4Runner Improve: Morimoto LED Tail Lights (Gen 2)

In case you’re constructing an off-road or overland automobile, lighting upgrades are virtually definitely in your to-do record, and for good cause. Inventory headlights can normally illuminate a dimly-lit highway simply positive, however in the event you’re out on a treacherous path in whole darkness, the standard and placement of your automobile’s lighting turns into far more essential. set of ditch lights may very well be the distinction between staying on the highway and getting caught, and a forward-facing gentle bar can outperform the perfect manufacturing unit high-beams. Nonetheless, there’s one sort of lighting that is typically neglected: tail lights. They guarantee your automobile is seen to different motorists, sign lane modifications, function hazard flashers and reverse lights, and most significantly, inform the automobile behind you whenever you’re braking. With this in thoughts, I lately upgraded my 2022 4Runner overland undertaking with a set of latest “Gen 2” Morimoto LED tail lights.

Morimoto’s New fifth Gen 4Runner Tail Lights

As one of many largest names in aftermarket automobile lighting, Morimoto is well-known for his or her LED headlight upgrades, auxiliary gentle pods, retrofit kits, and particular person bulbs. They’ve supplied a alternative tail gentle for the 2010+ fifth Gen Toyota 4Runner for a few years, however they lately went again to the drafting board to develop a very redesigned Gen 2 model. In my view, it is a dramatic enchancment.

Above: Here is a comparability between the Morimoto 4Runner Gen 2 gentle (left) and the older Gen 1 design (proper). The brand new Gen 2 lights can be found in crimson (pictured) or smoked variations.

Subscribe Right now and Save!

The Morimoto Gen 2 4Runner tail lights ($650 MSRP) function a smooth, horseshoe-shaped working gentle that creates a singular visible signature. In distinction to the manufacturing unit lights — which have a easy grid of particular person LEDs — I believe it provides the truck extra of an upscale look, alongside the traces of a contemporary Lexus, BMW, or Audi. It additionally separates the working gentle from the brake gentle, making it simpler to tell apart the 2 capabilities at night time.

Sequential Flip Alerts & Reverse Lighting

Along with the working gentle, there is a set of three brake gentle/flip sign LED arrays. After I hit the brake pedal, all three illuminate vibrant crimson instantly. However after I flip on a flip sign, the three segments illuminate sequentially in a one-two-three sample with an orange hue.

Above: Here is a comparability between the brake gentle colour (left) and switch sign/hazard gentle colour (proper).

This sequential operation is frequent on newer luxurious automobiles in addition to sports activities automobiles just like the Ford Mustang, and it provides to the upscale, fashionable look of those lights. It is a massive step up from the old-school bulb-and-reflector design of the inventory Toyota lights.

Lastly, there is a clear strip with a line of extraordinarily vibrant white LEDs that function reverse lights. These, too, are an enormous enchancment over the one bulb inside a reflector that the 4Runner got here with from the manufacturing unit. For many who need much more gentle for backing into darkish areas, Morimoto presents an non-obligatory Backup Gentle Increase Bar ($77.50 MSRP) that may be put in above the license plate. It plugs immediately into one of many taillights, so there is not any have to run new wiring to the battery or faucet into manufacturing unit harnesses.

I selected to not purchase the Increase Bar since I have already got two extraordinarily vibrant, rear-facing Baja Designs lights on my roof rack, nevertheless it’s a terrific choice for many who need to protect a inventory look.

Closing Ideas

If you wish to improve your fifth Gen 4Runner’s visibility or simply need to give it a extra fashionable look, a brand new set of tail lights is a fast and simple option to do each. It solely took me a couple of minutes to put in them utilizing the included directions, and I am actually proud of the outcomes. As somebody who remembers the “Altezza tail gentle” fad of the late Nineties, I am not an enormous fan of ostentatious tail gentle designs, so I recognize the understated and stylish look of the Morimoto Gen 2 lights. Put merely, they are a practical and aesthetic enchancment.

Keep tuned for extra updates on our 4Runner construct, and for extra details about the brand new Morimoto 4Runner Gen 2 tail lights, go to MorimotoHID.com.

Written by Patrick McCarthy