Headlights - newly purchased 2001 Pathfinder

[Fisch96]

Hey everyone!

 

I recently purchased a 2001 pathfinder LE. I already love it so much and plan to keep it for as many years as possible. I do have one issue so far and that is the lights. I am looking to upgrade the visibility for late night drives down dirt roads (as well as city driving). I'm a student so I cannot afford a lot, I'm aiming to keep the factory housing, so is there any good/ cheaper conversion kits to halogens? or perhaps some other alternative better than halogens?

 

Thanks!

 

This is probably my first of many other topics to optimize my pathfinder; so if you have any other inexpensive upgrades, please feel free to let me know!

[colinnwn]

Hey everyone!
 
I recently purchased a 2001 pathfinder LE. I already love it so much and plan to keep it for as many years as possible. I do have one issue so far and that is the lights. I am looking to upgrade the visibility for late night drives down dirt roads (as well as city driving). I'm a student so I cannot afford a lot, I'm aiming to keep the factory housing, so is there any good/ cheaper conversion kits to halogens? or perhaps some other alternative better than halogens?
 
Thanks!
 
This is probably my first of many other topics to optimize my pathfinder; so if you have any other inexpensive upgrades, please feel free to let me know!

I believe halogens were standard. I certainly had them in my 2001. My headlights got cloudy. I did the buffing. That helped for about 6 months. Then I put in a $50 HID conversion kit from Amazon that I liked a lot. It had the lowest K rating I could find, possibly 4,000k.

Now I have LEDs in my Acura. So far I love them. But I also replaced the whole lenses at the same time, so I don't know if LEDs have as mu power as HIDs.

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk

[Fisch96]

4 minutes ago, colinnwn said:

I believe halogens were standard. I certainly had them in my 2001. My headlights got cloudy. I did the buffing. That helped for about 6 months. Then I put in a $50 HID conversion kit from Amazon that I liked a lot. It had the lowest K rating I could find, possibly 4,000k.

Now I have LEDs in my Acura. So far I love them. But I also replaced the whole lenses at the same time, so I don't know if LEDs have as mu power as HIDs.

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk
 

Yes sorry, I think you're right! I definitely got confused when I was posting. I was considering switching to LED's and fixing the headlight fogging. I am looking to switch to white LED's and curious if there are reliable conversions kits that won't make my wallet sweat!

[Guest]

46 minutes ago, colinnwn said:

I believe halogens were standard. I certainly had them in my 2001. My headlights got cloudy. I did the buffing. That helped for about 6 months. Then I put in a $50 HID conversion kit from Amazon that I liked a lot. It had the lowest K rating I could find, possibly 4,000k.

Now I have LEDs in my Acura. So far I love them. But I also replaced the whole lenses at the same time, so I don't know if LEDs have as mu power as HIDs.

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk
 

Leds are not as bright or have a long beam like hids. The only downside is sometimes they can blind other drivers in a halogen housing, but leds can do the same.

[PathyDude17]

save up, and get something that will really boost performance... In my experience, LED bulbs were only a mild boost in lighting, and weren’t great in snow or rain.

 

these are bi - LED projectors. It’s a DIY kit sold by BX built. Obviously gonna cost 2-4 times as much as aftermarket LED bulbs, but you get what you pay for- clean cutoff and intense light throw. Even a cheaper amazon or eBay projector kit is likely a better route.

[Fisch96]

14 minutes ago, PathyDude17 said:

save up, and get something that will really boost performance... In my experience, LED bulbs were only a mild boost in lighting, and weren’t great in snow or rain.

 

these are bi - LED projectors. It’s a DIY kit sold by BX built. Obviously gonna cost 2-4 times as much as aftermarket LED bulbs, but you get what you pay for- clean cutoff and intense light throw. Even a cheaper amazon or eBay projector kit is likely a better route.

Sounds good! Tried looking for that kit, do you have a link for it??

[RainGoat]

Unfortunately, the 9004 dual filament bulb doesn’t lend itself to LEDs well. Most are blinding to oncoming drivers. For nearly 2 decades I’ve used PIAA H4/9004 Xtreme White (4150K) Headlights High/Low 60/55w. They’re their XTRA double wound high performance filaments, that’s why they say they’re equivalent to 135/125w. Since they’re Halogen they work perfectly in the OEM projectors. There are higher temp versions, 5,000K, 6,000K - I went 4,150K which is close to natural sunlight back in the day but I’d probably do 5,000K today. They are pricey but the quality is superb & mine lasted 50-75K despite the truck’s almost exclusive use on offroad trips & many of those years in ultra-harsh AZ. I tried some competitors in my sedan, including Philips & Sylvannia & they burned out in 1-2 years - the PIAA were much more cost effective in the long run.

[PathyDude17]

17 minutes ago, Fisch96 said:

Sounds good! Tried looking for that kit, do you have a link for it??

https://www.bxbuilt.com/product-page/toyota-h4-diy-kit-4runner-tacoma-tundra-sequoia
If you have questions about any of the products, the owners name is Andrew and you should be able to find him on Facebook and Instagram as BX BUILT.

 

might as well drop a link to YouTube video too

 

[Funpath01]

I did a full LED swap on all bulbs for my 01. I bought everything off amazon.  I did replace the headlight housings and that was a huge difference. It wasn’t too expensive. 

[RainGoat]

I did a full LED swap on all bulbs for my 01. I bought everything off amazon.  I did replace the headlight housings and that was a huge difference. It wasn’t too expensive. 

Is that some kind if dual LED to effect a High & a Low beam?

[RainGoat]

I did a full LED swap on all bulbs for my 01. I bought everything off amazon.  I did replace the headlight housings and that was a huge difference. It wasn’t too expensive. 

Is that some kind if dual LED to effect a High & a Low beam?

[Funpath01]

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06XHD78DQ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

These are the bulbs I bought. I have them on my pathfinder and Tacoma. I highly recommend these for anyone looking. 

[RainGoat]

Interesting, I did not realize they had started making the equivalent of dual filament LEDs. I have DDM Tuning 50w Sabre 9005 in my 4Runner highs & they’re incredible. I might give this a shot though I think I’ll try & find something 5-600K, 6500K is just a tad too blue for me - though I note most of their competitors are 6500K as well.

[RainGoat]

Interesting, I did not realize they had started making the equivalent of dual filament LEDs. I have DDM Tuning 50w Sabre 9005 in my 4Runner highs & they’re incredible. I might give this a shot though I think I’ll try & find something 5-600K, 6500K is just a tad too blue for me - though I note most of their competitors are 6500K as well.