GTR Carbide LED vs. Alpharex Pro vs. Morimoto XB

[AvockAdoo]

Hey all - hoping for some advice here. I've got the Alpharex Pro's installed with medium end LED drop in bulbs that truly illuminate 360 (the light moses ones, that have chips all around the outside), and I've also had a couple different brands of medium end LED drop ins (in the $50/pair realm) and I have to say, I'm pretty disappointed. They're a bit better than stock halogen, but do a really poor job at throwing the light down the road. The cut off is fairly clean, but not "sharp" no matter how I angle the lights in the housings.

All this said, I'm still well within my 30 days for returning the Alpharex's, and I'm thinking thats the route I'm going to go.

My questions -

GTR Carbide: who in the group has the GTR's? I love the price point, and that they look like they'd be the most "OEM" look on the truck (big points for me on that). I'd love to see down-road photos of the GTR's if anyone has some photos, or time to take them. I've also heard a few low build quality comments. I dont need the nicest things ever, but as long as they're on par or similar to the Alpharex I'd be totally fine with that. Alpharex felt a bit cheap, but not flimsy.

Morimoto: These look great, much LESS annoying startup sequence than the Alpharex LUXX (main reason I didnt buy those in the first place). They dont look totally stock, but they don't look gaudy either. I cant find any down-road images of these either, any links would be greatly appreciated.

I'm willing to spend the money to get the best bang for the buck. I'm $750 into the Alpharex (most of which I can get back), and for that money, they're just not enough better than stock. If the morimotos are 3x better, then the $1400 price tag OK, and I'll wait for a sale to buy. If the GTR's are 2x better than stock, then $600 seems like a STEAL.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

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[halligan1201]

Hey all - hoping for some advice here. I've got the Alpharex Pro's installed with medium end LED drop in bulbs that truly illuminate 360 (the light moses ones, that have chips all around the outside), and I've also had a couple different brands of medium end LED drop ins (in the $50/pair realm) and I have to say, I'm pretty disappointed. They're a bit better than stock halogen, but do a really poor job at throwing the light down the road. The cut off is fairly clean, but not "sharp" no matter how I angle the lights in the housings.

All this said, I'm still well within my 30 days for returning the Alpharex's, and I'm thinking thats the route I'm going to go.

My questions -

GTR Carbide: who in the group has the GTR's? I love the price point, and that they look like they'd be the most "OEM" look on the truck (big points for me on that). I'd love to see down-road photos of the GTR's if anyone has some photos, or time to take them. I've also heard a few low build quality comments. I dont need the nicest things ever, but as long as they're on par or similar to the Alpharex I'd be totally fine with that. Alpharex felt a bit cheap, but not flimsy.

Morimoto: These look great, much LESS annoying startup sequence than the Alpharex LUXX (main reason I didnt buy those in the first place). They dont look totally stock, but they don't look gaudy either. I cant find any down-road images of these either, any links would be greatly appreciated.

I'm willing to spend the money to get the best bang for the buck. I'm $750 into the Alpharex (most of which I can get back), and for that money, they're just not enough better than stock. If the morimotos are 3x better, then the $1400 price tag OK, and I'll wait for a sale to buy. If the GTR's are 2x better than stock, then $600 seems like a STEAL.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

When you say better than stock, are you talking the stock halogen or stock LED?

 

[AvockAdoo]

When you say better than stock, are you talking the stock halogen or stock LED?

I'm saying better than stock halogen. I have an XLT. I have thought about getting the lariat lights, but they're damn hard to find for any reasonable price without broken mounting clips, and I've also heard that they're not the BEST either.

 

[halligan1201]

I'm saying better than stock halogen. I have an XLT. I have thought about getting the lariat lights, but they're damn hard to find for any reasonable price without broken mounting clips, and I've also heard that they're not the BEST either.

Cool. I was wondering because I have the factory LEDs and in town they're fine but on the country roads I spend most of my time on the low beams leave much to be desired, even with the factory fog/driving lights on. I have boxes of Diode Dynamics lights in the garage that I'm going to use to fix that issue and give me options for clear nights vs bad weather.

 

[cfhgarza]

I don't know about the other brands but I have set of Morimoto Mini projectors and matching HID setup. They blow the Lariat headlights away. Morimoto is top notch from my experience

 

[AvockAdoo]

With GTR also offering 30-day money back, I think I'm going to give them a shot. If they dont work, I'll return them & have all of the information needed to give anyone else on here good advice!

 

[Dr. Zaius]

With GTR also offering 30-day money back, I think I'm going to give them a shot. If they dont work, I'll return them & have all of the information needed to give anyone else on here good advice!

What's the warranty on the GTRs?

The AlphaRex are 2 years whereas the Morimotos are 5 years.

They're more expensive, but LED lights are a big expense anyway so I'd pay the extra for the much better warranty.

 

[AvockAdoo]

What's the warranty on the GTRs?

The AlphaRex are 2 years whereas the Morimotos are 5 years.

They're more expensive, but LED lights are a big expense anyway so I'd pay the extra for the much better warranty.

You make a good point with the warranties. Maybe I'll just bite the bullet & go morimoto. Less screwing around & "testing" that way.

Also a tidbit for anyone who comes across this thread in the search later - the GTR Carbide is just a rebranded VLAND headlight, and the reviews of the same light over on the tacoma forums arent great. They can also be had off of Alibaba for way less, which is also a turn off.

Morimoto it is...buy once, cry once, as they say...

 

[Frenchy]

So this is the first I have heard of GTR Carbide lights but I did take a quick peak. Design wise i do like. Even though it is an LED headlight it does use a reflector style. The cool thing about that is the reflector and LED are designed to work together vs drop in lights on the factory reflector housings.

How do they compare to the AlphaRex and Morimoto headlights? Well they may be close to the LUXX series lights but the Morimoto lights are more like the AlphaRex NOVA series.

Its going to be a little off from some of the competition but it may be a good option.

Something to be aware of. Depending on where you live and what weather conditions you deal with it may be best to not get any led light assembly since most led lights are to high of a color temperature to see through adverse weather.

 

[Zvedza]

Just bumpin this thread.
The 360 LEDs are garbo, the led housings are made to work with the typical dual sided ones.
That said, i have the alpha rexx pros with drop in leds and it took me a bit to find the right pair.

One pair was good until the driver side kept shutting off, got another pair but the light output was crap. A third pair arrived and was good, but had to cut out some of the backside of the housing to make it fit and its been perfect. Sharp cut off with good range that doesnt blind. Id try some more leds before going through the massive pain the @$$ it is taking out the headlights on these trucks.

 

[AvockAdoo]

I ended up going with the morimotos and I couldnt be happier. No more fussing around with bulbs or trying to find the ones that work, they are just solid, bright, clean cutoff easy to use.

 

[AdamHarris]

I have the AlphaRex Luxx and I cannot say enough good things about them. If you don’t like to start up sequence (I didn’t either) call them and have them to send you the pro modules that don’t have that start up sequence.

I don’t know if they will do that or not honestly. I had a set of Pros with drop in LEDs and wrecked my truck and replaced them with the Luxx and realized you could swap the modules over.

Left side Pro took a hell of a hit; plastic body and lens all smashed up but all the LEDs all still worked.

 

[FusedLogic]

I ended up going with the morimotos and I couldnt be happier. No more fussing around with bulbs or trying to find the ones that work, they are just solid, bright, clean cutoff easy to use.

I looked at the Morimoto web site and see the XB LED headlight assembly. Is that what you got?

 

[AvockAdoo]

Yes it is - its been over a month and I have 0 regrets. A bit spendy, but damn to they look nice and perform really well.

 

[Figarou]

You make a good point with the warranties. Maybe I'll just bite the bullet & go morimoto. Less screwing around & "testing" that way.

Also a tidbit for anyone who comes across this thread in the search later - the GTR Carbide is just a rebranded VLAND headlight, and the reviews of the same light over on the tacoma forums arent great. They can also be had off of Alibaba for way less, which is also a turn off.

Morimoto it is...buy once, cry once, as they say...

I absolutely love my Morimotos.

https://www.ranger5g.com/forum/thre...o-your-ranger-today.3511/page-667#post-327148

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