The Machine

iTrader: (8)

Funny we both came from Subaru, your's a PSM STi and mine a PSM WRX, that was pretty much an STi. And now we both have WDP TL's yours a Type-S, mine a base. Nice work so far btw the way! Keep it going!

rockstar143

iTrader: (6)

Wow dude...those 25MM spacers are SERIOUS!!!

Great pics from Thailand, never thought to visit it but it does look pretty tranquil in SOME of your pics. Thanks for sharing.

About the switchbacks...if you went with the ones I have, they're actually Type 1's...they are amber off amber when no lights on are on but once you have parking lights on they are white amber white. They DO look great though IMO, and I originally did NOT want type 1. Glad you decided to go for it!

About the sidemarkers swoosh got, they are in test mode, but will likely be available. One negative I will mention is that they don't cut off the other color when switching (like the problem I originally had with the switchbacks) which doesn't look good IMO. I also have the smoked side and tails from USR.

And PS, that macbook app is AWESOME!

ebelp

Thanks. I miss the STi a lot, especially this time of year. The snow tires on my TL are doing well though. Just can't do effortless donuts in the TL though.

haha I told you those spacers were aggressive!

The switchbacks I got are type 2's...here's the link:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/170729341952...fvi%3D1&_rdc=1

I'm excited to get them in...still need to do the 0.24ohm resistor mod though.

Yeah I went through swoosh's demo USR sidemarker thread. I'm not into the way they blink either. My 08 side mirrors blink anyway, so I'm not desperately in need of any side blinkage. I'll stick with the normal USR front sides for now. I'll be selling the rear USR sides as soon as I get them since I want to keep the stock red LED sides and the USR's are white LED. Anyone interested?

swoosh

iTrader: (5)

^^^ Yeah the sidemarkers are type 2 i guess....

white is running while red/amber blink....I like it since I like my front indicators to do the same switchback type 2 FTW

rockstar143

iTrader: (6)

Swoosh, that's not my problem with the sidemarkers...the problem is that they are not type 1 OR type 2...the one signal to them stays lit at full brightness and the 2nd set of leds blinks WITH them, like when I had that problem with my switchbacks...meaning, you can barely tell they are blinking.

I agree on the white and red, but the sidemarkers themselves are visually different when off so I decided to do white on both front and back.

ebelp, also, don't forget that you MUST have led rears to use the .24 resistor.

swoosh

iTrader: (5)

^^^ see thats a brightness thing....my review to USR was "increase brightness" for both running while and blinking red....

I know what you mean by "not being able to see if its indicating" but lemme shoot a video now that I dont have hyperblinking

PS: I got pulled over the other day for running white's in the rear of the car....was funny as hell....

I was on my way home from a joy ride at 1:30AM (since I travel to Philippines I took collision coverage off my car, so once in a while i take her for a spin really late at night).....so me an wifey were having a great time as usual....i was like 2 miles from home and saw this cop on the other side of the road.....he switched from slower lane to the quicker lane, and continued to indicate (meaning he is popping a u-turn)....i told my girl, he is coming for me.....i sped up to the light and made a right turn....followed the speed limit and got to my apartment complex.....i was pulling the car in (i park in reverse) and he comes up in front of me (doesnt start his lights and stuff)......

tell me he can find atleast 10 illegal stuff to my car tints, license plate tints, white running lights on the side, etc etc.....i told him my plate are registered in Missouri and I come to Kansas to meet my girl....and he said yeah so the tints and stuff i agree but no where are white running lights allowed.....

he was a nice guy, warned me and let me off....no tickets, no warning.....but just goes to say for people who are thinking about this mod, be careful

ebelp

Oh great, I never thought about that. Now that you mentioned it I'm going to notice it every time I look at my car. Dammit!

What! I swear I thought I read of several people who put in the 0.24 ohm resistor even though they only had LED's in the front and it still worked...? Ironically, these just came in the mail:


Thanks to joeytheswede for the hookup on the resistors.

Funny story...I also got pulled over on Friday for not running a front plate and because of my tint. It was a state trooper, so I was shocked when he said he'd cut me a break and let me go. He didn't even check my registration.

swoosh

iTrader: (5)

^^^ damn those switchbacks look awesome....

yeah it was a state trooper in my case as well and no registration or license or insurance or anything....

rockstar143

iTrader: (6)

things things are going to be a tight fit in that hole...

first time you hear that?!?! lol...

Well, maybe I'm a moron, but for MY set, yeah, I put in the .24 and HAD to have the led rears for it work right. Swoosh, I gotcha, yeah, i guess if it was brighter it would offset but really he should build some logic to cut the constant color while the other one triggers.

EDIT: Also, did you notice how the white is more like a 5k...not exactly the perfectly matching 6k on my switchbacks. Not bad enough to notice REALLY but if you wanna be picky,

ebelp

These switchbacks are actually about the same length and diameter (2"x.75") as those Platinum VLED bulbs, so they should fit. Guess I gotta start shopping for rear LED's now haha. At least VLEDS is running a 20% off coupon now.

Which rear turn signal bulbs are you running, Jeremy?

swoosh

iTrader: (5)

Thats what she said

post up the discount code....time to go shopping

ebelp

From their Facebook page:

FBFAN = 20% off all items (no min order amount) 2 uses per buyer.

FBFAN200 = 25% off all items ($200 min order amount) 2 uses per buyer.

These codes are valid untill Wednesday 11:59 PM PST

swoosh

iTrader: (5)

^^^ thats whats up

rockstar143

iTrader: (6)

I bought mine on ebay...$11.50 shipped
http://www.ebay.com/itm/270751795945...9#ht_626wt_800

ebelp

^ Interesting...but do you need to buy red? Couldn't you use a white LED and still get a red output? The only reason I ask is because these seem like they'd be a lot brighter:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/T20-68-SMD-9...item3a6ee02298

....and they're cheap.

EDIT: Nevermind...the auction above is for 1 bulb, not a pair, so the bulbs you mentioned are technically cheaper.

swoosh

iTrader: (5)

the cars do have a red diffuser

ebelp

Dammit...am I gonna have to be the guinea pig on this too? haha...gotta make sure I get 5k bulbs...if there's too much blue there's a good chance my rear signals will look purple. :gheylaugh:

rockstar143

iTrader: (6)

Well, also, I have the smoked tails by USR so my lense is not red...and the reflector inside the housing looks like it's smoked too...so I had to go with a red LED. I could have gone amber, which I had on my old ghost tail set (chrome dipped amber bulb).

ebelp

I have an LED flashlight that's about 5-6k white. I'm going to remove one of the rear turn bulbs and shine the flashlight into the housing and see how the color output turns out.

rockstar143

iTrader: (6)

You have red lenses though, no?
IMHO, go with red in the red lense...will be even brighter. I know, I put them in that originally (if you watch the video where I show my switchbacks) and it was friggin BRIGHT...much brighter than oem bulb.

Plus, if you don't have red lenses that's a QUICK way to get a ticket. White signals from the back is bad news.

J.

ebelp

Yeah, the stock Type-S taillights have red lenses for the turns, so I think no matter what color LED I put in there, it should shine red. I just want the brightest option. I'll have to check out your switchback vid again...

rockstar143

iTrader: (6)

Right on...
Go with the brightest red you can get! red behind red is super super bright.

ebelp

I broke down and just ordered a pair of the red LEDs from the ebay seller you mentioned above...why not hehe.

I was still curious if the switchbacks would still hyperblink with the 0.24 ohm resister mod and halogen rear turn signal bulbs, so I woke up early this morning and popped in the switchbacks. No hyperblinking!! I highly recommend these 120 LED switchbacks. They are very bright (both white and amber)...they illuminate 40 of the white LED's for the parking lights and 80 of the amber LED's for the turn signals.

Relay box removed and separated:


backside of circuit board after soldering on the 0.24 ohm resistor (sloppy but functional):




Osram 5k CBI vs. 6k Switchback vs. 2.5k Nokya fogs:




I'll get a video uploaded soon...

Next up...USR sidemarkers (and another snow tire)...


I also installed the driver's side rear Ingalls camber/toe kit which actually wasn't as difficult as I was expecting. I'll get the passenger side on tomorrow morning.

Project_CLean

iTrader: (2)

lookin good

lokijibber

Love your car man!!!

What's your initial parking light bulb in the pic at the top of post #39?

ebelp

Thanks!

Thanks man...the parking/turn bulb in that pic is just the OEM amber halogen.

I forgot to mention that I replaced my old VLEDS 921 reverse bulbs with VLED's higher-powered 921 bulb.

Here are the old ones I have, and here are the newer ones I just put in. Here's a comparison pic (old on the left, new on the right):



The picture doesn't quite capture it, but the new bulb is noticeably brighter than the old one, even though it actually has less LED's on the bulb. It also has a warmer color temperature, even though they're both supposed to be "6k". FYI...

rockstar143

iTrader: (6)

Looks great, man...wow, didn't realize you were still working in snow. Now I know why there's no rush on the spacer!

ebelp

Exactly! The weather has been so sporadic here...last night it snowed, yet the high temp today is almost 50. I may actually get to wash my car.

btw, thanks for consoling me while I was trying to remove that relay box last night. LOL

SharksBreath

iTrader: (33)

truth.

i remember a long time ago when i bought USR's cleared/smoked tailights i ran into that problem. i had no idea the stock bulb was white. click for vid.

CLtotheTL32

iTrader: (3)

Hey John what's that stuff all over your car? I can't tell because it's almost 70 degrees here

lokijibber

Sorry to keep up the Qs, but did you install the fog overlays yet? If so, did you remove the bumper and light fixture?

It looks like there's enough room to do it without removing the bumper and light, but I think that may be easier. It's going to be 60* here today, so, this may become an afternoon/evening project.

ebelp

Yeah, illegal and ugly. Seeing that reminds me of people that have busted up turn signals with the bare bulb shining through. The Type-S diffuser/lens is definitely red, but I got red LED's anyway.

FU buddy....FU!!!! :angryfire

I haven't installed the overlays yet, but yes, you'll have to remove the bumper and the fog lenses to put them on properly. The overlay is oversized, so there's no way to install it without removing the bumper/fogs.

swoosh

iTrader: (5)

@ Tyler....

John....your car looooks mint !!! and you got balls to be working even when you have tons of snow out there....

CLtotheTL32

iTrader: (3)

rockstar143

iTrader: (6)

lol...NO PROBLEMO, BROTHER!

ebelp

Woah. Almost 60 degrees and sunny in Upstate NY in the middle of winter is unheard of. Finally took the car to a touchless carwash and got most of the grime sprayed off. Looks like a completely different car. If the weather holds up, I'll snap some pics with my D90 tonight or tomorrow.

Anyway, got the USR front sidemarkers on. On with the pics:

Comparison shot (USR in my hand):


Installed.


Fitment is spot on. Very nice.

It'll be dark soon, so I'll post some evening shots with them illuminated shortly...

swoosh

iTrader: (5)

SICK !!! always loved USR blacked out sidemarkers....

lokijibber

So, I'm wondering if I was shipped the wrong item.... I got the overlays on today, but they were certainly not oversized in comparison to the entire light. They actually seemed to be just a bit larger than the opening on the black trim. I installed the first one by removing the bumper and trim, but, it certainly was not centered in the opening... I have about 1/4" on the upper left side of the light once the trim was re-installed. Not visible unless your at that level, but, I blame myself completely for not ensuring it was aligned properly. I did the 2nd light with the trim in place and it's much better.

Oh well. This will do until Spring when I can try to fix it (unless we're able to get more of these spring days in February). Thanks for your help! Looking forward to seeing that clean car

rockstar143

iTrader: (6)

^^you posting this is the right thread? I don't understand what you're asking.

Hey ebelp...do you find the sidemarkers a little less "bluish white" than the switchbacks? I mean, white looks white but there's a slight difference.

Also, did you have a hard time with the rear ones? I had to dremel a little of the rear clip off to get it to pop into place. LOVE how it looks on your car too! Get some tire shine on that badboy!

ebelp

Hmm I'll have to take another look at mine (they're still in the package)...I could be mistaken but it sounds like you got the right overlays. I assume your TL is a 07-08?

Yes, the usr sides are pure white with no hint of blue...not a huge deal, but I wish they matched a little better. I won't be installing the rears. I want to keep them red so the match the taillight turn signals.