HID Headlights 5th Gen 4Runner Xenon Depot
Xenon Depot HID (High-Intensity Discharge) Headlights on 5th Gen 4Runner
We can all agree on one thing, Xenon Depot headlights are the way to go. Xenon Depot is a company that has specialized in automotive lighting for years.
This company backs their products and has excellent customer support. If you have any questions about your HIDs, LEDs, Festoon bulbs, interior light bulbs, exterior light bulbs or anything that shines bright, just give them a call. You can’t say the same for most other light distributors out there.
There are quite a few companies out there, that make and design HID headlights for our low beam (H11) housing but not too many compare to the Xenon Depot HIDs. Whether you go with Xenon Depot as your company of choice or another company, one thing is for sure, do your research on companies as well as HIDs and LEDs.
If going the low beam HID route is something that you are interested in, check out our overview of the HID bulbs before you make up your mind. If you are buying HID bulbs for your low beam (H11) housing, know that there is a difference between installing HID bulbs and an HID retrofit.
HID Bulbs or HID Retrofit?
Our 4Runner has a low beam halogen projector. A projector is the housing the projects the light. An HID bulb is not “designed” to work 100% perfect in a halogen projector. If you want to do HIDs the right way, you install HID bulbs into an HID projector. To get an HID projector into your 4Runner’s headlights, you need to do an HID retrofit.
An HID retrofit simply means replacing your halogen projectors with HID projectors. This is the entire housing that holds your bulb (not to be confused with your entire headlight housing). The low beam has a projector housing and the high beam uses a reflector housing. Go look at them and see the difference. Usually, projector based lights (our low beam H11 bulb) have a laser-focused cut-off line (beam pattern), while our reflector based high-beam (9005) has a wild and aggressive light output with no cut-off line.
There are DIY overviews on retrofit kits, or you can buy a pre-packaged housing that comes ready to swap out. There are a few kits (HID retrofit kits) out there, that are designed us. Not very companies actually design and product high-quality conversion kits that meet anywhere near OEM standards.
HID Retrofit – Replacing Halogen Projectors with HID Projectors?
This is technically the best route to go if you want to run HIDs. If you replace your factory halogen projectors with HID projects, a few things will happen. Your beam pattern should be damn near stock. This means your cut-off line of where your light projects is a straight line at about 20-25 feet from your 4Runner and about 40″ off the ground.
HID bulbs – What if you just throw in bulbs?
No HID projectors, oh no! If you are going to use your halogen projectors, you will be fine. All you need to buy is a set of HID H11 bulbs and plug them in. There is nothing very complicated about plugging new headlights in. Many owners have HID headlights and love them.
HIDs – Beam Pattern & Light Output?
The reason why so many people choose LED headlights over HID headlights is they shoot the correct beam pattern at oncoming traffic (they keep the OEM beam pattern). With HIDs in a projector housing, your light output is going to be brighter and your beam pattern will shoot higher, similar to a reflector housing. This will ultimately cause other drivers to think you are using your high-beams, and you will get flashed.
Now that we have covered HIDs, LEDs, Projectors, and Reflectors, let’s go back to Xenon Depot.
Xenon Depot HID Light Features & Options
Xenon Depot Features
The Xtreme ballasts are a low draw, which means you can safely power them right from the OEM headlight wiring (no harness). Also, you won’t have any cold start lighting issues without the harness because of the lower draw. Ballasts that have a higher starting draw sometimes have issues igniting the bulb when it’s cold, especially if you use the auto headlights.
- You can find these HIDs here: Xenon Depot HIDs (check price)
- Nominal Voltage: Dual voltage ballast system for 12V/24V
- Bulb Voltage: 85 +/- 17 (V)
- Bulb Electric Power: 35 +/- 3 (W)
- Operating Temperature Range: -40 ~ +95
- Storage Temperature Range: -40 ~ +105
- Operating Voltage Range: 9 ~ 32 V
- Inrush current (0-5msec): <4.5 (A) (Low Draw)
- Reverse Polarity Protection: YES
- Rated Lifetime: 2500-3000 hours (35w)
There are a few key points to look at here. The fact that Xenon Depot has reverse polarity protection is pretty cool. When you are in the middle of an install with HIDs and your bulb does not turn out, it is pretty frustrating. We had this happen on our last HID low beam install. Not that is was difficult to figure out, It was just one of those things that can be irritating during an install.
Xenon Depot Kevlin and Lumens
- 3000K: Yellow (2800 lu)
- 4300K: Warm White (3100 lu)
- 5000K: Pure White (3000 lu)
- 6500K: Cool White (2850 lu)
- 8000K: Cool Blue (2650 lu)
- Philips 4300K (3200 lu)
You have multiple options with the Xenon Depot HIDs. You want to stay with pure white. You don’t have to but that is what I would recommend. Pure white will give you exactly what it sounds like, pure white color. If you want to go with a slight blue tint, then go with the 6500K. For most vehicles on the road, you should stay with a 5000K bulb. Anything over 6000K will attract unwanted attention and possibly make you look like an 18-year-old kid trying to be cool with blue lights. Keep it classy and stay with white lights.
Xenon Depot HID Bulb Fits
- H11LL, H11-55W, H8, H9 (Fits Low Beam – H11)
Today, we are talking about the H11. This is the bulb that most owners are looking at for HID headlights. Xenon Depot makes a stunning H11 HID bulb. If you are considering a pair of HIDs for your 5th Gen 4Runner, this is your best bet.
In my opinion, these are the highest quality HID bulbs out there, if you find something better then comment below. This is not just one guy speaking highly of these bulbs. Hundreds of owners know, love and trust the Xenon Depot brand.
Whether its HIDs or LEDs, you should always be safe with Xenon Depot.
curious on recommendations if you want to do HID for the high beams as well….bulb, etc. New to all of this so a link to a part would be great.
Now that HID replacements have been out for a while, there are some decent competitors in Diode Dynamics & DDM Tuning. I’m curious if you’ve had any experience or feedback on those brands vs Xenon Depot?
How does this compare to the Kensun set? https://trail4runner.com/2018/01/17/hid-headlights-5th-gen-4runner-kensun/
The Xenon Depot HID bulbs and ballasts are higher quality for sure. The XD HIDS is a better kit all the way around. From packaging to wiring, the grommets, ballasts, mounting the ballasts is easier (3M double sided tape instead of taping into the firewall). The bulbs are brighter, smoothing and project better quality light at distance. If money is no issue then buy the XD HIDs. With that being said, we have not had any problems with the Kensun bulbs yet. My other 4Runner has had those installed for about 6 months now. We really like those bulbs for the price. It comes down to price for me. If you can swing the price for the XD HIDs, they are worth it. If you want to save a few bucks, the Kensun bulbs work great as well, just not at the quality level of the XDs.