Installation Time
(approx) 2 Hours
Difficulty Level:
Light to Moderate mechanical skill required.
FREE 2 or 3-Day Delivery on 10,000+ Items. Details
Hi, guys. So, today we're checking out the NOVA-Series LED Projector Headlights in Black, fitting all 2016 and newer Toyota Tacomas. So, if you are in search of an upgrade to your factory headlights, you're looking for better lighting performance and you're also looking for a better aesthetic for the front end of your truck, these are going to be a great choice to take a look into. Now, these will be great for the Tacoma owner who is looking specifically for a premium headlight that's gonna offer incredible lighting performance, and again is going to completely switch up the look of the front end of the truck, especially with the sleek styling that these bring to the table. Now, I do really like the fact that this is going to have a clear lens and a black housing giving you a sleek and stealthy look to the headlight itself, but it's not gonna interfere with any of the lighting performance. Now, speaking of that lighting performance, this is gonna come with four Osram LEDs.These are going to be projector LEDs, which means they're going to give out better lighting performance at night, perfect if you're looking for better visibility while you're driving at night on dark rock roads or just in general, these are going to offer a bright white color temperature, looking a lot more modernized. And again, they just are going to shine farther down the road. So, if you are having trouble with your factory lights at night, these are going to be a huge step up. Not to mention these are also going to bring a couple other features to the table. These will have sequential amber turn signals in this daytime running light here. The daytime running light is going to be incredibly bright, which will make you more noticeable on the road to other drivers. But all of that is really going to enhance the styling and enhance the performance of the front end of your truck, and really complement any other LEDs that you already have.Now, with all of that being said, this is going to be a more premium option like I mentioned. So, this will be a little bit more expensive coming in at roughly $1,200. Now, in my personal opinion I think for everything that comes in the kit and all of the little details in the design and the features and the overall technology, I think you're getting what you pay for when you get a set of these headlights. Now, in comparison to some other choices, some other options will not have Osram LEDs, they may have a projector style lens, they may have a halogen bulb instead of an LED like this, or they may not come with the sequential turn signals. So, these are gonna have a couple extra bells and whistles than some of the other choices. So, if you are specifically looking for that, if you're looking for that premium choice and you have a couple of extra dollars to spend, these are going to be a great choice to take a look into.So, install is going to be pretty easy. Like I said, these come with everything that you need in order to install them. A lot of this is pretty much plug and play. There's no extra wiring involved, which I personally like. It's a very no fuss design. I'm gonna give it a one out of three wrenches on the difficulty meter, taking you about an hour to get these installed with some very basic hand tools. So, speaking of that install, let's jump into that now. The tools that I used for my install were an electric ratchet, a trim removal tool, a soft pry tool, a 10-millimeter socket, and an impact wrench. So, the first step to swapping out our headlights is taking off our grille. I'm gonna go ahead and remove the two 10-millimeter bolts and the 2 clips that are holding it on. I'm gonna use a 10-millimeter socket and my impact wrench for the bolts and a trim removal tool for the pop clips. So, there's two bolts right up front on the radiator support. Then on either side attached to the headlight, there are two pop clips.Once those are removed, what we're gonna do is kind of pull up on these to make sure that they're out of the attachment point there. And we can just give the grille a little pull back and the grille is completely removed. So, we do need to disconnect a little bit of our bumper to pull it down so we can access the bolt on the side that's holding on our headlight. In order to do this, I like to take out some of the pop clips. We're gonna do one side at a time. Right now I'm working on the driver side. So, I'm going to take that same trim removal tool that we used before on the grille. And I'm just gonna remove the three pop clips that are holding on the front of our bumper just so we can kind of maneuver it in a way where we can get it out of the way so we can access that bolt on the side. Now, you don't need to completely take the bumper off, which is good about these headlights, but we will have to kind of get it out of the way.So, once those are off, we're gonna move around to the wheel well and we can start to disconnect the bumper from there. So, in order to pull the bumper away from the Tacoma, what we need to do is pull the fender away first. So, there are two bolts here, we are missing one, this part of the bumper broke. But this top bolt and this bottom bolt need to be removed in order to kind of pry the fender away. I'm gonna use a 10-millimeter socket in order to take off this bolt. Now, once that's removed and the bottom one is removed, what we're gonna do is take a soft pry tool and just pry the two clips down at the bottom away from the bumper. And that will kind of pull the fender out just enough that we can kind of pull the bumper out in a way so we could access the bolt that's inside right down at the bottom attaching the headlight to the Tacoma. What we're gonna do at this point is pull the fender away. You just need to pull these two bottom tabs so we can kind of maneuver the bumper out of the way.The bumper is held into a clip up at the top and that's what the bolt we need to access is also on. So, I'm gonna take that same soft pry tool, and I'm just gonna pry the bumper out of the clip there. So, now we can move the bumper down just enough so we can access that bolt. So, I'm gonna take that same 10-millimeter socket that we used for the grille and we're gonna remove this bolt. So, once that is out of the way, we can take the remaining hardware that we can access off of the top of the headlight out as well with the same 10-millimeter socket. So, there's gonna be two up top. So, just like the top of the grille, these two tabs need to bend off that attachment point. Just be careful because these are plastic. You don't wanna break them. And then that will loosen up the headlight. And it's actually going to slide towards the other side of the truck, and we can kind of wiggle it out from there and start disconnecting some wiring harnesses.We'll start on the side, our turn signal, our low beam. And at this point you wanna make a mental note that green is the low beam and yellow is the high beam. Then our headlight can be fully removed. So, now we're ready to install our headlight. And I would like to call out the fact that there are two separate harnesses for two different purposes. One set is going to be for the Tacomas that come without a daytime running light from the factory and one is going to be for the Tacomas that do come with the daytime running light right out of the factory. Now, we have a daytime running light from the factory on our Tacoma. So, we'll be using the two smaller plugs here. One is going to be an adapter to plug into the daytime running light plug on our factory wiring harness and the other one is going to be an adapter for one of the plugs on our harness as well. Now, if you do not have daytime running lights from the factory like we do, you're gonna have a plug that's similar to that one, however, you're gonna have two plugs at the end of it.One is going to plug into this wiring harness here. And essentially when this breaks down, it's going to plug into both of the lights. It's going to attach to the battery or to a power and it is going to act as a daytime running light if you attach it to a fuse with this inline fuse here. So, this is going to allow you to utilize daytime running lights if you don't have that plug on the factory harness from the factory. So, I do like the fact that they support both options. I'm gonna show you the way that we have to do it with the factory daytime running light plug installed on our wiring harness but there is instructions for you to do this on your own in the kit as well if you do not have a daytime running light. So, we're gonna have a couple of plugs on the back here. Our first plug is gonna go into the corner that's our turn signal. Then we are going to have a high beam, low beam combo on this bulb down here. So, the low beam is gonna be green, I made a mental note of that earlier. The high beam is going to be the yellow plug. And then we have our two plugs that require adapters.Now, this plug with the lead, the single lead coming out of that, this is going to plug into this brown wire on the back of the headlight. That is going to be your daytime running light. So, once that is plugged in and set and clipped into place, then we can plug that into the daytime running light wiring spot on our factory wiring harness. Now again, if you do not have one of these, you will be plugging it to the next plug that I show you. And this wiring harness will not exist on Tacomas that do not have a factory daytime running light. All right, once you hear that click, you can put that back down. And then the last one it's gonna be our marker light out on the side. And this is just going to be a standard connector. Now, the other connector that I just showed you, that is where this will come into place as well. So, the light itself is set up for both, it just comes down to the difference in the connectors. So, now that that is all wired up, what we're gonna do is put it back in the same place that our factory one was in.So, to make this a little bit easier, there's a clip here. This part of our headlight sits in that clip, but it's a little bit easier to slide it in, once you kind of get the headlight positioned where you need it. You might have to pull the bumper back again. All right. We wanna make sure that it aligns with the body there. It looks like it's in good shape. And then we're gonna reattach our bolts up at the top, we're gonna reattach our bolt over at the side, and clip it back in, and then we're gonna repeat that on the other side. So we're gonna tighten those back up with a 10-millimeter socket. Then we're gonna reinstall our 10-millimeter bolt on the side. Tightening that up with the same 10-millimeter socket. Then we can push our bumper back into place around the front of our headlight and over on the side here and clip that back into that clip. We're gonna clip our fender back into place, and then we can re-secure that bolt on the side. Tighten that up with a 10-millimeter socket as well. Then we're gonna reinstall these clips up at the front.Now, after those are reattached, we're gonna repeat that same process on the other side and we'll be all set to go. So, before we get our second light installed, I do wanna to step down and tell you guys a little bit more about these two lights side by side, show you some of the similarities and differences between the factory one and our new set of headlights and why this option is going to be a big step up from our factory headlights. So, overall, just taking a glance at them, these are going to be a big step up in styling. They are going to look a lot sleeker considering this is going to have a black housing. In comparison to our factory light, this is going to have a more chrome and factory style, should I say, housing and overall look to them. Now, this is also going to be set up a little bit differently and it is also going to be more durable.What I do like about these is the fact that this is going to have a polycarbonate lens so you can ensure that that is going to hold up for a very long time especially if you take your truck off-road or on the worksite or really anywhere that you take it, this lens is going to hold up a lot better than your factory one. Not to mention this is also an anti-fog lens, so it is sealed very well. Sometimes with the factory lights over time, water and condensation can get inside, it can fog up the lens and it can actually damage the light. So, this is going to overall, be sealed and constructed a little bit better than the factory light. Now, on the table I have the factory headlight that is a projector headlight. Some other Tacomas will not have the projector light and will just have a standard halogen light. But just as a brief overview of our factory headlight, we're gonna have a high beam, we're going to have the low beam. The low beam is going to have that projector lens. They both are going to be halogen bulbs. We'll have our turn signal over here. And then we're gonna have a marker light on the side.Now, if you can tell with our new light, that is going to completely change. This is going to be completely LED, which is not only going to look a lot more modernized, but it's going to perform a lot better when it comes to lighting performance. Now, these are also going to have a similar story setup to the projector lens over here. This is going to have an Osram LED. So, an Osram LED is very similar to a projector light. It's going to have that kind of fishbowl effect, which will project the light a lot farther down the road. It's going to be a lot more uniform in the light pattern. It's just going to look a whole lot better and increasing your lighting performance and your visibility while you're driving at night. Now, what I do really like about this option is that it's not only just going to have those base features, but it's going to have a lot more to offer and a lot more to bring to the table.Now, the daytime running light on the side, this is gonna completely wrap around the light in comparison to our factory one which is only just around the side. They are going to be incredibly bright for daytime running lights. I personally think that they look really nice when just the daytime running light is on. It gives it a really aggressive look. And they are going to look very clean considering that this is going to have multiple LEDs in the daytime running light. Now, when the low beams are on, you're gonna have three of these Osram LEDs on. And when the high beam is on, this front inner corner is going to illuminate as well. So you have all four of those Osram LEDs. There is a big difference. It's going to have a bright white color temperature in comparison to the factory halogen bulb. It's gonna be a little bit warmer. So, not only is it just going to give you better lighting performance, but it's also going to look a lot better and a lot cleaner when it comes to the actual color temperature of the light.Now, another big switch from our factory light is the fact that this is going to have sequential turn signals. So, a daytime running light around the light that I was just talking about, that is also going to act as your turn signal. So, once you activate your turn signal or activate your four ways, this is going to sequence and kind of pulse around the actual daytime running light strip itself in an amber color. It's gonna look very cool in my opinion, especially in comparison to this, which just use the standard blinker. And it's going to make you a lot more noticeable on the road to other drivers, which is of course very important. So, overall, as a setup, this is going to be a big step up. It's going to be very premium in comparison to our factory headlight, and it's gonna come with everything that you need in order to install it. Depending on if you have factory daytime running lights or not, this is gonna come with everything that you need in order to get these into your Tacoma. And I personally think that this is overall a good quality setup.So, what do you say we go ahead and get this thing installed? So, after both headlights are installed, what we're gonna do is reinstall our grille, making sure that both pins align on either side, and that these two front mounts are over those two attachment points. We can take our factory hardware that we took up before, then we'll secure that using a 10-millimeter socket. And then on either side we're gonna reinstall our clips. So, that is going to wrap it up for my review and install. Make sure you like and subscribe. For more videos and products just like this, always keep it right here at extremeterrain.com.
Subscribe to our YouTube Channel
Features, Description, Reviews, Q&A, Specs & Installation
More Aggressive Lighting Upgrade. Take your Toyota Tacoma TRD’s front end styling to the next level by installing these Black NOVA-Series LED Projector Headlights. The NOVA-Series’ sleek styling and black finish give your truck a more aggressive personality, making your vehicle stand out.
Utilizes High-Quality LED Lights. This pair of NOVA-Series Projector Headlights is built with high-quality Osram Oslon LED lights, which offer a brighter and longer-lasting lighting performance. These headlights also come with switchback Daytime Running Lights (DRLs), turn signal lights, and activation lights, providing quality lighting you can always count on.
Impressive Headlight Construction. No matter how rugged the driving conditions get, these projector headlights will stay intact. These lights are constructed with durable housings, as well as polycarbonate lenses that feature a layer of anti-fog agent, so they can stand up to the harshest environments and climates.
Easy to Install. There won’t be any drilling required when installing these headlights. Each assembly is a plug-and-play direct replacement for your truck, so connecting them to your vehicle’s lighting system will be a breeze.
Meets DOT Regulations and SAE Compliance. These headlights are crafted to meet DOT FMVSS108 regulations and comply with the standards set by the SAE. They’re also ISO-9000, ISO-9001, and ISO-9002 certified. As such, these lights are legal for highway use.
Application. These Black NOVA-Series LED Projector Headlights fit all 2016-2023 Toyota Tacoma TRD models.
CA Residents: WARNING: Cancer and Reproductive Harm - www.P65Warnings.ca.gov
Installation Info
Installation Time
(approx) 2 Hours
Difficulty Level:
Light to Moderate mechanical skill required.
What's in the Box
10 More Questions