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Installed KC pro-sport, Phillips Ultinon, and new LED bulbs

5K views 12 replies 8 participants last post by  75127FJ 
#1 · (Edited)
Hello Members.

I wanted to post an update to some of my recent lighting upgrades. I was on the fence for awhile on whether to go with LED headlight bulbs (as there are so many brands to choose from, and the pros vs. cons). I went with the Phillips Ultinon LED bulbs. They're pretty pricey, but saw some great reviews from other members. I like how Phillips have replicated the halogen beam pattern much better than some other brands, as I definitely didn't want to blind other drivers with my stock housings. The package says 6200K, which is mis-leading. It's more like a pure bright white (no yellow, or no blueish tint).
Light Headlamp Lighting Automotive lighting Incandescent light bulb


Here's the bulbs from under the hood. There's a small ballast system with each bulb that I just secured with a little 3M auto tape and zip tie.
Auto part Engine Electrical wiring Carburetor Fuel line

Auto part Brake


The only possible issue with LED bulbs is if you're caught driving through a heavy snowstorm, then the snow may build up over the headlights as they do not generate any heat so the snow will not melt. That's where having auxiliary lighting that's either halogen or HID's will help if you ever find yourself in this situation. I previously had the KC Slimlites installed on my bumper, but decided to upgrade to the KC pro-sport HID's. I have the factory bumper mount system, so I ended up going with the 6" lights. The 8" lights (which I tried and had to exchange) ended up sitting much higher than my headlights which I personally didn't like. Since these lights have an internal ballast system, they are quite wider (especially compared to my previous slim-lites). However, there is just enough room with my mounts to clear the grille. They're pretty bright and have the slight blueish HID tint to them (they're much brighter than my previous slim-lites which had H3 100 watt bulbs)
Audio equipment Boombox Car subwoofer Automotive lighting Loudspeaker

Land vehicle Vehicle Car Sport utility vehicle Bumper

Land vehicle Vehicle Car Headlamp Automotive lighting


Here's a side-by-side close-up comparison of the LED's and the HID's (had to get in real tight to get as accurate color reading as possible):
Headlamp Automotive lighting Light Auto part Vehicle


Here's the front with all lights on! (sorry, but the camera on my phone wasn't picking up the lighting very good, as it was super bright) I also upgraded my side mirror bulbs with LED bulbs and removed the diffuser film. The lower grille fog lights are my Rigid Industries LED's (there's a post on how installed those.)
Land vehicle Vehicle Headlamp Car Bumper


Here's how the lights look from the inside. (Sorry the grey brick wall isn't really showing an accurate depiction, may try to find a white wall to show this better). These were taken from my new Go-Luk dash cam. I previously tried different Black-vue dash cams which i always liked the small size and barrel-shaped design, but they always started malfunctioning. So far the Go-Luk is working out great (and looks like they did copy the same barrel-type design of the much more expensive Black-vues.
Headlights only:
Green Purple Light Violet Lighting


Headlights high beam:
Automotive lighting Automotive tail & brake light Light Amber Yellow


Headlights and Rigid Industries fog lights:
Green Purple Light Violet Lighting


Headlights, fogs, and HID's:
Automotive lighting Automotive tail & brake light Light Amber Yellow


Also I upgraded my reverse bulbs to LED's as well:
Land vehicle Vehicle Car Automotive tire Tire


Here's with also my rear Rigid Industries lights on that i installed under the rear bumper (there's a post too on how i mounted these.) Also I switched the license plate bulbs to LEDs too.
Vehicle Car Automotive exterior Automotive lighting Transport


Thanks for reading! I want to thank all the members for their great forums/posts which always provides great help and inspiration.

Cheers!
 
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#7 ·
(sorry for late reply) having issues getting notifications on posts. just saw your question today as i was going through some of my old posts regarding lighting.

the ultinon led bulbs were pretty much a plug and play. just have to secure the small ballasts for each bulb somewhere.

for the bumper lights it does take some time to do. some people go the direct bolt onto holes drilled through the bumper and say it works fine. i wanted to make sure it was super sturdy, so i went the route of purchasing the oem toyota bumper aux mount bar that mounts underneath the bumper and attaches to the frame. it's almost overkill how sturdy this thing is and it takes some time lining up the bar an then drilling the holes for the mounts. the wiring is pretty straight forward as i just followed the instructions using the oem factory switches and harnesses to get it all to work. there's a few times where you may have to solder some wires together but that's about it. i also utilized the add-a fuse that goes into the fuse box for the switched power. (there's also photos of which fuse ports to use on the forums).

also it does take a little time when installing the oem switches as you have to take off a lot of interior paneling to access the wiring behind the console.

i'm by no means that experienced with wiring or installation, but if you search through the forums you can pretty much find all the info you will need. plus if you run into any problems, you can always post it here and plenty of nice folk will chime in to help you out.
 
#6 ·
(sorry for late reply) having issues getting notifications on posts. just saw your question today as i was going through some of my old posts regarding lighting.

the ultinon led bulbs were pretty much a plug and play. just have to secure the small ballasts for each bulb somewhere.

for the bumper lights it does take some time to do. some people go the direct bolt onto holes drilled through the bumper and say it works fine. i wanted to make sure it was super sturdy, so i went the route of purchasing the oem toyota bumper aux mount bar that mounts underneath the bumper and attaches to the frame. it's almost overkill how sturdy this thing is and it takes some time lining up the bar an then drilling the holes for the mounts. the wiring is pretty straight forward as i just followed the instructions using the oem factory switches and harnesses to get it all to work. there's a few times where you may have to solder some wires together but that's about it. i also utilized the add-a fuse that goes into the fuse box for the switched power. (there's also photos of which fuse ports to use on the forums).

also it does take a little time when installing the oem switches as you have to take off a lot of interior paneling to access the wiring behind the console.

i'm by no means that experienced with wiring or installation, but if you search through the forums you can pretty much find all the info you will need. plus if you run into any problems, you can always post it here and plenty of nice folk will chime in to help you out.
 
#11 ·
Hello Members.

I wanted to post an update to some of my recent lighting upgrades. I was on the fence for awhile on whether to go with LED headlight bulbs (as there are so many brands to choose from, and the pros vs. cons). I went with the Phillips Ultinon LED bulbs. They're pretty pricey, but saw some great reviews from other members. I like how Phillips have replicated the halogen beam pattern much better than some other brands, as I definitely didn't want to blind other drivers with my stock housings. The package says 6200K, which is mis-leading. It's more like a pure bright white (no yellow, or no blueish tint).
View attachment 785602

Here's the bulbs from under the hood. There's a small ballast system with each bulb that I just secured with a little 3M auto tape and zip tie.
View attachment 785610
View attachment 785618

The only possible issue with LED bulbs is if you're caught driving through a heavy snowstorm, then the snow may build up over the headlights as they do not generate any heat so the snow will not melt. That's where having auxiliary lighting that's either halogen or HID's will help if you ever find yourself in this situation. I previously had the KC Slimlites installed on my bumper, but decided to upgrade to the KC pro-sport HID's. I have the factory bumper mount system, so I ended up going with the 6" lights. The 8" lights (which I tried and had to exchange) ended up sitting much higher than my headlights which I personally didn't like. Since these lights have an internal ballast system, they are quite wider (especially compared to my previous slim-lites). However, there is just enough room with my mounts to clear the grille. They're pretty bright and have the slight blueish HID tint to them (they're much brighter than my previous slim-lites which had H3 100 watt bulbs)
View attachment 785634
View attachment 785626
View attachment 785642

Here's a side-by-side close-up comparison of the LED's and the HID's (had to get in real tight to get as accurate color reading as possible):
View attachment 785650

Here's the front with all lights on! (sorry, but the camera on my phone wasn't picking up the lighting very good, as it was super bright) I also upgraded my side mirror bulbs with LED bulbs and removed the diffuser film. The lower grille fog lights are my Rigid Industries LED's (there's a post on how installed those.)
View attachment 785658

Here's how the lights look from the inside. (Sorry the grey brick wall isn't really showing an accurate depiction, may try to find a white wall to show this better). These were taken from my new Go-Luk dash cam. I previously tried different Black-vue dash cams which i always liked the small size and barrel-shaped design, but they always started malfunctioning. So far the Go-Luk is working out great (and looks like they did copy the same barrel-type design of the much more expensive Black-vues.
Headlights only:
View attachment 785666

Headlights high beam:
View attachment 785674

Headlights and Rigid Industries fog lights:
View attachment 785682

Headlights, fogs, and HID's:
View attachment 785690

Also I upgraded my reverse bulbs to LED's as well:
View attachment 785698

Here's with also my rear Rigid Industries lights on that i installed under the rear bumper (there's a post too on how i mounted these.) Also I switched the license plate bulbs to LEDs too.
View attachment 785706

Thanks for reading! I want to thank all the members for their great forums/posts which always provides great help and inspiration.

Cheers!
Sorry to resurrect an older thread, but I had the same thoughts about mounting up some Pro-Sports to the factory brackets/location. My obvious worry was the depth of the housing hitting the grille and the inability to adjust the angle. In the photos, looks like they mount up well, but kind of hard to see how much clearance there is between the back of the lights to the front of the grille, as well as the upper edge of the grille surround. If it's not too much trouble, can you give me an idea of how much clearance you actually have in regards to the two concerns I've underlined?

Greatly appreciate your help!
 
#12 ·
i went and looked at the clearance and the back of the lights are basically just almost touching the grille about 1/16" away. actually one side has slightly a little more (just depends, as things can vary here and there) here's a little better close up shot, but it's still hard to see. the upper grille surround has plenty of clearance. don't know how high or low you want to aim these, but i have the beams just slightly higher than the low headlight beam level. i remember when i was adjusting early i was able to easily aim them up to like the highbeam level, but decided to lower them for my preference and use. as can see the curved back shape does give you that leway to adjust the lights up and down enough for most applications. hope this helps.
 

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#13 ·
Thanks for the timely response and taking the time to snap a photo. I was kinda afraid of the housing coming pretty close to the grille. a 1/16 is just a bit too close for my liking, especially if I don't get the mounting location drilled to a t. Man, I just love the those Pro-Sports and the technology of it though! Never really liked how shallow the OE lights looked. May have to try fabricating something move it at least 1/2" forward.

Hey, thanks again.
 
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