Aftermarket OEM Spec Headlights

At 17 years old, the headlights on my dad's Tundra were fogged over pretty bad and he needs good lighting to see well at night. The cost of factory replacements was something like $200+ per headlight. So I took a chance on eBay seller "oemassive" after seeing that they had 100% positive feedback with 100k+ items sold. They offered a package that included both headlight and corner light housings for about $85. (We also bought a new pair of Sylvania halogen bulbs.) The first set that came had noticeable dropouts and hotspots. When I contacted oemassive, they asked for photos showing the problem with the beam pattern. Within a day of me sending the photos, they offered to reship the entire order for free and did not require me to return anything. Unbelievable! The second set of headlight housings had a much better pattern although it probably isn't as good as factory. I had my dad keep the originals so that I can try a Meguires Heavy Duty Headlight Restoration kit. Here are photos of the aftermarket housings installed.

 

They look good! I'm prob going to have to get some soon as well..

 

I found even the CAPA approved aftermarket lights still didn't look right when I had halogen bulbs. It was a bit more work, but I bought the Eagle Eye brand and pulled the lenses off and swapped them to the OEM lights. That worked pretty well.

It's kind of crazy home many people throw out those OEM lights.

 

I’m assuming it was just butyl, if you were able to swap the lenses that easy?

 

Yeah.. Took me maybe an hour with a heat gun. I've done a few retrofits so I was familiar with it, but patience is key.

 

Hell yeah, do new Toyota’s use the perma? I was thankful the 2010 4runner was butyl. I effed up the oem reflector shrouds, and got a second set, Depot crap, then found another oem set that I will retry. Fxr3 bi-xenon with switch back halos on turbine shrouds is the plan.......has been the plan for 3+ years, but still incomplete!

 

That is good customer service.

I never was happy with original headlights. Retrofit was one of the best things I ever did to this truck.

 

Akkons are my 2nd set of aftermarkets after the OEM assys turned yellow to the point of no return post 3M polish job in 2012. Bought some cheapo China mades with bulbs for $50 (headlights only). They worked fine. Last year bought a refresher set with side markers (OEM now wearing out) from Akkon and they look great. One side marker leaked after a month and the sent an entire new set of headlights/side markers.

Katana Bulbs. Way better light than the day it came of the lot with filament bulbs. Not perfect light, but I think when it comes to headlights people expect too much. I’m very happy to see twice as better as OEM.

You can check my build page for more progression pics. I did plenty experimentation.

https://www.tundras.com/threads/the...vestment-‘build’-a-chronological-story.46816/

 

Thanks, again, @Professional Hand Model ! Great headlight progression thread. Yes, we've also substituted LED bulbs in the fog lights and they are amazing. I'd actually be interested in doing the HID-Projector retrofit because that's what my car has stock and they're fantastic. However, it seems pretty involved and my wife would have a fit if I baked a headlamp assy in our oven!