Fulani has a TL

iTrader: (1)

I really want to do this, just dont know about the plastic piece to cover the hole. But since many of you have done this shouldnt be a problem.

Just a question/idea is there a way to keep the clear cover that comes factory installed for the regular bulbs??

Kracker

In short... No... But really if you didnt like the lights you could cut them out.. You would have to take it all apart to plug the new bulbs in... Thus I dont see a huge gain for doing this...

Kracker

I order extra sets to light up the footwell and ground under my door... Well after a 6 hours this is what I got. I like it more now that its dark outside.






Larger images can be found : http://people.cs.tamu.edu/mlw8723/MoreLights/

SilverStoneTTL

Kracker, that looks great. I wanted to do the same thing but with blue tubes instead of the white. I think it would look nice since it would match with the interior lights.

Can you do a write up explaining how you connected them? Do the footwell/door lights only turn on when the door is open?

I would definitely do this if I knew how.

rockyfeller

iTrader: (6)

thought it may look whitish blue/purple maybe......do you think it looks greenish?

Kracker

Yeah next weekend I'll take pictures... The CCT are attached to the door light. So the behavior of that light is reproduced in the tubes.

The most work was running the wire thru the rubber harness between the door and car... I used a soldering iron to burn a hole in the corner of the top plug... I then ran small speaker wire to carry positive and negative into the car and attached another light under the dash...

FYI the door compartments only open 1 notch now.... Future plans include putting another set in trunk... But I will take pictures

tuoncan

Hey guys,
I have a TSX and after hour of works, I got everything installed, but it doesn't light up. I don't know what I am doing wrong.

I have two sets of light. 1 set of 4" and 1 set of 12"
I connected both of them to two sockets from the license plate. Do I need to wire them directly to the wire? I checked the voltage on the lines that come in to the inverter and it says 13.18V can this be a problem if it gets higher than 12 V ?

Anyone has any idea why is it not working?

For those who got it working, does it light up when you unlock the car?

Thanks

lembowski

iTrader: (1)

Kracker,

love your work. Does it only light up when the door opens? I want a light blue hue in the front two seats feet area, but I want it to come on when I turn on the headlights, is there any way to accomplish this?

aznbo187

iTrader: (1)

I think all you simply have to do it tap the power to the headlamp fuse in the fusebox below the steering wheel. Headlight turns on, fuse gets power, wire is tapped to fuse, and its Christmas all over again.

lembowski

iTrader: (1)

Any idea what # fuse that is? I might get some leds tonight and do this just for the hell of it.

Kracker

I wired mine up to the door light... There is switch in the kit... You could wire it to something that comes on with the key...

I would also look into little lights.... Yeah.. Doesnt the light inside console light come on with the lights?

I also used the foil refelective method as defined by pimpin.. I didnt want light coming up around the dash.

lembowski

iTrader: (1)

Yeah I was thinking that the big lights might be too much. I just want that light hue that the overhead lights give. Just alittle bit. Is there an actual fuse for the headlamps? And any other fuses you can think of that are triggered by turning on the lights?

pohljm

Matt are you gonna illuminate your front plate now?

lembowski

iTrader: (1)

Front plate? I put my front plate on yesterday for 10 minutes to go get my fix-it-ticket signed off, believe me it won't go on again for quite some time. But to answer your question no I will not be Illuminating my front plate, but I will be replacing the bulbs on the rear plate for a brighter light.............I'm installing my camera this weekend, and thought the brighter bulbs might help with night parking

aznbo187

iTrader: (1)

The license plate lights turn on with the headlights. I'll check what fuse it is later I have class right now.

pohljm

bummer about that ticket, dont know whay they targeted you, I dont think there was a front plate on any of the 30 or so cars on the cruise. Are you gonna do the cold cathode tube lights? I think that looks pretty sweet, I will have to check out that rear camera install, you need the Dom converter too do that I guess?

lembowski

iTrader: (1)

I think they were targeting 20 somthing white boys since I think I was the only one there.......lol I got the PIAA super white wedge lights. I already have the dom converter so it should be a quick 2hr install you can swing by if you want to watch. I'll be doing it Saturday or Sunday

pohljm

Lemme know when your gonna do it, I picked up a Basslink and I would like to look at your install.

pimpin-tl

I can't tell you either. I would read the instructions carefully again and go back over everything you did. 13.18v is normal.

Kracker

I put some light in my trunk.




And dont you like the tools in my trunk



Here is after dark.



This is it with the power turned off to the cold cathode bulbs.





If you have any questions just ask...

Kracker

Here is a slide show of more pics... Press the back arrow to see the pictures in order ... I dunno, it was a windows tool.

http://people.cs.tamu.edu/mlw8723/tr...ow/default.htm

pimpin-tl

Very nice...soon I will do that as well.

Kracker

FYI the tool you need to poke holes in the liner is a tiny file. At its thickest point its slightly smaller than a 1/4 inch square. Worked alot better than a razor blade...

And the aluminized tape is the ONLY way to go. Foil and clear tape sucks. The tape is reflective on both sides. Its worth the 6 bux to make your install look clean.

I also took the ends off so that I could feed them up thru a smaller hole. Again the file came in really handy then too...

yohan81718

the cathode in trunk is good... i might do that

KC-Dub

I just did the CC mod to the license plate as explained by pimpin-tl... good job on the instructions man, went nice and easy.

One tip on the license plate light mod: It is possible to use the stock lenses for the lights, you just have to take some wire snips and trim all the plastic away that would protrude inside the trunk. This includes the clip on the left side of the lens, so it still requires some glue (I used 2-part epoxy) to get it to stay. But the result is a perfectly factory look when you open up the trunk and can see the lights. Let me know if you guys would like pics, I can snap some.

I also put one CC tube in the trunk and disconnected the stock crap-light that's in there. I chose to do one light vs. two just to keep the look a little less flashy. Overall, a very clean install.

Fulani has a TL

iTrader: (1)

KC-Dub can you go ahead and post pics, want to see how it looks with just one bulb and also how the lense is actually setup. I am losing you in the description of your setup

Thanks in advance

pimpin-tl

Nice KC. I didn't want to ruin the factory ones just in case I had to reinstall the lights. Kracker installed my trunk lights for me this past weekend and they are great! Show us some pics too. We would love to see them.

KC-Dub

Here's the pics guys. Sorry, I didn't take any during the process and the lenses are already glued in place so I can't show you how they're trimmed. Basically, you want to remove all of the plastic from the factory lenses so that they're flat. Let me know what ya'll think.

The factory lenses after being installed with the CC Tubes behind


Close up of the lens... you can almost make out the two CC Tubes


Rear shot of the car... the lenses spread the light a little bit


The trunk light CC Tube... with flash so you can see the location and all....


Trunk light.. sorry for the blurriness, don't have a tripod

Kracker

Trunk looks good.

So... You wont be able to put the factory lights back in? My goal was to be able to revert to stock with out alot of effort.

But it looks good.

KC-Dub

Yeah... the stock lights (at least the lens portion) is permanently modified. If I wanted to take it back to stock, I'd need to pick up those lenses from the dealer. For me, I'd rather have a factory look for now and pay a few pucks for the lenses if I decide to go back to stock.

dwest1023

I have thenew super white 1 watts from tk toyz. I think they work better than what you guys are doing, and they will last the life of the car. Easier to install and no mod.
These look exactly like the Lexus, you can't tell the difference. I put them on all my cars. Really looks great on our RL. Install time is only 10 min.

Kracker

I have burnt out so many LEDs in my trunk. I actually broke the lens because i had to take them out and replace them so much.

I'm thinking Ill replace my dome and door lights in the near future with the LEDs.

But if we are talking about opinions here... I like the CC over LEDs any day. They are a softer light... Not like a flashlight shinning down on my license plate. At 30,000 hrs for the bulbs. Im not too worried about them burning out. On the TL taking out the LP lights is a huge effort... Not a 10 min job in any case...

dwest, please post a picture... Or a link to a thread. There are tons of CC pictures, but I haven't see any of the 1 Watt leds here... (then again I wasnt looking that hard).. I got CC tubes

Take care.

dwest1023

The new super whites are not like the typcial LED, these are much different. I am going to post pics in a few.

dwest1023

The picture really does not do justice, but this it what the super whites can do from tec toys


[img=http://img222.imageshack.us/img222/4051/p1010015pv3.jpg]

dwest1023

Let me try this again

Kracker

Nice... Ill have to get some for my doors.. Looks good as license plate lights as well.

jptl04

iTrader: (1)

thanks Pimpin-TL, for the cc tube mod idea, your DIY write up was instrumental, great job!! here's what i did about the light covers. i cut some 1/16" plexi glass in the same shape as oem cover and put 3M double stick tape around the edges. this gives me a clear watertight cover for the light to shine through check-it

tuoncan

Here is my way...

aznbo187

iTrader: (1)

Wow, people are taking this idea into a whole new dimension..looks awesome touncan, looks like an excellent way to do it without the need to splice into the old wires. What is it you did for the cover? I can't tell from the pictures.

pimpin-tl

Looks good, but I am wondering why he used two inverters? One is only needed for two bulbs and that is all you can fit in there.