Want "purple" or "blue" headlights for 2000 Tacoma

Check Osram-Sylvania High Performance bulbs:

See "Cool-Blue" or even the "Silver Star".

Apparently what I'm looking for is HID or xenon bulbs. Thanks for the Sylvania tip -- anyone used these in a practical application?

HIDs are easy to find, you just need to find the Color Temperature you want. These are the easiest upgrade you can make, just make sure you buy the same model for your headlamp. I.E. H1, H2, H3, H4, H5, and H6. I pair of bulbs start at $10, where as the Sylvania will cost $15 each.

As for Xenon, that requires some modifications to the Headlamp housing, in some cases installing an imported assembly. Xenon kits are available, but require a ballast for each lamp, similar to a florescent light fixture. Xenon kits start at $100 and up.

IMHO, it's cheaper to upgrade the bulb than the whole system. Also any extreme color will surely attract attention of your local traffic enforcement.

In all states, blue lights facing in any direction on a vehicle are reserved for emergency vehicles (police, ambulance, fire department, etc.) only, even if there is a slight blue tint that is only partially visible or visible when combined with other lights.

As for purple, most states only allow white or amber lights facing forward and red or amber facing to the rear. Some states allow green lights but just to illuminate running boards.

Law enforcement tends to get upset when lights that are only supposed to be on emergency vehicles start showing up on non emergency vehicles. A lot of crimes have been committed by people impersonating police officers, making phony traffic stops. Before you spend some big bucks on lighting equipment, you might want to check to see if those lights are legal where you live. If not, the citations run from fix-it equipment violations to some rather expensive fines for impersonating an emergency vehicle, depending on where it's issued.

A call to your Highway Patrol or State Police should yield the desired information.

Skip

H.B. Elkins found these unused words:

Might double check your state's laws. Some prohibit modification of lighting systems 'approved' for that model.

See also the Xenarc in the Sylvania page.

"Xenarc HID is brilliant and it is 100% street legal."

FAQ:

"4. Have there been any complaints?

Some motorists are concerned about what they perceive as brighter lights. Lighting specialists at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) say that some people are more sensitive to light but that HID meets the same intensity and beam pattern standards in place since 1978 (the last time the government made a major revision to its standards).

1. What's being done about complaints?

SYLVANIA takes these matters seriously and will only release products, which meet or exceed applicable federal safety standards. "

(Looks like Xenarc, at least from Sylvania, isn't an option for the

2000 Tacoma)

2000 TOYOTA Tacoma

High & low beam headlamp

9003/HB2 9003SU Silverstar ULTRA for Ultra Night Vision - The Whitest and Brightest Halogen 9003ST Silverstar High Performance Lighting: The Whiter and Brighter Halogen 9003XV XtraVision Halogen - The Brighter Light 9003CB Cool Blue Halogen - The Whiter Light

Parking light

168 168LL Long Life Upgrade: Up to twice the life of the standard lamp

Front turn signal

1156 1156LL Long Life Upgrade: Up to twice the life of the standard lamp

Rear turn signal

1156 1156LL Long Life Upgrade: Up to twice the life of the standard lamp

Tail light

1157 1157LL Long Life Upgrade: Up to twice the life of the standard lamp

Stop light

1157 1157LL Long Life Upgrade: Up to twice the life of the standard lamp

High mount stop light

168 168LL Long Life Upgrade: Up to twice the life of the standard lamp

License plate

194 194LL Long Life Upgrade: Up to twice the life of the standard lamp

Back up light

1156 1156LL Long Life Upgrade: Up to twice the life of the standard lamp

Front sidemarker

168 168LL Long Life Upgrade: Up to twice the life of the standard lamp

Glove box

74

Dome light DE3175 DE3175LL Long Life Upgrade: Up to twice the life of the standard lamp

7443LL Long Life Upgrade: Up to twice the life of the standard lamp

Step/Courtesy light DE3021 DE3022

Instrument-general

194 194LL Long Life Upgrade: Up to twice the life of the standard lamp

____________________________________________________

The applications presented in this replacement guide have been compiled using the best information available from the vehicle manufacturers at the time of your search. This guide is intended for general information purposes only, not to be construed as any type of warrantee as to any particular application. For specific applications the vehicle owner's manual should be consulted.

I have been very happy with the +50% bulbs from Rallylights.com. He offers lots of explanation about his different bulbs. You may have to scope around a bit as they are redoing their site. Email me direct if you have questions.

On Sun, 01 Feb 2009 05:44:20 -0800, Skipfromla wrote: Boy do these type of yoyo's really stil exist on here. I thought they were all playing with their weees or is it Wii what ever dray

Xenon is a gas that is used in a lot of regular "hot wire" headlight bulbs. Halogen is the more common gas used. Xenon is also used in arc lighting (no filament). The correct terminology for this type of lighting is HID. Most car companies incorrectly interchange the terms "xenon lights" and HID. This is probably because of the aftermarket inundation with HID wannabe bulbs with blue or purple tint. Here they may or may not use xenon gas in a regular automotive bulb with a coated or tinted coating on the glass. This will produce different colour beams, but significantly lower lighting output (due to the coating filtering out usable light).

If you want better lighting on your Tacoma, look for ecode headlamps, better quality halogen bulbs and upgrade your headlight wiring. Stay away from poseur blue or purple tinted bulbs - these will leave you wondering if your headlights are even on. And do not install HID retrofit kits as the headlights on your truck were not designed to work with HID bulbs - the light pattern will be horrible and potentially dangerous to other drivers. HID systems also require automatic headlight leveling built in.