If I don't want to mess with load resistors what LEDs do I need for all exterior lights not including headlights, fogs, and turn-signals? This is the list I have for the rear...
from superbrightleds.com
(2) 7440-15 LED White: Reverse
(2) 7440-15 LED RED: Stop/High Stop?
(2) 7443-15 LED RED: Brake/Stop?

Is this correct so far? Can someone give me a list for the front lights w/o turn-signals? I want to do all exterior lights w/o messing with load resistors. Thanks.

 

After more searching I have ended with this list for exterior LEDs (not including signal lights)...

Purchased from superbrightleds.com
(2)7440-15LED:WHITE -reverse
(1)7440-15LED:RED -high brake
(2)7443-15LED:RED -brake
(4)T13-6LED:RED <--side markers?
(2)T13-6LED:AMBER -front parking

Is this correct? Can I use the 921-12LED instead of the 6LED-T13's? 6LED seems very dim. I am new here and have done tons of searching and just need a little guidance. Trying to do this w/o messing with load resistors. Very much appreciated.

 

Yes, they are correct. And I'm mostly sure that 921 is the same as T13, but google it real quick to double check before ording. LED replacement bulbs will always have a resistor internally especially if the site advertises them as 'plug n play.'

But using LED replacement bulbs in the parklights and especially the brake lights is not a good idea at all. The optics will be incorrect because the assemblies were designed around the incandescent bulb (its a true 360 degree emitter, or a 'Lambertian' emitter). This is a road safety issue, plus you're not going to get any difference in aesthetics/color with red tinted compartments anyway (if that's why you're getting LEDs). The reverse lights will look really awesome with white LEDs though.

Anyway those are all correct bulbs- again double check the T13.

Good luck with your modding.

 

aCUREa you are very correct in terms of optics.

I hate it when I see people with those "plug play" LED's and all you see is a red dot in the middle of a big brake light reflector when they are on the brake.

 

Wow thanks for the heads up. I'm a noob to this so the help is very much appreciated. Yeah I basically wanted to switch to the LEDs for the added appearance. So are you saying I should only replace the reverse lights with LEDs then? I've already ordered the lights but can always find other uses for them if it won't look pleasing.

 

The same optics thing applies to the reverse lights, but they really aren't as important as brake/tail or turn signal (turn sigs are are 7440 by the way). I would personally say its fine to swap the reverse with LEDs for appearance. I did before, and although the optics were just as poor, the high Kelvin still looked really neat, but there was absolutely no usable light output. It was purely aesthetics. Now, I'm using PIAA Xtreme White 7440 bulbs for a little more light and still a nice color temp, but not as high Kelvin as LED. But I certainly would not recommend using LED bulbs in the brake/tail or turn sigs because of the road safety and liability. That's just my personal suggestion though. You can do it, but just note the optics will be very poor and unsafe. But still note that if you back into somebody, the same liability problem can apply in that case.

This thread I linked to below (post#3) specifically explains the importance of optics in taillight assemblies very very well. In that thread, they are talking about making their own tail lights with LEDs, but the same concept of optics applies to using LED replacement bulbs. Its specifically different, but the same general concept applies.
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/...d.php?t=245049

Again, the color won't be much different at all because the bulbs are behind red filtered lenses, so it will still be just red. But I personally think the poor optics will make it look worse. Even LED towers do not illuminate the reflector plate because its behind the bulbs in our car. The towers do not shine backward toward the plug-in base to properly reflect.

Here is a pic of my reverse lights that exemplifies what I mean by optics. With the blue filtered PIAA bulbs in, you can see a million little blue reflections of the whole bulb in each sector showing how it reflects the light when illuminated. In a sense, it replicates the reflection of the bulb a hundred times. The blue makes it real easy to see the multiple reflections of the same bulb (note that the bulbs are white when lit up, not blue). Just see all the blue inside the whole compartment. Even on the side walls, it shows how the light reflects very well with an incand bulb. The LEDs will appear more like dots along the side wall instead of uniform light.

 

That helps a lot. The pic really illustrated your point. I really like those PIAAs as well. Since it's one of my first mods I may just do it for the learning experience and can always switch it out. Do you use stock bulbs in your other exteriors then? I definitely don't want to have unsafe lights on my vehicle so I'm considering other options.

 

That's a good idea for the learning experience, but what you are going to learn is basically how to get the bulbs out and replaced. In this case, I'd just take the stock bulb out and put it right back in. That way, you'll still learn how to access the bulbs without risking accidentally leaving the LEDs in before driving. It never hurts to swap out for LEDs though just to take a look or for a few pics, but it would be a pic of bad optics.

The only time I replace an exterior light with an LED bulb is 1) if it makes an aesthetic difference, and 2) if it is not a safety-critical light compartment (i.e. brake, tail, high, low, turn, parklight).

I did the LED fogs before, but it looked terrible as well as emitted no usable light output... and the reason for this was mostly due to poor optics as well. I'll post a pic later of how terrible my fogs looked with LED towers. However, the fogs are not safety-critical compartments at all. They are auxiliary only, so using LEDs there is completely safe.

As is commonly done among the TSX community, I did replace the license plates with white LED, in which case I would recommend the WLED-WHP from superbrightleds.com for impecible reliability (from my observation). Here is the link; scroll down until you see WLED-xHP:
http://www.superbrightleds.com/cgi-b...gi?product=CAR
This looks really good I think, and its completely safe.

I might also replace the high beams with PIAA plasma ion yellow (I have a set laying in my room) and build a high-beam 50% voltage DRL module to go along with my 8000K halos, but I'm still considering whether it would be okay/safe.

With the safety-critical lights, I would leave them stock, LED or not. Not only is the emitter type important (i.e. directional vs. Lambertian emitters), but so is the intensity (brightness) being the same as the stock bulbs. Other non-LED incand bulbs, although they are still true 360-degree emitters, could have a different intensity. The intensity is just as important as emitter type when it comes to optics. For ex, the brake lights must be a certain level of brightness compared with the adjacent taillights as to properly stimulate other drivers, etc, and the intensity ratio of brake-to-tail with the shared compartment must remain the same as stock too. So with brake/tail lights, brighter does not always mean better (if you're thinking of making them brigher, that is).

I agree that it does look bad. Sometimes people accept the trade-off of bad optics for aesthetics, but I think the aesthetics is just as bad as the optics anyway... so its not a trade-off.