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2nd gen headlight upgrade in 2024

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Main Forum' started by lex, Aug 16, 2024.

  1. lex

    lex 2005 Prius, always garaged

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    After touring the forum, I thought I'd inquire, in 2024, what headlight upgrades (which bulbs) are solid recommendations now for a 2nd generation 2005 Prius. Improved visibility is sought, on low beams. All price levels are fine. Thanks in advance
     
  2. Has Raf

    Has Raf Junior Member

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    Would LED bulbs be an easy plug n play option? Or better to go with upgraded halogen bulbs?
     
  3. Tombukt2

    Tombukt2 Senior Member

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    You'll have to try them out put one on each side and see what you like they don't cost enough to be worried about it if you throw them in a drawer you can sell them to some other person. Do you have HID lights or halogens in the car now from the factory for the HIDs that make a great LED conversion that uses the shutters in the HID and everything and they're quite bright I have them in my JBL CD changer vehicle with HIDs and they've been in there for a while like them a lot If you're the kind of person that likes to take things apart you can buy a set of used very good condition factory original headlights put them in the oven less than 200 for about 40 minutes and get them hot peel the lenses off and then you can have your way with the interior of the lamp adding marimoto projectors and all kinds of LEDs and Halo rings and flashing things and all kinds of kid-like stuff that they put on these things now. If you look on Facebook in the Facebook groups you'll see all of the Asian kids with the generation twos with lights on them that look like they spent a week or so putting together I just saw some yesterday If you search the forums in Asia you can find people that will sell them to you Nice looking ones too some are really gaudy but some are done pretty well none of this stuff is really thought of for huge lighting actually a lot of it is for mostly bling Halo rings and different colors and all that sort of things what I'm talking about so it just depends where you are and what it is you really want to do but there are plenty of the kids in the groups that are playing with all of this stuff some do really nice work others not so much so you kind of have to be in the click and understand what's going on some people here in the States have done the same thing some guys don't mind doing it for other people then we'll charge for it others not so much to me it's really boring work and I'll let others mess with that stuff I don't really spend that much time driving at night anymore it's become quite unsafe actually to be out messing around at night with all that's going on in the present climate of the country we live in You might not be driving your car again in some places so yeah I'll skip the bottom of the night time stuff.
     
  4. lex

    lex 2005 Prius, always garaged

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    Either LED or a very nicely upgraded halogen option will do. It's a 2005, US model that still has original, or original-type, bulbs. Not sure if they're halogen or HID. Please see photo below (not profile pic) to help identify. Prefering not to be a tinkerer on this upgrade and seek instead a plug-and-play solution. Whatever a number of others on the forum have found to be a much-improved-over-originals option will likely do. Thanks for the recommendations and clarifications.

     
  5. Tombukt2

    Tombukt2 Senior Member

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    Look under the hood at your lamp housings if there's a bunch of yellow stickers and caution marks about high voltage you have the high intensity discharge lights so you will need the kit made by a l l a on Amazon that does the HID to LED conversion there about $59 follow the instructions and it's not a project You're connecting two wires and inserting a bulb which is tricky if you've never done this before you'll be loosening the front fender liner taking a 10 mm bolt out and pulling the front bumper cover back from each headlight so you can lift out the headlight assembly to change the D4S bulbs to the LEDs and then make a wiring change and plug up some plugs and back in they go
     
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  6. Has Raf

    Has Raf Junior Member

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    Mine is the UK spec, so normal halogen bulbs, nothing fancy. Any specific bulb brands, colours or ratings that are particularly good for gen 2s?
     
  7. Tombukt2

    Tombukt2 Senior Member

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    I personally like that Auxbeam S series I use them in three Gen2 the other Gen2 is hid with alla kit in it. All of them very bright on the halogen when you put the LED bulb in you have to crank down on your adjuster about eight half turns and you'll see the cutoff line magically appear on your wall set that to the right amount of inches or centimeters off the ground and do the other side and you're finished this is the up and down adjustment.
     
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  8. PriusCamper

    PriusCamper Senior Member

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    I was hoping for a discussion about this...

    Standard halogen for a 9003 socket is what I'm looking for too... I have a friend who insists on the super extra bright ones and they only last 12months before they burn out. Thus far my experiements LEDs brighter than that has been failed.

    DOES ANYONE KNOW OF THE BRIGHTEST LED HEADLIGHTS AVAILABLE FOR THIS?
     
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  9. Tombukt2

    Tombukt2 Senior Member

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    I've got some of the brand I'm talking about when I talk about these things with people for the halogen replacements that are coming up on a 5 years old so I'm not sure how they're burning out in several months or a year mine are also fan less so there's no whining and no noise I wouldn't buy them until they made fanless so on and so forth so I'm not sure how this is possible brightest 9003 socket okay that's what we are in the generation 2 h4s 9003 so back in the old days before LEDs in the osrsm catalog on my Audi I used to run these tractor bulbs they were literally made for John Deere and Massey Ferguson tractors and they were ridiculous they were halogen of course this is before LEDs and my God when you put those things on everything else in the car went dim practically or it seemed like it probably needed a stiffening cap for the light bulbs It was hysterical A lot of guys over on the Audi VW list were using these in like 87 '89 somewhere in there maybe early 2000s I'd have to go over there and look but you can look Osram site In the industrial applications like for tractors I'm talking about I'm not sure exactly what tractor it was but in the OSRAM catalog it'll give you the breakdown and pictures of the bulb it's socket type it's rated of wattage and all of that some of those things are off the chain. But I haven't had any trouble with the AUX beam S series That's their top of the line usually they're probably up to the s45 by now I'm still running s1s and twos and have not replaced any every car I get I put a set in immediately got a set in the drawer ready to go in the next car I buy none have burnt out yet everything in the car stock as far as connection wires and all that the LEDs require no wiring upgrades no relay upgrades nothing.
     
  10. Has Raf

    Has Raf Junior Member

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    Looking on Auxbeams website, the S2s are non-fan cooling and S3s are fan cooling, stating: “HIGH-SPEED MUTE FAN (12000 RPM)”. Would you recommend fan cooling or non-fan cooling? The S2s don’t have it, and S3s do, which are the newer upgraded ones. So my thought is they thought they needed cooling going forward? Are the Auxbeam just plug and play, standard bulb swap, no need for extra wiring, hardware etc.?
     
  11. Tombukt2

    Tombukt2 Senior Member

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    I don't buy the fan anything in headlights The fans whine very quickly and make a racket when you're sitting at a stoplight and everybody is looking at you like an idiot personally that's what I've noticed so I don't play the fan business that's why I waited until companies made fan less so whichever is the fan less is what I personally have I do not have the fan s2345s whatever they are I have the S series must be the S ones fanless they have a big aluminum heat sink that looks like a palm nailer but smaller with slots in it and instead of having a nail in the palm of the gun You have Cobb elements don't know what a palm nailer is oh boy I'm sorry.
     
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  12. lex

    lex 2005 Prius, always garaged

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    Are these the ones you speak of? These are the "SE" series from Auxbeam. Anyone else also pleased with these? Thanks
     
    #12 lex, Aug 17, 2024
    Last edited: Aug 17, 2024
  13. Tombukt2

    Tombukt2 Senior Member

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    Those are newer than mine but I would give those a shot personally That's not a bad price and the lumen specs and the cob LEDs and all that seem to check out my heat sinks are way bigger than that but that looks like it has heat pipe technology or something My heat sinks look like a palm nailer it's a tool that construction people use but anyway no matter they look like they they'll be good AUX makes good stuff generally they do a pretty thing up job and they'll take care of you of something screws up so there's always that
     
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  14. lex

    lex 2005 Prius, always garaged

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    If possible, please share a pic of where the bolt that needs to be undone to loosen the bumper for headlamp access is. So far, I am not seeing any yellow high current/warning stickers that were mentioned.
     
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  15. Tombukt2

    Tombukt2 Senior Member

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  16. Tombukt2

    Tombukt2 Senior Member

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    At the Ford edge of the wheel well towards the front of the car count up two of those black plastic spacers or clips push-ins whatever they are take those out peel back where the fender liner comes around and goes over the fender instead of behind it and you'll see a 10 mm Phillips head with hex on it You can take it off with a 10 mm socket or a screwdriver then there's some clips on the very bottom facing the ground that may be holding the plastic piece that comes from that same fender liner and holds the front of the bottom edge of the bumper cover and you'll take one or two clips and whatnot out of there when you look down underneath the car you'll pretty much see what you have to do The fender liner goes from the fender right under the door hoops around over the hole fender well and then shoot straight out under the car but is house so you can't see it by the edge of the bumper cover look at your parts breakdown and you'll see the pieces You're not taking them off You're loose taking the clips off so you can pull the front fender liner about 2 in forward You don't have to take anything completely off You just pulling the fender liner forward with the bolts and whatnot and plugs undone from the lamp housing and lifting up on the edge of the housing that's up near the driver and pulling back on the end that's stuck into the fender liner or into the bumper cover
     
  17. Has Raf

    Has Raf Junior Member

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    These have the fan, no? So, not good?
     
  18. Tombukt2

    Tombukt2 Senior Member

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    If they have the fan I'm not using them other people use them and don't give a crap I mean I don't know man mine are the S ones they two cob elements sitting on a silver aluminum stick with a big black heat sink with fins in it that looks like a palm nailer look at a picture of a palm nailer and then you can see what I'm talking about I'll try to post a picture later but Jesus that's a real stretch on this site but anyway yeah mine are the S ones they're black and silver there's no gold involved there's no heat pipe technology there's no fans just the big heat sink You can also look from a company called beam tech they also make the same s1 I think beam tech and aux are same mfgr
     
  19. lex

    lex 2005 Prius, always garaged

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    Thanks for your detailed instructions @Tombukt2. Just leaving them here for clarity when coming back after order arrives this week:

    "At the Ford edge of the wheel well towards the front of the car, count up two of those black plastic spacers or clips, push-ins, whatever they are. Take those out, peel back where the fender liner comes around and goes over the fender instead of behind it, and you'll see a 10 mm Phillips head with hex on it. You can take it off with a 10 mm socket or a screwdriver.

    Then there's some clips on the very bottom facing the ground that may be holding the plastic piece that comes from that same fender liner and holds the front of the bottom edge of the bumper cover. You'll take one or two clips and whatnot out of there. When you look down underneath the car, you'll pretty much see what you have to do.

    The fender liner goes from the fender right under the door, hoops around over the whole fender well, and then shoots straight out under the car but is housed, so you can't see it by the edge of the bumper cover. Look at your parts breakdown and you'll see the pieces. You're not taking them off. You're just loosening the clips so you can pull the front fender liner about 2 inches forward.

    You don't have to take anything completely off. You're just pulling the fender liner forward with the bolts and whatnot and plugs undone from the lamp housing and lifting up on the edge of the housing that's up near the driver and pulling back on the end that's stuck into the fender liner or into the bumper cover."
     
  20. PriusCamper

    PriusCamper Senior Member

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    That link indicates those are fog lights, not headlights... Also confusing is the fact that 16000 lumens of brightness is much higher than anything I've seen, which doesn't make sense for fog lights?
     
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