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this is a repost from hidplanet.com so bare with me. its actually a very easy retro. almost all the supplies i got from ledsupply.com and the heatsinks from ebay a while back. i also opted for new lens assemblies from honda because my old ones were broken and cloudy. i used warm white Io Moon nichia jupiter 1w led for each side, but if you want the cool white like the newer lexus, they make that color too in the exact same led package. just order the cool white array and it will be an extra 10 lumens brighter than warm white as well. get warm white if you want stock bulb color. you also need a constant currant led driver from besthongkong.com that outputs 350ma (1w) power for one led. so you need two drivers total, one for each led. be sure to order the correct ones.

i just about finished these today, prolly the easiest retro ever. i chose warm white which is almost exactly the same color and brightness as a 168 clear bulb. mainly for two reasons, first i wanted to keep the stockish look and not have a super white look back there. second the stock bulbs would always leak light from the top of the trunk trim piece on my car which looked bad at night. the leds are pointed straight down so no light shines upward. they are Io moon packages from ledsupply.com with a 1 inch heatsink. after several mins of testing, the sink got to 110F and stayed there. i think thats okay for constant running lights. im using 350ma BHK drivers to power them. the glue (plumbers goop) is drying that holds the heatsink to the lens housing so tomorrow i can install them and wire everything together. i also wanted to look for a lil box to cover the rear so it doesnt look so messy, but you really can only see it if the trunk is closed and you look in from the back seat, or if you look up when the trunk is open. so i may just leave them open for better cooling.

first i used thermal epoxy to attach the led board to heatsink. the first one was scary cause when i pressed the led down, all the epoxy came thru the holes in the board so i was frantically wiping the front before it hardened. the heat sinks are off center a bit so they properly fit the housing.



next i test fitted the board. this is top view that will never be seen (covered by the trim piece).



test shot of the 3500K warm white nichia jupiter led



here is the visible part you can see with the trunk open. looks clean



will have installed pics in a day or two when they are ready.

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spent most of the day installing these things. the old housings broke a while back and i used silicone to hold them. big mistake cause i spent several hours scraping it off with my finger lol. not fun. then i got the new lenses with leds put on and took some pics. the wiring is neatly tucked away and im very happy with the way it turned out. they are about as bright as my raybrig 2x hyper clear w5w bulbs i had before and a tiny bit yellower color. there is still some light leakage from the trim piece but its not that bad.

installed rear view (not visible unless you look straight into the trunk lid from the back.





drivers and wires stuffed in a trunk lid hole



one side installed....



left side LED and right side w5w raybrig BULB in actual brightness



another comparison with exposure dimmed down to show the difference. money shot



both sides installed, off



with the trim piece installed



both leds ON



visible in the daylight



thanks for looking

 
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bump for night shots. looks exactly the same as w5w bulb brightness and color.

 
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nice

 
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or you can just buy the 1w led replacement bulbs on ebay for like 10shipped for a pair =]


but nonetheless, thsi is awesome...

 
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i like mine to last forever tho thanks and the ebay ones are rice white with blue tint. even warm white 1w i tried looked like 4000k or higher. this way, i have the exact color i want, both leds match (they were actually stuck together side by side on arrival) and they are heatsinked properly.

 
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lol they dont have blue tints? haha sillly gear....

but these are very cool, imma have to pick myself up a few pairs and play with them...

im thinking of getting the 1000ma one to use it as my reverse light....i needa see!


btw, quick question, what did u use to glue the heatsink onto the board? or wt did u use to attactch it?

also, why didnt you buy the bigger and cheaper heatsink (35x35 x 14mm i think)

 
Rep Power: 812

this 1 inch heatsink fit perfectly in the lens housing. could not have used bigger and for the nichia technically it says in open air, it doesnt require a heatsink. i didnt believe that lol. i used arctic silver thermal epoxy (5 minute) from ledsupply.com to attach led to sink.

i just got my cool white nichias and yeah they wouldve been way too white. they are crazy bright tho for only 45 lumens.

my white reverse leds are actually done, im just waiting on the drivers so i can wire it up. modded osram joule optic, plus a 25 degree secondary optic, using a single cree XR-E cool white 6500K led running at 700ma/3w to give 150 lumens. they fit right into the 7440 socket and have big heatsink.



frosted the tube to get more side light



running at 350ma/1w 100 lumens, not bright enough. i think 700ma will be perfect.

 
Rep Power: 303

Nice writeup!
So what's up with the joule LEDs that you purchased for the brake lights?
I like your license plate. lol

 
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well two i used for reverse light, the other two im gonna try my best to stuff in the outer park/brake light. its gonna require alot of interesting cutting, so i got another set of tails from falken in case something happens. if i can do that, the inner park lights are easy, i can just make a small ring of superflux and glue it in the hole.

 
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Cool. When I start using my money for lighting, I'm going to go ahead and buy the pair of joule LEDs and hook them up.
Good luck!

 
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i wanna make my reverse lights kinda like rear projectors, so when i reverse, i can see in back of me! ahhahaha

2x the 1000mA ones!

 
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haha. yeah the new caddys use two cree leds per side i believe. not sure what theyre running at, prolly only 350ma each but they do have reflectors. that would give 200 lumen per side which is still alot.

 
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haha!

 
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looks great. Very nice.