I just bought an 1990 Lexus (using 9004 bulbs) for occasional family transportation. My wife and I both don't have great night vision, and the headlights on this car are pretty dim.
Yup. The 9004 system itself is very limited in its ability to provide much beyond "legally compliant" performance. There's a central blob of light, but that's about all there is; the width and fill light are minimal, and there's a ton of light above horizontal that causes glareback in bad weather. Because of these inherent limitations, there's not much you can do with bulb swaps. The best 9004 bulb on the market is the GE Night Hawk or Philips Vision Plus (no preference between those two, but don't get the Night Hawk Sport or any other blue glass "whiter light" bulb). The 9004NH is offered at amazon.com if you can't find it locally. It will make a small difference if your present bulbs are old or blue.
If you are trying for much of a substantial seeing improvement, you have no choice but to put in better headlamp assemblies. The '93-'94 headlamps take a 9003 (H4) bulb instead of the 9004. The H4 produces more light than the 9004, beam focus is better, and bulb upgrades actually accomplish something useful. If you go this route, do not buy aftermarket headlamps, get only real Toyota ones -- either new ($$$) or used in good condition (be picky!). You can probably find used ones via
car-part.com; disregard the listings that come up for "new" ones, which are the aftermarket junk (it is
all junk, whether it is an original-style replacement or a restyled item).
Once you've got the better headlamps, you'd want to equip them with good bulbs. If you're leaving the wiring unmodified, then you have to stay with standard-wattage bulbs otherwise you'll have problems. The ones to get are the
Philips Xtreme Power. The lamps will need to be
aimed correctly.
On the ClubLexus forum I was advised to buy an "Eagle Eye" headlight assembly replacement (that's no longer available as far as I can tell), install Sylvania Silverstars (which turn out to be junk according to the conversations here), or install a "plug and play" HID conversion.
Wow...three for three on dumb, ignorant advice. "Eagle Eye" headlights are Chinese trash. Sylvania Silverstars and all other blue-glass "whiter light" bulbs are a scam. And "HID kits" in halogen-bulb headlamps (any kit, any headlamp, any vehicle) do not work safely or effectively, which is why they are illegal; see
here It looks as if you've already seen
this other thread that gives a clear idea of the level of intellect and clue on ClubLexus.
