Zalthras

First off the bulb in question:

Originally I had the ones on the left in for awhile, and well....they're dim and a bit too blue. So I swapped those out with the SMD type on the right. ( ~$5 ea. from superbrightleds.com) These are much cheaper and have a smaller viewing angle (~170 degree) than the other SMD ones with lenses mentioned here. Sumarized and ordered by color temperature as follows:

Bjunion SMD LED – Super White 4300k
Taiwan

WLED-WHP LED Wedge Base Bulbs High Power - Pure White 4500k:
http://www.superbrightleds.com/mini-wedge.html

PIAA Tera 4500k:
http://www.piaa.co.jp/whatsnew/whats...ew?Info_ID=139

Polarg J-51 Hyper White LED P2310W 4800k:
http://www.nissei-polarg.co.jp/lineup/led/hpled.html

Raybrig RC81, RC765, RC 785, RC381, RC385 5000k:
http://www.raybrig.gr.jp/products/led_color/index.html

Belof Sirius Revo Super Wide LED 5000K
http://www.bellof.co.jp/products/led.html
Japan

PIAA Super Tera 5500k:
http://www.piaa.co.jp/piaa_web_new/0...01_super_tera/

Bjunion SMD LED - Purple/White 6000k
Taiwan


But for my purposes, they did the job perfectly. So back on topic:

1) Open rear hatch/gate and pull off the non-carpeted cover shown below starting from the sides and working your way to the center:

the mounting points looking at the inside of the hatch/gate are marked here:
(note: disconnect the courtesy light before pulling the cover away from the hatch/gate)

2) Locate the license plate bulb housings:
(left)

(right)

then twist counter-clockwise to remove.

3) Swap in the bulb/LED bulb of your choice.

4) Test bulb or LED polarity by turning on parking lights.

5) When satisfied, the install is the reverse of removal process.

Stock bulb and pure white high power LED comparison:


pure white high power LEDs:


P.S. These also work very well as the front parking lights as they're a near perfect match for stock HIDs.





Your welcome! =)

lok888

Vin - Please explain to me about the burn-out warning feature. So if a bulb goes out, some warning light will turn on on the dash (i.e. engine light) or it will show on the navigation (i.e. on maintenance page)?

Then why we need the load equalizer when we have an aftermarket bulb which draws the same wattage as stock? Not to mention some wire cuttings are required. Oh man! They've got me nervous!

lok888

Zalthras - Nice work! Thanks for the pics. Toyota/Lexus did a nice job to cover the wirings and the non-carpeted areas. Any idea that I need to install the load equalizer like Vin mentioned.

I am consider to upgrade the front and rear amber turn signals to chrome covered amber light from autolumination.

Vinnyraj

Yes, a warning light will turn on in the dash letting you know that a bulb is out.

I am still looking for more research regarding the load equalizers. The reason I am not surprised about the load equalizer is because when my buddy updated his S2000 with LED brake lights. It wasn't a simple swap of bulbs.

Vinnyraj

Zalthras...excellent...thanks for posting the pics...looks real good. definately a big difference...

the link you included about the lenses is really informative...

lok888

I hope it is simple a plug and play thing.

Zalthras

Inline resistor/blinker module rule of thumb:

Anytime you change a regular turn signal bulb to an LED one, either change the blinker module to an adjustable one so it doesn't flash like crazy or add a high watt inline resistor w/ built-in heatsink near the light bulb connector.

Anytime you change the brake light bulbs in a car that has a bulb-out warning system to an LED one, add a high watt inline resistor w/ built-in heatsink near the light bulb connector.

In my opinion however, for turn signals and brake lights, standard filament bulbs are still superior.

lok888

Zalthras - I guess I don't need any modification if I just replace the stock with hyper white/amber or chrome covered blubs (standard filament bulbs), not LED. Then, more work for you Vin!

Zalthras

Correctomundo.

Vinnyraj

It seems that a few sources recommend the load resistors when installing LEDS for turn signals (especially with bulb burn-out systems).

This is from the superbrightleds.com website:

Turn signal issues with LED bulbs
LED brake/tail lamps will not flash with thermal flasher units due to their extremely low current draw. These installations will require an electronic flasher unit, available in our car bulb shopping category (for some vehicles) or at your auto parts store. Try to find flashers designed to work with LED bulbs, they will say "LED compatible". Often HEAVY DUTY flashers will also work with LED bulbs.

We offer some LED Flashers in our Tail/Brake Turn Signal Bulb category but we do not know which one (if any) will fit your vehicle. You will have to compare the pin-out of your flasher with the pin-outs of the flashers we offer, to see if we have a match, BEFORE you order one. Sorry but we do not have a flasher application list or the expertise to tell you which of our flashers will fit your vehicle.

Another fix is the installation of Load Resistors which are wired across (in parallel with) the turn signal bulbs to simulate the load of a standard filament bulb. We also have these available in our car bulb shopping category.

Dash indicators reporting burnt out bulbs
LED bulbs may cause some newer vehicles to indicate a bulb is burnt out (because of their low power consumption). Some cars indicate this by increasing the flash rate of the turn signals, some turn on a bad bulb indicator. The only fix for this is to install Load Resistors across the bulbs that are being indicated as bad. Some vehicles will also disable the cruise control system if a brake light bulb is being indicated as bad, the installation of Load Resistors will also solve this problem.

cheap_deal

looking for LED bulbs to match my RX350 stock HID. want to replace the parking lights in the front and also the license plate light in the rear.
@zalthras, u seem to have done the above two, which bulb do you recommend that is the closest match to the stock hid, ur pics cannot be seen now.