S-V.4 9005 High Beams from Headlight Revolution (Brightest High Beams?)

Headlight Revolution S-V.4 9005 High Beams with the GTR Lighting CANbus 5th Gen 4Runner

If you are looking to upgrade your high beams to one of the brightest 9005 LED lights on the market, check out the S-V.4.

The Headlight Revolution S-V.4 9005 high beams pack a pretty serious punch when it comes to reflector lighting. See increased visibility, a wider viewing angle, and a much longer lifetime over conventional halogen bulbs.

Most of the 9005 LEDs on the market are known for being bulky and difficult to fit inside the housing. Designed to be as compact as possible, the S-V.4 high beam is an easy install and is pretty compact.

Using the GTR PWM to control the lighting functions, the S-V.4 9005 functions as normal (full-brightness) in DRL mode.

Because our 4Runner has a CANbus system that controls our lighting, system failure notifications occur when less power is drawn from the bulbs (LED vs. Halogen bulbs). When you plug LEDs into a halogen socket, the CANbus system thinks the halogen bulb is failing or running low on power. So, the CANbus system tries to adjust the power which causes a light flicker in the LED bulb. Because our LED headlight bulbs flicker and even give us errors and warnings on the dash, we need a unit to offset this somehow.

With all of this being said, the bulb is totally plug and play.

PerfectFIT or S-V.4?

The Headlight Revolution offers many 9005 options to choose from but let’s look at the Supernova lineup. Their earlier version is the PerfectFIT and now the S-V.4.

Wattage

• PerfectFIT (fan): 16 watts/per
• S-V.3 (fins): 30 watts/per
• S-V.4 (fan): 36 watts/per

Power

• PerfectFIT (fan): 2000lm/per
• S-V.3 (fins): 3000lm/per
• S-V.4 (fan): 3500lm/per

The S-V.4 design resembles an original filament bulb and features 4 updated CREE XD (Extreme Density) chips on each side. These new chips have updated construction, manufacturing, heat dissipation and luminous.

With these new features coming to light, the new S-V.4 brings roughly a 40% increase in usable light compared to the previous V3 model when specifically tested on the 5th Gen 4Runner reflector housing. All of this amounting to an upgraded light that can be driven harder, and cooled better with an upgraded fan.

S-V.4 Highlights

• Heat resistant LED chips
• 360-degree clocking/alignment options
• 6063 Aluminum for more heat dissipation
• Low profile integrated heat sink fan.
• Weatherproof Construction and Shock Proof, CANBUS-Compatible Driver.
• Dimming: The V.4 bulbs dim less and less bright until they turn off at 8V DC.
• DRL: With PWM module at 12V DC they will work at full brightness
• CANBUS: Some vehicles use CANBUS function to monitor and control your headlight and fog light bulbs. The V.4 has a slightly larger LED driver than normal because the CANBUS anti-flicker and anti-error circuitry is built in! No external components should be needed to install these bulbs with a CANBUS-Equipped vehicle.
• Easy plug and play installation.
• 2-year warranty.

Supernova Specs

• 36 Watts Per Bulb.
• 3,600 Lumen Per Bulb.
• 2.50 amps Power Draw at 14VDC Per Bulb.
• Input voltage: 8-32V DC.
• Color temperature: 6,000K.
• Aluminum: 6063.
• Waterproof: IP 67.

Installation & Tools

Tools:

• Metric Sockets
• Drill
• Bits
• Zip Ties
• Snips
• Screws
• GearAir Light
• GearAir Light Tripod

High beams are easy to install. Just unplug the old ones and plug in the new ones.

The bulb install is plug and play but you do need to figure out where to mount the GTR PWM. You can mount the PWN to the firewall using double-sided 3M VHB tape like the Xenon Depot HID kit or mount them directly to the firewall.

I mounted our GTR PWM to the firewall. All you need are basic shop tools to get the job done. Again, it’s a pretty straightforward process.

Screws and Bit for Drilling into Firewall

I had a spare bag of #6 screws in the garage that came in handy. They fit the size of the opening in the GTR so all I had to do was find a bit that was just shy of the tread width on the screw.

By punching a hole in the firewall just shy of the thread OD (outside diameter) width, you creating a hole that should be the exact ID (inside diameter) thus allowing the screw to fit securing into place.

If you want to self tap/thread a hole, go ahead. It just takes a little more effort.

That was probably too much detail. Moving on…

Punch Hole in Firewall & Secure GTR PWM

Tap a hole in the firewall, drill your hole and secure your GTR module into place. Just remember to hand tighten these small screws into place.

They have a tendency to strip so being patience with a handheld will help you maintain control without damaging the cheap screws from Home Depot.

Remove Old Bulb and Plug-In S-V.4 Bulb

Connect S-V.4 Cable and Driver to Harness

Connect S-V.4 Cable and Driver to GTR PWM & Test Bulb

Yes, the bulbs work fine. I just decided to hide the bulb to get this shot.

Zip Tie S-V.4 Cable to GTR Harness

Nothing bothers me more than loose wires and wire loom running through the engine bay. Clean that up with some zip ties and position the S-V.4 driver so that it’s not touching any other wires or wiring loom. The resistors do get hot so keeping them separate from wires and other components are important.

Confirm Proper Fitment in the Housing

Make sure your bulb is sitting at 12 and 6oclock.

Morimoto 2Stroke LED 2.0 Low Beams

Morimoto 2Stroke LED 2.0 Low Beams + Morimoto XB LED Fog Lights

S-V.4 9005 Beam Pattern 4Runner

Xenon Depot Xtreme LED Pro 9005 High Beams

Morimoto 2Stroke 2.0 H11 LED Low Beams with Factory 9005

Are these lights for you?

The reason people would opt for the S-V.4 LED high beam bulb is because, when using it as a high beam option it is significantly better than any other bulb option on the market, bar none. The tradeoff is you lose the dim DRL function. So you get to choose – you could go with an LED high beam bulb that doesn’t quite perform as well in order to have something that retains the normal DRL function or you could get ultimate high beam performance when driving at night. Just depends on what’s most important to you.

The S-V.4 LED headlight bulbs are plug and play in most applications but because of the way Toyota makes the DRL work on the high beam bulb of the original 4Runner halogen light bulb, as soon as it goes into DRL mode when driving it makes the LED bulbs flicker. This is due to the use of a PWM system that lowers the voltage by sending short pulses of electricity to the original halogen bulb. Since the LED bulbs are instant-on they react to this fluctuating voltage and flicker. The GTR Lighting PWM modules smooth out this voltage flicker and allow the S-V.4 LED headlight bulb to work without flickering or strobing. The trade-off, is you lose your dim DRL function.

So is it the brightest? They are pretty bright!

Hard telling not knowing as the shots above were on different nights and with different low beams which makes a big difference in the ambient lighting that’s on the garage. The Xenon Depot 9005s are paired with Xenon Depot HIDs which are super bright and fully powered up.

The S-V.4 bulbs are paired with Morimoto 2Stroke 2.0 LEDs so they aren’t going to be as bright as the HIDs.

What you can see are the color differences in color of the Xenon Depot 9005 vs. S-V.4 9005 and even the factory 9005.

I would choose between the Xenon Depot 9005 or the S-V.4 9005 any day of the week. Both lights have great color, incredibly output and both backed by companies that hold true to their word.