already put up-rated bulbs ..but they don't make that much difference ...

so i suppose my question is ....

Is there a way of upgrading the headlights without paying through the nose?? ... or .... is there an after market headlight unit that can be purchased ??


cheers
Carl

 

[Steve Wright]

As many of you may have encountered the standard headlights on the 80's are sort of next to useless. .... I've already put up-rated bulbs ..but they don't make that much difference ...

so i suppose my question is ....

Is there a way of upgrading the headlights without paying through the nose?? ... or .... is there an after market headlight unit that can be purchased ??


cheers
Carl

Hi Carl

Depends what you call "paying through the nose" but why not fit HID's aprox £60

 

[Red Oktober]

i have heard fitting HiD's are a bit of a grey area .. so was trying to avoid getting swept along with that debate ..

 

[Steve Wright]

i have heard fitting HiD's are a bit of a grey area .. so was trying to avoid getting swept along with that debate ..

Whats gray about it ! I have had them fitted to mine since 2005 and never had any problems

 

[fesuvious]

How much of an improvement would HIDs make?

 

[Steve Wright]

How much of an improvement would HIDs make?

Its hard to put it as a percentage, but once you have got them you won't want to go back, and I recon its poss better than having
150 Watt lamps in.

 

[clivehorridge]

HIDs are ace.

Some say that they're too white, but after the yellow candles of the standard 80 headlights, I think the HIDs are really great and make driving much safer IMHO.

 

[Red Oktober]

The main reason for upgrading the headlights is for going green laneing at night ... ...i'm not a fan of spot lights on the bumper ...

 

[Steve Wright]

The main reason for upgrading the headlights is for going green laneing at night ... ...i'm not a fan of spot lights on the bumper ...

I think they will be ideal for that, spot lights are great if you are looking a distance away but green laneing you are going fairly slow
and the light output is tremendous !
They also run cool as they are only 35 watts

 

[Towpack]

i have heard fitting HiD's are a bit of a grey area .. so was trying to avoid getting swept along with that debate ..

Strictly speaking, to retro fit HID lighting to vehicles with OE filament bulb lighting, the vehicle must meet 3 criteria:

1. Have self levelling headlamps.

2. Have headlamp washers.

2. Pass a MOT beam alignment inspection test

http://www.nidirect.gov.uk/customer-information-notice-cars-2010.pdf

I have partially upgraded the headlamps on my 80 to HID and it passed the MOT without issue despite having manual headlamp adjustment. As far as actual lighting performance goes the fitting of HID's to filament bulb housings seems to be a 'suck it and see' situation with some performing much better than others. After experimenting with a couple of HID kits here's what I found:

H4 HID's in the outboard high/low beam housings gave rubbish results on low due to beam scatter. The light was all over the place and adjustment made no difference. High beam was pretty good though.

HID's in the inboard main beam headlamps (H7's I think) gave very good results with a good pattern and effective adjustability.

I also fitted HID's in the a pair of Hella Luminators I have on the front bumper and these were excellent.

So the setup I went for was to leave the OE halogen filament H4 bulbs in the outboard headlamps to avoid the problem of the poor beam pattern dazzling other road users and fit HID's to the inboard mains and to the Hella's.

The difference in lighting performance is MASSIVE!. The only 'problem' I've found is that when I'm on full mains and I dip for OC traffic it's almost like turning the lights off altogether, the difference is that great. I already had upgraded halogen H4's for low beam and they appear a dull yellow compared to the HID's.

The brightest or whiteist HID's are in the 4-5000k range. After that you start to get a colour tint with a gradual fell off in actual lighting power. I went for 4300k.

 

[Red Oktober]

this makes interesting reading ..... http://www.phoenixautobulbs.co.uk/tp/hid-kits-new-legislation-2012/

 

[Red Oktober]

if only i could get some like this ......

 

[Chas]

this makes interesting reading ..... http://www.phoenixautobulbs.co.uk/tp/hid-kits-new-legislation-2012/

Interesting reading, yes but I think some things are not quite correct, they state "If one places a HID "burner" (bulb) in the headlamp, the beam pattern will not be correct, there will be glare in some places and not enough light in other places within the beam pattern"
I do not agree with that, I have aftermarket HID's fitted, by Julian V, and I defy anyone to see lack of light in some places and glare in others in the beam pattern of these lights. They have a fantastic spread of light and as for glare, well I have never yet been flashed by an oncoming driver because he has been blinded by my headlights.
Whether newer HID's are better now I'm not sure because I also have HID's in my other 80 which I haven't driven for a while and as far as I can remember they are not as good as my current ones.

 

[Julian T]

if only i could get some like this ......

You mean these?



http://www.tunersdepot.com/Lighting...dlights---91-97-Toyota-Land-Cruiser-4889.html

And just for the fun of it ......

http://www.4wdaction.com.au/forum/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=100464

 

[Jon Wildsmith]

What sort of condition are the reflectors and lenses of your headlights in Carl? I have not upgraded the wiring or fitted higher wattage bulbs in mine but they are in very shiney condition with just good quality standard wattage bulbs and they work extremely well, absolutely no need to fit spot lights On previous 80's the headlights have been a bit rubbish but the reflectors were visibly dirty so I wonder if slightly dull reflectors might be the problem?

 

[Chas]

On previous 80's the headlights have been a bit rubbish but the reflectors were visibly dirty so I wonder if slightly dull reflectors might be the problem?

Just realised Jon that is probably the fault with my other 80, it has been flooded a few times , in fact I remember drilling holes in the headlamps to let the water out.

 

[Red Oktober]

What sort of condition are the reflectors and lenses of your headlights in Carl? I have not upgraded the wiring or fitted higher wattage bulbs in mine but they are in very shiney condition with just good quality standard wattage bulbs and they work extremely well, absolutely no need to fit spot lights On previous 80's the headlights have been a bit rubbish but the reflectors were visibly dirty so I wonder if slightly dull reflectors might be the problem?

they're not that bad tbh Jon ... there's a bit of dried mud in one ..(the rubber cap thing is missing off the back) but the other is still very shiney
I have already put Xenon bulbs in and although the light is whiter .. they're still not good ...

 

[Red Oktober]

You mean these?



http://www.tunersdepot.com/Lighting...dlights---91-97-Toyota-Land-Cruiser-4889.html

And just for the fun of it ......

http://www.4wdaction.com.au/forum/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=100464

just added both links to my favorites .... Thank you Julian

 

[fesuvious]

So.

Would it be better to go for the aftermarket 'projectors' or a HID kit for the standard housing?

Opinions?

 

[Towpack]

So.

Would it be better to go for the aftermarket 'projectors' or a HID kit for the standard housing?

Opinions?

Cost is the major issue here. If money's no object then go for the complete headlamp replacements. With shipping and VAT your looking at over £200 then you have to buy the HID bulbs on top of that. The HID kits I bought for the OE lights cost me £35.00 and work very well.