I have been toying with the idea of replacing the stock LEDs on front sidemarker (bottom of front doors: i think) and trunk/cargo area (perhaps license plate as well, but haven't decided yet).

If i am not mistaken then front sidemarkers and trunk/cargo LEDs are of type 168 whereas license plate is of type 2825.

So some questions for your guys:
- Has anyone tried replacing these bulbs? If so, is it an easy DIY?
- If you have infact replaced the bulbs, then any particular light combinations you might have used? and why? (so far i am leaning towards white:license_plate, white:trunk/cargo, can't decide between blue or white for doors)
- Any pictures to help me make up my mind would be highly appreciated :-)
- The most important question of all: where did you order it from?

I hope i am not the only crazy arsh thinking about this

 

I replaced the bulbs in the doors with THESE.

I replaced the licence plate bulbs with THESE.

They're all blue (to match the interior lighting) and they all work fine. Installation was a snap. When you do the license plate, don't remove the deck lid cover, just pull enough back to get to the lights.

LL

 

I don't know if this will help but the TL guys have done lots of research on different LED's search "Lots of new leds" and you should find a thread with 16 pages or something like that. I changed out my LED's based of their research and couldn't be happier.

 

Thanks for the links lland. I wasn't aware that T10 wedge could replace 2825! I will see if i can get the white version of license plate T10s. As far as doors are concerned, would it be possible for you to share a picture of how it looks on your RL please? For me, the jury is still out on blue v/s white for doors.

Thank your for this tip. I presume by not removing deck lid cover you implied for replacement from the front (and not from the trunk?)

 

Thanks voigt... I will do so promptly and will let you know of the results

 

Quick question: Are those LED's brighter than stock bulbs?

 

"Thank your for this tip. I presume by not removing deck lid cover you implied for replacement from the front (and not from the trunk?"

No, I went through the trunk (but I believe you can do it from the font). I just moved enough of the cover so I could get to the lights without removing it completely.

As for the question of LEDs being brighter than stock, I can't really tell since I went from white to blue but to me the lights (especially the doors) appear brighter.

I'll try to post some pics tonight.

LL

 

lland et al,
I went ahead and ordered the following from www.superbrightleds.com

license plate (2825 OEM)
*** 2x(WLED-W5 WHITE) My Choice

doors (168 OEM)
*** 4x(WLED-W6 BLUE) My choice

Dome (DE3175 OEM -- incorrect.. seems like 168)
*** 4x(WLED-W6 WHITE) My choice

trunk (168 OEM)
*** 1x(WLED-WHP) My choice

Plenty of folks have ordered T13's for doors/dome, however, upon checking their specifications, it seems that they may be a tight fit.. so i ended up going all WLEDs route.

I will keep you guys posted on how (and hopefully some pics of) the install goes through.

 

Calvin_Hobbes

BTW, I have two Miniature Schnauzers, Clayton and Sherman. Before them, I had two others, Calvin and Hobbes.

LL

 

hahhaa.. great!!!! from now on, you can pay all my grooming/cleaning/food expenses as well

 

btw, just for the benefit of other members here, TL/TSX forums talk about replacing door/dome lights with 921-B9 (i.e. 9 LEDs in one housing). Once i get my WLED-W6 setup, i will let you guys know if i think (and this will be a subjective opinion) the light from them warrants further shopping around (i.e. for a 9LED or even a 12LED)

 

This is a little off topic, but can you DIY the taillights and brake LEDs if they burn out? If so, can you replace just one, or do you have to replace the whole assembly? Also, what would be the replacement LED part #?

 

Maybe I'm just an old fart or something but I'm missing the point here. Why replace the stock lights/LED's?

 

I just replaced the door lights with the white 5 LED wedge bulbs from superbrightLED . . . I went with white because the function of the door lights is to light the ground as you step out of the car at night and as a marker to other drivers that your door is open . . .they look great.

I have also replaced the reverse light and the rear turn signals with LEDs . . . .

The advantage falls along the same reason that car manufactures are moving to LEDs for many of the lights on a car . . . low power comsumption, long life, and sharp crisp look

 

So that it is easier to sell as a rice grinder to kids when its value is down to $5K with 220K miles on it!

 

I just wanted blue to match the interior LEDs.

LL

 

Four questions:

* Which LEDs did you use for the reverse and turn signals?
* Are they as bright as the stock incandescent lights?
* Did you consider changing the front turn signal lamps?
* Any issues with burned out bulb messages?

Thanks.

LL

 

I used 7440-W15 from superbrightleds .. .. it is the bulb with 3 clusters of 6 leds in a single surface mounted bulb . . .for the reverse light it is brighter and whiter that the standard incandencent.

I also used the same bulb for the turn signal . .. yes, it is white but I think that it matches the overall look of the rear set up. This is not as bright as the incandescent because of the way that the reflector for the turn signal is set up to reflect a bulb with 360 degree illumination. . . .I still felt that this worked better. Keep in mind that for the turn signal, either a resistor needs to be placed across the bulb or a different relay will need to be used. Otherwise, the rate of flashing will be too fast.

I did consider changing the front turn signal to LEDs also . ..white but the mirror signals would still be amber so I decided to hold off until I could figure out how to change those.

I did add a cool led strip beneath each foglight similar to a friend of Touge did to his car in Japan.

 

Okay, so i got my shipment from superbrightleds today (great service btw!!).

I installed 4x(WLED-B6) on doors... they seem to look really okay during the day, as night falls, i will know more (i have a feeling that the brightness may be less).

I installed 2x(WLED-W6) as map lights... observation is same as above...

I COULD NOT install 2x(WLED-W6) for rear dome lights because they apparently use a different bulb... (festoon it seems.. so i may have ordered wrong bulbs for domes!!)

1x(WLED-WHP) wouldn't fit in trunk, so please be careful before ordering this!

I couldn't install 2x(WLED-W5) for license plate on my own. Will perhaps get them replaced when i do my high beams (most likely leaning towards heons)

So as of now, i have 4xdoors, 2xmap happily installed.
2xdome, 1xtrunk, 2xlicense plate remain pending...

 

Ah! I have a question, how do you guys remove the stock bulb on the doors? I can't figure it out and I'm too scared to break it.

 

Just pry the lens off carefully with a screwdriver. It'll pop right off. Once you do one, the rest are easy.

LL

 

Well, after reading and re-reading these posts, I finally went ahead and replaced my interior lights with LEDs. Thanks to calvin_hobbes for his detailed list of bulbs. I went with the WLED-W6 bulbs (cool whites) for the doors and the front dome/reading lights. For the rears, thanks again to calvin_hobbes for his warning, I went with the 3022-x4 festoon type bulbs (also cool whites), all from Superbrightleds.com. The dome/reading lights may not be the best light to read under, but they sure do look good! If anyone has successfully changed their trunk bulbs to LEDs, would you please share what bulbs you used.

Thanks.