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Want to add LED aux. driving lights

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Accessories and Modifications' started by Dzzzt, Oct 25, 2024.

  1. Dzzzt

    Dzzzt Junior Member

    Joined:
    Jun 8, 2021
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    Location:
    West Michigan
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius
    Model:
    Three
    My 2012 P3 projector low beam headlights with the brightest halogen bulbs just aren't bright enough.
    It's very noticeable when driving on rainy nights, or on dark highways.
    Would appreciate any suggestions for aftermarket aux. LED driving lights.
    Seems like adding the aux. lights would be the simplest solution.
    Feel free to add any Prius-specific install tips.
    Thanks in advance for your comments!
     
  2. Brian1954

    Brian1954 Senior Member

    Joined:
    Jan 31, 2021
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    Location:
    South Central PA, USA
    Vehicle:
    2011 Prius
    Model:
    III
    Change the H11 halogen low beam bulbs to LED bulbs. That is the easiest solution.

    Search this forum for LED bulb recommendations.
     
    BiomedO1 likes this.
  3. AMCJeepMJ

    AMCJeepMJ Member

    Joined:
    Jan 13, 2018
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    Location:
    Central Oregon
    Vehicle:
    2015 Prius
    Model:
    Three
    I went with a light bar from Prius Offroad that bolts to the towhook mounts, and four 50w KC Slimlite LED lights.
    Two switches used: one for outside mounted amber covered lights, one for inside mounted white lights. These switches were from a Sequoia and mounted to the blanks to the left of the steering column. Only drawback is switches illuminate amber instead of green.

    Edit: I had to replace my headlight housings as the interior reflector surface was oxidizing causing light to diffuse everywhere and made seeing at night difficult; just this alone improved the light 1000% and were purchased on Amazon. I didn't like the aftermarket LED bulb patterns so am using Sylvania Silverstar zXe halogen bulbs which work great.
     

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    #3 AMCJeepMJ, Nov 9, 2024 at 12:09 PM
    Last edited: Nov 9, 2024 at 12:19 PM
  4. BiomedO1

    BiomedO1 Senior Member

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    Location:
    SacTown, Ca
    Vehicle:
    2021 Prius Prime
    Model:
    LE
    I had a 2012 Prius C and swapped out to 6000K LEDs; they worked great. Check your plastic lens for fog and chips - they really scatter the projection lamps. Get them polished out to restore the beams sharpness.
    If you still want to add aux. lamps, I'd recommend using 3000K LED bulbs. The ones with the large heat sinks. They really light up the road and cut through the fog.
    I converted my SUV to HIDs over a decade ago. It's my camping/fishing rig, so it doesn't get used as often as I like. Those HID ballast resistors kept burning up. They were the cheap ones and OEM's didn't have that problem, but they were really pricey - even the junkyard ones. So it was more cost effective to move to LEDs, haven't looked back since. Same bright lights, lower current draw and best of all no delays in ignition. I still have the HIDs installed in the fog lamp position, I didn't have a problem with those and used them when one or both HID lamps died on the trail. I've helped a lot of my friends replace their halogens with LEDs, when they saw how well it lit up the trail. Almost as good as those bar lamps some of them had mounted on their trucks.

    PS, some state regulations require off-road lamps to be covered on pavement.