LED Lighting Conversion

thanks... Amazon just delivered my weekend project. Any tricks for the install? Sounds like they were plug and play for you?

 

Nice!!! Yeah pretty much just plug-and-play very simple.

A couple of things to take note of

1. If the base of your LED bulb has a fan and the fan housing seems too large to maneuver into the bulb housing of the headlight assembly, just remove the two screws that hold the headlight housing to the frame of the truck.

2. Plug the LED bulb into the factory connector after removing the OEM bulb and before sticking it into the headlight assembly turn the lights on to be sure it illuminates. If the bulb does not come on, don’t freak out. Just unplug it from the factory connector and flip it around. The positive and negative’s are most likely backwards. Then turn the lights on again to make sure it illuminates.

Questions during install just ask and hopefully I’m around my phone haha it’s easy though don’t even worry.

 

awesome... thanks

 

I’m with you in tinkering.

I also went 35W for the reason you mention, I drive about 50 miles each way in my commute often in the dark/night in winter and with a 55w HID my eyes get strained from trying to look outside of them.

35W is my sweetspot. The only reason I don’t go micro now as it’s just a waste of money as my HID kit is only a few months old and it won’t sell for much.

I’m in a fairly stock Pro so even at stop lights I’m still generally light hitting the trunk. I doubt anyone who isn’t a taco fan would think my lighting isn’t stock.

 

Any reviews on the rear brake light and turn signal LED's, I have new reverse lights, but didn't buy the brake light or the turn signal, should I replace those as well or not a big change?

 

I replaced my rear brake lights and turn signals with LEDs and those rear brake lights are notably crisper & brighter. Make sure you get red LEDs for those that will go in the rear tail light.

If you go with LED's in the turn signals, they will be very crisp and I feel that they will brink with authority. But you will likely need to add resistors depending on what LEDs you go with. ​

I also wired it so that the entire rear tail light is both the blinker and the brake light (not just the top half a blinker and the bottom half is the brake light). To do that, you will have to splice some wires and add in a resistor in order to accomplish that. You can see examples of that (and the wiring diagram) in a separate thread here:

Video of the end result (compared to OEM) is in the video on Page 5 of that thread

The Wiring diagram is on Page 6

 

I went all VLED, very bright, great colour on the brakes and turn signals.

No resistors needed, all plug and play.

One downside I’ve found is with the front turn signals (I went V6 Triton), if you look at your truck from the front and lock it with your fob, you will be tempted to look at the turn signals to see how they look. Well you will be seeing a nice little amber spot for about 20-30 seconds even with your eyes closed cause they are damn bright, enough to burn a hole through your retina. No way someone is going to say they didn’t see you indicating your intention of turning.

Brakes are absolutely eye catching as well.

Reverse is enough to light up the camera like it was day time.

All in all I’m very happy with them.

 

Ok @ToyoDrew

Here are the pics. It’s hard to tell honestly which is better. I’m leaning more toward the AuxBeam I think over Hakari but they are close. AuxBeam appears to have a farther throw.

 

Ah, difference looks very negligible but the Auxbeams are about half the price of the HIKARI right?

 

Thanks @Parker315 ! For you to do this for us is cool as hell. Posts like this are why I join forums.

But here comes the sandwich.....

At first I thought yea, not much difference. And the width right in front of the truck looks same same.

But then I thought wait, if you zoom in on both pics, and look at the end of the road where it turns right, the curb all the way in the background is definitely lit up more with the Auxbeams. It's very obvious.

Not to be a nit picker but there might be an unfair advantage in play here because I noticed the truck is closer to the turn at the end of the road in that pic. It's hard to tell exactly but if I had to guess I'd say about 30 or 40 feet closer.

Again, I'm just pointing it out so we can all decide if that matters or not. When I'm rolling up near the house and on deer lookout high beams are a must.

I also sort of understand what @Sedyn is saying about "trying to look outside" of a brighter light. I think it's a similar experience to using a 360 degree light source while walking in the woods. Basically, some of the light is being deflected back at you.

Here's one more thing you guys need to know about me. I'm that idiot that would rather use their high beams in fog or snow and put up with the added glare just to be able to see those deer eyeballs sooner. I know it's crazy but it works for me. Maybe I'm able to do that because they are halogens???

Just saying.

 

Anyone have an issue with the dome light not turning on? I replaced both map lights and all vanity bulbs in minutes. Then hopped in the backseat and threw one of these in the dome light:

MICTUNING 10pcs 31mm 12SMD 3528 LED White Festoon Dome Interior Light Map Door Lamp Car Bulbs 3021 3022 DE3175

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00NN31S7K/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

... and nothing. Flipped the switch and it didn't turn on. So I put the old standard bulb in and now it doesn't come on. Can't figure it out. So I moved on to the license plate lights and reverse lights and they look great. If anyone has run into this let me know! Thanks!

 

They are about the same price actually

 

I think your right actually. After I swapped the bulbs I tried to pull up to the exact same spot. Now that I look at it again I was definitely off by 20 feet or so. DAMIT lol

 

LOL, you were still pretty close...close enough that it shows us how similar the LEDs are to each other. For the cheaper price but similar performance, I'd be comfortable ordering the Auxbeams now (once my HIDs die).

Thank you for taking the time to do that comparison and list out all of your LEDs earlier! I'm sure it'll be a big help for many of us for quite a while. Love these forums!

 

I was basing it on the fire hydrant, green road reflector, and that sodium light beyond the fence on the left hand side in the photos. My job requires me to be that detailed oriented when I'm evaluating aerial imagery. It's a curse I guess.

So if then light output is similar, and price is similar, then what, we just need to look at ease of installation and longevity?

 

What I was saying pertains to any really bright light that isn’t flooding the total area you want to look.

When I have standard LB 55W HIDs, for me they are so bright that when my eyes adjust to looking into the area in front of me, and I look off to an area where they aren’t shining I can’t see anything, which can be my mirrors or whatever. You don’t look into a dark spot for long while driving. So your eyes are just non stop trying to adjust to too large of a difference in light intensity. Then they get strained as my drive is usually a solid hour each way.

I think this is why some expedition vehicles go with a more standard light setup, even halogens then have big light bars or whatever when they need it.

I’ll be going for more of a set up like that. Micros in LB/HB and then a light bar at some point, maybe on a roof rack if I go that way.

 

$13 iBrightstar Newest 9-30V Super Bright Low Power 7443 7440 T20 LED Bulbs with Projector Replacement for Tail Brake Lights Turn signal Lights, Brilliant Red

https://www.amazon.com/iBrightstar-...16554683&sr=1-1-spons&keywords=7443+red&psc=1

Go with the Brightstar's or the superbrighLED's for double the price?

https://www.superbrightleds.com/veh...hicle-led-lights?make=77&model=1618&year=2017

Super bright says that they are "oversized" not sure if that is a problem.

 

Check your fuses.

If not that, you might have fried your body ECU.

There were some posts a while back about people having this problem with cheap bulbs but I can’t tell you how it was resolved.

Was a big part of me going VLEDS though.

 

This works great. total plug and play. one question for you..... what did you do with a little control boxes that are wired outside the bulb? Just zip tie them out of the way?

 

Yea, I will not be going with the 55w bulbs either. I would rather do what your saying and what @Parker315 did add that light bar he listed in the lower grill area. I will just tie it into the high beam circuit if thats possible. Thats how I would use it on road anyway. I would do the same thing with ditch lights if I ever added those.

For me it's all about adding more light that has a wider and longer throw for safety out in the country. I will never need that on the highway or in the city.

I just like how the whole mod results in better lighting for a small investment.