Want to redo vehicle lighting but don't know much. Need your help.

#1
I have a 2015 LE trim. I want to replace the lighting for the interior, trunk, front/rear turn signals, brakes, and reverse with LEDs. Does anybody know what kind of bulbs I need and where to get them? I also want to know. I sometimes flash my high-beams at other drivers. if I were to replace my high-beams with HIDs. Can I still flash them?
 
#2
Well I don't know the answers to all your questions but what I did is replaced all my lights with LEDs except for the high beams, fogs, and of course the headlights because they are LED already. And then I added some extra lighting. The fogs I replaced with standard yellow halogens for the yellow look (also with yellow vinyl over the housing), I replaced my high beams with philips crystal vision ultras (halogen) because I go driving at night up mountain roads a lot. They are WAY brighter than the stock bulbs. I installed LEDs for the brake lights, reverse lights, license plate lights, turn signals, side marker, and the side mirror turn signals, the map lights, dome light, and trunk. You have to heavily modify the side mirror light housing to install LEDs there. You may need to slightly modify the license plate light housing for the LED to fit. For my map lights i extended the light circuit down to the floor with speaker wire and used cheap ebay white LED strips so that the map lights also light up the floor area. My front turn signals have 2 colors, so when they're just on with the headlights, theyre white, but when turning, they flash off and amber. All turn signal LEDs require load resistors EXCEPT the side mirror ones. I dont know why. For the trunk I wasn't satisfied with a simple LED swap so I tapped into the circuit and added another cheap white LED strip in there. Very bright now. And I added another white LED strip in the glove box with a fuse tap and a magnetic switch. Hope I can help! :)
 
#3
Well I don't know the answers to all your questions but what I did is replaced all my lights with LEDs except for the high beams, fogs, and of course the headlights because they are LED already. And then I added some extra lighting. The fogs I replaced with standard yellow halogens for the yellow look (also with yellow vinyl over the housing), I replaced my high beams with philips crystal vision ultras (halogen) because I go driving at night up mountain roads a lot. They are WAY brighter than the stock bulbs. I installed LEDs for the brake lights, reverse lights, license plate lights, turn signals, side marker, and the side mirror turn signals, the map lights, dome light, and trunk. You have to heavily modify the side mirror light housing to install LEDs there. You may need to slightly modify the license plate light housing for the LED to fit. For my map lights i extended the light circuit down to the floor with speaker wire and used cheap ebay white LED strips so that the map lights also light up the floor area. My front turn signals have 2 colors, so when they're just on with the headlights, theyre white, but when turning, they flash off and amber. All turn signal LEDs require load resistors EXCEPT the side mirror ones. I dont know why. For the trunk I wasn't satisfied with a simple LED swap so I tapped into the circuit and added another cheap white LED strip in there. Very bright now. And I added another white LED strip in the glove box with a fuse tap and a magnetic switch. Hope I can help! :)
Thanks for replying.

I will start out by specifying a few things. The LE trim does not have fog lights or lights on the mirrors, so there is nothing to worry about there. I do want to install selective yellow fog lights, but I can inquire here later on about that. I also don't plan on changing the license plate lights or the center brake light. Might I ask what kind of LEDs you used for your brake, reverse, front/rear turn signals, map/dome, and trunk? And are load resistors difficult to install? I want to install HIDs for the high-beams but I don't know if you can flash those without damaging them. I also noticed that there is a small orange strip above and to the side of the main beam with a bulb in it, but it doesn't seem to do anything, like flash with a turn signal, etc. Did you also replace that bulb? If so, what LED did you use there? Thanks.
 
#4
Superbrightleds.com has a bulb finder by car. I got most of my bulbs from there. The dome light I got from didodedynamics.com because they had a non-oversized one that was plenty bright. My Nokya LED fogs came from Amazon, and my LED high beam kit came from vleds.com

You won't damage HID bulbs by flashing them, but you'll put wear and tear on the ballasts. Typical HID high beams are in combination with low beams and simply use a solenoid that moves a cut-off flap up or down. I don't recall a car that uses a high beam HID separate from the low, and it's probably because of the ballasts.

Pretty much everything in my car is LED except for the mirror signals because they're sealed units. And yes, I changed the side marker lights to LED as well. For those, you'll want a friend with very small hands to help.

I got Type A switchbacks for the front turn, HP45 amber for the rear turn, HP45 red for the brake lights, HP6 for all interior bulbs (except the dome was a 31mm 2 LED festoon), HP5 amber for the side marker, and HP10 for the reverse lights. If you search the forum for superbrightleds.com, you'll come across many threads with links to the specific bulb.
 
#5
Thanks for replying.

I will start out by specifying a few things. The LE trim does not have fog lights or lights on the mirrors, so there is nothing to worry about there. I do want to install selective yellow fog lights, but I can inquire here later on about that. I also don't plan on changing the license plate lights or the center brake light. Might I ask what kind of LEDs you used for your brake, reverse, front/rear turn signals, map/dome, and trunk? And are load resistors difficult to install? I want to install HIDs for the high-beams but I don't know if you can flash those without damaging them. I also noticed that there is a small orange strip above and to the side of the main beam with a bulb in it, but it doesn't seem to do anything, like flash with a turn signal, etc. Did you also replace that bulb? If so, what LED did you use there? Thanks.
As far as choosing LEDs to use, exactly what Donabed Kopoian said. Load resisters are super easy to install. Just connect it to the wires going to and from the bulb. Protip: dont use the cheap wire taps that come with the resistors. strip part of the wire and wrap the resistor's wire around that and secure it with electrical tape, creating a good connection. Oh and secure them to something metal with screws, not zipties, because they get hot. I don;t know anything about HID high beams though, sorry! and as far as the other light that "doesnt seem to do anything" i think youre talking about the side marker. yeah its the same size as the map lights and license plate lights on superbrightleds.com
 
#6
No need to modify the plate light housing for a pair of 194/168 bulbs to fit. I use a pair Sylvania LED's that fit perfectly and are bright. I have a pair in map lights too, along with a Pilot dome light. The Sylvania's are $9.88/each at Wal-Mart and the dome light was I think $7.98. I had a pair of Pilot map lights, but not even after having them a week, the left bulb went out. The dome light is much better though. I had a Sylvania dome light, but it's light output was absolute garbage, it barely lit anything. These are another option for you.
 
#7
I also have the Sylvania led lights in all my interior and for the plates for over a year with no issues with great light output. Really recommend them.
 
#8
Superbrightleds.com has a bulb finder by car. I got most of my bulbs from there. The dome light I got from didodedynamics.com because they had a non-oversized one that was plenty bright. My Nokya LED fogs came from Amazon, and my LED high beam kit came from vleds.com

You won't damage HID bulbs by flashing them, but you'll put wear and tear on the ballasts. Typical HID high beams are in combination with low beams and simply use a solenoid that moves a cut-off flap up or down. I don't recall a car that uses a high beam HID separate from the low, and it's probably because of the ballasts.

Pretty much everything in my car is LED except for the mirror signals because they're sealed units. And yes, I changed the side marker lights to LED as well. For those, you'll want a friend with very small hands to help.

I got Type A switchbacks for the front turn, HP45 amber for the rear turn, HP45 red for the brake lights, HP6 for all interior bulbs (except the dome was a 31mm 2 LED festoon), HP5 amber for the side marker, and HP10 for the reverse lights. If you search the forum for superbrightleds.com, you'll come across many threads with links to the specific bulb.


What are the specs on the dome light you picked up? Didn't see any on diode and the one that came from super bright is kinda dim for my liking.
 
#10
As far as choosing LEDs to use, exactly what Donabed Kopoian said. Load resisters are super easy to install. Just connect it to the wires going to and from the bulb. Protip: dont use the cheap wire taps that come with the resistors. strip part of the wire and wrap the resistor's wire around that and secure it with electrical tape, creating a good connection. Oh and secure them to something metal with screws, not zipties, because they get hot. I don;t know anything about HID high beams though, sorry! and as far as the other light that "doesnt seem to do anything" i think youre talking about the side marker. yeah its the same size as the map lights and license plate lights on [URL HERE]
Sorry it took me absolutely forever to reply. Things got really busy for me.

So two things have tripped me up. One, do I use parking, tail, or brake bulbs in the rear? And all of them also say oversize. So will they fit? And how the hell do you remove the side marker bulb? I got it out of it's socket, but don't know how to remove the actual bulb.
 
Top