Community Forums

DLOJR · 10-14-2021, 10:08 PM

Wondering if anyone has upgraded their headlights on the 2020 platform?

We don't drive much at night but when we do. We find the headlights to be very dim. This is not an electrical issue.

I'd like to know if anyone has the same experience..

donr103 · 10-14-2021, 10:22 PM

Don't know about yours.. but many members here post.. that voltage is too low at headlights.. so you have to test volts at bulb connection and see if that is it.. it's simple and cheap.. if you are like may of us.. you can go 2 ways if you find volts too low.. 1 wire in relays.. not hard but time consuming.. if you never done it.. or 2 Google headlights relay kits.. and plug and play.. I ordered mine from LMCT. or LMC TRUCK.COM good luck and let us know what you did and maybe better members then me will help you

Shadow5501 · 10-15-2021, 06:12 AM

Prior poster is correct, but even if you get full voltage to the halogen bulbs the lighting is going to be lackluster. One problem is that Tiffin uses inexpensive aftermarket headlight assemblies in the Open Road. The design is Toyota Sienna minivan circa 2015, but the part, at least in my unit, is TYC. TYC is a Taiwan based maker of cheap aftermarket crash replacement and upgrade (term used loosely…) lighting assemblies.

Your 36UA headlights use an H11 bulb for the low beams. A quick and easy upgrade is to swap in a more powerful LED “bulb.” There are many choices from Amazon, etc, but be careful not to purchase something too cheap - it either won’t last or the optics will be so poor you won’t get any more light on the road. I recall folks saying they were satisfied with products from “Cougar Motors.” Probably most of these come out of the same factory in China…

I used something called the Morimoto 2 stroke from an outfit named The Retrofit Source. It’s about the most expensive option at roughly $200 for a pair of LED bulb assemblies. But it does the best job of mimicking the light output and beam pattern of a halogen bulb, so the light is on the road and not glaring into oncoming traffic. The headlights have improved from unusable to reasonable. Still don’t love driving a 13 ton coach in the dark, but at least you now have some idea what’s up front.

Installation is about a 15 minute job, if you’ve never done anything like it before.

One last thought. Tiffin didn’t aim my headlights. One was pointing down at the ground a few feet in front of the coach. Adjusting it to the same reach as the other light made a big difference. Just don’t get too enthusiastic and blind oncoming traffic. There’s a screw adjustment to raise or lower the low beam. I don’t recall for certain, but I think it takes a 5mm Allen key to adjust.

garykk · 10-16-2021, 09:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shadow5501

Prior poster is correct, but even if you get full voltage to the halogen bulbs the lighting is going to be lackluster. One problem is that Tiffin uses inexpensive aftermarket headlight assemblies in the Open Road. The design is Toyota Sienna minivan circa 2015, but the part, at least in my unit, is TYC. TYC is a Taiwan based maker of cheap aftermarket crash replacement and upgrade (term used loosely…) lighting assemblies.

Your 36UA headlights use an H11 bulb for the low beams. A quick and easy upgrade is to swap in a more powerful LED “bulb.” There are many choices from Amazon, etc, but be careful not to purchase something too cheap - it either won’t last or the optics will be so poor you won’t get any more light on the road. I recall folks saying they were satisfied with products from “Cougar Motors.” Probably most of these come out of the same factory in China…

I used something called the Morimoto 2 stroke from an outfit named The Retrofit Source. It’s about the most expensive option at roughly $200 for a pair of LED bulb assemblies. But it does the best job of mimicking the light output and beam pattern of a halogen bulb, so the light is on the road and not glaring into oncoming traffic. The headlights have improved from unusable to reasonable. Still don’t love driving a 13 ton coach in the dark, but at least you now have some idea what’s up front.

Installation is about a 15 minute job, if you’ve never done anything like it before.

One last thought. Tiffin didn’t aim my headlights. One was pointing down at the ground a few feet in front of the coach. Adjusting it to the same reach as the other light made a big difference. Just don’t get too enthusiastic and blind oncoming traffic. There’s a screw adjustment to raise or lower the low beam. I don’t recall for certain, but I think it takes a 5mm Allen key to adjust.

Agree with the headlight alignment..adjust them before you try anything else.

Laserchrome · 10-19-2021, 03:21 PM

I agree, our lights needed alignment as well. However, the halogens are not very bright and very yellow in color. LED replacements are twice as bright (lumens) and are daylight balanced so much whiter in color. I used the LASFIT LA Plus Series bulbs. I think I got them from Amazon. A very nice improvement but I like to be done driving by Happy Hour! I also use LASFIT bulbs in my jeep.

kboucher · 01-05-2022, 04:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shadow5501

Prior poster is correct, but even if you get full voltage to the halogen bulbs the lighting is going to be lackluster. One problem is that Tiffin uses inexpensive aftermarket headlight assemblies in the Open Road. The design is Toyota Sienna minivan circa 2015, but the part, at least in my unit, is TYC. TYC is a Taiwan based maker of cheap aftermarket crash replacement and upgrade (term used loosely…) lighting assemblies.

Your 36UA headlights use an H11 bulb for the low beams. A quick and easy upgrade is to swap in a more powerful LED “bulb.” There are many choices from Amazon, etc, but be careful not to purchase something too cheap - it either won’t last or the optics will be so poor you won’t get any more light on the road. I recall folks saying they were satisfied with products from “Cougar Motors.” Probably most of these come out of the same factory in China…

I used something called the Morimoto 2 stroke from an outfit named The Retrofit Source. It’s about the most expensive option at roughly $200 for a pair of LED bulb assemblies. But it does the best job of mimicking the light output and beam pattern of a halogen bulb, so the light is on the road and not glaring into oncoming traffic. The headlights have improved from unusable to reasonable. Still don’t love driving a 13 ton coach in the dark, but at least you now have some idea what’s up front.

Installation is about a 15 minute job, if you’ve never done anything like it before.

One last thought. Tiffin didn’t aim my headlights. One was pointing down at the ground a few feet in front of the coach. Adjusting it to the same reach as the other light made a big difference. Just don’t get too enthusiastic and blind oncoming traffic. There’s a screw adjustment to raise or lower the low beam. I don’t recall for certain, but I think it takes a 5mm Allen key to adjust.

Do you have the exact part number and is it for an Open Road 36ua?

stray · 01-05-2022, 08:23 AM

I purchased and installed these on our 2018 36UA to replace the low and high beams. Amazing improvement over the standard halogens. I chose these because the beam pattern is adjustable with a locking ring to assure the leds are positioned correctly.

https://www.amazon.com/H11-H9-H8-9005-HB3/dp/B08X4KDBQP

Reasonable price and easy to install.

kboucher · 02-24-2022, 11:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stray

I purchased and installed these on our 2018 36UA to replace the low and high beams. Amazing improvement over the standard halogens. I chose these because the beam pattern is adjustable with a locking ring to assure the leds are positioned correctly.

https://www.amazon.com/H11-H9-H8-9005-HB3/dp/B08X4KDBQP

Reasonable price and easy to install.

I bought these bulbs and I am not sure if one set is for the low beams and one for the high beams? One set has a blue tag on it and the other has a yellow tag?

stray · 02-25-2022, 05:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kboucher

I bought these bulbs and I am not sure if one set is for the low beams and one for the high beams? One set has a blue tag on it and the other has a yellow tag?

H11 is low beam and 9005 is high. The mounting tabs and gasket are different on the two, so you can't install them wrong. When you take out the factory bulbs you can match the mounts.