We have finally gotten our hands on the Morimoto 4Banger LED Off-Road Pod lights. To celebrate this momentous occasion, we will be walking you through the important details of Morimoto’s first official entrance to the off-road lighting category.
The 4Banger is meant to compete in a class of LED pod lights that have traditionally used four LEDs to produce the necessary amount of light output. Instead, the 4Banger utilizes three LEDs. With this, comes a reduced sized, efficient design, wider fitment capabilities, but not at the cost of reduced output.
While the folks at Morimoto have not entirely relied on sheer power to give the output you would expect from an LED pod light, they have put work into using advanced optics to provide said output. The improved optics come in the form of a Total Internal Reflector (TIR). Morimoto’s use of TIR optics helps to enhance the light output and the beam pattern.
This is not to say that Morimoto skipped out on quality LED chips. To start with, the 4Banger comes in two different trim levels: The premium 4Banger HXB and the entry-level 4Banger NCS. In the premium model, you will find an Osram HX Boost LED chip that emits white light.
On the NCS model, there is a Nichia LED chip spec that puts out a white light on the white 4Banger model and a yellow filtered lens with a Nichia Phosphorus converted yellow LED chip on the yellow 4Banger model.
Speaking of which, the 4Banger also comes in two different colors. For the premium HXB and entry-level NCS models, you can get a white and yellow output lens. As we mentioned before, the HXB uses a white Osram chip for the premium model. This means that on the yellow model, the white light is shined through a yellow-tinted lens. In this situation you will be losing about you will lose roughly 30% of your brightness.
If you are looking at the entry-level 4Banger model, the NCS chip emits white light in the clear-lens model and yellow light in the yellow-tinted model. The Nichia Phosphorus converted yellow LED chip allows for the light to shine clearly through the yellow lens without any noticeable loss in output.
If you are on the fence about choosing between the white or yellow light, see our post on the benefits of running yellow fog lights here.
The HXB LED light pod emits the most amount of light on the market when it comes to the wide beam pattern. That means it has better performance than the top competitors light Baja Designs, Rigid Industries, and Diode Dynamics. This is a crucial segment of the LED pod light market as they make up 80% of the pods consumed. Wide beams are also referred to as SAE beams or fog light beams.
Two big advantages of the Morimoto 4Banger wide beam are its brightness and its beam pattern. The 4Banger HXB wide beam is 20% brighter than Diode Dynamics’ SS3 Max SAE Fog light. With respect to the beam pattern, the HXB LED light has a crisp cutoff line and a nice gradient from top to bottom. The white light is also consistently bright across the width of the beam, allowing you to see more towards the outside edges of the beam.
Something to note about the wide beam NCS and HXB models is that they comply with the latest SAE table. Meaning that when you aim them at -3° they will be SAE compliant.
If you want to aid your high beam with one of Morimoto’s 4Banger pods, the combo light beam pattern would be a good route to take. A mix of the wide and spot beam patterns, the combo beam is our personal favorite due to its versatility. It is very helpful for driving on both the trail and the street. The visibility is second to none and illuminates exactly where you want it.
Lastly, you have the spotlight beam. Morimoto has done a great job designing this LED pod light. It has a super tight beam pattern without being too small of a light. It also is consistently bright across the pattern.
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We briefly mentioned how the Morimoto 4Banger LED pod uses three instead of four LED chips in its construction. To delve a little deeper, Morimoto really wanted to introduce a competitive product to the LED pod market that not only competed on the output front but also in size. Many pods are very large and cumbersome. With the 4Banger, you have a compact and efficient design that also looks unique.
With the reduced size, there are numerous OEM fitment options for the 4Banger. This comes in the form of A-pillar brackets and internally mounted fog lamps. There are about 16 vehicle-specific mounts, this is both for A-pillar and integrated mounts.
The adaptability of these 4Banger lights is insane. We would be hard-pressed to find another LED pod light out there that has this many mounts tailored to your Ford, Toyota, Dodge, or GM truck/SUV.
Something to note about these 4Bangers is that they are fully adjustable when they are on the vehicle. There is no need to disassemble anything to fix the direction of your LEDs.
Anytime you go to install any sort of lighting or electrical component on your vehicle, wiring always comes to mind. Is it easy to do? Are there a lot of cables? Is there enough cable? These are all questions you may ask yourself.
Thankfully, Morimoto has made the whole wiring process as painless as possible. Other LED pod brackets are not as generous with what they give you. Morimoto has a relay harness to be used no matter where you place your 4Banger LED pod lights.
The harness may be a little pricey, but you 100% get what you pay for here. The relay is truly a game-changer. You also cannot forget about the sweet, amber-illuminated Morimoto button that comes with the 4Bangers to allow you to toggle on and off your pod lights.
The button installs by passing through the firewall and utilizes a barrel connector to make it all that much easier.
Regardless of when Morimoto decided to dip their toes into the off-road LED pod light market, their efforts cannot be understated. After having spent around 15 years in the LED lighting industry, Morimoto has the power and recognition to make a quality product.
Their XB lineup of headlights and taillights is simply unmatched. The wide range of LED bulbs they sell are some of the best in the world for interior and exterior lighting technology. To showcase their confidence in the 4Bangers, Morimoto has offered a limited lifetime warranty to anyone who buys any of the 4Banger products.
If you are more of a visual learner, be sure to check out our in-depth video overview of the Morimoto 4Banger LED pods. While you are there, make sure to like and subscribe to our channel for the latest lighting upgrades for your vehicle.
Have any questions about one of the products we mentioned? Contact us today, and our customer service team would be happy to help.