Toyota headlight upgrade 81110-60P70

[Larry Davick]

And I'm very impressed with what came in the box. The wiring harness and relays seem to be top-drawer. The headlamps are excellent, too.
Like with so many things on the Motorhome - one thing leads to another. Now I want to refurbish the headlamp bezels. I just took a trip to the candy store (Ace Hardware) and bought some stainless screws to replace the rusty old ones. The clips are rusty too, but I'm too timid to try to remove them.

I got the installation about 2/3 of the way done. The wiring harness is fantastic and so easy to install. I took the “long” end and snaked it parallel to the battery cable from passenger side to drivers side, zip tying after I had the end in place. Attached the red + to the battery terminal on the isolator (?) and the neg to a known good ground. Attached the relays to the firewall. 1/3 done.
Drivers side headlamp bucket came out easily and with a common plier I bent out the inner part of the bucket a bit. Reattach the bucket, put the new lamp in, and the ring, bezel, attach new wiring - adding the included grease first. 2/3 done.
Removed passenger side headlamp - retainer ring fell apart. Tabs fell off and the ring came apart. Still - I had to test.
Grease in all connections and I turned on the headlights and they worked perfectly! Hi and low beams.
I can’t tell if they are any better than before in the daylight, though!!
I stopped by the auto parts store for a new ring and they didn’t stock it!? I remember these being on the Help! isle. Oh well. 2/3 of the way is good progress, and a simple, feel-good job.

 

[tmsnyder]

I got the installation about 2/3 of the way done. The wiring harness is fantastic and so easy to install. I took the “long” end and snaked it parallel to the battery cable from passenger side to drivers side, zip tying after I had the end in place. Attached the red + to the battery terminal on the isolator (?) and the neg to a known good ground. Attached the relays to the firewall. 1/3 done.
Drivers side headlamp bucket came out easily and with a common plier I bent out the inner part of the bucket a bit. Reattach the bucket, put the new lamp in, and the ring, bezel, attach new wiring - adding the included grease first. 2/3 done.
Removed passenger side headlamp - retainer ring fell apart. Tabs fell off and the ring came apart. Still - I had to test.
Grease in all connections and I turned on the headlights and they worked perfectly! Hi and low beams.
I can’t tell if they are any better than before in the daylight, though!!
I stopped by the auto parts store for a new ring and they didn’t stock it!? I remember these being on the Help! isle. Oh well. 2/3 of the way is good progress, and a simple, feel-good job.

IIRC one of my tabs fell off as well and I had to silver solder / braze the tab back on. It can be done with a MAPP torch.

Harbor Freight sells the flux coated brazing rod but I think mine came from an actual welding supply store. Maybe an option for you?

 

[Richard RV]

IIRC one of my tabs fell off as well and I had to silver solder / braze the tab back on. It can be done with a MAPP torch.

Pop rivets also work.

 

[Tybalt39]

IIRC one of my tabs fell off as well and I had to silver solder / braze the tab back on. It can be done with a MAPP torch.

Harbor Freight sells the flux coated brazing rod but I think mine came from an actual welding supply store. Maybe an option for you?

If your talking about the three-tab thin rings holding the bulb into the bucket, you can buy those retainer rings for around $10. I bought a pair shortly after purchasing my coach in 2023. I should still have the "original" rusty rings in a box if someone needs them.

 

[ScottC]

Very nice, I posted this mod a couple years ago. They are a great improvement and I am still running H4 bulbs that came with (no LED). I did modify my buckets so I can easily change bulbs if needed. One thing you should know is they offer Headlight alignment at the GMCMI events every year but it does NOT work on the these headlights with the older equipment they use.

 

[pvfjr]

I should still have the "original" rusty rings in a box if someone needs them.

Yours were rusty? Huh, mine were stainless. Didn't keep the tabs from falling off, or the lap joint from failing.

Anyway, I finally decided it was time to do my headlight upgrade. I've had three boxes of these things sitting on the back shelf for a couple years! I tore into it last night. The headlight bezels were the worst part. PO had globbed three different kinds of glue in spots, feebly attempting to keep the overtightened screws from pulling through. I hate having to clean up someone else's glue mess so I can do a proper repair with plastic welding, but it seems par for the course. Anyway, I got those all shored up with some fresh ABS filler rod. There were no markings on the bezel to confirm it was ABS, but I remember repairing the grille with ABS and the welding went well, so they must be ABS too.

I used pliers to slowly bend a 1/4" flange on the inside opening of the headlight buckets. I went around the hole twice, gradually stretching the metal. It was pretty easy, and turned out just fine. I think I'd prefer this to grinding/cutting.

There's a much more defined cut-off in the low-beam pattern. I'll do some night driving tonight to see how my adjustments are looking. I'll have to repair or replace my retainer rings too--they're getting a little help from zip ties and bailing wire currently. And wow, there were a lot of zip ties in the box with the lights! They're nice thick ones too. Toyota grade, it seems.

 

[pvfjr]

Has anyone found an easy to source rack for the fuse holders? I'm guessing it's something common to a lot of vehicles, but not sure which ones. Maybe there's an inexpensive off-the-shelf option that saves time/fiddling?

Right now I just have everything bundled to the oil filler tube.

 

[sailor man]

View attachment 15197View attachment 15198
LED Headlight and running lights with new headlight bucket. I bought it from Applied GMC MH.

This passenger side headlight did not work with the low beam on but did with the high beam. These headlights are no longer available. The good new way that the coach's wiring and connectors were at fault. After working on the coach's connectors, the bulb works fine.

 

[LARRYT]

This passenger side headlight did not work with the low beam on but did with the high beam. These headlights are no longer available. The good new way that the coach's wiring and connectors were at fault. After working on the coach's connectors, the bulb works fine.

sailor man good lokin lights persevere .larry