Many people opt for aftermarket headlights for their vehicles. Although the individual reasons may vary, aesthetics or function are usually the two largest considerations. There are countless options out there, with a couple of brands commonly found on 5th Gen 4Runners. And frankly, I’m getting bored of seeing them.
After disappointment with my stock halogen bulbs, I opted for aftermarket LEDs in my factory housings. Although the perceived performance was good at first, I quickly learned that halogen housings do not have the reflectors to properly control the beam pattern of LEDs. This resulted in light getting scattered everywhere, including oncoming traffic.
I shopped around for options (including the popular offerings), and ultimately settled on TEQ Customs; a locally built option, boasting brighter light output and a unique look.
Find It Online:
- Hex Halo Custom Headlights: Check Price
Table Of Contents
Company Background
TEQ Customs, located in Raleigh North Carolina, is an off-road-minded shop offering service, installs, and minor fabrication/fitment modification for many vehicles, but focused on Toyotas. They also have a storefront, offering products from ARB, Dobinsons, C4, CBI, Warn, and many more.
They got their start making retrofit headlights for Toyotas back in 2021. Since then, the business has grown exponentially. They now have retrofit and custom headlight offerings for the majority of Toyota trucks and SUVs.
Halogen Housings & LED Compatibility
To improve my light output (and save some money), I initially replaced my halogen bulbs with aftermarket LEDs. This provided me with some positives but also had its fair share of negatives.
They looked great (no more yellowish color), had more light output, and better perceived brightness. However, because the housings were not designed for LEDs, the light output was all over the place and had no clean cutoff. This left me with dark spots directly in front of the vehicle and multiple flashes from oncoming traffic. The rain made this even worse as the light tended to “fade away” which made it incredibly hard to see anything.
These shortcomings are largely due to the location of the light chips. Typically, they are located around a cylinder that effectively throws lights in all directions and relies on the stock housing to channel the light correctly.
Hex Halo Feature
The “signature” look of these lights is the LED halo. However, the light output was the true selling point for me.
This halo color and lighting sequence can all be controlled via an app. You name it, it’s possible. Although this halo does not produce much usable light on its own, it works well as a DRL.
There are a few options for wiring the halo; either to a switch panel, the low beams, or the parking lights. The latter is the most common option and the one I opted for.
The lights feature a blacked-out housing and are sealed with dust caps on the back, protecting the lights from the elements, just like the factory housings. In my opinion, the dark housing and crisp lenses make for a very clean, semi-factory look.
What Makes These Special
The really impressive part of the lights that allows them to stand out is that they utilize two BiLED Projectors per headlight (meaning each projector has both low and high-beam functions).
That gives you four functional low-beam and high-beam sources. These are also larger projectors (3″ and 2.5″, respectively) that give a ton of output (3,200 LUX). Many other aftermarket lights will use two or three smaller projectors for the low beam in each headlight. That smaller size limits how far and how wide of a beam they can emit.
While the output of many of these aftermarket headlights is still good, you get less light output for more money compared to TEQ Customs.
LUX is the measurement of illumination area intensity. TEQ measures their light output based on how it illuminates an area (an important factor when driving), vs merely how bright the light is at the source (lumens).
Light Output
Pictured – Low Beams.
The low beams provide ample light right in front of the vehicle and to the sides. They also have a hard cutoff at the far end which helps prevent throwing unnecessary light down the road. Additionally, when adjusted properly, they have a hard/stepped cutoff on the driver’s side to prevent blinding oncoming drivers.
Pictured – High Beams.
The high beams mostly maintain the driver-side cutoff but allow for a little more “leakage” on the sides. The increased light thrown down the road is far more concentrated than the LEDs I had previously.
Because the TEQ Customs projectors utilize an LED chip rather than a traditional bulb, they can be placed in the optimal spot for greater output and improved optics.
Installation
The tools needed for this installation are relatively simple and the job can be done at home. TEQ Customs has a great video tutorial that clearly outlines the steps.
Once the old headlights are removed, it is as simple as reversing your steps with the new headlights and then making sure everything works as expected.
These lights maintain the factory beam adjusters to fine-tune as needed.
Final Thoughts
The lights definitely have a unique look and may not be for everybody. However, I appreciate the increased light output and overall functionality compared to my previous setup.
As for the halo, I played around with the colors in the beginning because of its novelty, but ultimately landed on amber with the parking lights, and either off or white when the low beams are on. I think this provides a unique and stylish look without being too “over the top”.
Overall, these lights are a vast improvement over the stock halogen lights. The light output is hard to compete with in the aftermarket world, but these hold their own to the best of them.
GO PACK!!